Category: Awards and Honors

Finalists for U.S. Senate program present on government issues

This year's 10 finalists for the United States Senate Youth Program.
Students from across Maine applied to attend the 2013 United States Senate Youth Program in Washington, D.C. Two candidates from this pool of 10 finalists will be announced the winners in early December.

What do you think is the most important issue facing the U.S. today?

This is the question a panel of five judges posed to 10 Maine high school students vying for a prestigious honor on Thursday. Each student’s four-minute response homed in on one current governmental issue, such as foreign policy, renewable energy, the erosion of civil liberties or the general state of the economy. The most popular response, however, was the lack of bipartisan effort in U.S. Congress.

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First Lady LePage honors Maine Agriculture Teacher of the Year

Presentation of award to 2013 Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year Sharon Hathaway, of Leavitt Area High School, with Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Walter Whitcomb, and Maine First Lady Ann LePage.
Presentation of award to 2013 Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year Sharon Hathaway, of Leavitt Area High School (center), with Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Walter Whitcomb, and Maine First Lady Ann LePage.

Maine Agriculture in the Classroom celebrated its annual meeting and dinner on Oct. 17 at the State Grange in Augusta with presentations by Maine First Lady Ann LePage and  Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Walter Whitcomb.

A number of grant recipients presented their projects at the meeting, including this year’s Maine Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year Sharon Hathaway, of Leavitt Area High School in Turner, who initiated a course to promote student understanding of agriculture and natural resources, incorporating current and historical connections to their community.

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Top Maine science, math teachers honored

Maine's four finalists for the 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching: Karen Jagolinzer, Elizabeth Vickery, Sally Plourde and Lauree Gott.
Maine’s four finalists for the 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching: (from left) Karen Jagolinzer, Elizabeth Vickery, Sally Plourde and Lauree Gott.
Click here to view more photos from the event.

AUGUSTA – Today, the LePage Administration honored three science teachers and one math teacher from Maine as finalists for the 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen recognized the educators at the Maine Science Teachers Association conference in Gardiner, which focused on rigorous new science standards.

The National Science Foundation, which is known for its rigorous selection process, will select up to one mathematics and one science winner per state to be recognized next spring in Washington, D.C.

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Principals may submit nominees for Senate Youth Program

Senator Susan Collins, a 1971 USSYP delegate, with Maine’s 2012 USSYP delegates, Julia Brown, of Brunswick High School, and Adam Cohen, of Scarborough High School.
Senator Susan Collins, a 1971 USSYP delegate, with last year’s USSYP delegates, Julia Brown, of Brunswick High School, and Adam Cohen, of Scarborough High School.

Two student leaders from Maine will be selected to participate in the 51st annual United States Senate Youth Program to be held in Washington, D.C., March 9-16, 2013. The program is sponsored by the United States Senate and funded and administered by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

In addition to the all-expenses paid trip to observe the federal government in action, delegates will each receive a $5,000 scholarship. Student delegates will hear major policy addresses by senators, cabinet members, officials from the Departments of State and Defense and directors of other federal agencies, as well as participate in a meeting with a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

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High school students compete in international science fair

Meagan Currie of Greely High School took first place at the Maine State Science Fair with her project on oxygen production.
Meagan Currie of Greely High School took first place at the Maine State Science Fair with her project on oxygen production.

For the first time ever, students from Maine competed in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held this year in Pittsburgh, Penn. Meagan Currie of Greely High School in Cumberland and Sam Wood of Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham traveled with their teacher/mentors and parents to represent Maine at this competition.

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Sanford students nationally recognized for plastic bag recycling project

Sanford Junior High eighth graders competed nationally in the Siemen's We Can Change the World Challenge with their project aimed to decrease plastic bag use.
Sanford Junior High eighth graders competed nationally in the Siemen’s We Can Change the World Challenge with their project aimed to decrease plastic bag use.

Four eighth graders at Sanford Junior High School in Sanford were selected as national finalists in the Siemen’s We Can Change the World Challenge for their campaign to reduce the use of disposable plastic bags.

The students – Brianna Doyal, Alexandra Kruscek, Mariah Anderson and Seth Sprague – call themselves the “Plastiks.” Their service learning project took off last year in seventh and eighth grade teacher Barbara Perry’s social studies class. These four students were chosen to continue their work with Perry and Deb Rosa, Sanford technology integrator, this year. The Plastiks were named state champions for Maine.

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Kindergartners perform original song at Celebration of Arts Education

AUGUSTA – Governor LePage recognized students from Bangor Elementary and Middle Schools for their artwork during the Celebration of Arts Education at the Blaine House on June 6. Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen, Maine’s First Lady Ann LePage and Chair of the State Board of Education James Banks joined the ceremony.

Three kindergarten students from the Fruit Street School – Callie Tennett, Alexander Montano-Smith and Oscar Croce – performed a song they created with the guidance of their music teacher, Anne Chamberlain-Small, at the ceremony.

Thirty-nine pieces of student artwork from Bangor have been on public display since April. The student artwork is viewable online or can be seen in person during office hours at the Maine Department of Education, fifth floor of the Cross Building, in Augusta.

Resources and more information

Governor presents Promising STEM Youth Awards at State House ceremony, with Robots

Governor LePage and Messalonskee High School students play with basketballs ejected by the school's robotics team, "Infinite Loop," which participated in the FIRST Robotics World Championship in St. Louis in April.
Governor LePage and Messalonskee High School students play with basketballs ejected by the school’s robotics team, “Infinite Loop,” which participated in the FIRST Robotics World Championship in St. Louis in April.

The following is a news release from the Office of Gov. Paul LePage.

AUGUSTA – Science, robots and the students who designed them took center stage Tuesday at the State House as Governor Paul LePage awarded the first ever Governor’s Promising STEM Youth Awards.

The recipients included three robotics teams that participated in a national competition, a student who will be representing Maine at the National Youth Science Camp and students from Falmouth who represented the state in a national science competition.

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Schools asked to choose 8th graders for citizenship award

The Maine Secretary of State’s Office is asking Maine schools to nominate a deserving eighth grader for recognition under the Secretary of State’s Eighth Grade Citizenship Award Program, an annual effort designed to honor Maine students for their civic awareness, scholastic achievements and community service.

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