OTISFIELD, MAINE | Students and instructors from the Tri-County Technical Center in Dexter, Maine, applied the skills they study in the real world by relocating their workshop to the Seeds of Peace Camp for three days.
The 13 students also had the opportunity to experience Seeds of Peace’s leadership training and dialogue program.
The June 10-12 program was the first step towards establishing a partnership between Seeds of Peace and Maine’s network of 27 technical and career high schools.
Students worked on plumbing, repairing dining room furniture, and replacing buckled floor panels.
They also replaced the iconic main Camp gate—a major and much needed project. The undertaking required heavy equipment and skillful craftsmanship to replace the large beams supporting the archway and to refinish the metal gate.
During the evenings, the group received the full Seeds of Peace experience: warm-up activities, Ga-ga, campfires, and dialogue sessions facilitated by nine Maine Seeds tackling issues in their schools, homes, and communities.
“I could talk about personal things that happened in my life that I had never talked about before,” said one participant of the dialogue sessions.
“I loved not being judged,” said another. “I could be myself.”