An Educational Surprise from Down East: the Maine Maritime Academy

John Tierney:

Eastport, Maine, which Deb and Jim Fallows have been profiling recently in their American Futures posts - and which Jim is writing an article about for the January issue of the magazine (subscribe here!) - is a tiny town of 1300 people in Washington county, which wraps around Maine's farthest "down East" stretches.

Washington County calls itself the "Sunrise County" because it's the easternmost county in the U.S, where the sun first rises on the 48 contiguous states. But it doesn't boast about being the poorest county in Maine, which it is. Many of the small seaside communities dotting the county's eastern border survive on small-scale fishing operations, while much of the rest of the county's economy depends on wild blueberries. This is hardscrabble-life territory. That's why towns like Eastport are working so strenuously to innovate and find paths to a more prosperous future.

It's also why a college education leading to a solid career is perhaps even more prized here than in much of the rest of the U.S - why families celebrate when their kids get admitted to their chosen college.

There's nothing unusual about celebrating your kid's admission to a preferred college with a party. But for many families in Maine, that party has a name - a "lottery party," as in "our kid just won the lottery." I'm told this is what lots of folks in Maine call such a celebration that follows admission to the Maine Maritime Academy(MMA), graduation from which, they believe, virtually guarantees lifetime earnings equal to a big lottery win.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 12, 2013 12:27 AM
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