#EducationEnrichment

‘vital to prepare students for conversations that challenge and expand their thinking’
Camden Hills teacher educating students on importance of race, identity through new course
Tue, 10/06/2020 - 8:00pm

ROCKPORT — With classes for the 2020-21 school year underway at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, some students at the school are participating in a new English course, “Let’s Talk: Why we need to talk about race and identity.” “I think students need a place to explicitly discuss race and identity,” said course instructor Sara Cole-Pardun. “I am hopeful that this class is just the beginning, and that we will continue to weave this work into other classes.” This school year is the...
Waldoboro Miller School teacher fundraising to redesign instructional model amid COVID-19
Mon, 08/17/2020 - 5:15pm

WALDOBORO — Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in March, kindergarteners in Kara Paul’s class at Miller School in Waldoboro would sit together, usually in groups of three to five, at tables. A bin of shared supplies such as pencils, scissors and glue sticks dotted the middle of each table. Center time, when students rotate through each table to complete different reading and math activities, was a major aspect of Paul’s daily instruction before the pandemic shifted instruction to a virtual...
Teachers pursue grants for cutting edge technology
Belfast students to study marine life, ocean floor with underwater robot
Sun, 03/08/2020 - 10:30pm

BELFAST — Students attending Belfast Area High School will be able to receive a more hands-on marine science education thanks, in part, to a generous grant and the ingenious thinking of two teachers. Belfast Area High School teachers Chip Lagerbom, who teaches social studies and U.S. history, and David Thomas, who teaches science, received a $1,500 STEM4ME grant from the Perloff Family Foundation to purchase a QYSEA FIFISH V6 underwater robot to study Belfast Harbor, monitor...
‘I want to make a difference in this world and art has the power to bring people together’
Medomak Valley learns self-love, empowerment through #WhyYouMatter photography campaign
Sat, 02/08/2020 - 6:00pm

WALDOBORO — More than 250 students and staff members at Medomak Valley High School are learning to identify why they matter this semester as part of an advanced photography class project aimed at reminding the school community the feelings of love and empowerment. Spearheading the campaign is art educator Brooke Holland, who was inspired to launch the campaign after attending the National Art Education Association conference in Boston last year. At the conference, she listened to a presentation...
enriching the lives of those living here
Belfast ‘Old School’ store supports RSU 71 students, teachers
Tue, 02/04/2020 - 12:30pm

BELFAST — A new nonprofit store filled with antiques and vintage collectibles opened over the summer to provide financial support to the students and teachers of Regional School Unit 71, the school district serving Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Searsmont and Swanville. Old School, located on High Street in Belfast, sells treasures, including comic books, trading cards, action figures, sports memorabilia, clothes, books and jewelry, among other items. When opening its doors in June, the store was...
‘inspiring to see the outpouring of generosity’
Belfast real estate company holding hygiene drive for East Belfast Elementary students
Tue, 01/28/2020 - 1:00pm

BELFAST — For a second consecutive year, Maine Country and Coast Real Estate, based in Belfast, is organizing a drive to provide donations of hygiene products to East Belfast Elementary School students who may not have access to ample hygiene products at home. The idea for the hygiene drive came in January 2019 when the school posted about a need for donations of hygiene products on social media. Maggie Goscinski, the agency’s administrative assistant, saw the post and approached the company’s...
‘give students a platform to provide their own perspectives on today’s most pressing issues’
Next generation of reporters launch student newspapers
Sat, 01/18/2020 - 5:00pm

ROCKPORT and CAMDEN — The work involved with being in the news business never ends, especially when journalists are still earning their high school diploma, and at the same time, producing a newspaper. When Camden Hills Regional High School senior Phoebe Walsh sat down to answer questions for this story about being a high school newspaper editor and publisher, she had just finished a 13-hour shift of tidying up the final edition of the inaugural Midcoast Camden Hills Gazette , a free...
Five Town board to consider naming school library for alumna Edna St. Vincent Millay
Tue, 01/07/2020 - 5:00pm

ROCKPORT — The Five Town CSD board will vote Jan. 8 on a proposal to name the Camden Hills Regional High School library after Pulitzer Prize recipient and renowned poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, an alumna of the Camden High School. As part of the proposal to name the library after Millay, a sign bearing the name “Edna St. Vincent Millay” and Millay’s signature is to be placed above the entrance to the library, if the board approves. There are options for the signs, each costing approximately $...
‘Having medical and behavioral health care at school saves your child from missing time away from school’
Medomak Valley High establishes on-campus School Health Center
Wed, 12/18/2019 - 6:00pm

WALDOBORO — The administration at Medomak Valley High School announced Wednesday, Dec. 18 the school has established a partnership with LincolnHealth to open a School Health Center. The center will be located on the high school’s campus as part of the current health office and will be similar to a doctor’s office at the school for students. “Having medical and behavioral health care at school saves your child from missing time away from school,” said Medomak Valley principal Linda Pease. “Your...
‘highly deserving of every tool we can give them to continue their success’
RSU 13 occupational therapists raising funds to purchase self-regulating device
Tue, 12/17/2019 - 8:00pm

