Kids strong in face of bleak times

The children of the Katahdin region can’t escape the recent anxiety any more than their parents can. Each day, as they go to and from school, they pass the once-great paper mills that loomed so large in their family histories, and they are left to wonder why the most familiar landmarks in their lives are suddenly so empty and still.

At home, where the newspaper on the breakfast table raises troubling questions each day about the future of their hometowns, their schools, their way of life, the kids listen to the nervous talk of parents and grandparents who would like to supply some comforting answers but can’t.

And while school officials know they can’t entirely erase the uncertainty the children of these mill towns are feeling right now, they say their biggest challenge is to make sure it doesn’t turn into despair.

“Obviously, the kids are very concerned,” said Brent Colbry, Millinocket’s school superintendent. “There’s plenty of anxiety in the community, and the kids certainly are feeling it. But we’re being supersensitive to that in the schools, and our strategy is to make things feel as normal as possible.”

Colbry said that while his guidance counselors have met with a few worried youngsters and are prepared to deal with more as Great Northern Paper Inc.’s bankruptcy saga unfolds, the overall mood of the students from elementary to high school has remained positive so far.

“Kids are resilient, and they respond strongly to the attitudes of the adults around them,” he said. “So we’re trying to remain upbeat and as positive as we can in hopes that the kids will reflect that.”

Although the Millinocket schools have no plans to expand their counseling efforts, he said, the guidance department has consulted with area social service agencies to learn as much as possible about the problems they might expect if the dire situation at the mill grows bleaker and creates greater hardships on families.

“We’re aware that the kids may face real stresses and strains at home and we have to make sure we don’t miss those cues,” Colbry said. “But at the same time, our focus in school is to maintain an atmosphere of constancy and predictability. They need to be able to take comfort in a sense of routine and normalcy.”

Alana Pray, the guidance counselor for the Opal Myrick Elementary School in East Millinocket and the Medway Middle School, said that none of the children are immune from the pervasive unease in the region.

“Even the little ones can feel it, and that’s truly sad,” said Pray, who recently spoke with a mother whose middle-school son is worried that his family might have to leave town one day. “We do have a lot of kids affected by this, and once in a while you’ll hear one say that he’s afraid his family might have no more money. It breaks your heart. We’re all in a waiting game around here, and the kids sense it, too. I’m concerned about the stress on families, but I have hope that the worst won’t happen.”

So does Colbry. Unlike the mill, he said, the community’s supply of optimism is far from bankrupt. Despite the grim news of the last two weeks, about 50 people showed up at a meeting on Thursday to plan fund-raising efforts to replace the high school track.

“I was incredibly encouraged by that enthusiasm,” Colbry said. “Sure, everyone realizes there are tough times ahead. But we want the kids to know that whatever happens, there’s going to be a town here, and there will be schools here. They may be different, but they’ll be here.”