by Bill Zoellick and Sarah Hooper
Last week was pretty quiet. We did some work with the Sumner High School Pathways students to get their reflections on all the clam processing work we did together and to get their ideas about things we need to focus on next in the clam project. Also, the two of us spent some productive hours designing lessons that we hope will stimulate good conversations among middle school students about what it means to take a data “sample” and about the kinds of things that samples can help you understand — and what they really cannot help you do. Getting students thinking about these questions is part of helping them develop data literacy.
We also want to use this Thanksgiving Week edition of our newsletter to make folks aware that on November 7, Robert Hill, a local clam fisherman, drowned while canoeing over to a clam flat. The Gouldsboro shellfish committee is a small group of men and women who know each other well and depend on each other. Robert was one of the key members of the Gouldsboro clam fishing community. A young man, he was also one of the core participants in the shellfish conservation work that makes Gouldsboro’s clam fishing community so visible and notable. Robert was a hard worker and was someone we all could count on to be there when there was work to be done.
Robert leaves behind a wife and six children. He was also the anchor, the “go to” person, in a large extended family. If you step back to take a big view of the work that Schoodic Institute, the Town of Gouldsboro, and Regional School District 24 are doing together, that work is about “community.” Robert was an important member of our community.
The Gouldsboro Shellfish Committee and the Schoodic Institute have worked with Bar Harbor Bank and Trust to set up the “Robert Hill Memorial Fund.” If you would like to make a contribution, send it to:
Robert Hill Memorial Fund
Bar Harbor Bank and Trust
Winter Harbor, ME 04693-0159
Thank you. And we hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving. When we look at where we live, the people we work with, and the work we get to do, we are very grateful.