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M a i n e — A P h oto P o rt r A i t o f t h e P i n e t r ee S tAt e P r o f i l e s i n e x c e l l e n c e 120 M aine Academy of Natural Sciences at Good Will- Hinckley is an educational program of its parent organization, Good Will-Hinckley, named for George Walter Hinckley, who founded The Good Will Home for Boys and Girls in 1889. Since its founding in 1889, Good Will- Hinckley's mission has been to provide a home and schooling for youth who are "in need of a helping hand." The organization has fulfilled this mission in different ways over the years and continues to abide by it now through its different programs. Today that commitment is best expressed with its partnership with the Maine Academy of Natural Sci- ences, MeANS. The school opened in September 2011 as a private magnet school focused on serving at-risk students through the themes of agriculture, forestry and sustainability. MeANS provides an inspiring and inclusive learning environment primarily for students who are under-engaged and at risk of dropping out of high school. The school serves day students from the central Maine region and boarding students from across the state who are looking for alternatives to traditional schools. In fall 2012 MeANS will operate as Maine's first public charter school. MeANS has developed a contemporary mission fo- cused on today's learner and building the skills he or she needs in order to succeed in today's workforce — and in life. What hasn't changed since Good Will-Hinckley's founding in 1889 is the organization's commitment to meaningful student-teacher relationships, real-world learning experiences, and its ties to the land. With the hundreds of acres of the Good Will-Hinck- ley campus in Fairfield, Maine, serving as its outdoor classroom, MeANS utilizes Hinckley's inherent attri- butes through project-based experiences and individu- alized learning. Using Individualized Learning Plans, MeANS students are actively involved in mastering the Maine Learning Results, Common Core Standards and other unique MeANS graduation goals, using an inno- vative curriculum grounded in the themes of forestry, agriculture, and the environment. This curriculum is taught by experienced teachers with both subject matter expertise and skills with at-risk populations. The curriculum is designed to provide students with multiple pathways to graduation by utilizing an individ- ualized, hands-on, project-based approach to learning. A typical school day for a MeANS student is anything but typical. The format includes two hours of classroom instruction; two hours of elective activity/job shadow- ing, internships, or coursework at Kennebec Valley Community College; and two and a half hours of indi- vidual and group project work. Examples of group projects include building raised beds in the greenhouse, researching and planting cover crops on a large garden plot to feed students living in cottages, or mapping out forest inventory growth plots MeANS is the first high school in Maine to focus on agriculture, sustainability, forestry, workforce skills training and independent living. Maine Academy of Natural Sciences is located on the 1,700 acre Good Will-Hinckley campus in Fairfield, Maine. Maine Academy of Natural Sciences at Good Will- Hinckley P h o t o s B y k e v i n c o u t u r e P h o t o G r a P h y

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