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Schools

Bangor High open house

Parents are invited to attend Bangor High School’s open house at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21.

Teachers will follow an abbreviated class schedule so parents will have an opportunity to meet their child’s teachers and to hear presentations on class expectations and policies. Parents may pick up a copy of their child’s schedule in “B” lobby from 6:30 to 6:45 p.m.

The principal will provide a brief introduction to the evening’s activities in Peakes Auditorium, followed by “classes” beginning at 7 p.m.

Hampden play school

HAMPDEN – Child development classes at Hampden Academy will operate a play school for area children who are between the ages of 3 and 5.

The program will run one to two hours three mornings a week from mid-September through the end of January.

The program offers students studying child development the opportunity to observe children and practice effective ways of caring for children. It offers the young children a safe and well-supervised learning environment.

For more information or pre-registration, call Hampden Academy at 862-3791. A maximum of 15 applicants will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

Wetland science curriculum

ORONO – Students in the Orono schools could be the first in Maine to put a new wetland science curriculum into action this fall. If all goes well, their efforts could help the town of Orono conserve wetland hot spots known as vernal pools.

Vernal pools are critical habitats for some types of amphibians such as wood frogs and spotted salamanders. The pools do not support fish and often dry up by early to mid-summer.

University of Maine wetland ecologist Aram Calhoun has been meeting with three Orono teachers this summer to lay the groundwork for a new science curriculum based on studies she and several UMaine graduate students have done. The curriculum will guide classroom and field research activities designed to give middle and high school students experience in collecting, managing and interpreting scientific data.

The multiyear project has grown out of two earlier efforts: A high school environmental science program called Wetland Connections, and a test of vernal pool conservation steps developed by Calhoun and UMaine master’s student Damon Oscarson of Rye, N.Y. In the latter, Calhoun and Oscarson worked with citizen volunteers in the rapidly developing communities of Falmouth and three Farmington River watershed towns in Connecticut.

“We tested the [“Best Development Practices”] manual with citizen volunteers, and it worked,” said Calhoun. “They identified vernal pools in their towns, mapped them and assessed them. Then they ranked them for conservation purposes, from high to low priority.”

The goal was to help each community determine where to focus its wetland conservation efforts and where to allow development to proceed. “We know that we can’t save every vernal pool on the landscape. Let’s pick the ones that have the best chance to keep sustainable populations of animals,” Calhoun said.

Teachers involved in the Orono project are Cindy Clay, Jessica Archer and Danielle O’Neal. Over the next year, Orono students will study two vernal pools, one on school property and another on private property.

UMaine graduate students will help to teach the younger students how to identify different wetland species and their egg masses, signs of reproducing populations.

The project will integrate a variety of classroom activities including language arts, mathematics and computer skills. A Web site will be developed where students may share data, photographs, maps and reports.

Eventually, the project could grow to include all vernal pools in Orono. In addition to doing science, students will learn how to ask landowners for permission to study pools on private property. Students will not study privately owned pools unless landowners give permission.

Colleges

Hamilton College

CLINTON, N.Y. – Tae Chung, the son of Yong-Im and Hea-Sung Chung of Bangor, was named the recipient of the Dr. Edward Fitch Prize in Latin during the annual Convocation at Hamilton College on Aug. 29.

The Dr. Edward Fitch Prize in Latin, founded by E. Root Fitch, Class of 1886, is awarded annually to that student who, on completion of one or two years of Latin, has maintained the best record in that subject. To be eligible for the award, the appointee must elect Latin in the following year.

Chung is a senior majoring in economics at Hamilton, and a graduate of Bangor High School.

Northeastern University

BOSTON – Matthew Brown of Glenburn earned a bachelor’s degree from the college of arts and sciences at Northeastern University at commencement ceremonies on May 1.

Brown, who has done a variety of co-ops at Boston area law firms, is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and graduated summa cum laude. He is the son of Sonya and Fred Brown of Glenburn.

UMaine observatory

ORONO – It’s Friday night. Is the sky clear? That’s the question sky watchers should ask each week now that the Maynard F. Jordan Observatory is open to the public.

Every Friday evening, the telescope in the observatory is operated by trained astronomers who will show off the celestial sights to anyone interested enough to stop by. Admission is free and the astronomer will gladly explain what is seen through the eyepiece.

Heavenly targets will be viewed one after another as the moon, planets and stars come into focus.

The planetarium, a domed building housing an antique refractor telescope, is located beside the Memorial Union Student Center on the Orono campus within sight of the Maine Center for the Arts. To obtain directions to the planetarium and for weather and other information visit umainesky.com/observ1.htm.

The Jordan Observatory is open 9-11 p.m. every clear Friday evening through September, and 8-10 p.m. starting Oct. 1.

For specific observing plans, visitors should call the observatory infoline at 581-1348.