School news

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Hermon High School

HERMON – Students of the month for November are:

. Senior Meghan Hurd, daughter of Dennis and Judy Hurd of Hermon.

. Junior Denise Gray, daughter of Dennis and Diana Gray of Carmel.

. Sophomore Amanda Harvey, daughter of Jon and Pat Harvey of Hermon.

. Freshman Clark Gonyea, son of Paul and Vicki Gonyea of Hermon.

Brewer Middle School

ORONO – After studying and touring the closed and functionally abandoned Eastern Fine Paper mill as part of their “Save Our History” project, some 90 Brewer Middle School pupils saw a modern papermaking operation during a recent visit to the University of Maine.

Three groups of about 30 students toured the papermaking operation in Jenness Hall and participated in making sample sheets of paper, said Pauleena MacDougall, associate director of the university’s Folklife Center, and Proserfina Bennett, managing director of the Process Development Center in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

The “Save Our History” project is an educational outreach project coordinated by the Maine Folklife Center at UMaine. It involves introducing Brewer Middle School pupils to methods of preserving the history of Brewer’s now-closed Eastern Fine Paper mill through the stories and memories of former millworkers.

The Folklife Center also has been conducting broader oral history research with former millworkers at other Maine paper mills in Old Town, Bucksport, Millinocket and Lincoln. The Bucksport mill is one of a handful in Maine that continue to operate.

With assistance from the Folklife Center, the Brewer pupils have been doing research since September for a class project on Eastern Fine and a group of its former employees. They visited the mill during the fall.

“When we toured the mill, it was dark and the students had to use flashlights,” MacDougall said. Touring the Orono research facility was “an opportunity for them to see how paper was made in the Brewer mill.”

Brewer Middle School teacher Richard Kimball’s seventh-grade pupils have made video recordings of former workers, photographed the mill inside and out, drawn floor plans and drafted news releases to recruit former millworkers with mill stories to share.

The Folklife Center has documented stories from millworkers, collected articles from mill publications dating back as far as 1880 and recorded their work on DVD and on the Folklife Center Web site, www.umaine.edu/folklife/.

Since its inception, the project has received grants from the Maine Humanities Council and the UMaine Women in the Curriculum program. It also received $10,000 from The History Channel’s “Save Our History” grant initiative, which funds the center’s work with the Brewer pupils.

MacDougall said the purpose of taking the paper mill research into the public schools is to help pupils understand the importance and methods of historic preservation.

The experiential nature of the research makes the project more memorable for the pupils, and will introduce them to the work being done at the Folklife Center, she said.

More information about the oral history and research into former paper mill employees’ experiences may be obtained by visiting the Web site, or call the center at 581-1891.

Colleges

Bates College

LEWISTON – Julia Sleeper is participating in the Bates College Junior Semester Abroad program.

Students at Bates have the option of taking a semester or full year in a foreign country. Sleeper, a junior psychology major, is studying in Durban, South Africa, through the school for international training.

A 2004 graduate of John Bapst Memorial High School, Sleeper is the daughter of Richard and Sharon Sleeper of Brewer.

Eastern Maine Community College

BANGOR – Eastern Maine Community College civil engineering technology student J. Ryan Robinson traveled to Massachusetts on Dec. 7 to receive the Robert Barton Scholarship for $1,000. The scholarship recognizes students interested in concrete technology.

Robinson will receive an associate degree in civil engineering technology from EMCC in May. He plans to enter the construction management technology program at the University of Maine in September. He is employed part-time at S.W. Cole Engineering Co.

The New England Transportation Technician Certification Program is an organization of state highway and federal transportation officials and trade industry personnel involved with material testing procedures and laboratories.

The organization was formed to standardize the testing protocols for transportation materials throughout New England. The organization offers scholarships to students in programs that offer engineering. This year two students from schools in the Bangor area received scholarships at the annual certification program meeting.

New England School of Communications

BANGOR – Nine students are listed as midyear graduates from the New England School of Communications at Husson College. The school holds only one graduation ceremony, in May, and the December graduates will be eligible to participate in those ceremonies if they desire.

Six of the graduates will receive bachelor of science degrees in communications, and three will receive associate of science degrees in communications. The graduates specialized in a variety of course concentrations including audio engineering, video production and radio broadcasting.

Scheduled to receive degrees are:

. Matthew Bailey of Corinth, associate degree.

. Matthew Dionne of Yarmouth, bachelor’s degree.

. Wade Grindle of Blue Hill, bachelor’s degree.

. Justin McCutcheon of Benton, associate degree.

. Rachel McDonald of Old Town, associate degree.

. Jay Michaud of Connor Township, bachelor’s degree.

. Jenna Sevigney of Wells, bachelor’s degree.

. Joshua Soper of Orland, bachelor’s degree.

. Brett Warstler of Dover-Foxcroft, bachelor’s degree.