Kevin Thompson - Board Member

Kevin Thompson came to Washington County in 1993 from Southern California. He joined Cobscook Institute as a volunteer and pottery teacher in 2000 and as an employee in 2003. He worked as the Campus and IT Manager until 2020 and is now working at Direct Communications and is a board member at Cobscook Institute. Kevin also taught pottery in Cobscook Institute’s studio and was the caretaker and lived on campus until 2018 when he moved to Unity with his wonderful wife, son, dogs, fish, chickens, and cats. He also has a grown daughter and son. He holds degrees in network administration and computer information systems. In addition to volunteering for Cobscook Institute, he’s also volunteered to teach pottery for various school programs, community groups, and adults with developmental disabilities. Before coming to Cobscook Institute, Kevin had a career in pet care and volunteered for animal shelters. When he’s not working or studying, he enjoys spending time with his family, bonsai, gardening, fishing, reading, and so on.

Noela Altvater - Board Member

Noela Altvater is in her first term of service on the Cobscook Board. With her joining in 2023, Noela has been able to further her interests and education in Early Childhood, Psychology, and her Passamaquoddy culture. Noela has an associate degree in Liberal Studies from Washington County Community College and is currently continuing her college studies at the University of Maine at Farmington for her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Noela’s focus is to work with children and their development. She has worked with kids for years, from serving as a youth worker at the Sipayik Boys & Girls Club, to babysitting, to focusing on early childhood education in college.Noela’s interest in becoming a Cobscook Board Member has a lot to do with the work she wants to do with children and her culture/community. Noela has worked with a program called WAYS ( Wabanaki Youth in Science) as an intern creating Story Maps and using data to speak and act on heavy issues within her community. She felt Cobscook could be another great opportunity for her to further learn and educate herself.

Bo Yerxa - Board Member

Raised on an Aroostook family farm, Bo arrived in the Mysterious DownEast in 1970 to provide tutorial support to alternative K-8 “Our School.” After a few subsequent seasons of carpentry and horse-powered logging, he spent nigh two decades as a social worker and community development specialist on significant projects, including serving – under Wayne Newell’s mentorship - as Indian Township’s health planner soon after federal recognition. The final decades of his values-based professional efforts embraced a range of leadership roles in post-secondary education settings as diverse as WCTC (now WCCC) and Cornell University, including outward-facing positions with two medical schools and ultra- innovative SNHU. Bo has also taught at the undergraduate level, his favorite module being “Education and Social Oppression”.

A strong commitment to socioeconomic justice and ecological integrality characterized Bo’s volunteer service, on boards local (Calais Regional Hospital) to national (National Center for Missing and Abused Children). He was catalytic in the formation of organizations such as MOFGA, the Maine Public Health Association and the Maine People’s Alliance. His co-leadership in establishing Protecting the Environment from Sprayed Toxins ended decades of the largest annual aerial pesticide program on the planet…operated by the State of Maine. As a founding board member of the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides – now “Beyond Pesticides”-a national informational resource is now established.

When he graduated from UMaine – with nigh 150 of the 120 credits required for his B.S. Ed. (Social Sciences) – Bo was disillusioned with higher education. But years later, as the recipient of a National Rural Fellowship, he completed a M.R.P. in planning/rural policy at UMass-Amherst in the hope of better serving the Public Good. That was followed by an M.S. in community economic development via New Hampshire College (now SNHU) and eventually an 18-month residential doctoral fellowship in adult & continuing education with Nova University.

Leslie Bowman - Board Member

Trescott, ME

Leslie Bowman has been a resident of eastern Washington County since the mid 1970’s. For several years she served as the Director of Admissions at the Maine College of Art and was the Photographer and Photo Editor of Bangor Metro Magazine in its first founding years. Since the mid 1990’s she has been an adjunct professor at University of Maine at Machias. Working as a freelance photographer and a painter, she maintains a home in Trescott.  This is where she raised her two children, Brice and Zel with their father Normand Laberge who passed in 2017.  Leslie has an ongoing interest in alternative energy and community development. 

She holds an MFA in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis and a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. 

Leslie first came to Cobscook Institute to attend workshops and meetings at the facility and has also documented with photographs several projects including the high school program. She looks forward to a more focused involvement as a board member.

Colby Soctomah Lewey - Board Chair

Colby Soctomah-Lewey (pronouns He/Him/His) is a Passamaquoddy Tribal Member hailing from Pleasant Point, Maine. Being a life-long resident of Downeast Maine until recently; Colby has had an interest in how people form community and a sense of place– particularly as it relates to the Institute where it is frequently cited to be a ‘community home-place.’ 

