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Schools

Principal’s Leadership Award

BREWER – Brett Rees, a Brewer High School senior, was chosen to receive a $1,000 college scholarship through the Principal’s Leadership Award scholarship program. The PLA scholarship is co-sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and Herff Jones Inc.

James Frost, principal of Brewer High School, announced the award. Nationwide, 150 national PLA winners have been chosen from more than 5,300 applicants.

“Brett Rees is an outstanding student leader at our school, serving as president of the senior class, student council and Key Club during the current school year,” Frost said. “In addition, he has demonstrated excellence in the classroom, presently ranking fifth in a class of 182 students, while taking a challenging course of studies. Brett is also a three-sport athlete. Most of all, he is a fine role model and is well-respected by the members of our faculty and staff as well as by his fellow students.”

High school principals from across the country were eligible to nominate one of their student leaders. Nominees were selected based on the basis of their leadership skills, participation in service organizations and clubs, achievements in the arts and sciences, employment experience, and academic record. They also were required to write an essay.

While at Brewer High School, Rees has been National Honor Society treasurer, captain of the varsity soccer team, and varsity member of the basketball and tennis teams.

Wild Kingdom kid

BANGOR – Justin Dyer of Bangor was selected recently to represent Maine at the Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Kids’ Summit in San Diego May 5-7.

Before he heads to San Diego, he was recognized for his accomplishment at a presentation April 29.

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Kids’ Summit is the culmination of a nationwide essay contest and classroom education program. Teachers encouraged students between the ages of 9 and 12 to take an active role in learning about the environment by researching threatened and endangered North American wildlife, then writing an essay on how they would help save one of the animals from extinction. More than 5,600 entries were received.

“We are very excited that Justin will represent Maine in this once in a lifetime event,” said Tony Smart, Mutual of Omaha representative in Bangor. To learn more about the summit, call (800) 754-9542, or visit www.wildkingdom.com.

Speech contest

Eighth-grader Matthew McLaughlin of Brewer was the first place winner in the Modern Woodmen of America School Speech Contest held April 26 at the William S. Cohen School in Bangor. He won a trophy and a $50 cash award.

Sarah Hesseltine, a seventh-grader from Winterport was the second place winner and seventh-grader Vanessa Nash of Hampden was the third place winner.

Certamen Night

PORTLAND – Knowledge, speed, reflexes: Those were the skills tested March 26 at Portland High School.

Hundreds of toga-clad students from 15 Maine schools, including Hampden Academy, gathered for Certamen Night. The subject was the classics: the study of the cultures, peoples, histories and languages of ancient Greece and Rome. The students were members of the Maine Junior Classical League, or Latin Club.

Certamen is a Jeopardy-style trivia game testing Latin grammar and vocabulary, Roman history and culture, and classical mythology. Students compete by level of Latin. Certamen Night also featured a “Roman Idol” contest in which the two most-spirited delegates of each school competed. Students were asked to complete such challenges as singing the National Junior Classical League song in an opera-style, or reciting the seven hills of Rome.

The Maine Junior Classical League holds three statewide events each year. A different high school hosts Certamen Night each March. The local Junior Classical League chapter of the Maine JCL president hosts Fall Convention at their school in November and Spring Convention in May at Camp Mechuwana in Winthrop.

Katahdin Area Scouts

ORONO – The Katahdin Area Council Boy Scouts of America has launched efforts to recruit Scouts to attend the National Scout Jamboree in Caroline County, Va., from July 23 to Aug. 6, 2005. Available space, organizers said, is filling up fast and Scouts interested in attending the jamboree are encouraged to register soon.

Providing volunteer leadership for the Maine Boy Scout contingent are coordinator Matt Brown, Orland; scoutmasters Art Morgan, Orrington; Dave Parsons, Hampden; and James Campbell, Old Town; first assistant scoutmasters Dwayne Plourde, Fort Kent; Gil Jameson, Ellsworth; and Timothy Rioux, Fort Kent; second assistant scoutmasters Amanda Bost, Brewer; Tony Sellars, Washburn; and Andrew Sheaff, Orono; third assistant scoutmasters Shane Sickles, Bangor; Ivan Brown, Old Town; and Paul Thibodeau, Fort Kent.

Administering the 2005 Jamboree for the Katahdin Area Council are Carol Sowa of the council staff and Tim Archer, council district executive and jamboree adviser.

The National Scout Jamboree is a 10-day encampment of as many as 40,000 Scouts from across the United States. Scouts will participate in archery, orienteering, running obstacle courses, shotgun shooting, boating, canoeing and educational programs. They also tour historic areas while traveling to and from the jamboree.

To download an application for the jamboree, visit www.katahdinareabsa.org. Scouts may also obtain an application from their scoutmasters.

After-school program

ORONO – The Orono Parks and Recreation Department is accepting registrations for its 2004-2005 after-school program. Registration forms are available at the Tredwell Building or the Keith Anderson Community House, Bennoch Road.

The cost of the after-school program is $5 per week and $55 for the first six weeks of kindergarten. The program is open during school vacation 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Children will be picked up at school each day and transported to the after-school program site.

The program offers games, art, crafts, a place to do homework and other activities. To obtain more information, call 866-2631, or 866-5065.

Colleges

UMaine graduation May 8

ORONO – The Class of 2004, which will graduate at the University of Maine’s May 8 commencement ceremony, will be the largest in the university’s history. Some 1,901 students will receive a UMaine degree; 320 of them are graduate students, 26 at the doctoral level. Of that group, 1,608 are expected to attend the ceremony, which will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Morse Field, weather permitting.

The featured speaker will be Michele Montas, a highly respected broadcast journalist and Haitian human rights activist who graduated from UMaine in 1968.

More than 12,000 people attended UMaine’s commencement last year, making it the single largest event in the university’s history. A similar crowd is expected May 8, if the ceremony is held outside.

Those traveling to UMaine, especially from the south, are advised to allow for significant traffic delays. There will be continuous shuttle service from UMaine’s steam plant lot, Belgrade lot, Maine Center for the Arts lot and Orchard lot. One option is to use Exit 197 (formerly Exit 52) and drive through Old Town to the Park Street campus entrance.

In case of inclement weather, two commencement ceremonies will be held, both inside Harold Alfond Arena. Graduates from the College of Business, Public Policy and Health; the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and the Division of Lifelong Learning would receive their degrees at a 10:30 a.m. ceremony.

Those graduating from the College of Education and Human Development; the College of Engineering; and the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture would participate at 2:30 p.m.

A definite decision on whether to have the event inside or outside will be made by 7 p.m. Friday, May 7.

Community college awards

AUGUSTA – Seven community college students were honored for their academic and personal achievements and service to their communities at an April 28 ceremony hosted by the Maine Community College System Board of Trustees.

The 2004 “Students of the Year” Awards ceremony included a luncheon at the Senator Inn.

The 2004 award winners are:

. Rachael Begin of Jay, Central Maine Community College.

. Jessica Trundy of Brooks, Eastern Maine Community College.

. Amanda Bubar of St. Albans, Kennebec Valley Community College.

. Cherie Black of Monticello, Northern Maine Community College.

. Trisha May of South Portland, Southern Maine Community College.

. Eric Voelker of Hampden, Washington County Community College.

. Nicole Merryman of Waterboro, York County Community College.

The award winners were selected by college faculty and staff.

Each of the students has been awarded a John H. Lapoint Jr. Leadership Award in the amount of $1,000. Lapoint was president of UF Strainrite in Lewiston and a trustee of the former Technical College System when he died in 1995. His widow, Jana Lapoint, currently serves on the board and helped establish the fund for the annual awards.