Amidst the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, universities across the nation have been doing their part to provide ample assistance to their students in need. The University of Maine has created dozens of online resources and multiple websites that are now available to students, parents and university faculty.
Not only does the university have online resources for students centered around learning and academic information, but they also have routinely updated information about COVID-19. The Collins Center for the Arts (CCA) website and the Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard website are just a few of the newly-created online sources meant for students to enjoy.
The CCA has created a temporary website to give students access to hundreds of videos, event updates and performances, including a virtual talent showcase. There are six sections of the webpage available, and each has its own list of activities and resources.
One of these sections is the Virtual Talent Showcase, a contest created by the CCA to keep students making music and creating art. The center will award three winners with cash prizes of various amounts, giving away $1,000 in total. The judges are looking for videos of self-produced music unaccompanied by background tracks or music that isn’t the artist’s own. Students must upload submissions to YouTube and submit the link on the talent showcase online form. The deadline to enter is May 15 at noon. The top 10 videos will be posted to the CCA website and their YouTube channel.
The Cooperative Extension is an online resource for home gardeners who are looking for a community to connect with and share gardening videos, tips and tricks. There are hundreds of videos listed on the website that are available for free viewing, and they range widely in topic and type of gardening. There are video categories on insect pests and plant diseases, general gardening, fruits, vegetables, pruning, lawn and composting. The website also includes a list of related resources that include links to UMaine site pages on topics like soil testing and food preservation.
The Cooperative Extension website also includes a link to their publications catalog, which is home to a variety of free and paid articles, books, journals and other gardening-related reading materials. The catalog includes texts like “The Bee Keeper’s Handbook,” “GardenPro Answer Book,” “Home Composting” and over 19 pages of other texts.
The University of Maine is doing its part to provide ample resources and entertainment for students who are engaging in online course work while social distancing and staying at home. Although the UMaine campus is currently closed, its online presence is more prominent than ever and includes many resources to help keep students active, involved, engaged and learning.
