GSB Students Investigate

Introduction by LCN Editor Maia Zewert

We are pleased to announce the return of “GSB Students Investigate,” a collaboration between The Lincoln County News and Great Salt Bay Community School teacher Kelly Girard.

The program began during the 2017-2018 school year, when Girard’s eighth grade students were starting a unit about investigative journalism. Girard invited me to come present to her classes about journalism and our work at The Lincoln County News. We then invited the students to visit LCN during a production morning so they could see the newspaper press in action. We also printed a collection of the articles the students produced for the unit, much to our readers’ delight.

The program went on hiatus after the 2022-2023 school year, as Girard moved to teaching sixth graders. However, both she and I missed the program so much, we decided to bring it back with some adjustments.

As anticipated, the students rose to the challenge, producing insightful articles that shed light on causes that concern them. Beyond some small edits for consistency and style, the articles are largely untouched to preserve the voice of the young journalists.

Our thanks to Girard for restarting the project, her students for their curiosity and creativity, and to GSB for supporting this collaboration.

Engaging the next generation of readers is a major focus of The Lincoln County News. If there are any other teachers out there who would like to arrange a field trip to the newspaper or have someone from the LCN come speak to your class, give us a call at 563-3171 or email mzewert@lcnme.com and we’ll do our best to accommodate the request.

 What does the future hold for oyster farming in Lincoln County? 

By Jacob Martin 

The Damariscotta River is known as the “Napa Valley of Oysters” because of its perfect conditions for oysters to grow. The fact that 80% of Maine’s oysters are being harvested in the river is mind blowing. With climate change and the rapid growth of the industry, who knows where it’s going to be in the coming years.

Growing oysters starts by putting the young oyster, known as a spat, into floating bags or cages so larger predators can’t eat them. As they grow and get bigger, throughout their life, the farmer will have to progressively move them into bigger cages. This process could take from 18 to 24 months, but in the Damariscotta River the oysters are known to grow faster than most places around the world because of the plankton and algae levels, the right mix of fresh and saltwater, and being a tidal river it is constantly circulating oxygen and nutrients for the oysters.

Because of climate change, the warming waters in the river can also be negative to the oysters because of the sea squirts and biofouling, which is the unwanted accumulation of bacteria. The sea squirts and biofouling can make the cages very heavy, and can block water flow to the oysters starving them from food and oxygen.

According to Chip Holmes from Damariscotta River Cruises, it all started when a group of locals halfway down the Damariscotta River were experimenting with European oysters about 50 years ago. Just as they were figuring it out, one of Maine’s ferocious winters hit and froze all of the oysters.

Ten years later, a couple of graduates from the Darling Marine Center, the University of Maine’s laboratory in Walpole and a premier field station for research, headed out on the river and started to farm different types of shellfish. That one farm has turned into 12 oyster companies producing 80% of the state’s oysters.

In the past five to 10 years, the industry has been growing at a rapid speed. As stated by Suzanne Rourke, the assistant plant manager at Mook Sea Farm, “Oyster farming has grown in recent years primarily due to the support system of surrounding farmers and community based training programs. Unlike lobstering, the barriers for entering the oyster farming industry are lower. This means a lot of farmers benefit from outside assistance.”

Right now, the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the world’s oceans. The change in temperature is not only increasing the speed of oysters growth but is increasing the growth of biofouling in the water. Due to climate change, the calcium carbonate in the water is declining which makes it a lot harder for the oysters to grow their protective shell.

“Farmers are mitigating the effects of climate change by switching to solar energy which can take the form of electric work boats, solar powered tumblers, and barges,” Rourke said.

Even with challenges of climate change, the oyster farming industry is improving our community a great amount, opening job opportunities, attracting young college students, creating a tourism hotspot, and putting money back into our community.

Overall, the future for the oyster farming industry in Lincoln County looks very promising.

“With the educational infrastructure currently in place, valuable knowledge and training is available for local oyster farmers,” Rourke said. “I was at an aquaculture conference recently and it was remarked upon how willing oyster farmers were to trade information and offer help, that really meant something to me.”

