Our Creek to College Program at LCY.

---

The Creek to College Program provides post-secondary educational opportunities to the residents at Long Creek Youth Development Center. With humble beginnings in 2006, it has expanded tremendously with the financial help and support by the Friends of Long Creek Youth.

Since 2014, the program has been under the direction of Nicole Chaison, who had joined Creek to College (C2C) in 2012 teaching English and serving as a career and college advisor to Long Creek Youth residents. 

Currently C2C is in full partnership with Southern Maine Community College, with professors coming into Long Creek each semester to teach courses in Math, Sociology, Psychology, Cultural Anthropology, Acting, English Composition, Introduction to Business, and Personal Finance. Nicole is still involved in teaching, with courses such as Oral Communications, Introduction to Literature, Creative Writing, English Composition, Poetry, Literature and Film, and Academic Success Seminar, and supporting students.

The Creek to College students have earned well over a thousand credit hours, read hundreds of books, aced numerous exams, and written some extraordinary papers. Realizing that they have the ability to successfully complete college-level work changes these youth. Their new knowledge gives them hope, provides them with insight into their behavior, and increases their self-esteem. These young men and women begin to set different goals for themselves and, for the very first time, look forward to a brighter future.

The Friends of Long Creek Youth have funded many online courses for our students over the years, including College Algebra and Trigonometry, Introduction to Information Technology, Introduction to Business, and others.

Recent Highlights:

• C2C collaborated with MIT, and four LCY students completed a course entitled “Leadership and Mindfulness”
• In the field of music, FOLC purchased guitars, drums and a keyboard, plus chord posters and supplemental texts. Within a month, 6 residents were enrolled in the 2025 Music class, led by Tom Kovacevic, Music Director/Teacher working at SMCC. 
• C2C collaborated with Smooth Feather Productions, so LCY students could learn about the film making process prior to taking “Literature and Film” through SMCC. It included, concept, writing, operating cameras/sound equipment, filming and editing. 
• Several students interested in the trades have taken welding classes at SMCC over the years, funded by the Friends.

Residents who have earned the opportunity visit the SMCC campus in South Portland every year, eat lunch in the dining hall (paid for by the Friends), and then go on a tour of the campus. This is a wonderful experience for the students, as it normalizes being on a college campus, and they can picture themselves there.

Many C2C students have gone on to matriculate at SMCC, USM, CMCC, UMaine, and other schools in and out of Maine once leaving Long Creek. 

How did Creek To College Originally Get Started? Click Here To Read More.

Here's a letter from a former Creek To College. resident student - Click Here