Tying Education to Trade to Keep Kids in School

Todd West, Steering Committee Member of the Eastern Maine Skippers Program, Principal of Bucksport Middle School, Maine Did your Thanksgiving feast include lobster? Historians say it probably was part of the original celebration. And it’s still a big part of the New England coastal economy. Lobster is such a lucrative livelihood that some Maine high schools have trouble convincing kids to stay in school. That’s where The Eastern Maine Skippers Program comes in—it brings fishing into the classroom to help kids graduate.