Third CREST Summer Institute Bigger and Better Than Ever

During July, the Island Institute held its 3^rd annual Community for Rural Education, Stewardship, and Technology (CREST) Summer Technology Training Institute at the Schoodic Education Research Center in beautiful Winter Harbor, Maine. The CREST summer institute doubled in size this year to include 96 6^th -12^th grade students and 55 teachers from 15 island and isolated coastal schools. Teams of students and teachers from each school learned a how to use geographic information systems (GIS/GPS), ethnography, and web-design technologies to find creative solutions to community resource questions and problems.   

The schools that attended included Deer Isle Stonington High School, Greely High School, Georges Valley High School, St. George School, Vinalhaven School, North Haven Community School, Islesboro Central School, Searsport District High School, Mount Desert Island High School, Conners Emerson School, Isle au Haut School, Swan's Island School, Lubec Consolidated School, Washington Academy, and Fort O’Brien Elementary School. CREST is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) grant program. For more information, please visit the CREST website at http://crest.islandinstitute.org.