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Schools

Old Town schools

OLD TOWN – Personnel changes were listed at the school board meeting Sept. 17. Resigning positions are Lori Gadomski, educational technician, Fort James Program; Timothy McCluskey, special education teacher, Old Town High School; and Melinda Kenny, gymnastic coach, Old Town High School.

Newly appointed staff members are are: Aaron Wade, educational technician, Old Town Regional Program; Allison Lane, educational technician, Old Town Regional Program; Kenneth Shamlian, educational technician, Old Town Regional Program; Alexandra Gaudion, junior varsity field hockey coach, Old Town High School; and Staci Ouellette, Jefferson Street School.

Children’s Book Festival

BANGOR – Maine Discovery Museum has scheduled the first annual Time of Wonder Children’s Book Festival Oct. 4-6. “Books – Bringing Us Together” is the theme of the festival, a project of the museum and Bangor Public Library.

Northeast Cardiology Associates is sponsoring the festival, with assistance from The Phenix Inn. Time of Wonder events take place at Maine Discovery Museum unless otherwise noted.

Through Oct. 2, books may be dropped off for a book swap. Bring in gently used children’s books; families will receive a ticket to swap for an equal number of books during the book swap, October 5-6.

Friday, Oct. 4 – School appearances by E.B. Lewis, illustrator of the Time of Wonder award-winning book “The Other Side,” written by Jacqueline Woodson.

Saturday, Oct. 5:

. All day book swap.

. 10 a.m-1 p.m., “Books – Bringing Us Together.” Make a video recording of a classic Maine story – “One Morning in Maine,” “Miss Rumphius” or “Lighthouse Lullaby” – to send to a special child, or have a child make a recording to send to a friend or relative.

. 11 a.m.-noon, meet E.B. Lewis and Toni Buzzeo at a book signing.

. 1 p.m., Toni Buzzeo, “The Author’s Path,” Bangor Public Library. Program for all ages, followed by book signings. Buzzeo wrote “The Sea Chest.”

. 2:15 p.m. Jordan Benissan & Sankofa African Music Ensemble, Bangor Public Library.

. 3 p.m., Time of Wonder Award presentation, Bangor Public Library.

. 3-5 p.m., “Books – Bringing Us Together.” Repeat of morning session.

Sunday, Oct. 6

. All-day book swap.

. Noon-2 p.m., “Books – Bringing Us Together.” Repeat session.

. Noon, “Reading to Your Little One.” Raising Readers presents pediatrician Dr. Colette Sabbagh in a fun and informative program for parents and children.

. 1 p.m., “From Idea to Book.” Kathy Mallat, author and illustrator of “Just Ducky,” “Trouble on the Tracks” and “Brave Bear,” explains how she turns the seed of an idea into a finished picture book.

. 1:30-3 p.m., Pam Cunningham. Native American sweetgrass bookmarks.

. 2-4 p.m., Author readings and book signings with Kathy Mallat, Angeli Perrow and Ethel Pochocki.

Challenger Learning Center

BANGOR – Recent grants have helped the Challenger Learning Center of Maine pass the $1.4 million milestone of its $2.5 million campaign goal.

The Unity Foundation has announced a $15,000 challenge grant to the Challenger Learning Center of Maine. Officials said that the entrepreneurs and educators dedicated to creating a first-rate science and math center for middle school students are excited at the energy this challenge grant builds.

Tom Brown, co-chairman of the Capital Campaign Committee, said, “When we meet the Unity Foundation’s challenge, we will be $30,000 closer to opening the state-of-the-art, 8,600-square-foot facility.”

Located in the former Dow Air Force Base theater near the Bangor International Airport and University College of Bangor, the Challenger Center will serve students from across the state. The Unity Foundation’s challenge grant reflects the Challenger Learning Center’s large geographic service area.

Bert and Coral Clifford established the Unity Foundation in 2000, with the goal of encouraging nonprofit organizations to apply proven business principles to create sustained excellence.

The $15,000 Unity Foundation grant and the matching contributions it inspires will be used to purchase high-technology simulators. The Mission Control, Space Lab, and Space Station simulators will allow fifth- through eighth-grade pupils to work toward a common mission – to rendezvous with a comet. Students will chart a course to land on a rocky orb hurtling through space and collect subsurface samples.

A total of $2.5 million is needed to purchase the center’s space simulators and to renovate the building that will house Challenger – the former Dow Air Force Base theater on Maine Avenue in Bangor.

Other recent contributions include:

. Lemforder Corp., $20,000.

. Bangor Savings Bank, $20,000.

. Fleet Bank, $10,000.

. Darling’s, $5,000.

