Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Many Presque Isle Middle School sixth-graders took positive risks recently by attempting to scale a climbing wall that was set up in the school’s back parking lot.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
CHRIS CARROLL, a sixth-grader at Presque Isle Middle School, scales the Camp Kieve climbing wall that was set up in the school’s back parking lot recently during the camp’s three-day leadership school. The wall was meant to encourage students to take positive risks, discover peer trust and practice supporting others.
The climbing wall was one of the activities members of Camp Kieve’s Leadership School planned for the young scholars. The wall was meant to encourage students to take positive risks, discover peer trust and practice supporting others.
“I was a little bit nervous doing the wall because it’s pretty high,” said student Kyle Nadeau, “but it was fun.
“We learned that risks aren’t always bad; some risks are really good,” he said. “Some good risks would be driving or going swimming, but bad risks include doing drugs and smoking.”
The students participated in a number of activities aimed at helping them make good decisions about real issues facing them in their everyday lives.
“With one activity, we had to connect two bridges, but there was a tarp between us so we couldn’t see where to connect them. We brought out our group and had to see how it was connected,” said Nadeau. “It taught us that with a bully, you don’t want to handle it yourself; you want to connect with another person so they can help you.”
Nadeau said he’ll take the lessons he learned with him throughout his life.
“With bullying, for example, I know how to be an ally and not a bystander,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun and I learned a lot.”
Student Ben Nickerson said he really enjoyed the climbing wall.
“It taught us how to challenge ourselves, and work above our standards,” he said. “It was a lot different from what I expected it to be; it looks big but once you get up there, it doesn’t seem as big. I went all the way to the top.
“The Camp Kieve leaders also taught us how to act when something bad happens … like if a friend borrowed something and they broke it,” said Nickerson. “If I wouldn’t have done the activity, I probably would have gotten mad at them for not keeping it close. They taught us how to calm down, be assertive and ask them to maybe help pay for what was damaged.”
John Marchelletta, a teacher for the camp’s Leadership School, has been with the program for four years.
“One of the biggest things we were asked to work on by the principal was basic team-building skills and cooperation,” he said. “We believe we give a lot of great life skills that they can build upon, and a lot of the tools that they will need when they become older. Bullying is a big issue in almost every school, and one that we were also asked to focus in on and work with.”
Camp Kieve teachers were at PIMS for three days. Marchelletta taught a decisions class Oct. 2.
“I’m doing a thing called a group juggle where a lot of different objects represent different things,” he said. “We start off by having five different things that are pretty much true about every single person. Then we add in different stressors that they may have, and we try to juggle it at a rapid pace to simulate what real life is like when you add in a lot of risk behaviors.
“I’m really hoping when we get done this three-day leadership school, the students will look at each other a little bit differently, and that when presented different risk behaviors or different challenges,” said Marchelletta, “they will step up to the plate rather than turn the other cheek and not help someone else who is in need. We want to make sure that everyone is treated with the kindness and respect that they deserve.”
Working directly with the students is what keeps Marchelletta coming back every year.
“At the Leadership School, we work with between 6,000 and 7,000 students each year,” he said. “We see roughly one-third of all middle school students in the state of Maine, as well as some students in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and down in Philadelphia.
“The reason I keep coming back is because it’s such a great job,” said Marchelletta. “I get to play games, as well as teach different activities, and you get to see how the students react to those activities and what different things that they’re taking out of the activities that they can apply to real-life situations.”
Math teacher Nancy Watson said the leadership camp has been coming to SAD 1 for about a decade.
“It’s probably been close to 10 years,” she said. “The wonderful thing about the program is that we do it at the beginning of the year when students don’t know each other that well, so it really helps them get to know one another. This is a non-academic program so there’s no pressure; everybody can participate in this.
“Since we started the camp program, we’ve noticed a big difference in how the kids act the rest of the year … the skills it provides those kids is wonderful and how close they become,” said Watson. “The leaders talk a lot about relationships and communication skills … things that are important for the kids to learn.”
In addition to keeping a journal, the students also get a Camp Kieve Leadership School T-shirt they decorate and oftentimes have their peers and teachers sign.
“It’s a very worthwhile program,” Watson said. “Having outside people come in and present these lessons to the kids really packs a punch. We benefit greatly from it. What’s also neat is that several of the leaders have never been this far north before; one had never seen leaves change color before, so it’s neat to see their perspective, as well.”
Watson said the program has always been geared toward the school’s sixth-graders since they’re in their “formative years.”
“Sixth grade is such a big transition for the kids, so we try to present the ideas of team-building, decisions and communication skills to them then. They’re so moldable in sixth-grade … they’re positive and eager to learn,” she said. “This year’s eighth-graders and last year’s seventh-graders have all participated in the Camp Kieve program, and hopefully they’ve put into practice what they learned. They’re mentors to this year’s sixth-graders, who will hopefully be role models to next year’s incoming class.”
Kieve-Wavus Education, Inc. is one of the midcoast’s largest non-profit educational organizations, with a year-round staff of 35 and part-time of 140 during the summer. Known throughout the state because of The Leadership School that works with thousands of middle-school students, their teachers and parents, Kieve-Wavus also operates two successful summer camps on Damariscotta Lake, Kieve for boys and Wavus for girls.
Now in its 27th year, Kieve is located about 60 miles northeast of Portland on Damariscotta Lake in Nobleboro. For more information, log onto www.kieve.org.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
JOHN MARCHELLETTA, left, a teacher for Camp Kieve’s Leadership School, leads Presque Isle Middle School sixth-graders Jacob Poitras, Amanda Palmer, Amy Trask and Graydon Hemphill in a warm-up exercise during the camp’s recent three-day visit to PIMS.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
RACHEL HOBBS, left, and Mackayla Burbee, sixth-graders at Presque Isle Middle School, sign each other’s Camp Kieve Leadership School T-shirts following a recent activity. Camp Kieve instructors were at PIMS earlier this month teaching students basic team-building skills and cooperation.
