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All Ears Preschool

BANGOR – The public is invited to see what the All Ears Preschool is all about at an open house 3-6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23, at Hammond Street Congregational Church, 28 High St. Learn how this unique school can help your child improve communication skills in a focused environment.

Meet teacher of the Deaf Carrie Pierce, well known in the Deaf and hearing community as an American Sign Language teacher at Husson College, the University of Maine, and the children’s museum workshops. Pierce holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Deaf education from Gallaudet University.

She will be joined by teacher assistant Hannah Richards, a graduate student in communication sciences and disorders at the University of Maine.

The All Ears Preschool is part of the Warren Center for Communication and Learning’s Voices to Be Heard Program. The program will serve children in the area who are identified as hard of hearing by addressing their needs in an integrated classroom with their hearing peers.

Pupils who attend All Ears Preschool will develop the skills to enter kindergarten with their hearing peers without the need of interpreters.

“We hope it will have the overall affect of decreasing the educational cost for these students,” said Mary Poulin, administrator director of the Warren Center.

Startup costs for teachers for the program is sponsored by a $15,000 grant awarded by the Libra Foundation. Through the Maine Community Foundation grant of $9,435 the center bought furniture, a Redcat system – a classroom amplification system that will amplify the teacher’s voice for both hearing and hard of hearing students, and other equipment for the preschool.

The Bangor Breakfast Kiwanis club donated $500 toward the program. The Libra Foundation, Kiwanis Club and Maine Community Foundation support of this program is vital. It is the only preschool program that addresses the unique needs of hard of hearing preschoolers in the area.

The school has a 4-1 student-teacher ratio. It still has spots available. The cost is $60 per week for 3-year-old children. Classes are held Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

The cost is $75 a week for 4-year-old children. Classes meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

For more information about the preschool or other Warren Center programs, call program director MaryBeth Richards at 941-2850 or e-mail mbrichards@warrencenter.org.

Nature Time

HOLDEN – Join Audubon naturalists Jessica Spelke Jansujwicz and Holly Twining for Nature Time, a nature-based program for children ages 2-4, 11 a.m.-noon every other Thursday, Sept. 6-Nov. 29, at Fields Pond Audubon Center.

A subject will be chosen for each gathering, such as frogs, butterflies, trees and bats. The children will take part in stories, creative play, hands-on activities and art projects.

Each session, time will be spent outdoors to explore the diverse ecosystems of the nature center. Parents participate with their children and all are advised to dress appropriately for the weather.

The cost for the seven-part series is $24 for members, $28 for non-members. Preregistration is required. Call 989-2591 or email htwining@maineaudubon.org for information.

Colleges

Eastern Maine Community College

BANGOR – After four years of relying on local motels to house residential students overflowing the college’s one residence hall, Eastern Maine Community College will celebrate the grand opening of Kineo Hall, a 161-bed residence hall, at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 16.

Local dignitaries will participate in the ribbon-cutting. A reception and tours will be held afterward.

The self-bonded residence hall broke ground just a year earlier and is now ready for the start of the new school year.

Maine Maritime Association

CASTINE – The Board of Trustees of Maine Maritime Academy will meet at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 24, in the Holmes Alumni Heritage Room at the Harold Alfond Student Center.

The meeting will be part of the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors of the MMA Alumni Association.

At the beginning of the Board of Trustees meeting, the MMA Alumni Association will present a report.

The Board of Directors of the MMA Alumni Association will hold a breakfast meeting at 7:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 24, in the main dining room of the Harold Alfond Student Center.

Ward I. Graffam of Portland is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Maine Maritime Academy. Malcolm Cianchette of Hartland is the president of the MMA Alumni Association.

University of Maine

ORONO – Jacob Ouellette of Brewer has graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maine with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a minor in math. He was named to the dean’s list for the spring semester.

Ouellette, the son of Gerry and Debbie Ouellette, will attend Northeastern College this fall to pursue a master’s degree.

University of Maine

ORONO – The University of Maine announced a $1 million gift at its annual recognition dinner for top philanthropic donors. The Stillwater Society Dinner, held at Buchanan Alumni House, also recognized four distinguished alumni couples for dedication and long-term support of UMaine.

President Robert Kennedy announced the new $1 million gift from UMaine alumni H. Allen and Sally Carroll Fernald of Camden, co-chairman of Campaign Maine, UMaine’s largest-ever private fundraising campaign. The Fernalds’ gift, which will support the arts and academics at UMaine, brings the campaign total to more than $60 million in just two years. UMaine’s goal is $150 million by 2011.

“[Allen and Sally’s] long-term generosity has positively affected this university for many years, and their great accomplishments – and the way they live their lives – have brought honor to their alma mater,” Kennedy said.