Award to Bangor teacher

BANGOR – Kelly Mead, a teacher at the Vine Street Elementary School, has been selected as the Maine Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year in cooperation with the Miss America Organization.

Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club have joined with Miss America 2001 Angela Perez Baraquio and the Miss America Organization to recognize and reward U.S. teachers who have distinguished themselves as leaders and mentors. In support of Baraquio’s character education platform, Wal-Mart this year expanded its Teacher of the Year Program to recognize state winners who were chosen from the 3,021 local winners.

“The selection process for choosing the local winner was difficult,” said Bret Walters, manager of the Bangor Wal-Mart. “The community nominated the teachers, and every teacher nominated has done great things and made an important difference in the lives of the children they taught.”

Every teacher selected locally received $500to use in his or her classroom, along with an honorary Wal-Mart vest and a certificate of recognition. The teachers selected then had the opportunity to apply for the recognition as Teacher of the Year in their state. As a state winner, Mead will receive $5,000 toward programs at her school.

The state Teacher of the Year was selected by a panel of education experts put together by the Miss America Organization in Maine.

“Teacher of the Year does more than recognize outstanding leaders in our schools,” said Baraquio. “It also encourages every educator to continue the crucial work of preparing our nation’s young people to become our nation’s leaders.”

There will be an assembly to honor Mead and other educators at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at the Vine Street Elementary School in Bangor.

Maine Discovery Museum

BANGOR – The Maine Discovery Museum has scheduled upcoming activities:

. Mudmobile program for children ages 6-12, 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, with staff from the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts. Participants will gain instruction in making clay art by working on two pieces, one to keep and another for the Maine Children’s Alliance benefit auction in November. The Mudmobile will take the clay pieces to Newcastle for firing, then return pieces to the museum for pickup. The workshop is limited to 15 children, and preregistration is required. The fee is $6.50-$8. To register, call the museum at 262-7200.

. An Educators’ Open House, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13. Have brunch at 10-11 a.m., tour the museum, sample hands-on museum adventures, meet education staff and enter a drawing to win a free classroom field trip to the museum. Call Linda at 262-7200 to reserve a space. Educators visit free between Oct. 12-14 with current pay stub or MEA card.

. Dream-Makers Workshop for kindergarten through eighth-grade classroom and art teachers, noon-2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13. The clay workshop, presented by the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, will give teachers resources, information and planning ideas – plus hands-on experience – for integrating three-dimensional forms in the classroom and implementing the Maine Learning Results. The workshop is limited to 20 teachers. The fee is $10.

Colleges

Colby College

WATERVILLE – Christopher A. Blier of Hermon, a junior at Colby College, is spending the fall semester of the 2002-03 academic year in England enrolled in a course of studies at the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Center in London. Blier, a graduate of Hermon High School, is the son of Alan and Susan Blier of Hermon. He is majoring in government.

Theresa M. Leyro of Hampden, a junior at Colby College, is spending the fall semester of the 2002-03 academic year in Mexico enrolled in a course of studies at the School for Field Studies’ center for coastal and marine mammal studies in Magdalena Bay. Leyro, a graduate of Hampden Academy, is the daughter of Elvin and Maria Leyro of Hampden. She is majoring in psychology.

Two-thirds of all Colby students live and study abroad as undergraduates. Colby’s approved options for international study include more than 50 programs located on every continent except Antarctica, running the gamut from London and Paris to Sri Lanka, Bali, Madagascar and Jerusalem. Programs cover topics from language and culture to sustainable development and environmental field studies.

University of Maine

ORONO – The University of Maine Faculty Recital Series continues at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays in Minsky Recital Hall, Class of 1944 Hall.

Admission is $5, and tickets may be purchased at the door or by calling 581-1755 or 800-MCA-TIXX. Discounts are available for seniors, students, children and groups.

On Oct. 5, violist Anatole Wieck, flutist Liz Downing and organist Kevin Birch will perform Beethoven’s Serenade for Flute, Violin and Viola with guest artist Lynn Brubaker, concertmaster of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. Other compositions include works by Tartini, Nardini and Harrison Roper.

The Oct. 19 performance features Wieck on the violin, Phillip Silver on piano and Suzanne George on the horn. They will play Brahms’ Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano, Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata for viola, and piano miniatures by Gershwin. Guests include Alexandra Fish, a recent UMaine graduate, who will join Wieck on Mozart’s Duo for Violin and Viola; and Silvana Sokolof, a soloist, chamber music performer and graduate of the Eastman School of Music, on piano in the Schubert work.

The series will conclude with a Homecoming Weekend flute concert by Downing on Oct. 26.