So, what does the future hold for oyster farming in our community? Climate change is very unpredictable and will continue to be a problem. But with the improving technology, and local farmers’ willingness to share information with each other, the industry will grow and get stronger, and our community will continue to benefit and thrive.

“There is a lot for oyster farming in the future, and everyone is excited to see what happens next,” Rourke said.

Great Salt Bay middle schoolers should have more physical education

By Joseph Osier 

Great Salt Bay Community School, an elementary and middle school in Damariscotta, decided this year to cut middle school students’ physical education time down to 45 minutes a week. According to the Society of Health and Physical Educators, middle school students should receive 225 minutes a week, or 45 minutes a day, of physical education.

As you get older, your need for physical activity increases. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants only need 30 minutes of physical activity a day and middle school aged students need 60 or more minutes of physical activity each day. At least three of those days should be muscle and bone strengthening activities like walking, running, dancing, lifting weights, pushups, and squats.

Even though this is the recommendation, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that only 25% of kids get a healthy amount of movement.

According to GSB middle school physical education teacher Erin Michaud, “Physical education in middle schoolers builds students’ willingness to try new things and improves their social development.”

She also said that movement creates more focused learners throughout the school day. Last year middle school students had a total of 90 minutes of physical education time per week, with 85 of those minutes including movement. This year at GSB, that time decreased to only 45 minutes of physical education per week, with 25 of those minutes including movement.

GSB students do get 25 minutes of recess time each day, but they can’t always go outside because of bad weather.

According to Sarah Paur, a Sanford Health Pediatric Nurse, middle school students should have at least 60 minutes of physical activity that increases their heart rate and encourages socialization every day. This physical activity helps students to handle stress, strengthen bones and joints, provides energy, reduces body fat, increases concentration, and can help improve self-confidence and self-esteem.

Without enough physical activity students can become stressed, weaker, and more tired.

GSB Athletic Director Kim Lane said students should be having physical education at least three times a week but they only have it once a week. Darcy Dakin, the principal of GSB, said that the 45 minute “experiential learning” block is meant to count as movement time. Experiential learning can consist of being outside, going on walks with Hearty Roots and participating in theater with Teralyn Reiter.

One issue that GSB has is that the gymnasium is not available for middle school physical education due to the elementary students using the space for their PE class. One suggestion that could eliminate space concerns is combining the smaller elementary classes. Another suggestion is offering winter sport activities outside for middle school students, such as snowshoeing or cross-country skiing. This option does not require any gym space.

In conclusion, GSB middle school students should have more physical education time. Experts recommend more movement for kids, and there are real benefits for their bodies and minds. With more physical education, students would be healthier, more focused, and more confident.

The impacts roads have on animals and their habitats in Maine

By River Snyder

Maine’s ecosystem is in a delicate balance; its habitats are thriving, but like all environments a small change could send it into disrepair. Could roads tip the balance? More than a million animals are hit by cars each day, but it isn’t just car crashes that influence the harsh lives animals lead, who choose to dwell along the roadside.

Roads affect habitats in many different ways and can greatly impact environments. Roads can fragment and bisect habitats, preventing the movement of animals and isolating populations.

Noah Charney, the assistant professor of conservation biology at the University of Maine, said that building roads creates an opening or a forest edge, which causes things like changes in moisture, increased sunlight, noise, increased predators, and the spread of invasive species can extend hundreds of meters disrupting interior forest species.

Light and noise pollution affects the behavior of wildlife, which can lead to habitat degradation and drive animals from their home. Roadway mortality has been shown to have the potential to drive some local populations extinct, particularly for species that migrate seasonally for breeding like pond breeding amphibians.

The roadway will also bring chemicals from construction, from tires breaking down, and road salt; leaching into waterways hundreds of meters from the road, altering water quality, and eventually leading to making a habitat uninhabitable for native species. Roadways also disrupt water flow, with water often pooling at the roadside.

One solution for these problems is wildlife crossings that connect habitats split by roads, letting animals cross through overpasses or underpasses usually paired with fencing. In places like Parley’s Wildlife Overpass, crossings with fencing have reduced collisions by an average of 80%.

