CAMDEN – Wayfinder Schools in Camden hosted its annual open house on March 16. Guests were treated to food and an opportunity to speak with the nine students in the class of 2017, as well as instructors, counselors and board members.

In 2011, Maine's first alternative high school, The Community School, merged with the century-old organization, Opportunity Farm in New Gloucester, to form Wayfinder Schools.

The two organizations united with a goal of encouraging life-long learning and providing students with the skills and experiences necessary to connect with their families, practice personal responsibility, and contribute to their communities.

Over the years, Wayfinder Schools has become a state and nationally recognized model of alternative education, and has helped hundreds of Maine adolescents realize their goal of graduating with a high school diploma.

Paul Andrews has been the acting head of schools for Wayfinder since Dr. Dorothy Foote resigned her position there in November of 2016.

Andrews explained where the residential and Passages students are physically located.

"We have two programs," he said. "Residential is at our New Gloucester location and our Passages students are all over the coastal counties in the state of Maine. The Wayfnder school address is the Passages office for our teachers and administrative staff."

He also said that here will be multiiple graduations when the time comes in June.

"We'll do several graduations based on the students' locations so they can be closer to their communities and can be recognized by their friends," he said. "There is always something new at Wayfinder Schools, as you know when you have that many teenagers in your life. It changes all the time. We are always reinventing our programs and our experiential learning program is always new, because we are always finding new teachers and outside influences for our students."

State Rep. Pinny Beebe-Center (District 93) said it was her first visit to Wayfinder since it had been the Community School

"It's very nice to be back here," she said. "I haven't been back since I was the business manager. It seems to be doing very, very well and it's definitely needed in this county and the state."