Belfast Rotary Club donates $17,000 to school clothing closets

 Belfast Rotary Club’s Bob Adler (left) and Sue Beemer (right) present $17,000 in checks in support of school Clothing Closets programs to RSU 71 schools staff (left to right) Laura Miller, RSU 71 Curriculum Coordinator; Michelle Philbrick, Special Education Director; Julie Sanborn, CASS Assistant Principal; Ashley Reynolds, CASS principal; and Glen Widmer, Ames School and Gladys Weymouth Elementary Schools principal. Not pictured are Kermit Nickerson Elementary School principal Liz Wakem, Searsport Superintendent Chris Downing and principal Todd Martin, social worker Lindsay Hawthorne, and school nurse Amanda Gurney of the Edna Drinkwater School in Northport.                                                                                     (Photo courtesy Belfast Rotary Club)

The Complete Penbay Pilot's Article

BAHS announces Q2 academic achievers

 

BELFAST — Belfast Area High School announced that the following students have made the honor roll for the second quarter.

Grade 9

High Honors: Isis Bird, Ezri Budet, Jem Bywater, Bella Foley, Theodore Fowler, Maverick Harriman, Paisley Hayslip, Aidan Howard, Leona Lozanova, Stella McCarthy, Sebastian Sprague, Vienna Ting and Owen Tomatly.

Honors: Austin Ames, Kailey Armstrong, Madelyn Batty, Colby Bernosky, Kayla Charette, Gareth Ford, Wyatt Foy, Claire Gilchrist, Evie Joy, Piper Leone, Savannah Lepow, Cole Mailloux, Allyson Markham, Justin Massey, Rowan Megquier, Chloe Newton, Ethan Newton, Zady-Katherine Paige, Siena Sommer, Chase Thomas, Emma Tripp, Nicholas Vaillancourt, Gabriel Wagner, Lavinia Welch, Caroline Wisniewski and Connor Wood.

Commendable: Iris Berry, Garak Brimer, Hayden Brimer, Samantha Chambers, Landon Coombs, Isaac Crawford, Lelia Darres, Anthonie Fairbrother, Connor Faulkingham, Edaniel Lapitan and Amarah Thornley.

Grade 10

High Honors: Kathryn Bitely, Theodore Bluhm, Lydia Butler, Minh Ha, Hannah Neal, Katience Parenteau, Forest Pitkin and Samuel Potter.

Honors: Natalie Barrows, Nora Burgess, Story Carlson, Malia DeGracia Beadling, Steven DeGraff, Emma Dietz, Ariana Evans, Jackson Faulkingham, Emily Friel, Sicily Glass, Jameson Harvey, Grace Hayes, Evelyn Lawson, Luke Littlefield, Colton Luce, Jordyn MacKay, Nevaeh Martin, Brogan McAvoy, Eric Nason, Alanna Nichols, October Patterson, Cooper Shattuck, Jocelyn Valleau and Payton Wadsworth.

Commendable: Sieun Ahn, Olivia Casavant, Aiden Colson, Zackary Duffelmeyer, Allison Friel, Olivia Fritz, Nicholas Hicock, Jackson Horton, Misaki Kranendonk, Hope Kunesh, Marisa Laursen, Kate Lemon, Trinity Lyons, Rohan Martens, Margaret Metcalf, Aden Penney, Madyson Pinkham, Miles Sagaas, Vito Scappaticci, Eli Thompkins, Dawson Tripp, Lacey Ward, Robert Withee, Oralee Woodbury, Grace Woods, Dawson Yeaton and Cassandra Young.

Grade 11

High Honors: Isaiah Alvarez, Madison Deans, Morgan Donnelly, Ryker Evans, Brenna Farnsworth, Francis Rohan Joseph, Marley Kormann, Alden Leonard, Piper Sanders, Estella Sprague, Judson Thomas and Adam Tomalty.

Honors: Ethan Abbott, Benjamin Allen, Eliza Barrett, Olivia Blood, Connor Bowles, Van Brown, Liza Cookson, Liliana Cortez, Julie Darres, Esme Deschamps, Lawless Desrochers, Felix Duggin, Matthew Duso, Ryan Eldridge, Daniel Kade Fuller, Audri Goodwin, Kali Knight, Ava Markham, Leah Moores, Emmeline New, Lucas Newsom, Madeline Porter, Nina Potvin, Jasmyne Restrepo Perez, Lexus Riley, Breanna Shorey, Naomi Sprague, Isaac Thompkins, Derak Whitmore and Kayla Wight.

Commendable: Vadim Blood, Jara Brown, Kassandra Brown, Zane Cole, Carver Dennison, Gary Gale, Rebecca Gary, Danica Gray, Mone’e Heroux, Allison Hooper, Tristan Hughes, Drew Kulbe, Christopher Landis, Matthew LeVesque, Jacob Lindelof, Paige Littlefield, Ava Naumann and Reilly Newton.

Grade 12

High Honors: Eliot Andrews, Sophia Birocco, Jane Bluhm, Kiya Bowles, Morgan Curtis, Avery Emerson, Summer Flewelling, Emma Harvey, Josiah Howard, Cassandra Kromer, Kylie Laite, Bella Lantigua, Maeve Littlefield, Finley Marriner, Scarlett Peebles, Jaiden Philbrook, Liam Pieske and Dakota Smith.

