Schools

BSO Concerto Competition

BANGOR – The 26th annual Bangor Symphony Orchestra Maine High School Concerto Competition application deadline has been extended to Monday, Jan. 1. Applications must be postmarked before midnight to qualify for review.

The competition is open to any Maine student in grades nine through 12 at the time of the application deadline. Students must play one of these instruments: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba, harp, violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano or percussion.

Entrance requirements, eligibility and procedure information are available at bangorsymphony.com. An application may be downloaded from the Schedule>Competitions page.

The first-prize winner of the $500 Annas-Cupp Award will be featured in a concerto performance with the BSO during performances in the spring of 2008. 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 2008 Youth Concerts for more than 4,000 Maine students, and also may include the adjoining classical concert.

Finalists from the competition will be invited to join the BSO for the May 13 Youth Concerts, working side by side with BSO musicians, instrumentation permitting.

Second place, third place and honorable mention prize winners will be given cash awards.

The Concerto Competition will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, in Minsky Recital Hall, University of Maine, Orono. Snow date is Sunday, Feb. 25. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, call Surya Mitchell at 942-5555 or (800) 639-3221, e-mail surya@bangorsymphony.com or visit bangorsymphony.com.

People to People trip

MILFORD – Shane Nadeau, an eighth-grader at Dr. Lewis S. Libby Middle School, will participate as a member of the People to People Student Ambassador Program going to Australia this summer.

The program promotes international understanding while building leadership skills among America’s youth. The 19-day trip includes meetings with government officials, interaction with other pupils Shane’s age, educational activities and home stays with host families.

Shane, the son of Daniel and Laurie Nadeau, is seeking financial sponsors to help defray the cost of tuition.

President Eisenhower founded the People to People organization in 1956. He believed that if people from different cultures came together in peace and friendship, so eventually would countries. Since its founding, People to People has launched many international programs, including Sister Cities and Project HOPE.

People to People student ambassadors are interviewed and evaluated before being accepted into the program.

“I am honored to have been selected for this program,” Shane said. “Personally, I am looking forward to broadening my perspectives of the world and gaining a better understanding of Australian history. Upon my return, I plan to share my experience with schools and civic clubs in our community. As an ambassador, I also earn high school and college credit because of the many educational elements in my program. I plan on making a book, as I need to keep a journal, with photographs, about the experiences that I had on my trip.”

Program tuition is $6,500, including transportation, accommodations, meals and educational activities.

For information, call 827-9839 or Daniel Nadeau’s cell phone at 671-9437.

Those who wish to make a donation should include a business card or name, address and phone number. Checks should be made out to People to People and mailed to: Shane Nadeau, 8 Overlook Drive, Milford 04461.

Bangor High School

BANGOR – Fifty-two students from Bangor High School have earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement exams.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement program offers students the opportunity to take college-level courses while in high school and to receive college credit, advanced placement or both for successful performance on the AP exams.

Some 18 percent of the more than 1.3 million high school students in more than 16,000 secondary schools worldwide who took AP exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar.

Students at Bangor High School took the AP exams in May after completing college-level courses at the high school. The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on the number of yearlong courses and exams.

Four students at Bangor High School qualified for the National AP Scholar Award by earning an average grade of 4 or higher on a 5-point scale on all AP exams taken, and grades of 4 or higher on eight or more of the exams.

They are: Julien Collard-Seguin, Melanie Craig, James Rogers and Austin Smith.

Craig and Rogers also have been named the AP State Scholars for Maine. The designation of AP State Scholar is granted to one male and one female student in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia with grades of 3 or higher on the greatest number of AP exams, and then the highest average grade on all AP exams taken.

In addition, 15 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and by grades of 3 or higher on five or more of the exams.

They are: Ingrid Alquist, Julien Collard-Seguin, Louise Contino, Melanie Craig, Justin Griffin, Stephanie Kleinschmidt, Andrew Leclair, Daniel Malmer, Zacharie Martin, Andrew Mead, Katherine Nadeau, James Rogers, Mara Shapero, Austin Smith and Andrew Yau.

Fifteen students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of the exams.

They are: Katherine Anderson, Ilyse Angst, Sabrina Correll, Nicholas Dunn, David Finch, Matthew Goodell, Zivi Krieger, Meagan Lindsay, Fai Littman, Amanda McGinn, Juliana Phung, Jennifer Rowe, Samantha Shulman, Michael Varney and Dana Waltz.

Twenty-two students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP exams with grades of 3 or higher.

They are: Eugene Abramov, Zachary Bence, Sarah Coleman, Emily Cowan, Gregory Edwards, Sarah Frisk, Andrew Giebfried, Matthew Grant, Sarah Hanselman, Alexander Innis, Tyler Lalime, Joanna Mcfarland, Ian Mckinnon, India Menninghaus, Sara Phillips, Bernadine Reeder, Katherine Roscher, Daniel Stearns, Joanne Tsang, Brad White, Rachel Wiseman and Catherine Zielinski.

Honor for Old Town teacher

BANGOR – Sylvan Learning Center in Bangor announced recently the first winner of its Exceptional Teacher Award for the 2006-2007 school year.

Laura Charette received the award for November. She is a teacher at the Old Town Regional Program. She will use the grant money from the award to purchase science equipment for her classroom.

In classrooms throughout Maine, Sylvan has seen teachers provide innovative and creative lessons which reach students on many levels. Such teachers put forth the extra effort to help students gain more from each lesson.

Sylvan rewards these special teachers and encourages them to continue inspiring students to learn and do their best. The grant is a one-time cash award of $250 for classroom supplies.