The Outdoor Insider
MAINE OUTDOOR SCHOOL'S QUARTERLY E-NEWSLETTER
Woods & Wetlands Campers with Bangor Land Trust.
The Outdoor Insider Archive
- November 2026
- July 2026
- April 2026
- January 2026
- October 2025
- July 2025
- April 2025
- January 2025
- October 2024
- August 2024
- May 2024
- January 2024
- October 2023
- July 2023
- April 2023
- January 2023
- October 2022
- July 2022
- April 2022
- January 2022
- October 2021
- July 2021
- April 2021
- January 2021
- October 2020
- July 2020
- April 2020
- January 2020
- October 2019
- July 2019
- April 2019
- January 2019
- October 2018
ISSUE #40
October 2026
My daughter went into the week very skeptical and not super excited but when I picked her up after the first day she excitedly said to me “Mom I HAD SO MUCH FUN!” By the end she was able to tell me quite a few new things that she learned and she can’t wait to do it again!
-Parent of Woods and Wetlands camper, August 2026
Tracks:
How did MOS leave its mark this quarter?
Campers applying their birding skills at Bird Camp with Downeast Audubon & Birdsacre
O.W.L. (Outdoor Women Lead) Canoe outing at Spring River Lake
Summit for a Cause participants ascending Katahdin with Women for Healthy Rural Living
Campers at Watershed Camp with Maine Coast Heritage Trust preparing to launch
Connected with curious families for our fourth year of Riverside Family Scientists with Frenchman Bay Conservancy and Ellsworth Public Library.
Had a full summer of day camps, including Camp Sorrento (with Frenchman Bay Conservancy and Sorrento VIA), Bird Camp (with Downeast Audubon and Birdsacre), Watershed Camp (with Maine Coast Heritage Trust), and Woods & Wetlands Camp (with Bangor Land Trust).
Led O.W.L. (Outdoor Women Lead) Outings including: Entomology 101 at Milbridge Commons, Crepuscular Crawl in Gouldsboro, and Canoeing Spring River Lake.
Spent weekends at the Land & Garden Preserve on MDI connecting with visitors about the local ecology.
Taught Summer School programs for RSU 24, AOS 91 at Trenton Elementary, and Ellsworth Elementary Middle School.
Guided the fifth annual Summit for a Cause hike up Katahdin for Women for Healthy Rural Living.
Marveled at the wonders of the night sky with guests at Terramor and Lantern Camp.
Tabled at the Maine Outdoor Film Festival coordinated by Heart of Ellsworth, and the annual Homeschool Fair at Woodlawn Museum.
Started the school year providing custom, outdoor, standards-aligned program series at 15 schools!
Check out the “MOS in the News” page to see where we’ve shown up in the press!
Community Commendations:
This quarter’s Community Commendation goes to Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School!
We are excited to partner with Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School (DISES) for the first time to provide weekly programming for six of their grades from the fall through the spring. DISES principal Caitlin Snyder reached out to us over the summer to see whether we could help them incorporate more outdoor learning into their routines. DISES has already worked with Island Heritage Trust for many years doing environmental education, but Caitlin recognized the value of even more outdoor school! We’re happy to be complementing their work and getting Deer-Isle Stonington children even more engaged with nature.
Biomimicry:
Despite their reputation for being a staple of the New England diet and landscape, apple trees are actually native to what is now Kazakhstan at about the same latitude as Bangor, Maine. Europeans on fishing boats prior to local colonization had been taking along apples for the ride and throwing their seed-filled cores overboard and it wasn’t long before the apples began to take root in the new world.
But what also crops up in history are groups of people wanting to make change. One particular group came together to promote Maine fruit and flowers, including apples, and began cataloging and learning more about them. Apple exhibits started to occur in many parts of the country, and people quickly realized that the Maine varieties were particularly hardy. As the appreciation and care of apple trees began to spread again, so too did our uses of apples. From cider and pie to molasses and vinegar, just about everyone with a farm had an apple orchard to provide this diversity of food that could last most of the year.
Apple trees have persisted across the landscape even when the barns of yesterday have crumbled and so much of the farmland has become overtaken by forest.
What part of your local landscape do you want to see persist through generations? And what can you do to ensure that?
This edition of Biomimicry is an adaptation of an episode of The Nature of Phenology, a radio show that MOS Co-Founders produced weekly for WERU-FM from 2018-2024. You can read or listen to entire past episodes here.
Resilience Tip:
According to chromotherapy, the autumnal tones of red, orange, and brown have a comforting effect on the mind.
Learn more about the additional benefits of the fall foliage season here.
What's Upstream:
Drop in to our Creepy, Crawly, & Curious Family program at Milbridge Elementary School on Saturday, October 24th from 1-3 p.m.
Refresh your navigation skills with a map and compass workshop with WHRL on October 25th from 1- 3 p.m (register here).
Attend an upcoming O.W.L. (Outdoor Women Lead) Outing: Bogs, Moss, and Lichen at Boot Head Preserve in Lubec on 11/7 (register here), and Nature’s Gifts at Ingersoll Point in Addison on 12/12 (registration opens after 11/7).
Expect more fall school programming, including weekly sessions and field trips to local trails and preserves.
Stay tuned for more information on upcoming homeschool programs with Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
Reach out to get outside with us! We work with families, schools, and organizations and customize experiences just for you!
