ISLE AU HAUT — From Sunbeam steward, Jillian. “It is last winter and I’m posing with my new friend in front of the Isle au Haut school. I asked Douglas to take the photo because this snowman sculpture made by Billie Barter instantly charmed me. He made it as a gift for the school children.”
Learn more about Jillian’s work aboard the Sunbeam.
Island boy and Douglas Cornman, excited by Christmas 2019.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — Island Outreach Director and Chaplain Douglas Cornman is extra busy these days working as liaison between the Mission Christmas Program and island communities. The Christmas program provides white paper packages tied up with red string to the islands’ children and teens, as well as to island elders.
Douglas hopes to remind island communities of something else. “The Mission’s Christmas Program is meant to be more than just handing out gifts – mittens and toys for the kids, and puzzle books and lap blankets to the elders. It’s also about carrying on a century old Christmas tradition. Mission gifts symbolize our care for the folks who are really the essence of the islands,” Douglas added.
While telecommunications and modes of transportation for the islands are better than ever, Douglas points out Maine island communities “in many ways are still very isolated.” That, he says, “is why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — With the Sunbeam back in service, it’s good to see photos and read notes from the boat’s crew at work among unbridged Maine islands.
Jillian, the Sunbeam Steward, sent this photo, saying, “[Sunbeam Engineer] Storey giving Douglas and Sharon — with more flu shots — a ride onto Monhegan in the skiff last Wednesday.
“While we crew waited off shore, I made granola and cookies,” said Jillian.
Learn more about Sharon’s and Douglas’s work.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — With the Sunbeam home, crew member and Island Outreach Director/Chaplain Douglas Cornman is once again maintaining the Sunbeam schedule calendar online. As you move through the week thinking, “I wonder what the Sunbeam’s doing today?” — you can find out in an instant online:
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — It’s Thank you Thursday. Today’s shout out of Mission love goes to The Outer Islands Teaching & Learning Collaborative (TLC). The TLC is one of the many supports offered by The Island Institute, a non-profit organization based in Rockland, Maine.
The TLC brings students and teachers together from one- and two-room island schools in Maine and Massachusetts. The TLC excels at creating a virtual classroom where students meet for grade focused learning, student council meetings, weekly exercise groups, and a wide variety of super fun social events. The TLC also hosts off island field trips and provides resources for island teachers, many of whom teach in isolation of other educators.
TLC staff Robin Chernow and Yvonne Thomas and the Mission’s Director of Island Outreach and Chaplain Douglas Cornman collaborate throughout the school year to support one others’ work with students and teachers.
Thanks Robin, Yvonne, and the TLC for your unwavering, creative, and ingenious support of island kids, teachers, and communities. You’re awesome!
This is what community looks like.
On Facebook