There is one problem though – building wildlife crossings costs a lot. But tunnels don’t work as well without fencing to guide the animals; and fencing without tunnels prevents seasonal movements. These mitigation efforts have mostly been designed for deer and other large mammals that can be deadly to drivers who hit them. Building a wildlife corridor can cost millions of dollars.

So that raises the question: is there a solution that is cheaper and just as effective? According to David Paulson, the supervisor of the wildlife and endangered species unit at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the first step to wildlife safety is driver awareness and staying alert on the road especially this time of year when the conditions make visibility low and harder. Clearing trees and other plants from the roadside can help vision the overall safety of drivers along with minimizing salt usage in winter, making roads narrower, and the shoulder vegetation more natural.

Eighty-one percent out of 11 people surveyed in Lincoln County had hit an animal recently. This is concerning to the future of Maine as it has a diverse ecosystem and many rare or endangered species.

Maine’s waterways are full of life and contain many animals that could be harmed by pollutants and salt that runoff the roads. The Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder for example could be in potential danger as salt and chemicals runoff. Maine’s abundance of larger animals, like moose and deer, can cause serious crashes, injuries, and property damage.

This makes us question what the future holds for the amazing wildlife of Maine.

Should there be a limit to the size of cross country teams?

By Garrett Scribner

Pow! The starting gun fires, the runners pound their shoes into the soft turf, they jostle each other hoping to reach the front of the pack. Some fall and become trampled by the crowd. Others trip over the fallen bodies. It raises the question, are these cross country teams too big?

Some northern schools in Maine already have a limited number of people on their team. However, in the southern counties none of the teams have a maximum limit and many students want something new.

At Great Salt Bay Community School, the majority of students want a change. Twelve out of 18 fifth through eighth graders who filled out a survey gave a valid answer that yes there should be a new limit of runners.

Cross country runner, Bodhi Apczynski, 12, said in his interview that having no limit gives some other teams an unfair advantage. He also mentions that the limit should be 30 people per team. Others, such as 12-year-old River Snyder, think the limit should be smaller, like 15-20 people, but, just in case there should be a backup squad if any runners report sick or injured.

Some colleges put their own limit on their cross country teams while others use the limit provided by their own district, but most have their own limit.

One of the high schools in Lincoln County, Lincoln Academy, currently has no limit on their cross country team, and it will probably remain that way for a very long time. A survey, taken to decide the cross country rules, resulted in 427 out of 570 people at Lincoln Academy expressing that they are fine with the way it is and do not want the cross country team to have a limit; they want everyone to be included.

All the eighth graders on the GSB cross country team going into Lincoln Academy from GSB this year want to have a chance to make it onto the team, and don’t want a limit to get in their way on their path to becoming great runners.

Former Wiscasset runner Gus Bezon, 11, agreed with runners Apczynski and Snyder, but expanded on the idea, saying that every team should have the same limit, and that limit should be 20. Eleven-year-old Belfast runner Ephraim Coffey and Lincolnville runner Soren Harter-Ives, who have both run cross country for one year, both think that the teams are far too big and should be capped at 25-35 people per team.

Olivia Richmond, who coaches the GSB cross country team along with Sarah Richards, said “I think there should be a limit at the middle school level. The only hindrance would be that some schools would have to make cuts, which sort of goes against the philosophy of the XC team.”

Richmond has been teaching cross country for one season, after taking the place of Coach Russ due to his well-earned retirement.

“At the middle school level, I would cap it at 40,” Richmond said. “This would give a bit more breathing room to teams who have historically had big teams.”

In Maine, there has never been a limit to the maximum size of cross country teams. It is not even in the official cross country rulebook. Many people in Lincoln County are ready for a modification to the rulebook. Maybe 2026 could be the year it all changes.

Should the Lincoln County roundabout have been built?

By Paton Grant

A new roundabout was built in Lincoln County and opinions are scattered for Mainers. The construction started on May 26, 2025, with hopes to reduce accident injuries and crashes. Does the roundabout actually improve traffic flow?

The construction of the roundabout took place at the intersection of Route 1 and Belvedere Road in Damariscotta, taking nearly eight months to complete. The roundabout was built because the area had a high crash rate. From 2016-2020, 19 crashes had occurred at that intersection.

