Editor’s Note: Student Union is written by students at Hampden Academy, Brewer High School, John Bapst Memorial High School, Old Town High School, Mount Desert Island Regional High School, Ashland Community High School and Schenck High School in East Millinocket. The weekly column is a joint effort among the schools, the Bangor Daily News and Acadia Hospital. This week’s column was written by Schenck High School students. Their adviser is Eric Steeves.

With the recent economic downturn of the Katahdin region because of the shutdown of the Great Northern Paper Inc. mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket, there have been both positive and negative changes in the school department (Union 113) and the towns themselves.

Roughly 1,100 millworkers were laid off in the sudden shutdown of the mills, and many others in the community were left without jobs because of the repercussions. The general outlook of the families in the area has changed drastically within the last month. While there has been a lot of grim news to endure, there have been other positive reactions from other communities as well as people locally.

Several churches are opening their doors daily to provide food and fuel assistance to displaced workers. Churches outside the area have been putting on food drives and delivering the goods to local food banks. Donations have come in from other states as far away as California, and laid-off workers are donating time and energy at the food pantry to organize and stock shelves.

“In my opinion, I would say that the communities’ efforts to assist East Millinocket have been a great camaraderie between the townspeople and the outlying communities,” remarked Carilynn Grant, an English teacher at Schenck High School.

The situation also has taken its toll on Schenck High School. There have been changes to the extracurricular program, faculty, and school life, including the cutting of staff positions and reduced work hours for many other employees. There also has been increased talk of tuitioning and consolidation with Stearns High School as early as the fall of 2003. The entire school system has had to cope with these changes and adapt.

The outlook of the school, while still dismal, has been looking up. The students have come up with ways to keep things as normal as possible.

Schenck High School’s formal dance, the Winter Carnival, is fast approaching, and with so many parents out of work, something needed to be done to defray the cost of dresses, tuxedos, hair, nails and other related expenses.

The Student Council held the first Dress Swap recently where students could buy, sell, donate, lend or borrow used dresses or tuxedos.

The community response was tremendous, as approximately 100 gowns had been collected as of Feb. 12. KidsPeace, a national organization with five offices in Maine, also contributed by doing a statewide drive that entailed getting Bangor-area radio stations and newspapers involved. Jim’s Dry Cleaning of Millinocket got involved by cleaning the dresses.

Several other local businesses offered their services. As an alternative to the traditional trip to Bangor, the River Driver’s Restaurant in Millinocket put on a formal dinner the night before the dance at just $10 a plate. Pins ‘n Cues, the local bowling alley, also offered reduced rates. Several professionals as well as University of Maine students offered their services as hairstylists and manicurists, and the dance itself had some assistance by the Schenck Booster Club and the Medway Fire Department, who paid a combined $550 to reduce the cost of attending Winter Carnival for students. Kennebunk High School even put on a Winterfest to raise money, to reduce the cost for both Schenck and Stearns students for Schenck’s Winter Carnival and Stearns’ prom in May.

Donations have come in to the school for other reasons as well. The Houlton Booster Club donated money to help pay for spring sports. The city of Brewer, as well as other individuals who made private donations, has contributed money toward caps and gowns for the graduating seniors.

These acts do not go unnoticed by the students. Heather Duprey, a senior at Schenck says, “I was first shocked by the outpouring of donations and services to our area. It shows the sympathy and understanding people have for our region.” Sophomore Casey McLaughlin commented on her appreciation. “I am very grateful that so many people have made the effort to help us out, not just locally, but across the entire state, and I hope someday that if they need help we will help them.” The appreciative and grateful feelings are apparent throughout the halls of Schenck High School.