Three afternoons a week, MCS students participate in our Athletics and Outdoor Program (OAP). This two-hour block is an opportunity for students and faculty alike to enjoy the fresh air, exercise our bodies, and explore all that our beautiful campus has to offer. In warmer months, activities range from organized sports such as soccer, ultimate Frisbee, and basketball to more informal pursuits such as walking in the woods, biking into town, or playing kickball on the lower field. When the afternoons are shorter and colder, we offer indoor activities such as yoga and aerobics in addition to winter sports such as snowshoeing and ice-skating. Students are encouraged to bring their own sports equipment to Chewonki and to become involved in organizing sports and activities that have particular interest to them.
On Saturday mornings, the MCS community participates in “A Sense of Place,” a time for excursions to local points of interest, speakers on campus, volunteering, or outdoor activities such as canoeing around Chewonki Neck or orienteering. In the past, students have gone to the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, skied at Sugarloaf Mountain, hiked in Camden Hills State Park, visited Bowdoin College, and volunteered at the Common Ground fair in Unity, Maine.
Saturday evenings are often one of the highlights of the MCS week and feature a special dinner and activity prepared by a small group of students and faculty. Entertaining, creative, and inclusive, these evening activities can be anything from a coffeehouse to an iron-chef bake-off to a contra dance.
For more photos of Activities, click here.
"MCS was the first place I had ever been that expected and encouraged teenagers to be themselves."
The community I found at MCS was the perfect antidote to the tired social hierarchies of my high school. Our semester had an astounding cohesiveness - there was no "popular" and "unpopular" for the first time in my life. Everyone found his or her place in some way.