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About ‘Inquiring Minds’

BANGOR – A presentation on fostering scientific thinking in children, “Inquiring Minds: At School and at Home, expanding Your Family Understanding,” will take place 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, at Challenger Learning Center of Maine, 30 Venture Way. The forum is for parents, grandparents, teachers and those who have ever had a child ask “why” of them.

Guided-inquiry activities will be offered for children age 4 and up during the program presentation.

Admission is by donation.

Preregistration is preferred to aid planning for the event. Call 990-2900, ext. 4.

The presentation by parent, teacher, scientist and the center’s professional development director, Annette Brickley, will include thoughts and ideas about how to encourage and foster a child’s curiosity to promote “scientific habits of mind” or science literacy.

The audience will take away ideas to use with young scientists that will encourage further questioning, observing, investigating, predicting and testing of the world around them.

According to Brickley, talking about science with children doesn’t mean adults have to know all the answers. They can be curious learners alongside children – speculating, observing and demonstrating what more experienced learners do when confronted by a question.

Education director Robin Kennedy will lead children through a science inquiry activity of their own.

Arts ‘N’ Kids at museum

BANGOR – Community Health and Counseling Services’ after-school Arts ‘N’ Kids program begins its fourth session Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Maine Discovery Museum.

Fourth- and fifth-graders are invited to have fun learning how to act, sing and dance. No experience is necessary.

The program teaches skills and techniques of professional musical theater, including acting, singing and dancing. Children learn the importance of communicating and how to work collaboratively.

Each session of Arts ‘N’ Kids meets 3:30-4:45 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. A healthy snack is provided before class.

Session D begins Feb. 26 and runs for six weeks. The last class is an informal performance for children to show parents, relatives and friends what they have learned.

Children must be able to commit to regular attendance.

A.J. Mooney and Andrea Stark teach the sessions.

Mooney has a master’s degree in acting from the Actors Studio in New York City and an extensive background teaching and performing in theater, including in off-Broadway shows.

Andrea Stark holds a master’s degree in dance theater from the New York University School of the Arts and performed with dance and theater companies in New York City before becoming the artistic director of the Ram Island Dance Company in Portland. She is the executive director of the Maine Discovery Museum.

Arts ‘N’ Kids is a free program sponsored by Bangor Breakfast Rotary, Bangor Region Partners for Health, the Wing-Benjamin Trust, Northeast Cardiology, the Children’s Cabinet of Eastern Maine and Maine Community Foundation.

For information or to register a child, call the Maine Discovery Museum at 262-7200.

Boys and Girls Club

INDIAN ISLAND – Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club has been selected one of 20 funded sites for Boys Girls Clubs of America’s Family PLUS – Parents Leading, Uniting and Serving – program.

As a funded site, the club receives a contribution in the amount of $16,250 from the Family PLUS sponsor, Kimberly-Clark Corp., to increase its support to club families. This includes providing resources to club parents and other caregivers on how to increase involvement in their children’s lives.

Family PLUS also incorporates programming and collaborations from other community agencies.

Carla Fearon, executive director, and Jose Santiago, club program director, traveled to Boys and Girls Clubs of America’s national headquarters in Atlanta to learn strategies for helping club families during a Family PLUS training.

“This opportunity will allow us to hold more community events in hopes of strengthening families and our community,” said Fearon.

Family PLUS focuses on kinship care, father involvement, economic opportunity, outreach strategies and family advocacy network.

As a funded site, Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club has chosen to implement the family advocacy network – FAN Club.

To learn more about Family PLUS, visit http://familyplus.bgca.org.

Hermon kindergarten

HERMON – Kindergarten registration for Hermon children who will be 5 years old by Oct. 15 will take place during March. Parents may pick up registration packets 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the elementary school office beginning Monday, March 3. Those unable to do so should call the school at 848-4000, ext. 3011. Parents must provide their child’s state-issued birth certificate and current immunization records when returning the completed packets the week of March 24. Kindergarten screening will be held in May for those who have registered.

Orono kindergarten

ORONO – Parents of children who will be 5 years old by Oct. 15 are asked to register their children from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 19. A legal state birth certificate or a copy of a birth record is required at the time of registration. A record of the dates of immunizations also is necessary. All children who expect to enter school in the fall must receive communicable disease immunizations.

Parents do not need to bring children at registration. Appointments will be made for kindergarten screening in May. Call 866-2151 or 866-4141 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to make an appointment for registration.

Colleges

Intermedia spring lectures

ORONO – Spring 2008 is the inaugural semester of the Intermedia Lecture Series. Each semester of the academic year, the series hosts national and international artists whose work crosses boundaries and challenges conventions.

The series welcomes three artists whose work challenges traditional mechanisms of distribution, art making materials and practices. They are:

. Boston-based Liz Nofziger, artist and assistant editor of ASPECT, a biannual DVD magazine that chronicles new media art.

. Nina Katchadourian, an internationally renowned New York-based, wide-ranging and inventive artist whose conceptual practice encompasses sculpture, photography, video, sound and public art projects.

. Adriane Herman, a multi-media artist and member of the graduate faculty at the Maine College of Art, whose newspaper-style circular Slop Art serves as a distribution mechanism for books, multiples and artworks of her own works and those of other artists.

Lectures will take place in the Arthur St. John Hill Auditorium, Room 165, Engineering and Science Research Building, Barrows Hall. The schedule is:

. Liz Nofziger, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27.

. Nina Katchadourian, 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 18.

. Adriane Herman, 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 16.

