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Concerto Competition

ORONO – Six high school musicians have been chosen as finalists for the 25th annual Bangor Symphony Orchestra Maine High School Concerto Competition, set for March 18 at the University of Maine.

The finalists are:

. Mary Grattan, clarinet, Bangor High School.

. Lydia Kilian, piano, Erskine Academy.

. Molly Nichols, harp, Washington Academy.

. Saerim Park, violin, Scarborough High School.

. Benjamin Tibbetts, piano, Erskine Academy.

. Tyler Yentes, violin, home-schooled in Monroe.

For 25 years, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra has been encouraging and recognizing the outstanding talents of Maine’s high school instrumentalists.

The first-prize winner of the $500 Annas-Cupp Award will be featured in a concerto performance with the BSO during the May 2007 performances.

The winner will work directly with Maestro Xiao-Lu Li to select a piece of music to perform with the orchestra, which may or may not be the piece performed in the competition. Performances will include the May 2007 Youth Concerts for nearly 4,000 Maine students and also may include the May 2007 season finale classical concert.

All finalists from the 2006 competition will be invited to join the BSO for the May 22 Youth Concerts, working side by side with BSO musicians, instrumentation permitting.

Second, third and honorable mention prize-winners are awarded Friends of the Symphony cash awards.

The public is invited to attend the competition at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 18, with a snow date of March 19, at the School of Performing Arts, Minsky Recital Hall, University of Maine.

Admission is free. More information is available on bangorsymphony.com or by calling the Bangor Symphony box office at 942-5555 or (800) 639-3221.

Girl Scout Leadership Awards

BANGOR – Three members of Girl Scout Troop 387 received Leadership Awards Saturday for their work organizing a Women’s Professional Career Day for girls in grades six through 12.

Elizabeth Pederson, Hannah Bambrick and Jordan Perry were presented their awards by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, who also was one of the speakers for the day. The three girls had interviewed the senator from Washington via teleconferencing prior to the career day.

Speaking to the Girl Scouts on Saturday, Collins emphasized four concepts that she said were apparent in many professional women.

“We worked hard, we believed in ourselves, we never gave up and we took risks,” she said.

Collins illustrated her ideas by pointing out that she had lost the election for governor before she ever decided to run for the U.S. Senate.

“The biggest regret in life comes not when you try and fail, but when you fail to try,” she said.

Other speakers were: Renee Garrett, minister; Prudence Wicks, dentist; Belinda Beaulier, physical therapist; Karen Eversole, veterinarian; Barbara Hamilton, chemical engineer; Sarah Folsom, physician assistant; Mary Warner, radiologist; Mary Smith, teaching principal at Newburgh Elementary School; Patricia Stowell, professional musician and teacher; Shannon Bonsey, deputy director for Family Enrichment Services at Penquis CAP; Susan O’Connor, surgeon; Barbara Cardone, lawyer; Roxanne Moore Saucier, editor of The Weekly.

JA Job Shadow Day

BREWER – Five classes from Brewer Middle School took part in Junior Achievement of Maine’s Job Shadow Day on March 2. The day was sponsored by TD Banknorth.

The pupils had the opportunity to shadow workers at the following area businesses: Bangor Daily News, Bangor Sam’s Club, Bangor Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Brewer Wal-Mart Super Center.

While visiting the job sites, pupils gained an understanding of what goes on behind the scenes at each business and the various jobs involved in running the companies. To learn more about Junior Achievement, call Irv Marsters at 945-9311 or e-mail irv@bangorlettershop.com.

John Bapst Memorial High School

BANGOR – Dr. Ron Schwizer, assistant headmaster for academics at John Bapst Memorial High School, spoke recently about the continuing evolution of the school’s ninth-grade program structured to deepen student engagement with health and wellness, while honoring the state-mandated health requirement.

The school’s health curriculum has been split into two distinct segments. The school will offer a wellness seminar for one quarter, alternating with a quarter of technology instruction that provides every first-year student in the school with the specific information technology foundations necessary for the college preparatory program at John Bapst.

