For Wiscasset 4th Graders, A Trip to the Water Was a Trip Back in Time!

Wiscasset Elementary School fourth-graders are diving into the community to learn more about their community's history!

First, the students went to the Fish Ladder in Nobleboro to explore this innovation, created in the early 1800s to provide passage for alewives into freshwater. The students found tiny fry swimming in the pools of the fish ladder and were eager to return in the spring to watch the alewives return in full force.

Then the fourth-grade students visited the shell midden in Damariscotta. They have been learning about the Indigenous people who lived in Maine thousands of years before the European settlers arrived.

The students were excited to see the “hill” of shells across the Damariscotta River left by members of the Wabanaki nation. They were even more excited to

stand where a factory once stood, imagining the history that had taken place there.

Once the students returned to school, they wrote about their experiences to ensure they would

not forget the great learning from these two special places.