Our curriculum is organized around Learning Expeditions, long-term,
in-depth studies of a single topic that explore vital guiding questions.
They incorporate standards and involve fieldwork, service and research,
culminating in a project, product or performance. Expeditions require
strong habits of work and quality thinking that come through the daily
rituals of reading, writing, research, problem solving, and discussion.
Individual and group projects are designed to unify and ignite student
learning by calling for concrete products or actions that address
authentic problems, typically with a component of social or
environmental justice. In past expeditions, students explored topics
ranging from Portland’s Working Waterfront to Ancient Greece, from Flu
Pandemics to the BP Oil Spill; they investigated questions from “How and
why do I change the world?” to “What is the impact of a generation?”
Listen below to excerpts from a WGAN radio piece in June 2012 about
learning expeditions at Casco Bay High School. The first clip focuses on
learning expeditions more generally, and the second clip focuses on a
particular learning expedition – the Junior Journey.

