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S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 / W O R K F O R M E 37 building. The programs range from eight months to two years. This year there were 60 stu- dents. The average age is 27, but there are a handful straight out of high school and a handful that are retirees or people mak- ing career changes. Brian McCauley, the school's 40-year-old director of recruit- ment and development, falls into that latter category. The Virginia native and was working in real estate in Charlottesville. His wife is from Maine and they were looking for a way to move here. It was while staying at a bed-and-breakfast in Booth- bay he was flipping through WoodenBoat magazine, which is published in Brooklin. Up to that point, "nothing re- ally spoke to me," he says. "Then I came across an ad for the Land- ing School. I grew up in Virginia Beach on a surfboard, also sailing or in a Whaler. It was a cool idea to learn about boats." He and his wife moved here in 2018 and he enrolled in the marine systems program at the Landing School. He further developed an interest in com- posite construction and, as a sidelight, helped other students build surfboards. At one point, the school's di- rector asked if he could help with a Landing School project. That led to more work and, eventually, a job offer, leading the recruiting and development efforts. "For me, I was fairly intel- ligent, but I don't do well sit- ting still in class," he says. "This just fit." A Northwoods canoe builder The Landing School or Appren- ticeshop may not be the right fit for everyone going into boat- building. For Elisa Schine, a Vermont native and graduate of Wesleyan University, a more direct ap- proach has worked. Schine grew up going to Camp Darrow, a Downeast summer camp with a strong tradition of canoeing, including using traditional wood-and-canvas canoes. She was a camper there and then a counselor. One summer, Rollin Thurlow, founder of Northwoods Canoe Co., a wood-and-canvas canoe company in Atkinson, came to the camp to talk about wooden canoes. It took a piece of wood and showed campers how you could take an ordinary piece of wood and nearly instantly, she recalls, turn it into a "rib" for the boat hull. "After that, we were pretty much in awe," she says. It was a while later, dissatis- fied with a job in San Francisco, that she had the idea of working for Thurlow. "I called up Rollin and said, 'Can I come work with you?'" she says. "It was a big leap." The idea was a summer in- ternship — but it has now been seven years. She and her husband, a school teacher in Dover-Foxcroft, are now year-round residents of Piscataquis County. She is the only full-time employee apart from the owner and founder. n M a n u f a c t u r i n g A s c h o l a r s h i p f o r w o m e n The Apprenticeshop in Rockland has established a scholarship for women, and those who identify as women, to participate in its 12- week, nine-month and two-year boatbuilding programs. The women's scholarship is part of a new long-term initiative at the Apprenticeshop to increase diversity, equity and inclusion across the organization, from its student and apprentice population to its staff and board membership. The Apprenticeshop already has women in positions of leadership, both on staff and on the board, several of whom are alumnae of the boatbuilding program. The scholarship encourages female participation within a space and skill set that has traditionally been the domain of males, inviting women to strive for their full potential in this challenging and rewarding context. They can then serve as role models for other women and girls who are drawn to work with their hands. "Self-doubt is a thing I struggle with. It is something I hadn't anticipated being able to overcome as much. When other people don't doubt you, it's harder to doubt yourself. I didn't expect to gain that confidence," said Emma Hathaway, who went through the school's 12-week apprentice program. n P H O T O / N A T E H A T H A W A Y P H O T O / E R I N T O K A R Z Emma Hathaway, Waterfront and Seamanship Director for The Apprenticeshop and recent graduate of the 12- week program. For me, I was fairly intelligent, but I don't do well sitting still in class. This just fit. — Brian McCauley The Landing School

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