“Sally and I first met at the University of Maine and all three of our children have UMaine degrees, so it is a place that means a great deal to us,” said Allen Fernald. “Like so many of our friends, and countless others we have encountered in our personal and professional lives, we know that this wonderful university helped put us on a path to a successful and rewarding life. We continue to gain great satisfaction from watching UMaine grow and adapt to meet the needs of its students and our state, and we are pleased to participate in helping the university’s leaders chart the course for UMaine’s future.”

Alumni couples receiving UM’s Stillwater Society Presidential Awards were:

. Richard and Anne Collins of Key Largo, Fla.

. William and Betsy Leitch of Newtonville, Mass.

. Philip and Susan Morse of Glens Falls, N.Y.

. Thomas and Sally Savage of Key Largo, Fla.

“Each of these individuals represents what is best about our university, and each has made a personal commitment to its greatness,” said Kennedy.

The Fernalds received the Stillwater Society Presidential Awards in 2005.

The Stillwater Society was created in 2000 to recognize those who have made significant financial contributions to UMaine. Currently there are 525 individuals in the society, including 21 new members.

Lowell Thomas Award

ORONO – Paul Andrew Mayewski, University of Maine professor and director of the Climate Change Institute, has been selected to receive the prestigious 2007 Lowell Thomas Award by The Explorers Club.

The medal recognizes those who have excelled in communicating the importance of exploration and the field sciences and have pushed the limits of discovery.

The Explorers Club is an international society dedicated to the advancement of field research. Founded in 1904, the society works to preserve the instinct to explore by promoting exploration and encouraging collaboration and cooperation. Club members include some of the most accomplished explorers of our time.

Mayewski was a keynote speaker at the annual dinner in New York City. He became an Explorers Club Fellow in 1979 and was given the organization’s Citation for Merit in 1995.

Mayewski holds a duel appointment with the CCI and the department of earth sciences at UMaine. He also is a cooperating professor in the School of Marine Sciences. As an explorer, professor and scientist, he has led more than 45 expeditions to remote regions such as Antarctica, the Arctic, Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau and Tierra del Fuego.

His work in Antarctica has included leadership of the International Trans Antarctic Expedition in which Mayewski organized 20 countries and led the U.S. expeditions. He has served on the National Research Council, the National Science Foundation, the International Geosphere Biosphere Project and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.

Mayewski’s research focuses on reconstructing the climates of the past, utilizing ice cores and other methods to determine how the Earth’s climate has changed over time. With the help of his colleagues, he has collected ice cores that establish a year-by-year history of the planet’s climate for the past 110,000 years.

Mayewski’s research has helped to verify the existence of rapid climate change events in which global temperatures are believed to have changed as much as 20 to 30 degrees Celsius over a single decade.

Mayewski has been featured in more than 300 media venues including a recent interview on CBS “60 Minutes.” He co-wrote a popular climate change book, “The Ice Chronicles” with F. White.

For information, visit www.climatechange.umaine.edu/ and www.explorers.org.

University of Maine

ORONO – A joint program of two federal government agencies has designated the University of Maine as one of the Best Workplaces for Commuters.

The Best Workplaces for Commuters program recognizes employers that provide environmentally friendly commuter benefits to employees. The designation identifies UMaine as an organization committed to reducing pollution, commuting costs and traffic congestion. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Dept. of Transportation administer the program.

UMaine is the first Maine employer to be recognized through the program.

“We are delighted to receive this designation, which affirms UMaine’s commitment to environmentally friendly policies,” said UMaine President Robert Kennedy. “It also demonstrates our faculty and staff members’ willingness to participate in programs that provide the opportunity to make individual choices that have a broad impact. Our programs are successful only because of UMaine’s employees.”

In selecting UMaine for this designation, the Best Workplaces for Commuters program noted several initiatives:

. An arrangement with the Bangor Area Transportation bus service, through which UMaine pays a blanket fee that allows all faculty members, staff and students to ride anywhere on the system by simply displaying their UMaine identification card.

. The Green Bike Program, where green-painted bikes are left in various spots around campus for use by anyone who wishes to use two-wheeled transportation to get to another campus destination.

An ambitious carpooling program is set to begin Sept. 1, through which employees who carpool will receive free parking permits and preferred parking spaces.

UMaine has approximately 2,500 employees and 12,000 students.

This is the second time in six months that a government entity has recognized UMaine for conservation and environmentally conscious policies.

In February, the Public Utilities Commission’s Efficiency Maine program gave UMaine $50,000 as an incentive payment in recognition of UMaine’s work to save energy through more efficient lighting systems and similar programs. Additionally, a new grant from the Johnson Controls Educational Giving Program will allow UMaine’s student-run Green Campus Initiative program to dramatically increase recycling activities.

Best Workplaces for Commuters, www.bwc.gov, is a public-private partnership developed by the EPA and DOT. EPA and DOT have established a voluntary “National Standard of Excellence” for employer-provided commuter benefits. The program challenges employers across the country to voluntarily meet that standard.