Michael Scannell is farm manager at Madeline Point Oyster Farm in Yarmouth.

I’m 23 years old, from Saco/Old Orchard Beach, and I manage an oyster farm in Yarmouth, Maine. Just a few years ago, I didn’t even know aquaculture was a career path. After high school, I worked as a lobsterman and tried college out of state, but I wasn’t sure how to turn my love of the ocean into a livelihood.

That changed when I came back home and enrolled at the University of New England, majoring in marine affairs but concentrated on aquaculture, and joined Maine’s Aquaculture Pre-Apprenticeship and Apprenticeship Programs. Those opportunities gave me the training, connections and confidence to build a future in my home state.

This past summer, through my work with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, I received an invitation to share my story in Washington, D.C., at a congressional briefing on how to help the next generation of rural Americans find rewarding careers close to home.

I sat alongside panelists from Missouri and Kentucky to highlight a challenge we all face: too many rural students don’t see clear pathways from high school to good local jobs, even when those jobs already exist.

Maine’s aquaculture sector shows what’s possible. Our working waterfront needs skilled
people, and we have strong apprenticeship programs to prepare them. But young Mainers often don’t know these options are out there.

It’s not just about aquaculture or other trades, it’s about making sure rural students can see all the training and career possibilities in front of them.

We need to invest in rural students and connect them with hands-on training and job pathways that reflect the needs of our local economies. In Maine, that means sectors like aquaculture, marine trades and sustainable food systems. In Kentucky, that might mean advanced manufacturing or logistics. But the common thread is that rural communities thrive when young people are given real choices and real support.

That’s why we urged Congress to fully fund the Rural Postsecondary and Economic
Development (RPED) grant program and pass the Success for Rural Students and Communities Act. These bipartisan efforts help communities like mine create strong education-to-career pipelines.

Sen. Susan Collins, who helped co-host our session, has been a champion of the RPED program, and her leadership was key in getting it off the ground.

The work is far from over. At the briefing, I spoke about how much potential is waiting to
be unlocked here in Maine. We already have strong apprenticeship programs and a growing number of good jobs in fields like aquaculture. What we need now is the funding and support to connect the dots for more young people.

It’s not just about getting a degree, it’s about giving students options, whether that’s on the water, in a shop or in a lab. Students need dedicated guidance and federal support to bridge the
gap between high school and those opportunities.

I’m proud of what I’ve built. I didn’t just find a job, I found a career, a network and a reason to stay in Maine. Every rural student deserves the same chance to build a future where they were raised. By funding RPED grants and passing the Success Act, Congress can help make that possible.