Are roundabouts the safest option? This area, before the construction, was a four way intersection with a high crash rate making it very dangerous. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, roundabouts limit collisions by 39% and are proven to reduce crash severity by 75%.

Martin Rooney, a senior project manager for the Maine Department of Transportation, said the roundabout is mostly about safety rather than the flow of traffic. Traffic lights have a higher chance of collision due to abrupt stops and starts. Roundabouts create a safer drive through the area, by lowering the speeds and creating a smooth drive without having to stop.

All of this positive talk does not totally mean the roundabout is safe. A good number of local Mainers say that the roundabout is causing a negative impact because of tight fits for longer vehicles, unsafeness of cars coming through, and the inability to see oncoming traffic due to the trees planted in the center of the roundabout.

Is 19 crashes in five years really that terrible? That doesn’t seem to be enough to build a roundabout.

Roundabouts can also become very dangerous if drivers use wrong lanes and are speeding. There is a 12% increase in minor collisions, which challenges the “less number of crashes.”

Was it really worth the amount of money? What happens if an accident happens, where will fire trucks and ambulances park? The MDOT safety office said they would do some research for the Damariscotta Fire Department, into what global fire departments do for this situation.

Surveys from the Great Salt Bay Community School staff indicate people like the change, with 29 of 32 of people liking the roundabout. However, half of the staff said it created a negative challenge for them. There were a variety of answers from GSB, but most answers imply the roundabout is beneficial.

Most of the opinions of people and straight up facts show that the roundabout was beneficial to build, though lots of opinions do argue. Hopefully this roundabout is reducing the amount of crashes so local Mainers can stay safe. Be aware of traffic and be careful on the roads.

Social media and technology changing students’ lives

By Haley Hollingsworth

Technology and social media have helped students learn, it’s become more efficient. In 2025, AI was evolving, going into schools for students to use around the world, and changing lots of things for the younger generation.

Nick Pascalella, a media teacher at Great Salt Bay Community School in Maine, said “It was restricted and you couldn’t use it, and now anybody can use it and you can connect with it, use it to stay in touch with family and friends. The choices on what you can do have become greater.

“You can do incredible things with technology,” Pascalella continued. “Sometimes it is better depending on the subject of the class, but there’s a lot less distraction without it. There are pros and cons overall. I would say it made teaching easier.”

Over two billion people around the world have used social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc. in their daily lives. Schools have started using more technology helping the teachers instruct, and grade. It keeps students engaged in learning, helps interact with people.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people had social media as a connection to people, helping them talk without being in person. Letting individuals post videos and pictures for people to see and like. In the human brain we get a “happy hormone” like dopamine. Dopamine is like a reword system in a part of the brain called the ventral striatum. Still, too much can lead to health problems like anxiety.

Technology is great but it comes with challenges, with students having a problem focusing more on games instead of school work or privacy and security problems. You can become too dependent on tech.

“I think social media is becoming a problem because people are getting created versions of life built to be addicting,” Pascalella said. “People are spending more and more time on it. You have to be more careful to protect stuff, I know for me if I was bored for 30 seconds I would pull out my phone and start using Instagram or Facebook. But sometimes it’s just good to be bored.”

On the other hand, Bristol Brewer, a student at Great Salt Bay, thinks social media is a good thing.

“If you’re doing an essay you can look up something easily then looking for books in a library, it helps people work on things that you might not know yet they don’t know yet,” Brewer said.

Technology has made so many things better for people, but it can become a problem. So you should enjoy it but also be careful not to use it too much and to get outside and play every once and a while.

Climate change affecting you and your community

By Gus Bezon

Climate change is a growing problem all around the world and even if you don’t know exactly how, it probably affects you in some way. It warms up about 0.6 degrees every year, and although you don’t realize it and it doesn’t seem too harmful, it can have a strobing affect on the northern climates that we think of as being invincible.

Every time that you throw away something compostable it adds a very small amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, that and many other simple things come together to form the greenhouse effect.

There are 8.2 billion people that are responsible for global warming in some way or another. Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases, which makes some of the heat produced by the sun stay within the atmosphere, therefore warming the climate.

