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BPW Scholarships

The BPW-Maine Futurama Foundation, established by the Maine Federation of Business and Professional Women, offers four scholarships to be awarded to Maine women.

Germaine Murphy, president of the Bangor BPW Club, and Julie Antworth, local BPW Scholarship chairwoman, said that completed applications must be received by April 20 to be considered for the 2006-2007 school year. Each scholarship will provide $1,200 for school expenses. Application forms are available at the guidance office of area high schools, or from the local BPW scholarship chairwoman. The scholarships are:

. The Rachel E. Lemieux Youth Scholarship, given in memory of the late Lemieux of Augusta, to a high school senior or recent graduate who will attend college beginning in the fall.

. The Arline Andrews Lovejoy Youth Scholarship, given in memory of the late Lovejoy of Wayne and Winthrop, to a high school senior girl or recent graduate who will attend college beginning in the fall of 2006.

. The Continuing Education Scholarship, to a woman whose post-secondary education is in progress. An applicant must have completed at least one year of an accredited college or training program and be enrolled for at least one more year to complete the educational program.

. The Career Advancement Scholarship, to a woman 30 years of age or older who is enrolled in an accredited college or training program of study.

Applications and supporting documents are to be sent to the local BPW contact listed below. Financial need and educational goals are important criteria in consideration for all of the scholarships.

The scholarship chairwoman of the local BPW organization is Julie Antworth, 1453 Union St., Bangor, ME 04401. She may be contacted at 947-4915.

Maine Writing Project

ORONO – Start with the familiar – the things you know, the people, places and things of your hometown, and see what stories it inspires. The reflection and resulting stories, poems and essays written by 22 students from Machias to Skowhegan, resulted in a CD about what it means to grow up in Maine.

“Our Maine: The Way Life Is,” a production of the Maine Writing Project at the University of Maine, features the students reading their work, which describes everyday and special events in the smallest communities where a 10-mile trip is required to “buy a loaf of bread or rent a movie” to hunting in the Maine woods and watching the horses at Scarborough Downs.

The Maine themes and traditions run deep as the students share their thoughts and build memories about adding on to houses as families expand, generations working together, the connection to the land and the sea, the powerful influence of nature and the importance of roots in the inevitability of change.

The 29-minute CD is accompanied by a teacher’s guide, which includes ideas and activities for creating place-based writing and production opportunities. Submissions for the CD were sought from students of the 186 Maine Writing Project teacher consultants across Maine. The opportunity to publish was open to students in grades three through 12.

The Maine Writing Project is an affiliate of the National Writing Project, which is dedicated to the improvement of the teaching and learning of writing across the curriculum at all grade levels.

“What we know about writing and the teaching of writing is that the stories about ourselves and the places that shape us are foundational,” said Rich Kent, UMaine assistant professor of literacy and director of the Maine Writing Project. “As teachers, we understand that expressive writing – writing from or about the self – is the precursor to more transactional pieces such as persuasion, argument or critique.”

Two Maine Writing Project teachers, Ken Martin of Narraguagus High School and Debra Butterfield of Gardiner Regional Middle School, produced the CD that Kent narrates.

The student performers and their schools are:

. Narraguagus High School, Harrington: Danielle Hayes, Joshua Ray, Kalarr Dunphy, Patrick Keith, Elizabeth Grant, John Nadeau and Colleen Herlihy.

. Warsaw Middle School, Pittsfield: Kathryne Applegate, Vanessa Hathaway, Libby Newhouse, Alexis Rowe and Rachel Ross.

. Gardiner Regional Middle School: Amanda Brewer, Brandon Caron, Allison Casey and Kayla Pleau.

. Erskine Academy, China: Shawn Moleon.

. Troy Central School: Anna Tsomides.

. Brooklin School: Brian Clarke and Iain Richardson.

. Sebasticook Valley Middle School, Newport: Brittany Hopkins.

. Margaret Chase Smith School, Skowhegan: Andrew Higgins.

A limited number of CDs is available to interested teachers at no charge. The Writing About Place Teacher’s Guide, also in limited quantities, is $4. More information is available from the Maine Writing Project by calling Rich Kent at 581-2746, or e-mailing rich.kent@maine.edu.

