Schools

School to Life

BANGOR – The Maine Transition Network, Region 3-Penquis, announces this year’s School to Life series of eight forums focusing on students with disabilities as they make the transition from high school to the adult world.

The first workshop, “Introduction to Transition Planning,” will feature a panel of speakers, including special education directors, special education teachers, parents, youth and others.

The forum will be held 3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, at Alpha One’s conference room, 1048 Union St., Bangor. The topic will be the new special education law and how it will affect students with special needs. Contact Cindy Tuck, coordinator of the series, to register by calling 992-2270 or e-mailing schooltolife@midmaine.com.

John Bapst Memorial High School

BANGOR – John Bapst Memorial High School Head of School Landis Green announced that four seniors recently have been named Commended Students in the 2007 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are:

. Cassandra Alley of Glenburn.

. Emily Lad of Glenburn.

. Anna Delong of Blue Hill.

. Nathaniel Hewett of Holden.

The four students are being recognized for exceptional academic promise demonstrated by outstanding performances on the qualifying test. They placed in the top 5 percent of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2007 competition by taking the 2005 Preliminary SAT-National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

“Recognition of academically talented students and the key role played by schools in their development are essential to the pursuit of educational excellence in our nation,” said a spokesman for the program. “The young people being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding academic potential by their strong performance in this highly competitive program. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and that they will continue to pursue scholastic excellence.”

BANGOR – Head of School Landis Green and Dean of Students Colleen Grover were sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Presidency to participate in the first conference of the National Consortium for Character-Based Leadership.

The symposium, a chance for educators to trade best practices and discuss the design and uses of case study curricula, was held Sept. 22-23 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va.

Green and Grover are two of the staff members coordinating the Ethical Fitness Program at John Bapst. To date, students, faculty, staff members, and board of trustees members have participated in ethics workshops. The work will continue this year and will open with a schoolwide assembly featuring guest speaker U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

Colleges

Eastern Maine Community College

BANGOR – Out of the dozens of career fairs the Bangor Career Center has held over the years, none brought in as many job seekers as the one held Sept. 27 at Eastern Maine Community College.

Thirty-nine businesses representing wide-ranging fields filled Rangeley Hall with tables of information and displays. Many of the 430 job seekers immediately filled out applications.

According to Paul Ruggiero, Career Center consultant and organizer of the event along with Eastern Maine Community College, “The success of this career fair can be attributed to a number of factors – the number of businesses participating, the location and support of Eastern Maine Community College, and a new marketing effort.”

Employment numbers resulting from the career fair will be released within several weeks.

Maine Maritime Academy

CASTINE – Graduate student Carlos Kwakutse, of Maine Maritime Academy’s Loeb-Sullivan School of International Business and Logistics, was selected by the New England Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals to represent the group at the council’s annual conference. Kwakutse will serve on the arrangements committee Oct. 15-18 in San Antonio.

The New England-based graduate students selected will join students representing the other council roundtables at the conference. They will spend half their time attending educational and networking sessions, and half supporting conference logistics. They also will interact with the professional community and gain exposure to expertise in supply management.

Kwakutse is pursuing a master’s degree in global supply chain management at Maine Maritime Academy, where he also teaches a course on chemical tankers and assisting in the tanker lab.

He is a native of Ghana and comes with a decade of maritime experience, holding a master mariner’s certificate of competency. A graduate of Singapore Polytechnic, he has sailed as a captain with Petroships of Singapore. After his anticipated graduation from MMA in June, he plans to seek a career in shore-based supply chain management.

According to Dr. Shashi Kumar, associate dean of MMA’s Loeb-Sullivan School, Kwakutse has built strong relationships with undergraduate and graduate students, and is well-respected by his professors. As a past student employee of the MMA Conferences Department, Kumar says Kwakutse will be an experienced and valuable member of the arrangements committee.

CASTINE – Maine Maritime Academy is requiring that all first-year students at the college complete an online alcohol prevention program. The decision to mandate the program for the second year comes as a result of positive student feedback.

According to Deidra Davis, MMA’s dean of student services, AlcoholEdu for College is part of a comprehensive approach MMA is taking to ensure that students have the tools they need to make safe and healthy decisions about alcohol.

The three-part online program kicked off last month with more than 50 percent of new students registering to take the program within the first two weeks of availability.

AlcoholEdu for College enables students to anonymously divulge past and current behaviors and attitudes surrounding alcohol use through an initial survey. The survey inquires about the students’ perceptions of irresponsible alcohol use, and the potential impact on health, safety, and social accountability.

The results are tallied for future reference. During a 30-day period after the survey, students spend about three hours learning about the risks and hazards associated with alcohol consumption. Common misperceptions and assumptions are dispelled with factual presentations and statistics. The program concludes with a final outcome survey about behaviors and attitudes associated with alcohol use, perceptions about use by peers, and potential actions in future exposure to alcohol use and events.

New England School of Communications

BANGOR – Fourteen alumni of the New England School of Communications were among the winners in the 2006 News and Creative Awards competition sponsored by the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

Topping the list of NESCom alumni was Allison Bankston, news director for radio station WQCB in Brewer, who walked away with five individual awards, including first-place honors for best election coverage and for continuing coverage on hurricane response. She, along with co-worker Sky Taylor, took a second place for the 9 a.m. newscast. Her two third-place awards were for a feature piece and in public affairs.

Another alumnus, Frank Welch of WPME-TV in Lewiston, garnered four awards, including first place in public service and self-promotion. His winning efforts included a second place for best spot and a third for public service for WPXT-TV, Portland.

Other former NESCom students recognized were Diana Tracy of WGAN-Radio, Portland, for best newscast and best feature; Susan Faloon of WVOM-Radio, Howland, spot news; Sky Taylor, WQCB-Radio, Brewer, continuing coverage; Clem LaBree, WZON-Radio, Bangor, sports play-by-play; Meredith Manning and Jeff Parsons, WJBQ-Radio, Portland, best on-air personality; Mike Dow, WKSQ-Radio, Ellsworth, Heather Burleigh, WBZN-Radio, Old Town, and Meredith Manning, best on-air contest.

Also, Meredith Manning and Jeff Parsons, WJBQ-Radio, Portland, third place in public service; Paul Dupuis, WQCB-Radio, Brewer, third place in self-promotion; and Jeff Parsons, first place in the best spot category. Brian Goff of WAGM-TV, Presque Isle, had a first place in the best campaign for “No Money for Gas” and a third place in best spot category for “Mars Hill Golf.”