Even if it doesn’t seem like it all around the world, global warming is taking place bullying our fragile planet, all the time. Every single year, every single month, every day, this happens and at the same time the audacious beast we call climate change is ravaging our innocent planet, as it screams for help and no one listens.

Climate change, global warming, whatever you want to call it, is eating us from the inside out, whether we’re willing to accept it or not. With warming temps comes animals in danger, the heaviest concentration of great white sharks used to be in Massachusetts, but as the climate change warms the ocean temps those great white sharks and other marine animals will migrate north, this sort of thing is taking effect all over the world and it can severely hurt economies, such as coastal Maine.

When the director of fleet and facilities at Outward Bound, a school that helps kids and teens get outside, Andrew Bezon, was interviewed on the topic of climate change he said, “I think global warming will get better in the next 50 years.”

When asked if global warming affected him at all in his daily life, Bezon said, “Some of the big unpredictable weather patterns caused by global warming severely damaged a large part of the pier where I work, so I had to rebuild it.”

Then he was interviewed on a different topic; if it affected the community, and if so how.

“Well, when the Renys parking lot was flooded, that affected the community,” Bezon said.

Sal Azzaretti, a sixth grade teacher at Great Salt Bay Community School, was interviewed on those three topics.

“No I don’t think global warming will get better in the next 50 years,” Azzaretti said. “Floods in recent years have really hurt some local one stop shopping businesses, like Renys.”

Some scientists say that climate change will be irreversible by the year 2030 and that there are millions of endangered species with almost no hope. The way this can take effect on small communities is devastating, it makes it harder to oyster farm, it makes it harder to lobster, and fish, and hunt, and all that other stuff that we take for granted that is a pleasure of having a stable climate.

Caribou was named that because a long time ago, when the climate was more predictable, caribou roamed all over, but not anymore. We humans had to ruin it, just like we do everything else.

Don’t be afraid, we can still save our home and throw our planet a life preserver. Don’t kick a man while he is down, get up off your couch and start doing something to help our hurt planet.

How much recess time should middle schoolers get in Lincoln County?

By Charles Lane

You may think recess is just a little time to go and play with your friends outside, but it’s more than just that. Scientific studies have shown that the more exercise kids get the more they pay attention to anything. But lots of teachers think that the more work we do will teach us more and have us getting more engaged. Really, the less time we get to just play around and get some exercise, we will most likely just zone out and not want to be doing anything. This is happening to a lot of middle schoolers in Lincoln County, and this is going on right now at our own school and lots of others.

Erin Michaud, a physical education teacher at Great Salt Bay, believes kids are not getting enough exercise because they are not getting enough recess time.

“When they do get recess time, it takes them a minute to get ready and they get dismissed from recess a little early so they can get inside and get changed for their next class,” Michaud said.

Oftentimes, kids aren’t even getting the full recess time.

“(Students) should be getting 225 minutes of exercise a week but really they’re getting closer to 135 minutes of exercise a week and that’s a problem because most kids, when they get home, are just going to play on their phone,” Michaud said.

Kami Peaslee, the assistant principal at Great Salt Bay Community School, said, “Some kids do need more than what we give and that’s OK, but we also need to be aware that we only have seven hours of school a day so if we’re giving them too much time there is not enough time for them to get all of their classes.”

In interviewing multiple students at GSB, nine out of 10 kids thought that middle schoolers should get more recess time.  This isn’t surprising, as recess helps shape your mind and how to interact and play with other kids that you don’t know. These are lifelong skills that are being developed at recess.

Recess also frees kids’ minds and lets them think of whatever.  Kids can get all of their energy out so when they come back they are ready and mentally focused for their next class.

Recess helps kids bond with other classmates and with other teachers that are out watching them. Recess also helps kids relax and lets them go stress free for a little bit.  This is especially helpful on days when kids have had to be inside studying for tests and assessments, as this can be stressful for middle schoolers. If kids don’t get enough recess time there very likely could be a decline in grades and behaviors at school.

Overall, more recess time is favored by kids and some educators. Although recess feels like just a fun time for kids to goof off it is a really important part of their day as it helps students refocus for the rest of their day.  Having time for kids to hang out outside and not think about school work ultimately helps kids be better students. Kids need this important break in the day.

