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Old Town High School

OLD TOWN – More than 70 students applied for the new Honors Diploma Program for the coming school year at Old Town High School. The purpose of the program is to support and challenge students to reach maximum potential. The program recognizes and rewards academic rigor and effort.

Incoming freshmen, current freshmen and sophomores may apply. Those accepted meet the selection criteria and agree to complete the requirements for the Honors Diploma – four years of courses, interdisciplinary seminars and required activities.

Requirements include a minimum of 10 honors courses; a minimum cumulative GPA of 90 in required courses; three years of a foreign language; four years of social studies; math, English and science, including three lab sciences; at least one interdisciplinary Honors Seminar Series a year; a senior exhibition project of superior quality; and a service-learning requirement.

Those who complete the requirements will participate in Honors Program seminars and field trips, receive an honors award or honors cords at graduation and be eligible for other recognition.

Accepted into the Honors Diploma Program for the 2006-07 school year were:

Kristina Anderson, Molly Baillargeon, Timothy Blair, Emily Bond, Danyle Boobar, Alison Brown, Ryan Brownewell, Erin Burns, Mary Callaway, Hilary Campbell, Jimmy Campbell, Maggie Campbell, Tyler Cates, Emilie Chadwick, Casey Clark, Morgin Cossar, Ashley Curtis, Jordanne Cyr, Gabriella do Armaral, Megan Dorr, Zach Dupuis, Nathan Edwards, Gary Fearon, Tiffany Gammon, Jean Gamperle and Grace Gonnella.

Also, Kate Goodness, Sharon Gunning, Cameron Henry, Chloe Hintz, Megan Jackson, Chris Johnson, Charlotte Kenneway, Chelsea Ketch, Jenna King, Chelsie Libby, Kaitlin Libby, Amanda Livingston, Charlotte Lonko, Emily Lovejoy, Kayleigh Mahan, Bradie Manion, Hilary Maxim, Andrew Michaud, Brianna Mills, Sarah Mitchell, Marilyn Morrison, Taylor Ogden, Chad Paradis, Evan Paradis, Elizabeth Pare, Darren Plante, Jason Priest, Megan Robichaud, Stephanie Savage, Molly Segee, Ethan Shanley, Erin St. Peter, Chelsea Sullivan, Matt Thebarge, Kirsti Trafton, Alexsandra Washburn, Brian Willey Brad Wilkins Sarah Wilcox, Brandon Winchenbach, Emily Yates and Colin Ziegenbein.

For information about the Honors Diploma Program, contact Judy Pusey, curriculum coordinator for the Old Town School Department.

These seniors have received college acceptance letters:

. Danielle Brady, University College of Bangor, Beal College and Husson College.

. James Dubay, University of New Hampshire.

. Danielle Georgia, Pierre’s School of Cosmetology.

. Ryan Getchell, Washington County Community College.

. Sarah Hopkins, Husson College.

. Adam Malenfant, University of Maine.

. Amanda Melanson, New England School of Communications.

. Elysia Murray, University of Maine.

. Kate Noonan, River College, Saint Joseph’s College and University of Maine at Fort Kent.

Reeds Brook Middle School

HAMPDEN – Melinda Grover and Ryan Cole were honored as Middle Level Scholar Leaders at a banquet held May 25 at the Augusta Civic Center. In order to receive the award, pupils had to demonstrate academic initiative and scholarship, provide service to classmates and school, exemplify positive attitudes and demonstrate leadership in the classroom and school activities.

More than 400 pupils, teachers and parents attended the banquet to honor 80 eighth-grade pupils from 40 schools at the seventh annual Middle Level Scholar Leader Awards banquet.

Colleges

Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Taylor Lynn of Orono graduated recently from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from the Wallace E. Carroll School of Management.

Chad Szylvian of Brewer was named to the dean’s list with high honors for the spring semester at Boston College. He is enrolled in the pre-med- biology program.