The Intermedia Spring Lecture Series is sponsored by the departments of new media and art, women’s studies, the office of student affairs, the college of liberal arts and sciences, and a grant from the Cultural Affairs-Distinguished Lecture Series. All events are free and public.

Bangor Theological Seminary

BANGOR – Bangor Theological Seminary will hold an information session for prospective students 9-11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 22, at BTS, located on the Husson College campus.

The session will feature informal discussion of opportunities at BTS, including degree programs, admissions process and financial aid information. Light refreshments will be provided. For information or to reserve a space at the session, call Fae Gilbride at 800-287-6781, ext. 126, or e-mail fgilbride@bts.edu.

To register online or to learn more about BTS visit www.bts.edu/prospective/visit.htm. A schedule of visitation opportunities also is available on the Web site.

Founded in 1814, Bangor Theological Seminary is an ecumenical seminary in the Congregational tradition of the United Church of Christ.

Engineering Expo

ORONO – Some 60 of Maine’s top engineering firms, engineering schools, government agencies and industries will be on hand 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at the University of Maine Field House for the 2008 Engineering Expo.

The “Brain Power 08” expo, which will feature a variety of engineering-related demonstrations and exhibits for the public, is the highlight of the annual Maine Engineers Week, Feb. 25-March 1.

The Maine Society of Professional Engineers and the University of Maine will kick off the program Friday, Feb. 29, with a full-day continuing education symposium at Buchanan Alumni House. The seminar, including buffet lunch and refreshments, is a chance for working engineers to earn six professional development hours.

Friday evening, at the Penobscot Valley Country Club, the Maine Engineering Promotion Council and its sponsors will host the Maine Engineers Week banquet. The festivities, including a 5:30 p.m. social hour and 6:45 p.m. dinner, allow engineers and families to meet others in the profession and renew old friendships.

This year’s banquet speaker will be Mike Fisher, managing director of NASCAR’s Research and Development Center. Fisher will offer an insider’s view of the integral role that engineers now play on every NASCAR team, where they specialize in data collection, analysis, research and development.

Organizers say the 2008 expo promises to be the biggest ever, with more than 1,000 children and adults expected to show up at the UMaine Field House.

The first 500 kids through the door will get a free T-shirt celebrating Maine Engineers Week, and everyone is invited to enjoy the exhibits and hands-on activities intended to introduce young people to the exciting world of science and engineering, and to the many contributions engineers make to our communities.

To register for the banquet, call Be Schonewald, 879-9190, or e-mail schonewald@gza.com. The deadline is 4 p.m. Feb. 21.

Blood drive at MMA

CASTINE – The Maine Maritime Academy Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a national community service organization, will sponsor a blood drive 1-7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the Alexander Fieldhouse.

Appointments are recommended, but not required. To schedule an appointment, visit www.bloodpartners.org/redcross/mma. For answers to eligibility questions for becoming a blood donor, call the American Red Cross at 800-462-9400 and ask for the nurse of the day.

The public is encouraged to participate.

Husson College

BANGOR – Megan Thibodeau of Winterport has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Husson College, having earned a GPA of 3.4 or better on a 4.0 scale.

St. Joseph’s College

STANDISH – Students were named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at St. Joseph’s College, having earned a grade point average of 3.5 to 4.0:

Bangor: Meaghan Mower, Annmarie Reed.

Etna: Caitlyn Smith.

Hampden: Amy Levesque.

Orono: Marie Lint.

Students were named to the honors list, having earned a 3.0 to 3.49 grade point average:

Bangor: Brian Lever.

Hampden: Hannah Growe, Ian Lee.

Holden: Audra Cushman.

Old Town: Scott LaFlamme.

Winterport: Patrick Moran.

Stonehill College

EASTON, Mass. – Area students were named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Stonehill College, having earned a GPA of 3.5 or better:

Bangor: Megan Yardley.

Hampden: Darci Greenacre.

University of Southern Maine

PORTLAND – These full-time students have been named to the University of Southern Maine dean’s list for the fall semester with a grade point average of 3.4 or above:

Bangor: Jakob Ian Battick, Sydney Henderlong Bence, Heather M. Dunbar, Michael James Peer, Amber J. Reed.

Bucksport: Amanda L. Sohns.

Carmel: Ryan S. Coffin.

Hampden: Jessica Amy Nickerson.

Hermon: Adam L. Haggerty, Joshua P. Warren.

Holden: Meredith L. Morgan, Michael Troy Tardiff.

Milford: Heather A. Lonko.

Old Town: Michael S. Thurston Jr.

Orland: Anthony C. Conroy, Maggie Beal Seavey.

Orono: Emily L. Artesani, Mary Elizabeth Myers, Kaitlin Anne O’Donnell, Lauren A. Onsrud, Samuel R. Walton.

Penobscot: Collin A. Henry.

Artist’s Icelandic roots

BANGOR – A reception for artist Kristborg Whitney and her exhibit, “Transformations,” was held Jan. 24 at the Eastern Maine Community College Library Art Gallery.

In a presentation during the reception, Whitney spoke of her training in Iceland, her homeland, giving great credit to her aunt, an accomplished stained-glass artist. Working with acrylic paint, Whitney creates paintings that convey an impression of stained-glass reflecting her aunt’s influence.

Whitney graduated from Reykjavik School of Arts and Crafts with a focus on fiber arts and textile design. Her artwork has been featured in numerous galleries throughout the United States and Iceland.

Whitney’s show is on display in the EMCC Library Gallery through Feb. 29. For information, call 974-4640.