More recess in schools will be a good thing.

Should kids have more PE time?

By Louisa Wood

Should kids in grades 5-8 grade have more PE classes?

Most studies show that kids in this age range should have at least one hour of physical activity per day, although at Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta, they only have one 45-minute class each week.

Many people in middle school also don’t exercise enough, according to the American Heart Association. Many kids also complain about boring activities and not enough actual movement in the one class we do have.

A student named Lauren Michaud agreed that we should have a longer class that is at least two days a week and better activities including capture the flag, tag, and other simple and fun games.

The reason they changed the school schedule is so students could have a new class called experiential, which is supposed to be hands-on activities like going on hikes or doing science experiments.

However, at times there is no active plan for experiential and students either have time to complete work or have “free time,” where they can draw, read and do work; this could be a good time for going outside to play kickball or four square. The schedule from last year (2024-2025) used to have two “specials” (music, library, art, etc.) a day, one day a week, and the rest of the days there would have one. This let students have more specials and two PE classes a week, which a lot of people enjoyed.

Some studies, such as one done by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, have shown that breaks for physical activity lead to better academic performance and grades, particularly in reading and math. It also can help students feel happier and less likely to be full of energy during class. It is also shown to improve memory and attention spans. Exercise is also just great for kids because they are growing and need ample activity to grow bone and muscle.

More PE time can also make schedules more crammed and leave teachers with less time to teach. Some kids also don’t enjoy PE as much as others or certain activities. Michaud suggested GSB should have more “crowd pleasers” as activities like capture the flag, battleship, tag, or variations of tag, and four square, which is a favorite of many students. PE teachers also might not have time to teach other grades or classes.

Overall, most students agree that we should have more PE time but some disagree, it is a tricky topic that requires a lot of scheduling and opinions from students and their teachers. Most health organizations agree that kids should get more exercise, but some children don’t require as much activity as others.

Is it a good idea to have less physical education time?

By Matthew Hackett

Many middle schools are considering cutting time from physical education, which has already happened at Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta. Why? This is because schools are thinking about more classroom education and budget cuts. That means less physical education.

At GSB there was a student survey about whether students should have more or less PE time. There were 42 responses – 74% voted for more PE time, 16.7% said maybe to more PE time, and the other 11.9% said no to more PE time.

The students might want less because they don’t want PE or so they can catch up on homework. If educators could send out a survey for kids around the U.S. maybe they could get more kids’ opinions on PE time.

Some research shows that kids could benefit from PE in other classes. Children would be able to focus more and test scores could benefit from PE. If you have kids that don’t have enough movement then they might get distracted by all their energy and excitement inside them bursting to get out.

Physical education teacher Erin Michaud said that students don’t get enough PE time and that the recommended PE time is 225 minutes per week. Middle schoolers at GSB get 45 minutes a week.

Michaud said if she could, she would try to schedule two classes a week for 45 minutes so students can get 90 minutes instead of 45 minutes. Michaud also explained that after transitions, classes are left with less time than scheduled. That’s not enough time for students to be active.

Michaud conveyed that as a teacher she feels discouraged and as a mom, she feels disappointed. She expressed that there’s experiential where kids can go outside and play but it’s not the same because kids aren’t learning skills, but using skills from the past they’ve learned.

Michaud wants the recommended 225 minutes a week of PE for her students, because it’s about learning skills and having the athleticism for life and sports while also staying active and healthy.

If schools get rid of PE what will happen to the teachers of PE? Will they lose their jobs or have to teach an alternative curriculum?

Schools started introducing PE in the early 1820s. A German man named Charles Beck was the first PE teacher in the USA. Why should people change to no PE? It’s been around for more than 200 years. Having PE is basically a tradition – there’s no reason to change to no PE.

Staying fit is what you should be trying to do, if you’re not fit that could lead to health problems. Childhood obesity is getting worse in the U.S., as more than 14 million kids are considered obese. If you stay fit and do active things like PE, sports, and more you will gain athleticism and be stronger and healthier.

Kids’ health has gotten worse over the past two years. If these kids had more time in PE they might be in shape and learn to stay in shape as they get older.