Szylvian spent spring break volunteering in Richmond, Ky., through Boston College’s Appalachia Volunteers Program in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. He has been selected to serve on the Appalachia Volunteer Council. He will help coordinate events and lead a volunteer trip to the Appalachia Region for the upcoming school year.

Bowdoin College

BRUNSWICK – Maria Openshaw of Hampden is one of seven Bowdoin college students awarded a Public Interest Career Fund Summer Fellowship.

The program was established to support students committed to enhancing social justice by serving the needs of others through policy making, direct service or community organizing. Students serve as interns for U.S. social service agencies, legal services organizations, humanitarian organizations, in public education and similar organizations.

Bridgewater College

BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Francis Waldron of Milford received a degree in communications studies during commencement ceremonies May 24, at Bridgewater College. Waldron will attend graduate school at the University of Maine in the fall.

Cornell University

ITHACA, N.Y. – These area students graduated May 22 from Cornell University:

. Alexander Shapero of Bangor, with a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature.

. Joshua Wood of Bangor, with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Keene State College

KEENE, N.H. – Kourtney Lipka of Orrington was named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at Keene State College.

New England School of Communications

BANGOR – A total of 55 students were named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at the New England School of Communications. In order to qualify, a student must achieve a grade point average of 3.4 or higher on a 4.0 scale.

Named to the dean’s list from this area were:

Bangor: Sean Mulligan, Heather Burleigh, and Ken Tompkins.

Dedham: Aaron Blackmer.

Hermon: Michael Rancourt.

Old Town: John McKim.

Orono: Meagan Hachey.

Veazie: Gordon Fellis.

Quinnipiac University

HAMDEN, Conn. – Jillian Dougherty of Brewer, Jeffrey Bouchard of Hampden and Lance Ingerson of Hampden were named to the dean’s for the spring semester at Quinnipiac University.

University of Maine

ORONO – Students in the University of Maine Honors College have successfully competed in prestigious undergraduate scholarship competitions at the national level every year since 2003. In 2003, 2004 and 2006 honors students received Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, and in 2005, an honors student was awarded a Morris K. Udall Scholarship.

Erik Perkins, UM Class of 2007, is a 2006 recipient of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Award. The Barry M. Goldwater Excellence in Education Foundation gives up to 300 awards each year to eligible sophomores and juniors throughout the United States.

Awards are made on the basis of merit and each award covers expenses, including tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500. Eligible students are full-time sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, engineering or the natural sciences.

Perkins, a junior from Albion, a double major in physics and mathematics, is the third honors college student in four years to win the Goldwater Award. He was preceded by Bill Oliver in 2004 and Adam Burgoyne in 2003.

Oliver, of Winterport, graduated in 2005 with a degree in molecular and cellular biology with a minor in chemistry and microbiology, and a second degree in biochemistry. He is now in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, where he is working toward a doctorate in biochemistry.

Burgoyne, of Enfield, graduated in 2004 with degrees in molecular biology, biochemistry and French, and a minor in microbiology. He now lives in Cleveland, Ohio, attending Case Western Reserve University, where he is in the Medical Science Training Program, studying molecular biology and microbiology in addition to medicine. Participants earn a doctorate as well as a medical degree.

Another honors student, Julia McGuire, was a 2005 recipient of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship Award. The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation awards up to 80 scholarships to qualified undergraduate students who have an interest in, and potential for, careers in fields related to the environment, Native American health care and tribal public policy.

The award is up to $5,000 and covers tuition, fees, books and room and board. McGuire is a senior from Augusta, and graduated in May with a degree in ecology and environmental sciences, with a concentration in resource and environmental policy.

The honors college started in 2002, transitioning from the university’s highly successful honors program, which dated back to the early 1930s. With a total enrollment of 500 in 2002, the honors college has grown to almost 700 students enrolled in its rigorous comprehensive four-year curriculum, with more than 80 students graduating this May having completed their undergraduate research theses. More information on the honors college can be found at www.honors.umaine.edu.

