About us

Originally a project designed by Seeds of Peace member Cole Butler, Education Reform in Maine has developed into a cooperative project between students in Maine’s schools to reform education in Maine for the better. Education in the 21st century should prioritize communal factors and their effects on the information students retain, such as poverty and the personal lives they go home to. Beyond this, classrooms should engage both students and teachers alike in order to compose a fully structured learning environment. Education Reform in Maine is different because it introduces a unique catalyst to this reaction of change – the perceptions of students themselves.

Why take advice from anyone except those who are most effected? As students, we can identify the heart of the problems, why we are disengaged in classrooms, why we dropout, why we failed this class, or did not complete that homework assignment, and most importantly, we can explain how to resolve these issues.

From here, we will collaborate with teachers, state officials, and the like to sculpt a new classroom structure – one that does not just accommodate the requirements of one student, but of the community of students in the class. Once education politics and classrooms emphasize community, communication, and collaboration, only then will Maine schools enter the era of 21st century learning.

Students are anxious to learn, and anxious to make a difference. We have the tools at our disposal, and we intend on using them to their full potential. Only we know how we want to learn, and in a way that takes into account all factors of the matter. Only the students can fully value learning, and this will not change by any piece of legislation – change takes place from the ground up, and in the minds of the students themselves.

“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” – Socrates