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1940s radio show

BREWER – Brewer Youth Theatre will present “A Night of 1940s Radio” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, at Brewer Middle School. The centerpiece of the evening is the premiere of “Escape,” an original radio drama written by Adam Kuykendall, who has worked as an actor in Penobscot Theatre productions. The adventure drama is written in the style of classic radio serials.

The episode centers on the Tanner twins, children of a world-famous scientist, who find themselves battling small- time crooks, Nazis and a dead Mayan king. In the show, a cast of 20 Brewer High School and Brewer Middle School students will join narrator Tom Burby, Brewer Middle School language arts teacher.

Theater director Rich Kimball will serve as host for the evening and will feature an appearance by veteran television and radio personality George Hale, who will present the biggest sports stories of the 1940s. The evening will include musical performances by Brewer High School students, music director Clayton W. Smith and guest Nancy Lamarre on accordion.

Commercials from the 1940s will be part of the festivities.

Admission is $3, $2 for students and seniors. Call Brewer Middle School at 989-8640 for more information.

Hurricane relief walk

HAMPDEN – Walk a Foot in Another School’s Shoes for hurricane relief kicked off earlier this week at the Earl C. McGraw School. Kindergartners through second-graders are collecting several feet of quarters to help a K-12 school in Hackberry, La., that suffered losses and damage after Hurricane Rita in September.

Each pupil will color in and personalize a footprint with 13 quarter-sized circles drawn on it representing a foot of quarters, said Diana Dashiell-Ireland, parent coordinator for the effort. The children will count the quarters they raise. The handcrafted footprints and money will be sent to the school’s representative in Hackberry, La., who will purchase supplies to help with the school’s reopening before the holidays.

The drive ends Nov. 18.

The Greater Bangor community will have an opportunity to assist the pupils 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at the Wal-Mart Super Center in Brewer. Parents and pupils will collect quarters or cash to add to the amount collected at the school.

Brewer Wal-Mart has agreed to assist with a cookout at the store. Other local businesses helping with the cookout are Sam’s Club, Shaw’s, Country Kitchen and Pepsi. Proceeds will benefit the Walk a Foot in Another School’s Shoes quarters drive at McGraw School.

Pupils will present their footprints and the money collected at a brief school assembly on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

Those who wish to help the children collect as many feet of quarters as they can now through Nov. 18 may send donations to: Kathy Townsend, treasurer, McGraw PTO, Earl C. McGraw School, 20 Main Road North, Hampden, 04444. Make checks payable to McGraw PTO, and in the memo area write hurricane relief.

BSO youth concerts

ORONO – Every year, more than 4,000 schoolchildren, teachers and families return to the Maine Center for the Arts for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Concert Series to hear a program of orchestral favorites. The BSO presents the series this season with three shows at 9:45 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. Monday, May 22, at the Maine Center for the Arts.

On this season’s program the BSO will present the finale from “Carmen Suite,” “Carnival of the Animals” with young guest soloists Henry Kramer and Pallavi Mahadari, the final movement of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 and Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”

Last year’s concerts were nearly sold out and early reservations are advised. Tickets are $3 for public, private and home-schooled students and their chaperones, and $10 for the general public at the 1:15 p.m. concert only.

Educational packets are provided for groups of 15 or more or may be requested individually for $5 each.

Reservations may be made by calling the Bangor Symphony Orchestra box office at 942-5555, (800) 639-3221. More information is available at bangorsymphony.com.

Top 50 in MEAs

BANGOR – Two of John Bapst Memorial High School’s current seniors placed among the top 50 students on the 2005 grade 11 Maine Education Assessments. David Mackley Jones of Orrington and Ryan J. Lena of Orono have been notified by Susan Gendron, Maine’s commissioner of education, that they will be recognized for their outstanding achievement on the MEAs at an honors luncheon in Augusta on Dec. 5. The designation is based on combined scores from the reading, writing, mathematics, and science and technology sub-tests.

Jones is the son of Thomas Jones and Barbara Alexander. He has received several academic class awards and writes for the Crusader, the school’s student newspaper. He is a member of the school’s state championship chess team and one of the founding members of the school’s Civil Rights Team. David also is also a member of the school’s soccer team and served as captain of the junior varsity team in 2004.

Lena is the son of Mark and Kathy Lena. He is a member of the National Honor Society and Math Team. He has numerous academic awards and participated in the Maine Youth Leadership Program, later receiving a Clarkson University Leadership Award. He also is a talented musician with notable honors, including two years of All-State Classical Violin and participation in the 2005 All-Eastern Music Festival. In addition, he has lettered in three varsity sports: cross country, Nordic skiing and track and field.

