If things go as planned, Oceanside High School in Rockland will offer special classes next fall designed to discourage some of its students from dropping out of school if their ultimate goal is to become commercial fishermen. Many Rockland area young people choose fishing as a career today, as have those from generations past, and often opt to drop out of school before graduation to devote all of their time to fishing. The bulk of these young people are probably headed for careers in lobstering and they’re looking at the record lobster landings and high prices and telling themselves that they could be out on the water making good money instead of sitting in a classroom.

Dropout rates are high in many schools in Maine, especially in fishing communities, and young men (usually) rationalize that’s they don’t really need a high school diploma to go fishing. It’s been a problem for school systems for years, and Oceanside’s principal is proposing a plan which she hopes will help keep young people in school. She has approached the school board with an idea: Offer fishing-related courses more to their liking, focusing on such things as diesel engine maintenance, math designed specifically to help them operate their own fishing business, computer navigation, first aid courses every boat captain needs, and other marine-related subjects which would benefit – and interest - them. Apparently, Deer Isle-Stonington is already a leader in offering this type of alternative educational choice, again for the same reason: To keep its future fishermen in high school until they get their diploma. Their program is called Marine Trades Pathway.

Fishing has always lured young people here in Maine, and hopefully always will. It behooves schools to find creative ways to keep these students from dropping out and we think Oceanside and Deer Isle-Stonington are on the right track. We’ve always believed that diverse means of teaching are necessary to interest students in learning. It takes creativity to hold the attention of students. Let’s face it, some subjects just aren’t that exciting, and it takes an innovative teacher to hold their attention and to successfully teach them the lessons they need to learn in a given subject. If business and math are more meaningful to a future fisherman when they directly relate to him and his future, we say, offer it if at all possible. Oceanside hopes to initially offer classes utilizing existing staff members, which sounds like a great plan. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association, Department of Marine Resources, Marine Patrol, Island Institute and several other industry leaders are reportedly interested in seeing the project succeed, also.

Lincoln Academy’s new technology school is another shining example of finding ways to teach students in ways which make more sense to them and are easier to understand, be it carpentry, auto mechanics, or many of the state’s service professions now in high demand here in midcoast Maine. A hands-on education is just as strong as a regular classroom setting, and we believe students are much more apt to not only pay attention, but to remember what they learned months and years from now. A number of Boothbay’s high school students travel to Bath to attend technical courses and the program has proven to be a godsend for many of them who say that left with no option other than a traditional classroom, they would have probably dropped out of school.

We hope what is being tried in these schools will be adopted by scores of other Maine high schools who will look for better ways of educating many of our potential dropouts. They often rationalize that they really don’t need a diploma for many types of jobs but we think they’re wrong and we should strive to prove to them that we can better prepare them in high school for their chosen career, whatever it may be.