Student to follow explorers

BANGOR – Elizabeth Kevit, a sophomore at John Bapst Memorial High School and the daughter of Kathryn Kevit of Eddington, has been selected as one of 10 Maine students to represent the state in the Lewis and Clark Youth Rendezvous this summer. Only students who will be high school juniors or seniors in 2006 were eligible to apply for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

In a letter from North Dakota’s first lady, Mikey Hoeven, Kevit was notified of her selection and recognized as having submitted one of the top 10 essays from Maine.

Kevit and the other selected students will receive an all-expense paid trip to North Dakota where they will walk in the footsteps of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the explorers who in May 1804 set out with their Corps of Discovery on an expedition across the Louisiana Territory.

The corps traveled over a three-year period through what later became 11 states. In August 1806 they returned to what is the present-day North Dakota. Since then, the voyage has become known as an unsurpassed tale of adventure and endurance.

The national event will highlight unique cultural legends and natural landscapes found in North Dakota and combine present-day military training with military history. In addition to its historical relevance, the program will provide a fun, educational and team-building opportunity for students from around the United States.

The students also will take part in a national Lewis and Clark bicentennial event on the actual date the two explorers returned their Shoshone aide, Sakakawea, to her hometown in North Dakota. Sakakawea – or Sacagawea in the Shoshone spelling – aided the explorers as they traveled down the Missouri River and across the plains towards the Pacific Ocean. She is credited with translating her native tongueand helping salvage valuable supplies and maps when a squall struck and nearly capsized the expedition’s vessels.