READFIELD, Maine — A group of middle schoolers from Maranacook Community Middle School spent Wednesday harvesting ice on Maranacook Lake, right across from the school.
With the help of the Thompson Ice House Harvest Museum, students learned the historic process and will use the ice blocks for school projects and activities throughout the summer.
Projects will be tied to science, math, Maine history, and their end-of-the-year celebration.
According to teacher Dan Holman, no other public school has done this.
"We wanted to do something exciting and extravagant when everything has been feeling kind of limited and shut down in ways," Holman said.
Instructor Ken Lincoln from the museum brought traditional tools to cut, shizzle, and haul up the ice cubes. Those were later taken to the school using tractors and snowmobiles.
"It's good to see some more ice this year. The last two years, we've had to wait until March to get enough ice to cut, and we only had 8 inches. So it's good to see the ice get thicker," Lincoln said.
Holman helped coordinate the activity and said it's a day of celebration, hard work, and that it's deeply educational.
"This project hits on everything we strive for: integration of curriculum, hands-on, partnership with the community, and serious fun. It's also, we think, special with all the stressors and restrictions going on to show how something truly special can still happen. We have done many cool projects, but this is unique and deeply needed," Holman said.
"So much of their life now has been about restriction and what you can't do. And this is a really good dramatic example of a way you can tie so many things in and say, 'Yes, you can!'" Holman said.
Lincoln said his goal is to keep the tradition alive in Maine. He's seen a lot of interest and enthusiasm around the practice throughout the years. It's why his team hosts a big traditional ice harvest festival in February.
Lincoln said the ice on the lake was 15 inches thick on Wednesday, perfect for the activity.
"They keep coming back," he said. "You get the older people that actually remember the icebox, and then you get kids this age and younger."
Besides the ice harvesting, students watched a demonstration of ice fishing and demonstrations of open water rescue by the Maine Warden Service.
"I have never seen this in person before. It's kind of mind-blowing to see!" student Aurora Desjardins said.
"We've come out and listened to the ice, but we've never done anything this big," student Harper Olmstead said.
"I thought it would be really interesting to try something like this cause I know they used to use ice and everything like that before refrigerators were made," 12-year-old Owen Kreiton said.
"In June, we will be doing an end-of-year celebration. We are going to have a giant ice cream festival with ice from our harvest, ice bucket challenges, sculpture contests, and a lot more fun stuff," Holman said.
Holman added he saw a great sense of pride and accomplishment in the students after a long day of ice harvesting.
Local volunteer firefighters and the Maine Warden Service all ensured activities ran smoothly.
On Feb. 13, the Thompson Ice House Harvesting Museum will hold its annual ice harvest event in South Bristol. Everyone is invited to go and learn the techniques.