Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin issued the following statement following Governor Mills’ State of the State address in which she directed the Maine Department of Education to expand summer outdoor opportunities for Maine children:

“We enthusiastically accept Governor Mills’ challenge to expand summer outdoor learning and enrichment opportunities for Maine children. Our state has such an amazing bounty of natural resources for children to explore and learn from, and these experiences build a lifelong love of nature and adventure. We also know that getting outside and interacting with nature allows students to build teamwork and leadership skills, helps reduce stress and anxiety, and the new skills children learn in our vast outdoor classroom enable success inside the classroom as well.

“In response to this challenge, the Department will collaborate with natural resource organizations to provide an immersive and engaging educational experience for students from all over the state. We look forward to engaging with them and our schools to deliver Maine students new opportunities to reconnect and explore all that Maine has to offer and learn from.”

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