Know Your Orchestra

BANGOR – The Bangor Symphony Orchestra announced its partnership with Target in the presentation of music education in Maine’s rural schools and communities. The BSO’s program, Know Your Orchestra! started in the spring of 2001 in response to the need for more complete music education in Maine schools. Target’s recent grant of $2,500 will strengthen the program and make possible several more school visits in 2005-2006.

Each week Target gives more than $2 million to strengthen families and communities across the nation, with a focus on education, the arts, social services and other vital community partnerships.

Arranged by Education Coordinator Jackie Frisk, the program takes groups of Bangor Symphony musicians – and sometimes Xiao-Lu Li, the orchestra’s music director and conductor – into area schools for workshops, demonstrations and performance.

“This is such an important program,” said Frisk, also a music teacher in the Bangor school system. “It really complements and endorses the work that we are doing in the schools, and we are so grateful to have the support of Target.”

Through the program the Bangor Symphony aims to reinforce the Maine Learning Results and support Maine’s teachers’ efforts.

Grant funding from Target is targeted specifically for outreach in rural Maine schools, many of which have little or no access to music education. For more information about the Bangor Symphony Orchestra’s Know Your Orchestra! educational outreach, or to schedule a visit to your school, call 942-5555, or (800) 639-3221.

Colleges

NESCom, Husson College

A concerted effort by an interfaith group of churches in the Bangor area filled three truckloads with food, clothing and other supplies to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.

But what was missing was the money to buy the gas necessary for the trucks to reach their destination.

Enter New England School of Communications junior Steven Williams of Ludlow, Vt. Williams approached Husson College coordinator of student development Kaleena Nakowicz about holding a concert with the proceeds to go toward buying the gas needed to get the trucks under way.

He was given the OK and after six or seven weeks of planning, assisted by Husson student government representative Leah Atwood,

Williams saw his concert take place Nov. 5 at the Husson Student Center. Ten bands took part, more than 200 people attended and between $1200 and $1300 was collected, more than enough to buy the gas. The money was turned over to the Rev. Bob Carlson, Husson College chaplain.

Two of the bands were made up entirely of NESCom students while six or seven bands included NESCom alumni or former students among the players.

Williams, who has been studying audio engineering but is now looking at the advertising and marketing offerings of the school, got the idea for the concert while driving back to Bangor after visiting his father, a Navy Seabee stationed at Brunswick. He noticed many of the buckets placed in various places seeking donations for the Katrina victims and realized how much the disaster was pulling the country together.

Williams comes from a musical family. His uncle is a folk singer, his two sisters play the flute. A brother, a percussionist, teaches music and is “the best musician I ever heard,” he said. He himself once played the drums.

It’s said that music can move the soul. In this case it moved three truckloads of much-needed supplies to people in dire need – and that’s all that Steven Williams wanted to achieve.

Savannah College of Art and Design

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Jamal Binzagr of Orono graduated recently from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He received a masters degree in visual effects.

University of Maine

ORONO – Ninety students in the University of Maine’s College of Education and Human Development were recognized recently for outstanding academic achievement.

The students, representing communities throughout Maine’s 16 counties, five other states and Canada, were honored at the fall Presidential Academic Achievement Award ceremony, attended by faculty and family members.

College Dean Robert Cobb, along with academic advisers, congratulated and presented each student with a Presidential Academic Achievement pin. The one-time award is presented to students who have earned a 3.5 or higher grade point average during the most recent semester and a 3.0 average over the past two semesters.

Students receiving awards locally were:

Bangor – Jennifer Mallett, Julia Potorti, Breanne Tewhey, Jaime Fox, Jennifer Wright and Kathryn Byrd.

Brewer – Heather Hart and Gayle Harris.

Bucksport – Alice Andrews and Beth Thompson.

Corinth – Ginna Thomas.

Dixmont – Sally Hegarty.

Eddington – Laura Hodges.

Hampden – Rebecca Dubois, Kelly Havlin, Kelly Badger and Nicole Wass.

Hermon – Mellony Hafford.

Levant – Denise Knowles.

Newburgh – Bethany Ryder.

Old Town – Rebecca Clapp, Scotie-Lynn Gomm and Rachel Bilodeau.

Orono – Heather Burnett, Melissa Bligh and Darci Dickison.

Orrington – Katee Stearns.

Veazie – Brandon Ryder.

Northeastern University

BOSTON, Mass. – Katelyn Richards, daughter of Ronald and Deborah Richards and a 2004 graduate of Hampden Academy, was inducted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars at Northeastern University on Oct. 25.