Maine Academy of Natural Sciences Presentation

To Slow Money MaineJuly 25, 2012

“In the last decades much emphasis has been laid upon teaching boys and girls to earn a living; in relatively few educational circles has the emphasis been placed on teaching how to live.”

~ George Walter Hinckley, “The Good Will Idea” 1929

• Good Will Hinckley founded 1889 with a mission to provide for youth in need of ‘a helping hand’

• MeANS formed to continue historicmission with a contemporaryinterpretation of servingat risk youth’

Moving Forward1. Student ownership of the educational process through standards and a Personal Learning Plan

2.  Actively engaged students - a project-based orientation

3.  Using the community and the natural would as the classroom

4.  Building supportive relationships to create a strong sense of community

5.  A collaborative and reflective teaching model

6.  Strong ties built between school and parents.

PROGRAM PRINCIPLES

• Standards-based curriculum

• Meeting Maine Learning Results

• Personal learning plans

• Experiential learning

• Real-world problem solving

• Positive learning community

• Optional co-enrollment at KVCC

Learning, while enhancing the health of the land,the people, and the community

Personalized Learning Plans

Project basedstudy.

Outdoor classrooms

• Support from originating school districts

• Federal grants

• Foundation grants

• Donations

• Good Will- Hinckley

Financial Stability

The good in our lives

may live after us. An

inspiring thought. It

ought to inspire us to the

noblest thinking and

purest living.

— G.W. Hinckley,

“Good Will Short Talks” 1901

 

Financial stability is

organization wide

Financial Stability

The good in our lives

may live after us. An

inspiring thought. It

ought to inspire us to the

noblest thinking and

purest living.

— G.W. Hinckley,

“Good Will Short Talks” 1901

 

•GWH has no debt service• The endowment has grown by $3M since 2009• Facilities are owned outright•GWH is about to conclude further real estate sales

Governance- Independence

MeANS board has 9 members

5 independent members

4 members of Good Will Hinckley Board of Directors

Outside advisory group consisting of

experts in education, forestry,

and parents of MeANS students

Governance- Independence

Organizational structureMeANS board of directors

MeANS CEO

MeANS educational

staff

Community Partners

Contracted administrative services

• We are involved in a partnership with Maine’s Community College System.

• Our first class of graduates received diplomas in June 2012

• The Maine State Charter School Commission voted unanimously to move forward to grant MeANS a charter, making us the 1st Charter School in Maine

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