Students’ column earns high marks

The close of school in the Bangor Daily News’ coverage area also concludes year three of the Student Union column, a successful and growing collaboration between the NEWS, The Acadia Hospital and high school students in central and northern Maine.

The first columns for Student Union were written in the fall of 2000 by students from Hampden Academy, Brewer, Old Town and Orono high schools. It was an experiment, rooted in national tragedy, but nurtured by hope and student expectations. Since then, the NEWS has published more than 60 columns from student writing teams representing pioneering participants Hampden, Old Town and Brewer, and now including Mount Desert Island, John Bapst, Ashland and Schenck High School in East Millinocket.

“Student Union is a terrific example of collaboration between the Bangor Daily News, The Acadia Hospital and the area schools,” said Alan Comeau, director of community relations and development at Acadia. “All three institutions share a common goal of preventing negative youth behavior by offering positive opportunities that foster teamwork and a sense of community. The additional benefit is that adults can read the columns and get a sense of the issues affecting today’s teens.”

The impetus for the column was the students themselves.

In response to a series of fatal shootings at schools across the country, many communities underwent a period of self-examination, wondering what had gone wrong to produce enormous tragedy in Springfield, Ore., and later, at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

In Bangor, the dialogue produced the inaugural Get Connected Conference, sponsored by The Acadia Hospital. Held at Eastern Maine Technical College’s Rangeley Hall on a snowy day in the early spring of 2000, the conference drew more than 140 teens and adults to address issues related to youth wellness and violence prevention.

After a series of presentations by educators, teens and mental health professionals, students in small group discussions repeatedly made the same request: Give area youth a forum to express their thoughts, communicate with their communities, and report on issues that are important to them. The NEWS, a participant in that conference, offered students the opportunity to make that connection through Student Union. Launched that fall, it has become a regular Monday feature during the school year, produced by student writing teams under the guidance of school advisers.

High school advisers for the 2002-2003 school year were Beth Blugerman, MDI; Eric Steeves, Schenck; Sherri Thomas, Brewer; Karen Marley, Old Town; Lynn Manion, John Bapst; Matthew Moon, Hampden Academy; and Laura Howes, Ashland.

In the past three years, students have examined educational issues, discussed local and national politics, international affairs, and have described their aspirations for their schools and communities, and their state. As one of the first student columnists observed, “This project grants us a huge chance to begin to shatter social stereotypes so that people might realize that high school students are concerned with more than just ourselves.”

More recently, an Ashland student-writer acknowledged the significance of the opportunity to write “not only for our school, but for the state of Maine.” Another appreciated the value of the column as a writing and learning experience: “Doing this seemed to bring my work to a higher level.”

Student Union will be back with the opening of the 2003-2004 school year. Where the column goes with its themes and ideas will depend on where the student writers, and their advisers, take it.

High schools interested in participating can contact the NEWS at bdnnews@bangordailynews.net or The Acadia Hospital at acomeau@emh.org.