Teaching at middle level

ORONO – Many students find the transition from elementary school to middle school one of the biggest challenges they face in their early teenage years. Recognizing that challenge, and helping 10- to 15-year-olds deal with multiple issues involving all kinds of change simultaneously, may be what separates the good teachers from the really inspired and inspiring educators.

Those are among the messages in a new book, “Essential Questions – With Answers – for Middle Level Teachers.” The book was written by graduate students in a class called Seminar in Middle Level Education at the University of Maine’s College of Education and Human Development. Professor Edward Brazee, who taught the seminar, said the authors are an eclectic mix of veteran and new middle school teachers.

“As we attempted to make our learning meaningful, we hit upon the idea of writing a little book for teachers, one that would be inspiring, useful and informative,” Brazee said. The essays, by Brazee and eight class members, cover topics from the intellectual, emotional and physiological development of young teens to the characteristics of effective learning teams in schools.

The book, published by the National Middle School Association, focuses on four themes – young adolescents, the middle school concept, teaching in middle level schools and moving beyond the classroom. The writers share enthusiasm not only for working with young people who want to learn, but also for helping to create a climate where young learners have a stake in and contribute to the learning process.

One of the authors recalls telling her algebra class that Pythagoras and the cult he was involved with kept the discovery of irrational numbers a secret. Nancy Simpson hoped the story would prompt her students to remember what irrational numbers are, but two of the students were so intrigued they asked Simpson if they could make a movie about the subject. The following Monday morning, they had the movie ready to show to the class. “Making a movie in math class was something that would never have occurred to me, but for these students it was second nature,” Simpson said.

The book is the first in the National Middle School Association’s new Just For Teachers series. Plans call for a celebration and book signing party during the Middle Level Education Institute, held each summer at UM. This year’s gathering, which attracts middle level educators from across the state, will be held June 25-30. More information is available from Cindy Plourde, Institute coordinator, at 581-2412 or by e-mail cindy.plourde@umit.maine.edu

New provost at UM

ORONO – University of Maine President Robert A. Kennedy announced recently that Edna Mora Szymanski, dean of the college of education at the University of Maryland, College Park, will be UMaine’s new senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

Szymanski began her academic career in 1989 as a faculty member in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Dept. of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education. She also served as an associate dean and department chairman at Wisconsin before assuming the dean’s role at Maryland in 1999. She was chosen for the UM post after a national search.

“Dean Szymanski is an outstanding scholar and a proven leader in higher education,” Kennedy said. “She brings an impressive record of accomplishment, as a faculty member, as a researcher and as an administrator at two of the country’s top land-grant universities. She is eminently qualified and well-prepared to become a provost, and I am certain that she will be a great addition to the UMaine community.”

Szymanski’s appointment is subject to final approval by the University of Maine System board of trustees. Chancellor Joseph Westphal has signed off on the appointment.

“The University of Maine is an excellent institution with great possibilities,” Szymanski said. “I look forward to working with President Kennedy, the faculty, staff, students and alumni to implement the exciting directions that the university has planned.”

Szymanski earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1972, and a master’s in rehabilitation counseling from the University of Scranton in 1974. She worked as a senior vocational rehabilitation counselor in the New York State Office of Vocational Rehabilitation until 1986, then earned a doctorate in special education from the University of Texas at Austin in 1988. Szymanski is a prolific scholar, with more than 100 publications to her credit. She has won several awards for research and research supervision. She is expected to begin work at UMaine on Aug. 15.

Szymanski will succeed John Mahon, who has served as interim provost since August 2004, when Kennedy was elevated from that job to the interim presidency. Mahon remained provost when Kennedy became UMaine’s 18th president in April 2005. He will return to the UMaine College of Business, Public Policy and Health faculty as the John M. Murphy Chairman of International Business Policy and Strategy.

“John has done outstanding work as interim provost, applying his enormous intellect and trademark energy to a number of important initiatives, while managing the vast responsibilities of that role,” Kennedy said. “I thank John sincerely, and look forward to continuing to work closely with him.”