Launched in 2018, The Can We? Project is a dynamic and timely initiative that equips high school students across Maine with vital communication skills to actively participate as engaged citizens in a democracy. We train cohorts of students from our partner schools in the art and science of productive dialogue across political and other differences through a three retreat sequence that makes cross-school connections. The retreats include lessons on the discrete skills of dialogue, the psychology of political polarization, and how American government is designed to work. The retreat sequence takes student through an iterative process that includes:
- Self-reflection: Who am I, what do I believe, and who or what has influenced my beliefs?
- Perspective taking and empathy: Who are you, what do you believe, and who or what has influenced your beliefs?
- Inquiry: What matters to us? What questions can we ask to help us understand a topic, issue, or other viewpoints? What are reliable resources for information?
- Creative collaboration: What understandings can we create together that are informed by our varied viewpoints? Are there actions that we can take together?
To amplify the program’s impact and create a powerful ripple effect, we work directly with teachers and administrators in our partner schools to foster a culture of civility and engagement by extending the practice of meaningful dialogue across their schools beyond the cohort of Can We? participants. We offer our partner schools consultation on implementation strategy, professional development for teachers, and additional programming for students—all customized to a school’s needs.
In their responses to an independent survey of Can We? participants conducted in 2024 by the Data Innovation Project at the University of Southern Maine, students stressed the value of the Can We? experience. 91 percent of survey respondents agreed that their peers at school would benefit from the Can We? experience. When asked how that Can We? experience could be improved, “respondents emphasized the value of the Can We? program by requesting more of it—more activities, more retreats, more interaction with other schools and students, more opportunities for student leadership, and more difficult discussions.”
2023–24 Can We? Project Evaluation Report
Executive summary
Full report
- Watch a video about the original 2018 Can We? Project retreat.
- Watch a video about the 2019 Can We? Project retreat.
- Read a 2025 Windham Eagle article about Windham High School students’ experience at a “Civil Tea” at Yarmouth High School and their history with the Can We? Project.
- Read a 2025 Northern Forecaster article about the “Civil Tea” club at Yarmouth High School and the role of the Can We? Project as a catalyst for school based initiatives.
- Watch a 2025 NEWS CENTER Maine segment on a “Civil Tea” event hosted by Can We? Project students at Yarmouth High School
- Watch a 2024 NEWS CENTER Maine segment on Can We? Connect, our cross-school gathering at the Augusta Civic Center.
- Listen to a 2024 episode of Maine Policy Institute’s Pine Tree Pulse Podcast that features Can We? Project facilitators and a Can We? Project student and Maine Policy Institute intern.
- Read a 2024 Portland Press Herald op-ed by Maine Academy of Natural Science’s Can We? Liaison Evan Coleman.
- Read a 2024 Windham Eagle article about a day of dialogue with Windham and Poland Regional High School students.
- Listen to a 2024 Maine Public story on the Can We? Project and Can We? Connect, our cross school gathering in Augusta.
- Listen to a 2023 WGAN Inside Maine radio conversation with Can We? co-founder Lowell Libby and project director John Holdridge.
- Read a 2022 Maine Department of Education article about Windham High School’s involvement in Can We?
- Read a 2022 Portland Press Herald op-ed on Dialogue by Can We? co-founder Lowell Libby.
- Read a 2022 Portland Press Herald op-ed on Can We? by partner school administrators John Suttie and Philip Rossetti.
- Listen to a 2019 Harvard podcast featuring Waynflete faculty discussing youth, dialogue, and The Can We? Project.
- Read about the roots of The Can We? Project.
Interested in learning more about The Can We? Project or how you can join our roster of partner schools? Contact John Holdridge.
Want to keep up to date with The Can We? Project? Join our email list.