Colby has previously served on the Cobscook Institute (then CCLC) Board of Directors from 2009-2013. Previously serving within the roles of Secretary and Vice-President, also being a member of the Governance Committee. Colby was introduced to the Center from his Uncle, Jimmy Soctomah and as a result took a pottery class in 2004 with family members. As an undergraduate student Colby for a semester served as an Outreach Coordinator intern; as well as presented as a guest lecturer regarding substance misuse and behavioral modification as a substance abuse counselor.  

Colby is a Licensed Addictions and Drug Counselor, Certified Clinical Supervisor and holds a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and Community Studies with minors in Counseling, Substance Abuse Services, and Cultural Anthropology. Currently, Colby is residing in Southern Maine completing a Masters in Counselor Education program with an area of expertise in Family Systems. Colby intends on engaging in clinical practice which focuses on expressive arts to foster a deeper connection within and outside of one’s self.

Ron Beckwith - Board Member

Ron Beckwith graduated from the University of Maine at Fort Kent in 1981 with a B.S. in Environmental Studies. Ron taught school in Lubec until 1985, when he went to work for the Roosevelt Campobello International Park. Ron’s career at the Park culminated in his appointment as Executive Secretary and Superintendent in 2010. Ron joined the Regional Medical Center in Lubec as Chief Financial Officer in 2016. In May of 2021 Ron retired from full time employment. He lives on Campobello Island with his wife Pauline and can be found at the Herring Cove Provincial Park doing something “completely different” working seasonally outdoors with the maintenance staff at the golf course.

Mark Hoffman - Board Member

I received a BS in History from Nasson College, Springvale Maine and a teaching certificate for the State of Maine. My first job was as Director of the Portland Food Coop (PBA). Spent many a summer in North Haven, Maine sailing Penobscot Bay. My mother is from Bangor, Maine and I have been visiting family and friends in Bangor my whole life.

Worked as a Lighting Designer and toured with Tom Petty and J. Geils Band. Received an MS in Engineering and worked in Astrodynamics and Cyber security before transitioning to Medical Devices and Project Management. I volunteer for the Nasson Little Theatre in Springvale, Maine and designed the theatre’s lighting system, sound system, acoustics and electrical system. Interests include: Hiking, Kayaking, Sailing, Music and Gardening.

Alan Furth - Board Member

Whiting, ME

Alan is a social ecologist with a career dedicated to leveraging education in its broadest definition, to contribute to personal, community, and environmental health.  He graduated from UM Orono in 1978 with a teaching certificate and a degree in Child Development. In 1984 he received an MS in Experiential Education from Lesley University.  He has taught at every level, from early childhood education through elementary, middle and high school in Washington County’s public schools, and at the undergraduate and graduate levels as a member of the leadership and faculty with Lesley University’s Audubon Expedition Institute.

In 1998, Alan was invited by community members from the Cobscook Bay region to explore the possibility of establishing an alternative education option for Washington County youth. Six months of weekly conversation, research, and exploration by this group led to the design of Cobscook Institute (then CCLC). Alan has held a leadership position within the organization ever since. In 2011, Alan was awarded UM’s Alumni Career Award for his leadership and innovations in effective education. Alan also serves as Vice President of the Association for World Education, International, and as a founding member of the Maine Fresh, LLC Advisory Board.

Alan Furth is a Co-Founder of Cobscook Institute, and was the Executive Director from 1999 to 2019.

Frank Trocco - Board Member

Freedom, ME

Frank holds a PhD in the Sociology of Science, and teaches interdisciplinary courses at Lesley University, MA including: “Native North Americans,” “History of an Island: Cape Breton,” “A History of Science: The Emergence of Western Scientific Thought,” and “Complementary, Integrative, and Alternative Medicine.” He has a particular interest in looking at health as it is applied in areas of popular culture, and the conflicts between scientific and non-western conceptions of healing. Since the summer of 1989 when he spent a year living at a Navajo trading post, Frank has participated in many Navajo healing rituals.

From 1972-1992 Frank lived in Downeast Lubec, Maine, and in 1978 he co-founded the National Audubon Society Expedition Institute (AEI), a radical alternative to mainstream education involving a year of accredited travel/study. Frank directed environmental field studies in nearly every wilderness area, national park, and national forest in the lower forty-eight states, and was in a supervisory role in the administration of programs, and responsible for faculty committees, public relations, program design, outreach, faculty development and evaluation, and curriculum design.

Besides trying to convey a deep respect for nature and the Earth’s living system, Frank’s expedition responsibilities included outdoor skills in canoeing, cross-country skiing, winter camping, backpacking and hiking, snorkeling, mountaineering, group dynamics and facilitation, orienteering, caving, and wilderness medicine.