Other wellness topics that are more developmentally appropriate to upperclassmen will be addressed in other ways as students mature.

The wellness seminar will address developmentally appropriate topics that focus on improving coping strategies, academic skills and strategies to better equip students to meet the challenges they will face both in and out of school, such as self-esteem, decision making, stress management, nutrition and communication. The technology component will include formatting of research papers, resumes, letters of application, Excel charting and graphing, and portfolio creation.

Advanced courses in biology and geometry have been offered to qualified ninth-graders at Bapst for several years. In the science curriculum, honors and advanced placement courses are offered annually in biology, chemistry and physics. In the math curriculum, honors classes in algebra II and calculus, AP courses in statistics, calculus AB and calculus BC, and college mathematics are offered annually. Additional electives are also offered.

The restructuring of the school’s ninth-grade health and wellness program paves the way for the addition of a full year of integrated science for those not enrolled in biology.

The integrated science curriculum will include an introduction to the scientific method, measurement, chemistry as it relates to biology, characteristics of living things, cells and their structure, and classification of living things as well as selected topics in elementary physics and earth science.

BANGOR – John Bapst Memorial High School student Joseph Rice completed the Leadership Challenge Weekend held Feb. 24-26 at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt. The two-day program is designed to expose college-bound students to a military college and university life. The program includes a leadership course, leadership and effective communications classes, physical fitness training, climbing wall, water survival and a class on how to properly assemble a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Students must meet strict academic, character and leadership requirements in order to apply.

Rice is the son of Ray and Beth Price of Glenburn.

Colleges

Bentley College

WALTHAM, Mass. – Area students named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Bentley College are:

. Shannon Fessenden of Carmel, who is studying accounting information systems.

. Zachary Means of Orono, who is studying marketing.

Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Chad Szylvian of Brewer was named to the dean’s list with high honors for the fall semester at Boston College. He is enrolled in the biology and pre-medicine program.

Boston University

BOSTON – Named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Boston University were three students from Bangor:

. Adina Rosenthal.

. Juliana Rozeboom.

. Sarah Templeton.

Northeastern University

BOSTON – These area students were named to the dean’s list at for the fall semester Northeastern University:

. Douglas Boyle of Bangor, who is studying engineering.

. Nicole Leblanc of Bangor, who is majoring in international affairs.

. Margot Morse of Bangor, who has not yet decided on a major area of study.

. Rebekah Schmidt of Orono, who is majoring in history.

Oklahoma State University

STILLWATER, Okla. – Matthew Nye of Bangor graduated recently from Oklahoma State University. He earned a master’s degree in human environmental sciences.

University of New England

BIDDEFORD – Heather Laferriere was named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at the University of New England, where she is studying physical therapy. She achieved a 4.0 grade point average. A 2005 graduate of John Bapst Memorial High School, she is the daughter of Mike and Susan Laferriere of Veazie.

Government internships

Applications are available for area college students to participate in the Maine State Government Summer Internship Program.

The Maine State Government Summer Internship Program, run by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine, is a full-time 12-week, paid work experience and learning internship.

State Sen. Elizabeth Schneider of Orono encouraged students to apply.

The program is open to students enrolled in a Maine college or university or students from Maine attending college out of state. The student must have completed at least two years of college. Students currently graduating from undergraduate and graduate programs also are eligible to participate. Selected interns earn $340 per week throughout the 12-week program.

The Maine State Government Summer Internship Program was established in 1967 by the Maine Legislature. It was designed “to attract and select college students with ambition and talent for temporary internships within state government.” The goal of the program is to place interns in positions where they can contribute to state government as well as benefit from the experience.

Last summer’s program employed one intern from Senate District 30. Caroline Tjepkema of Orono, a student at the University of Maine, was employed by the Department of Environmental Protection as an environmental intern.

For more information on the program or to apply, call the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at 581-1646 or visit www.umaine.edu/mcsc/SudentOpp/MaineIntern.htm.