Schools

Ford-AAA Student Auto Skills

BANGOR – A team from United Technologies Center won the Ford-AAA Student Auto Skills State Competition on May 15 in Auburn. Jacob Thomas and Zac Byers will represent Maine in the national finals in June in Michigan.

Some $200,000 in scholarships and other prizes was awarded in the competition of students from seven high schools. Two-student teams were asked to diagnose and repair faults or “bugs” on identical vehicles. National and the statewide competitions are organized with support of Ford personnel, local automotive instructors and AAA’s Approved Auto Repair program.

A second team from United Technologies Center, Matt Harding and Tyler Cleveland, placed third in the competition.

Art and music

HAMPDEN – The public is invited to the fifth annual SAD 22 District Student Art Show and Hampden Academy Pops Concert 5-7 p.m. Monday, June 2. The art show will be displayed in the old gym. The concert will take place outside, weather permitting.

The art show will feature work of students in grade 2 to 12 from Hampden, Newburgh and Winterport.

Institute on transportation

ORONO – After a hiring surge in the 1960s, many employees in the state’s transportation industry are starting to retire, creating a growing need for new blood in a field young people may overlook.

To make young people aware of job opportunities, the University of Maine, with state and federal highway agencies, will host a Maine Summer Transportation Institute for middle school students.

Guidance counselors have been asked to select students to apply to the institute, scheduled for Aug. 4-15 at the Foster Student Innovation Center at UM.

Twenty sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders will learn about new frontiers and adventures in the transportation field. Students also will participate in computer training, academic enhancement activities, field trips and student projects.

Philip Dunn Jr., an assistant professor of construction management technology in the university’s School of Engineering Technology and a 20-year veteran of the state Department of Transportation, is technical director of the institute.

The institute is the first of what is expected to be an annual event, according to Sheila Pendse, program development associate at the Foster Center and project director for the institute. The 2008 session is supported by a grant from the Federal Highway Administration and state Department of Transportation.

It is open to students attending public and private schools, as well as students from low-income families, under-represented ethnic backgrounds and geographical locations. Girls are encouraged to apply.

Students selected for the expenses-paid institute must be in the fifth, sixth or seventh grade currently; have an interest in engineering, science, transportation or technology-related career; and provide letters of recommendation, grade reports and essays explaining why they want to participate and how the experience will assist in meeting individual career goals.

Applications are due June 10. Info is available by calling Pendse at 581-1427 or Dunn at 581-2326, or by e-mail sheila.pendse@umit.maine.edu, philip.dunn@umit.maine.edu.

Applications may be downloaded by visiting www2.umaine.edu/innovation/k12/msti.

Chinese Dragon Camp

The Bangor Chinese School, a nonprofit organization, will offer basic and advanced sessions of Chinese Dragon Camp for ages 5 to 18.

Basic camp: 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. June 23-27, June 30-July 4, July 21-25, July 28-Aug. 1, Aug. 4-8, Aug. 11-15 and Aug. 18-22.

Advanced camp: 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. June 23-27 and Aug. 18-22 at Husson College.

The camps provide an introduction to the Chinese language and culture for young learners.

Basic day camp activities include calligraphy, folk art, paper-cuts and kite flying; T’ai qi, traditional Chinese physical and mental exercise; appreciation of Chinese music, opera and instruments; creation of the Magical Dragon and learning the dragon dance; building the Great Wall with computer technology; cooking Chinese food and dumplings for lunch; “Ping-Pong Diplomacy” and playing pingpong.

Advanced day camp activities include learning about the Chinese abacus; Chinese chess and Majian; learning how to play the erhu, a Chinese musical instrument; Chinese positive philosophies, customs and etiquette; the application of the Chinese dictionary and skills of translation; using computer technology to write Chinese characters; and learning about China’s business environment through the analysis of business cases.

Tuition is $200 a week per person. Lunch and a uniform will be added for an additional $50 per week. United Way camp scholarships are accepted.

For info, call 990-0710, e-mail jingzhang@bangorchinese.com or visit www.bangorchinese.com/DRAGON.

Hermon High School

HERMON – Hermon High School Students of the Month for April are:

. Freshman Matt McGowan, son of Ed and Suzanne Moreshead of Carmel.

. Sophomore Justin Cullens, son of Jackie Aspelund of Hermon.

. Junior Erin Arnold, daughter of Reg Arnold of Hermon.

. Senior Kristina Holodick, daughter of Cara Holodick.

Hip-Hop Club camp

ORONO – The Orono Parks and Recreation Department is accepting registrations for Hip-Hop Club, a one-week camp where participants will learn basic hip-hop movements, fun combinations and tricks.

The club runs Monday through Friday, June 23-27. Children in sixth to ninth grades attend 10 a.m.-noon. Children in third to fifth grades attend 1-3 p.m. The fee is $60 per participant. For information, call the recreation office at 866-5065.

Afterschool Alliance award

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Susan Collins received an award from the Maine Afterschool Alliance for continued support of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers and other after-school funding.

The award, a personalized Wheaties box, reflects the theme of the alliance’s Breakfast of Champions event.

Collins recently called on the Bush administration to increase funding for the 21st Century Learning Center Program, which supports the creation of learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly those who attend high-poverty, low-performing schools.

Colleges

Eastern Maine Community College

BANGOR – Eastern Maine Community College conferred degrees on 325 students May 17 at the Bangor Auditorium.

Continuing last year’s move to award outstanding students, the honor of delivering the commencement address was earned by Thomas Swieczkowski, EMCC’s Student of the Year. He graduated with an associate applied science degree in culinary arts.

Mark Laverdiere, earning an associate in applied science degree in business management, offered the welcome.

Angela Nadeau, earning an associate degree in nursing, provided closing thoughts.

Laverdiere and Nadeau were Student of the Year nominees. Laverdiere is the winner of the Dean’s Golden Eagle Award.

Maine Community College System board member Kris Doody assisted in the conferring of degrees.

Family is a strong community college theme, which Angela Nadeau’s family, of Dixmont, fully illustrates.

Her husband, Dennis, graduated from EMCC with a fire science degree in the 1990s. He returned to EMCC in January 2007 to earn a one-year paramedic credential in the emergency medical services program, which he finished in January 2008.

Their son, Dennis Jr., completed his first year as a liberal studies student at EMCC and has been admitted to the nursing program for the fall. Their daughter, Christina, will graduate from Brewer High School and attend EMCC in the fall as a liberal studies student.

Part of Angela Nadeau’s determination to return to school to earn a college degree was to demonstrate the importance of education for her children.

When Dennis Jr. and Christina pinned their mother during the nursing program’s pinning ceremony on May 16, her goal was accomplished.

Phi Kappi Phi fellowship

ORONO – Anh Hoai Do, of Hanoi, Vietnam, was awarded a fellowship April 15 by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for the 2008-09 academic year. Do is a recent graduate of the University of Maine.

The fellowship will enable her to pursue a master’s degree in finance at the University of Cambridge. She is the daughter of Do Minh Dung and Truong Thanh Mai.

The honor counts Do among 100 students nationwide to receive the Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship and Award of Excellence. Since its creation in 1932, the fellowship program has become one of the society’s most visible and financially well-supported endeavors, allocating nearly $380,000 annually to deserving students for first-year graduate study. Sixty fellowships of $5,000 and 40 awards of excellence of $2,000 are awarded each year.