ROCKLAND — A trio of occupational therapists in one local school district are raising funds to purchase a device to assist students overcome challenges and gain an education. RSU 13 occupational therapists Kasey Drinkwater, Lauren Watts and Heather Nelson are seeking to purchase a steamroller, which would be the district’s fourth. Steamrollers have several benefits for students, according to Drinkwater, including providing sensory feedback many students need, working on body awareness,...
‘important for our schools and communities to have access to this type of vision screening’
RSU 40 nurses, Lions Clubs raise funds to purchase vision screener
Tue, 12/03/2019 - 6:15pm

UNION — Since last June, nurses in Regional School Unit 40 (Friendship, Union, Waldoboro, Warren and Washington) have been hard at work raising funds to purchase a Spot Vision Screener through the Maine Vision and Hearing Foundation. The goal is to purchase one by the end of the calendar year. “Many of our children live in rural areas, thus it is so important for our schools and communities to have access to this type of vision screening,” said Michele Cooney, a nurse at Union Elementary and...
notify school personnel by nov. 19
Camden Hills offering free holiday meal boxes to students
Wed, 11/13/2019 - 7:45pm

ROCKPORT — With Thanksgiving approaching, the faculty and staff of Camden Hills Regional High School wants to make sure each member of its student body has access to a holiday meal. The school will provide a holiday food box to the family of any student who would like one, the school announced Nov. 13. The box will include stuffing, potatoes, carrots, cranberry sauce, mac and cheese, rolls, brownie mix, and a Hannaford coupon for a cooked ham. Those interested in receiving the free box may...
Then and Now: How the Camden Hills adult education program has evolved over 50 years
Tue, 10/01/2019 - 9:00pm

ROCKPORT — Fifty years ago, the state’s first adult education program was introduced at what was then known as Camden-Rockport High School by Bob Curran, the school’s interim principal and former principal of Rockport High School. On Sept. 15, 1969, Curran, who would later work with the Maine Department of Education to develop adult education programs across the state, opened the doors to area adults seeking high school completion to complete GED programs and to help those aspiring to attend...
‘strongly illustrated the tremendous need in Midcoast Maine’
Owls Head family provides students with new ‘kicks’ through philanthropy
Sun, 09/22/2019 - 11:30pm

OWLS HEAD — A young child wearing winter UGG boots is not a sight one would imagine seeing on a summer night in downtown Rockland. That is, however, what John, Gayle and Carson Murphy, of Owls Head, witnessed three or four years ago, a scene that served as the launching point of the family’s philanthropic endeavor Kicks 4 Kids. The organization, now in its third year, provides new sneakers, or kicks as they are called in slang, to students in need within the RSU 13 and RSU 40 districts. With...
‘The experience of travel with a group of peers and with the support of an enthusiastic, supportive teacher, helps a person develop a sense of agency and competence’
Camden Hills intercultural program thriving with immersion opportunity expansion
Thu, 09/19/2019 - 2:15pm

ROCKPORT — The intercultural program at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport is thriving as the district continues to provide more opportunities to students wishing to immerse themselves in short-term and long-term intercultural trips around the world. While some trips take place in the United States, the majority includes travel to countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Caribbean. Community Dance Details Saturday, Sept. 28 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. CHRHS...
Initiatives introduced at Camden Hills Regional High School to provide assistance to students, families in need
Fri, 09/13/2019 - 12:45pm

ROCKPORT — A series of changes are underway at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport this school year to support students and families within the school who find themselves in need. The changes are broken down into two categories: School board funded initiatives and community funded initiatives, according to Jen Curtis, the school’s assistant principal. New this year, the school board is funding Preliminary SAT (PSAT) testing for all sophomores and juniors, regardless of their...
‘Perhaps students will wonder who she is, and research to find out about the person she was’
Belfast woman’s legacy carried on in Troy Howard Middle library
Tue, 09/03/2019 - 11:30am
BELFAST — At the Troy Howard Middle School library in Belfast, the exemplary legacy of one Waldo County woman will be made known to students thanks to the generosity of community members. Following the March 2019 passing of Belfast resident Judith Warren, community members donated money in her honor to the school’s library. Sampling of Purchased Books Practice Random Acts of Kindness: Bring More Peace, Love, and Compassion into the World Volunteering & Giving Back: 101...
‘Nothing should stand in the way of a student being provided a nutritious meal’
Negative school meal account balances reflect broader social and nutritional concerns
Fri, 07/12/2019 - 9:30am

MIDCOAST — An issue that continuously sparks debate, outrage over children allegedly being shamed for carrying negative school meal balances, and comparisons to how other countries, such as Sweden and Finland, operate their school meal programs concerns families having to figure out how to pay off their student’s negative balance on their school meal accounts. These meal accounts allow parents to add funds so a student may purchase their school meal. Some students are eligible...
Valentine’s Day breakfast to help educate students
Camden Hills students working to educate peers on healthy relationships
Mon, 02/04/2019 - 9:30am

ROCKPORT — The mantra of our country for the last few years has been that any change to be seen in the country starts with the millions of students, who have the ability to influence the future of our nation in many ways. That mantra rings true in Rockport, where a small, yet influential, group of students at Camden Hills Regional High School is working to bring more awareness to domestic violence and relationships among their peers. At the beginning of this academic year, three high school...