Lincoln Academy residential students enjoy a Thanksgiving feast at Camp Kieve on Wednesday, Nov. 22.
For the fourth year in a row, the residential community at Lincoln Academy in Newcastle enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in the Pasquaney Dining Hall at Camp Kieve in Nobleboro on Wednesday, Nov. 22. About 75 students, teachers, and family members enjoyed a feast prepared by the Kieve kitchen staff.
Thanks to the large open dining hall at the camp facility, the meal at Kieve offers the chance for Lincoln Academy’s boarding community to share a traditional Thanksgiving meal as a community. Franziska Scholz, a junior from Emden, Germany, observed, “I really liked (the Thanksgiving meal) because it was a family dinner and everyone was together. It felt like a family and the food was really good.”
In addition to this annual Thanksgiving feast, Kieve-Wavus Education Inc. and Lincoln Academy collaborate in other ways to enrich the education of local and boarding students alike. LA students have enjoyed excursions on Kieve’s 42-foot lobster-style boat the Snowgoose III, have taken on adventure and ropes course challenges, and have enjoyed kayaking and canoeing on Kieve-Wavus facilities on the ocean and Damariscotta Lake. Kieve-Wavus and LA share a continuing partnership through the KW Leads program through which LA benefits from a Kieve-Wavus Educator in Residence, who will serve on the LA campus (for the second year in a row) during the spring of 2018.
Lincoln Academy Director of Resident Life Ken Stevenson is particularly grateful to Kieve-Wavus for the Thanksgiving experience. “Thanksgiving is such an important American tradition, and for some of our international kids, this is their first experience with this holiday,” he said. “To be able to enjoy the meal as a large group in such a beautiful setting is a real gift, and Kieve continues to provide this to us year after year. We have built a true tradition of our own with this LA feast at Kieve.”
Mark Ma, a senior from Shanghai, China, especially enjoyed the dining hall at Camp Kieve. He described the camp setting as “a unique yet surprisingly friendly community that sparks joy and laughter.”
Arnauld Hirwa, a sophomore from Kigali City, Rwanda, said, “It was nice! It was good food and I socialized!”
Kieve-Wavus is a nonprofit organization with two campuses located on Damariscotta Lake in Nobleboro and Jefferson. Founded in 1926, Kieve’s programs include Kieve Camp for Boys, Wavus Camp for Girls, The Leadership School for Maine schoolchildren, and the Educators in Residence Program in the winter months, with teachers embedded in schools around the state.
In addition, Kieve just hosted its 15th annual 9/11 Family Camp, has year-round camps for deployed veterans and their families, and has two wonderful facilities for meeting and conferences, The Kennedy Learning Center at Kieve and The Jewell Lodge at Wavus.
Lincoln Academy serves 570 students in grades nine through 12 — approximately 480 local day students and 80 boarders from 19 countries including the U.S. The boarding students live in two dorms on the Lincoln Academy campus. These dorms stayed open over Thanksgiving vacation so students could remain on campus. The school is currently seeking homestay families for upcoming vacations in December, February, and April. For more information about the vacation homestay program, contact Sarah Kennedy at kennedy@lincolnacademy.org.
“It was great to have the LA staff and students back once again this year,” said Kieve-Wavus Director of Education and Operations Charlie Richardson. “We look forward to continuing our growing partnership with LA.”