Head of School Landis Green commented recently about this recognition: “David and Ryan are in good company at Bapst. Obviously, both young men are very bright. Beyond that, however, they are solid citizens, willing to pitch in and help out whenever there’s something special going on here at school. They work hard to make their school a better place.

As a whole, John Bapst’s Class of 2006 scored exceptionally well across the board in the MEAs, ranking first or second in all four sub-tests. John Bapst is a nondenominational, college-preparatory, independent high school serving 500 students in grades nine-12.

Arts and dance

Seven classes of students from Brewer High School, John Bapst Memorial High School, Hermon High School and Hampden Academy are working with visiting Maine performing artists this month to create original works of theater, mask theater and dance. They will perform for each other and for the public on Thursday, Nov. 17.

Students at Bangor High School will do the same program in March. The students’ work is part of a regional program, now in its seventh year, involving high schools throughout Penobscot and Piscataquis counties.

Building Community Through the Arts, organized by the Maine Alliance for Arts Education, with support this year from the Davis Family Foundation, the Frances Hollis Brain Foundation and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, sends theater, mask theater and dance artists and educators into classrooms to help students explore their own social issues and themes, using dance and drama as the medium.

Jeremy Phelps’ performance arts class at Brewer High is working with mask theater artist Beverly Mann. Two of Jason O’Reilly’s social studies classes at John Bapst are working with theater artist Cathy Plourde. And at Hampden Academy, three classes – Stan Manhart’s interpersonal communication class, one of Rob Kissinger’s English classes and one of Lisa Scofield’s English classes – along with students from Ira Weissman’s life skills class are working with dance educator Louis Gervais.

The students will perform their pieces and share thoughts about collaborative experience with participating classes from Nokomis, Greenville, Penquis Valley and Piscataquis Community high schools at the Universalist Unitarian Church, 120 Park St., Bangor. The public is welcome to attend. A schedule of performances, which run from 9:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. is available at the high schools or call program director Susan Potters at 676-9494.

NASA film

BANGOR – A NASA production crew filmed on Oct. 22 area students and teachers at the Challenger Learning Center of Maine for a nationally broadcast educational series called “NASA CONNECT.” The film is called “Path of Totality: Measuring Angular Distance.” Local students will participate in a learning activity to discover what causes a solar eclipse, a central feature of the show.

The Challenger Learning Center of Maine was selected as a site because it serves as the regional NASA Educator Resource Center and because of the outreach programs the center provides to teachers and students throughout Maine. Ellen Holmes, a former Bangor teacher who served as the program manager for NASA CONNECT this past year, recommended the center to the show’s producer.

Colleges

Eastern Maine Community College

BANGOR – Eastern Maine Community College will hold its annual fall open house 9 a.m.-noon Friday, Nov. 18, at the Campus Center off Hogan Road.

Short, overview presentations will be offered every 15-20 minutes, with many faculty members on hand to answer questions about specific programs and departments. Tours of the campus will be available, with a number of programs providing presentations in the shop and lab areas.

To obtain more information, call 974-4680, (800) 286-9357 or visit www.emcc.edu.

New England School of Communications

BANGOR – The New England School of Communications, in conjunction with Husson College, will hold an open house for prospective students and their parents 9:15 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12.

Highlights of the open house will include tours of the Communications Center, a complimentary luncheon at noon in Dickerman Dining Hall, a question and answer session, and interviews 1-2 p.m. with faculty and staff.

Tours take place at 9:15, 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. and are available by registration only. Call (888) 877-1876 for more information.

Husson College

BANGOR – The Bernard Osher Foundation of San Francisco has awarded Husson College a $1 million scholarship endowment gift, the largest in the college’s history. The foundation also awarded the college a $50,000 grant to provide students with interim scholarships while the endowment is being established and earnings are beginning to accumulate.

“The Osher scholarships that result from this endowment will make Husson affordable for students with very limited financial means,” said Husson President William Beardsley. “A previous Osher gift to Husson was focused on students from rural Maine towns with median family incomes of $15,000. The foundation was impressed by this past commitment to these special students and had now entrusted us with this extraordinary endowment. We intend to continue this need-based Maine focus and we will honor Osher’s trust.”

Husson is the largest private educator of Maine students. Undergraduate enrollment has increased by 100 students per year over the past three years. Professionally accredited programs, competitive tuition and an expanding array of undergraduate and graduate offerings are credited for much of the growth. The Osher gift will increase Husson’s reserve-endowment account by 14 percent to $8 million.

Bernard Osher grew up in Biddeford, attended Bowdoin College and traveled west to pursue a career in California. In recent years, he has focused his philanthropy on college students in the San Francisco area and in Maine. In 2001, his foundation awarded Husson a $200,000 scholarship grant. In the subsequent years, more than 20 Maine students received ongoing support from that grant.