Meet Carrie Braman
Carrie Braman was our Residential Lead Teacher & Curriculum Coordinator for many years, and a featured speaker in our very first Finding Our Way event three years ago. She is currently a freelance writer, farmer, and co-founder/owner of Frontier Maple Sugarworks. We were delighted to catch up with her again this month!
WS: When did you first become involved with The C-School/Wayfinder, and in what capacity?
Carrie: I was initially hired as the Lead Teacher in the Residential Program in Camden in 2009 and moved to Maine from Montana for the job. It was an incredibly unique teaching experience, especially that first year, when I was re-envisioning the academic aspects of the program across all subjects. Instead of using volunteer tutors to provide instruction, as the C-School had in the past, we began to really build the academic curriculum in-house, essentially turning the Residential Program into a one-room schoolhouse, where students were earning credit from the minute the woke up in the morning to the minute their heads hit the pillow.
WS: What other roles have you had at The C-School/Wayfinder?
Carrie: I later became the Intercampus Curriculum Coordinator for both the Camden and Opportunity Farm programs while still primarily teaching in Camden. As I think was the case for any employee of the C-School, I also took on a lot of other roles in my six years there--everything from chaperoning trips to New York City to driving kids to doctor's appointments to mopping floors when the basement flooded.
WS: What drew you to the work of The C-School/Wayfinder?
Carrie: I was really attracted to the idea that we were offering at-risk youth of all stripes an immersion in community and relationship--and that the academic and social/emotional learning happening was truly relational. I was impressed that almost no one paid full tuition for the programs--which meant that the population we were serving were kids that really needed and deserved what we were offering. And crucially, none of the students were forced to be there--they wanted to graduate--so the internal motivation they brought to the experience was often what carried them through. (In previous alternative ed settings I'd felt frustrated by the lack of student agency in the process.)
WS: What is one of you earliest memories of The C-School/Wayfinder?
Carrie: Haha, pulling into the driveway on my first day of work in a friend's 1970s era RV--long story!--and being greeted with incredible warmth by Joseph, who popped out of the front door and into the parking lot with what I would come to discover was his usual elfish enthusiasm. And amazement at the homey feel of the place--I was very struck that I would be teaching in a house, not a school.
WS: What is one of your favorite memories of The C-School/Wayfinder?
Carrie: There are many moments from the course of that six year period that are very precious to me. But I think the best times I had at the C-School were when I saw kids begin to experience relational joy, shared joy. Goofy singing on van rides, shy kids performing funny skits in ASL class, camping trips, cooking misadventures, things like that.
WS: What makes you most proud of your affiliation with Wayfinder?
Carrie: The many times I witnessed enormous growth in a student over a single nine month period--when a very unconfident writer started writing very moving and intelligent poems, or a math sceptic started to see how percentages could represent the social inequalities that fired her up. And that we were providing travel, artistic exposure, outdoor adventures--a whole slew of new experiences--to kids that wouldn't otherwise have those opportunities.
WS: What do you wish people knew about Wayfinder?
Carrie: That the state of Maine desperately needs more of what Wayfinder provides--a truly alternative, student-focused, strengths-based approach that helps kids graduate instead of punishing them for not graduating.
WS: What do you hope for Wayfinder in future years?
Carrie: That the Residential Program might one day be revived in some form. And that the programs currently offered expand to reach more students.
WS: What did/do you do in your professional life?
Carrie: I left Wayfinder with reluctance but also a sense it was the right time for me to focus on my own professional, personal, and creative goals. I initially spent a semester teaching Literature at Unity College and then ended up ghost-writing a pop-science book over the course of two years. It was wonderful to have the flexibility to work from anywhere while pregnant and parenting an infant. I also helped my husband start and grow his maple sugaring business and now do the farming thing full time with some editing and freelance writing on the side.
WS: What do you do in your spare time?
Carrie: I love to read and write. Take my dog for walks. Bake. Cook.
WS: What did you want to be when you were young?
Carrie: I wanted to be a writer. I still do. :)
WS: Who was one of your favorite teachers as a child/teen, and why?
Carrie: Kathy Greeley. She taught 7th and 8th grade Humanities at Graham and Parks, a progressive public school in Cambridge, MA. She used the "Facing History and Ourselves" curriculum in our class (an amazing resource and reflective tool for exploring social roles and social responsibility). We wrote and performed a play in her class that allowed us to channel our learning into creative and collaborative expression. She was very unflinching about discussing super-tragic and difficult themes in her classes. And she was not a pushover or a false praiser, so when she provided positive feedback we really listened. I think I unconsciously modeled my own teaching persona after her. :)
WS: What is one of your favorite things about living in Maine?
Carrie: The vast natural beauty of the state. The community I've found here, especially in the farming world.
WS: Anything else you'd like to add?
Carrie: I have very fond memories of the C-School. It was a totally singular teaching experience, that's for sure, and it was a gift to have had the opportunity to help build the quirky spirit of the place for the time I was there.