Barnstable students publish essays, get arts grant through Max Courage partnership

Barnstable Intermediate School staff told the school committee May 7 that a multi-year partnership with the Max Courage Foundation has produced student publications and new arts-integrated programming funded by grants.

Mike Andrews, a sixth-grade English teacher at BIS, told the committee the Max Courage curriculum teaches social-emotional learning through long-form personal narrative and culminates in a blind-judged essay anthology. "Max Courage has been a partner of BIS for the past 7 years here and has been fully implemented by all sixth grade teams for the past 3 years," Andrews said.

Why it matters: Administrators and teachers said the program encourages long-form writing, student voice and cross-school collaboration. BIS reported four student finalists in the 2025 anthology and said the program supports transitions and relationships between middle and high school students through peer editing and joint projects.

Program and funding details: The BIS sixth-grade English department said it received a $5,000 Massachusetts Cultural Council Creative Schools grant to combine arts and humanities work and pay for a field trip to the Cordial Eye on Hyannis Main Street, where students worked with teaching artists to create tiles tied to their Max Courage stories. Andrews also credited the Enoch Cobb Trust for funding commemorative banners that hang in the school lobby.

Committee members praised the work as an academic alternative to short-form digital communication and highlighted intergenerational partnerships and collaboration with Barnstable High School, where the Hawks Nest printing service will help produce vinyl banners of student work.

The committee had no formal action on the item; instead, members thanked staff and encouraged expansion and continued community partnerships.