Each year the Blueberry Harvest School welcomes migrant students traveling with their families for Maine's wild blueberry harvest. Each summer is different, as we adjust the calendar to align with the harvest, welcome new faces, and align curriculum based on parent feedback and vision. However, over the past 40 years, a pillar of the Blueberry Harvest School has remained the same- the leadership of Mary Marshall.

Mary Marshall has worked at the Blueberry Harvest School for 40 years, traveling each summer from her home of Eskasoni in Unama'ki, Nova Scotia, Canada, to spend the summer supporting students and teachers.

She first came to Maine with her family to rake blueberries in the 60’s. As a child, she raked blueberries and attended the Blueberry Harvest School. She says:

“When I first went to the school as a student there were hundreds of kids- mostly Mi'kmaq.

I remember at that time, not one teacher spoke Mi'kmaq, so none of us understood the instructions or what they wanted us to do.

The next year I came back to work at the school because **I knew I needed to protect my community.** I needed to make sure that all the Mi’kmaq kids had someone to talk to, and someone who understood them.”

Mary has many memories of her four decades of work at Blueberry Harvest School, and has worked with many different organizations that ran the school before Mano en Mano took over the contract in 2013. Mary shares,

“Back when we traveled to rake the season was 6 weeks long, and hundreds of families came- the school was full!
When I started working at the school **I was one of the only teachers who spoke Mi’kmaq**, but now I am happy to see so many Wabanaki and Spanish speaking teachers at the school as well.
What I like about the school now is that **children are encouraged to learn about, practice and celebrate their culture and langauge.** That is something that wasn’t part of the school before.”

As a respected community leader and teacher, Mary has built strong relationships and cultivated trust with students and families. Parents feel safe knowing that their children are going to attend school with her there, and she uses her leadership, big heart and humor to welcome families to the program.

Mary says that community ties are what brings her back to Maine each year. She says,

“I come back every year because it is tradition. My family and community came to Maine for blueberries my entire life. It makes me feel close to them and close to my community.”

On behalf of all of us at Mano en Mano and the Blueberry Harvest School, we want to say, Thank you Mary. Your dedication to this program has been transformational, and we have learned so much from you over the years!