SeDoMoCha eighth graders tour Dover-Foxcroft dams

DOVER-FOXCROFT — SeDoMoCha Middle School eighth graders had the opportunity to see some of what they have been learning applied in the real world with a field trip to three dam sites across town.

The students visited Browns Mill, the Mayo Mill Dam and Kiwanis Park during the morning of May 29 as part of an integrated unit between English/Language Arts, math, science and social studies classes. 

Science teacher Jonathan Dumont said on the Browns Mill property the day of the visits that the grade 8 teachers were asked to create a curriculum that spanned each class. 

“We decided to focus on the dams and other power generation in Maine and its impact on the environment, the economy, towns, populations, things like that,” he said. 

Each teacher tailored to their subjects with Dumont’s classes focusing on the engineering side of renewable energy.

They taught the dam unit over 26 class days and helped meet some of the required standards.

“Our math teacher (Joseph Manuel) has been doing some math standards to do with data generated from renewable resources,” Dumont said. “Dan Baker, our history teacher, is doing a breakdown of our major rivers in Maine and all of the dams on those rivers and the impact on the towns and economy of the towns along those rivers.”

ELA teacher Gabriellle Jolin’s classes are looking at an environmentalist and naturalist take, including the works of Henry David Thoreau.

Browns Mill is the best place to see the nuts and bolts of hydroelectricity, Dumont said. 

At the Mayo Mill Dam students learned about why the structure is no longer functional and needs to be removed. At Kiwanis Park, Appalachian Mountain Club representatives talked about the impact of small dams on ecosystems and members of the Dover-Foxcroft Kiwanis discussed creating the green space and maintaining it.

“It’s a good opportunity to get the kids out and see what the dams in our area actually look like and try to connect to each of those content areas just a little bit,” Dumont said. “Also it’s just a fun half day, it’s good to get kids out of the building.”

“The idea was to increase engagement,” he said, with the school year nearing an end. “It’s a nice way to end the year with higher engagement and something we all thought was going to be interesting for the kids.”

 Eighth graders brought clipboards and were asked to identify three takeaways from each site. 

Kruger Energy’s Tony Bavelaar and Brian Gormley led tours of the Browns Mill property along the Piscataquis River.

“What this place produces, it goes out onto the grid,” Gormley said. There is no way to tell specifically where the electricity goes, he said.

He compared the Central Maine Power grid to a battery with energy consumers all drawing off it, but facilities such as Browns Mill are putting power back into the system rather than just drawing off it.

Bavelaar showed students the dam itself spanning the waterway and explaining where water used to generate power goes and how fish are able to get through. The site has been creating electricity for around a century, he said.

Despite a closure with ongoing construction, students cut through the work site to reach the nearby Essex Street bridge for another view of the dam. 

Nearly a year ago Dover-Foxcroft residents overwhelmingly voted not to invest millions to repair the Mayo Mill Dam.

Eighth graders learned about the history of the dam leading up to the vote and the plans for the future during a presentation upstairs at the adjacent The Mill complex.

At Kiwanis Park, students played a Choose Your Own Adventure-style game following the life of an Atlantic salmon. The Appalachian Mountain Club also explained some of the Wabanaki cultural connections to rivers. 

Kiwanis members talked about the park and work to create and maintain the green space.