The World According to Gillespie

A MAINE MODEL OF PUBLIC EDUCATION This column originally appeared on Wicked Local When one thinks of Maine, the image of a lobster and perhaps a moose come to mind. With the work being done at the King Middle School, however, the city of Portland may very well deserve equal attention for its progressive, inclusive efforts with regard to public education. In a city growing exponentially, the King Middle School continues to make the grade. “34% of the school is limited English proficiency,” says King Teaching Strategist, Peter Hill. Through its program of Expeditionary Learning with strong components of fieldwork and community service, King Middle requires high quality work displayed from every student and kids must also be able to engage in a meaningful conversation with an adult by the time the finish the 8 th grade. Says Hill, “They must be able to defend their work to a stranger.”   King Middle School has followed a program of Expeditionary Learning since 1992 with s

SMALL TOWN CENTER STILL MATTERS This column originally appeared on Wicked Local I was coming back from a successful dentist appointment traveling north on Route 18 on the Whitman-East Bridgewater line when I noticed a line of rush hour traffic going south that was reminiscent of the parade of cars heading to Ray Kinsella’s farm in the movie Field of Dreams .   I found it hard to believe that all of those cars could really be headed for East Bridgewater, a small agricultural town where an exciting day forty years ago meant Johnny the Farmer drove past you on his tractor.   Because East Bridgewater is my hometown and a place that I have been back to only infrequently over the past few decades, I felt that I owed it to myself to take a closer look.   Driving in past the majestic, once ivy-covered library, the buildings in East Bridgewater center were familiar, but the names of the businesses were unidentifiable for the most part.   In some cases businesses were sadly vacant.