TALK OF THE TOWNS
New Ways to Think About Rural Education - Workforce Pathways, Skills Development, Digital Equity
STONINGTON, ME, MAY 5, 2025 – As school budgets across the state get refined and go to the public for approval, it’s a critical time for the next Talk of the Towns community civic conversation: “New Ways to Think About Rural Education - Workforce Pathways, Skills Development, Digital Equity.” The room-wide conversation will be held Wednesday, May 21at the Reach Performing Arts Center. In a fitting collaboration, this month’s social gathering at 6:30 pm preceding the 7 pmtalk will raise funds for the Reach’s Nelson Monteith scholarship program for graduating seniors.
The worlds of work and career, including fishing and our civic life and institutions including health care, volunteer fire departments and ambulance services, continue to quickly change as digital technologies, communications, and required skills are transformed by shifting demographics and more. Are our students and adults getting all we need to retain and strengthen our resilient communities? Are our schools providing the education, tools, and skills needed for those who want to continue to live, work, and play here – and/or go elsewhere in pursuit of their dreams? Are we developing leadership for a sustainable future? The evening will feature special guests who are working at the leading edge of education’s future, transforming schools and programs to better meet our regional communities’ changing needs.
Learn from and be in dialogue with Mike Felton, the award-winning superintendent of the St. George school system for fishing communities in midcoast Maine; Rebecca Gratz, Principal, Deer Isle-Stonington High School, environmental educator, and former principal of The Sound School in New Haven, CT; Kim Hutchinson, Executive Director, Project Launch; Yvonne Thomas, Island Institute Rural Aspirations Project; Zoe Weil/Rene Neuner of the Institute for Human Education based in Surry; and Morgan Witham, Deer Isle Adult & Community Education and core partner of the new Connectivity Hub in the Stonington Schoolhouse. Deer Isle and St. George share the Connectivity Hub community projects, which widen digital access and skills and include makerspaces with machinery to enhance traditional trades such as boatbuilding while integrating modern technologies such as 3-D printers and laser cutters.
The Talk of the Town events are room-wide community conversations on issues that bridge, matter to, and unite our regional communities. They are intentionally structured to include everyone in the room in addition to special invited guests, and direction will be driven by what those attending most need to discuss and to learn.
Doors for the free evening open at 6:30 p.m.with social time featuring a selection of beverages, snacks, and desserts sold to raise funds for the Nelson Monteith Scholarship Fund. The facilitated conversation starts at 7 p.m.
“Our communities are culturally rich, and we’re in a historic period when culture matters more than we might give it credit for,” said Linda Nelson, Stonington’s Economic & Community Development Director. “How can we attend to and leverage these unique and place-based strengths to continuously improve our communities as places to live, work, and play?”
This is the fifth in the 2025 Talk of the Towns series. Recordings of the eight previous events are available on the Town of Stonington’s YouTube channel.
For more information on the Town of Stonington, and a one-sheet on its Economic Resiliency Strategy created with nationally-recognized Camoin Associates, go to https://www.stoningtonmaine.org/gov/economic-development.php.
The Island Institute is working to preserve and protect Maine’s working waterfronts, support coastal livelihoods, and build resilience for our marine economy and those who depend on it. More at islandinstitute.org.
The Reach Performing Arts Center The Reach Performing Arts Center is a 400-seat theater that promotes lifelong learning in the arts for Deer Isle-Stonington schools and the island community. A year-round home for theater, dance, musical performances, school-related activities and community events, the Reach Performing Arts Center is a force for cultivating community, continuing education and artistic development. https://www.thereachpac.com/