Ask them yourself.
Most young people find CES because another young person told them to. Word of mouth, in a county this size, is the only review that counts.
In their own words
A Changemaker, a mentor, a parent.
CES doesn't work on young people in isolation. It works because three people move together — the young person doing the work, the mentor beside them, and the family behind them. Take one away and the circle breaks.
- College-ready Real work, references, and a portfolio that make an application stand out.
- Ready for work Hands-on skills — selling, making, managing money — that carry into a first job.
- Maine's next leaders The founders and business owners who'll keep the county building for years.
Each one holds the other two up.
She showed up with earrings in a Ziploc bag.
Sophie was fourteen. She had a Ziploc bag of handmade earrings, no logo, no business plan, and no clear idea what came next. That's a completely normal way to arrive here.
What she had was raw creativity, which is the hard part to teach. The rest is craft. With mentors and her peers she designed a logo, built the branding, worked out pricing, and started selling — first to classmates, then to college students, then to local pediatricians who bought them in bulk to engage children during appointments.
Over one holiday season Sophie earned $900 in December alone. She was in high school.
Then came the part that matters more. She started running classes in the makerspace, teaching younger kids about crafts, sales and how a business actually works. She became the older sister, the cool high schooler, the person a shy twelve-year-old would actually listen to. She was mentoring before she could vote.
Her growth didn't stop at CES. She took other jobs to pick up other skills. She went on to study art. She rebranded from “Sophie's Joolary” to “Sophie Harper,” still sells her work, and is building professional networks in Portland to widen her reach.
That's the whole model in one person: confidence, then skills, then leadership, then a life that keeps going without us.
It isn't really about the business.
We see leadership grow. Confidence, problem-solving, hands-on experience running something real. Teamwork, accountability and pride — and a sense of purpose and belonging that a lot of young people arrive here without.
That last part isn't soft. In a rural county, isolation, depression and anxiety are real and they are common. Somewhere to go, something to make, and someone who notices when you don't show up is a health intervention. It just happens to look like a gift store.
Once a year, we say it out loud.
Young people don't get enough ceremonies. We hold one, we invite everybody, and we name what each of them did.
Every story here started with someone saying yes.
$250 sponsors a young person for a season. Or come in and teach what you know.