FREEPORT – Melissa Catalan gazed at the dark water swirling where the ice-covered Little River flowed into Casco Bay and offered a seemingly unremarkable observation.

“The ice is thinner than it was last week,” Catalan said, bundled up and surrounded by her peers. The girls stood on a one-lane bridge, on a rolling dirt road, with the afternoon sun hanging low in a remarkably blue sky.

Additional Photos

Danae Shurn-Banks of East Machias writes in her journal during a Coastal Studies for Girls field trip to a bridge near Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Gabriella Onikoro-Arkell of Minneapolis, Minn., finds something worthy of a jest as a class from Coastal Studies for Girls learns about tides during a field trip to the bridge over the Little River near Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport. The program’s founder and staff want to expand it from 15 students a semester to 30. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Gordon Chibroski

In fact, Catalan’s comment was extraordinary, considering that the high school sophomore from Los Angeles is experiencing her first winter weather and all of the ice, snow and cold that come with it.

Catalan is one of 15 girls from across Maine and the nation who are attending the fledgling Coastal Studies for Girls, a semester-long marine science and leadership program for 10th-grade girls. Located in a renovated 1880s farmhouse on 8 acres leased from Wolfe’s Neck Farm, the school is exposing girls to the outdoor wonders of Maine and a whole lot more.

“This is all very, very new to me, and I love it,” said Catalan, who attends the Amino Leadership Charter High School in Inglewood, Calif., where most students are Hispanic. She’s a member of the marine science club at her school, but her interests at Coastal Studies range far beyond the waterfront.

“It’s been a bit of a culture shock for me,” Catalan continued. “The group of girls here is so diverse, a lot of stereotypes (that I had) have gone away. As the only Latina in the group, everyone keeps asking me to speak Spanish. It’s nice that the other girls appreciate my culture and I appreciate their cultures, too.”

Other girls attending Coastal Studies this semester hail from Minnesota, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Vermont, as well as Boothbay Harbor, Brunswick, East Machias and Portland.

Now in its third semester, Coastal Studies is seeing increasing signs of success and potential for growth. The school has a waiting list for next fall’s semester and last week received an application from a student who wants to attend next spring.

The school was founded by Pam Erickson, executive director, with support from a diverse board of directors and a capital campaign committee that shared her vision for a school that would “blow the doors of opportunity open for girls.”

A Wisconsin native, Erickson previously ran summer science and wilderness programs for girls and women and taught year-round leadership programs at Camp Kieve in Nobleboro. The $1.5 million capital campaign that started Coastal Studies was led by celebrity swordfishing captain and author Linda Greenlaw, who lives on Isle au Haut.

Coastal Studies is one of about 10 high school semester programs operating in the United States, said Ginger Jones, development director.

While most of the semester programs serve 11th- and 12th-graders, Coastal Studies targets sophomores with the hope of influencing girls to broaden their horizons before they begin to define what their paths will be after graduation. It is the only semester program in the country that’s exclusively for girls and the only one that aims to promote leadership and science careers among women.

“Both are areas that need bolstering,” Jones said, noting that while women constitute about 45 percent of the U.S. work force, they hold only 25 percent of science and engineering jobs, according to the American Association of University Women.

The girls come from diverse social, economic and ethnic backgrounds, Jones said. The semester program costs $17,500 per student, including tuition, room and board. Many students currently attend on scholarships supported by grants and a small endowment.

All are good students who — through grade transcripts, personal essays and letters of recommendation — have demonstrated a strong desire to learn and grow. Some are attracted by the opportunity to develop leadership skills. Others come for the opportunity to learn about marine science in the rough.

“I want to be a marine biologist. I’ve known that since fifth grade,” said Mikayla McFet-ridge, who lives in Boothbay Harbor and attends Boothbay Region High School. “I’m also a learner who likes to work with my hands, so that’s one of the major reasons why I wanted to come here.”

In close quarters and with a small faculty, Coastal Studies offers a full curriculum, including math, humanities and foreign languages, which are interwoven with daily outdoor excursions, regular field trips and guest speakers. Classes are held in a few multipurpose rooms on the first floor of a converted farmhouse. Girls sleep in second-floor bunk rooms, supervised by resident staff members.

While away from their home high schools, the girls receive full academic credit for their 16 weeks at Coastal Studies. Faculty members coordinate their lessons to meet the credit requirements and learning goals of each girl’s high school.

Looking ahead, Erickson and her staff want to expand Coastal Studies to enroll 30 students each semester, possibly within two years. The school plans to launch a $2.5 million capital campaign in the near future to renovate a large barn on the property to provide additional sleeping and classroom space.

Erickson and her staff express some urgency to grow the school to fully support the program it offers. If the school could enroll more students, it could increase its endowment. Then it could increase the number of girls empowered to be future leaders in science or any field they choose.

“We can’t get there fast enough,” Erickson said.

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com

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