Honors: Jasmine Baughman, Kimburly Berry, Dustin Boynton, Emma Casey, Joseph Davis, Aidan Davison, Kaci Dusoe, Bella Greene, Isaac Harrington, Nevyn Harvey, Danielle Hicock, Jayden Langlois, Annabelle Lisa, Cora Littlefield, Miles Mailloux, Stephanie Resh, Erin Robbins, Alexis Smith, Sophia Taylor, Eli Veilleux, Scott Wallace, James Whiting and Ava Witham.

Commendable: Elijah Dominic Agbuya, Marina Bannister, Tanner Carson, Ada Curry, Patricia Cyr, Jordyn Dodge, Hannah Emerson, Andrew Fairbrother, Alyson Field, Andrew Haas, Josie Harvey, Joseph Lemon, Curtis Littlefield, Mason Maddocks, Sara-Jo Richeson, LilyAnne Spartz, Abigail Watts, Damian Whitmore and Owen Woodbury.

BMI students survey storm damage

 

Students from the Belfast Marine Institute who recently conducted a survey of storm 

damage along the Belfast shoreline. 

Photos courtesy of Charles Lagerbom

Working in conjunction with Kelsey Davis and the ITEST Coastal Tracers group, class members took photos of existing damage and interviewed people on the waterfront, like passersby and local businesses, including the Belfast harbormaster.

After debriefing on what they saw, students will discuss ways to monitor what the community does next, developing possible mitigation scenarios and their costs and implications.

Regional Middle School Math Meet

 

On Thursday February 8, 2024, seven 5th graders and 1 - 4th grader attended the second regional Middle School Math Meet, held at the China Lake Conference Center. These Students were from CASS, Ames and Nickerson Schools. Considering their young ages, they performed amazingly well. We had 2 teams competing at the 6th grade level.

6th grade Team 1: Came in 2nd Place

H. Kneller - Tied for 4th place in the individual round

O. Porter

E. James

C. Patrick

6th Grade Team 2:

S. Wagner

R. Adams

C. Tietje

M. Jacobs - Tied for 4th place in the individual round

This was a first time event for all of these students and they did an amazing job. 

Hope, Belfast students among winners of Telling Room 2024 writing contest

 

"Camryn Harvey is a senior at Belfast Area High School. She wrote “Our Last Encounter” as a way of embracing her coastal hometown and the importance of relationships. Ever since she can remember, Camryn has loved to write and hopes to be an English teacher one day".

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THMS Merlin Club, February Animal Tracking & Terrarium Making

 

February ecology investigations led by the Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition Stewards, engaged THMS middle schoolers  in the Merlin Club on a search for animal tracks. Using track guides, students identified signs and tracks of grey squirrel, snowshoe hare, and porcupine in the woods shared between the school and the YMCA. Belfast High School freshman Lavinia Welch provided guidance to students as they created  terrariums featuring local mosses. A natural teacher, she modeled how to look closely at mosses with a hand lens so they could see how different the various species look. As  an intern-teacher in the Merlin Club and as part of the BAHS Extended Learning Opportunities Program, Lavinia will earn credit and a stipend in addition  to learning more about nature-based education.

BMI kelp farm still in business after recent storms

 

Photos courtesy of Charles Lagerbom

BELFAST — The series of storms that recently lashed the Maine coast also affected the Belfast Marine Institute’s kelp farm off City Park.

BMI staff ventured out to check on the condition at the farm and found the storms had tangled two of the three 400-foot sugar kelp lines. One line had even separated from its anchor and mingled with its neighboring line, causing quite a tangle.

Students untangled the mess, which took some time, then dragged and reset, after first finding and reattaching the missing anchor.

Eventually all three lines were moved back to their original position. No gear had been lost, but some of the tangled kelp lines had been scraped clean of growth. A visual check of the third undamaged line showed good kelp growth, so still in business!

  Village Soup Article

Marine Studies class wraps semester with January plunge

 

(Photos by Charles Lagerbom)

To wrap up their semester course, Belfast Area High School students in Genna Black and Chip Lagerbom's Marine Studies class recently elected to do a January polar plunge. On the last day of class, they went down to the Belfast Town dock ready to jump in.

Air temperature was 21°F and water was 39°F. A decent breeze greeted the polar plungers as they exited the water, according to Lagerbom.

Joining in on the plunge was building principal Jeff Lovejoy and BAHS History teacher Andrew Rayner.

Waldo County YMCA’s February Food Drive collects items for school food pantries

 

Food Drive donations 2023. (Photo courtesy Waldo County YMCA)

BELFAST — The Waldo County YMCA (WCY) is collecting donations of canned goods, grains and pasta, and personal hygiene supplies for RSU 71, RSU 20, and RSU 3 schools. Drop off your donation at the WCY, 157 Lincolnville Ave, anytime in February or visit the WCY Bus on Friday, February 16 at the Belfast Hannaford between 1 and 3 p.m.

“Last year, we delivered more than 800lbs of desperately needed supplies to schools. This year, the need is even greater,” said Jan McIntyre, WCY Volunteer Coordinator and organizer of the drive, in a news release. “Our monthly food drives have been very successful, especially when they are for the schools.”

According to a 2021 white paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “Converging research indicates that household food insecurity impedes children from reaching their full physical, cognitive, and psychosocial potential.” To hungry students, that means they have other things distracting them from what school offers, according to WCY. Food donated to the school pantries alleviates some of these distractions. For some students, school is the place they know they can find a square meal. The school pantries give them access to food on weekdays. Weekend Backpacks, filled with nutritious items for the student and their families, provide food security when school is out of session.

Since 2020, when the monthly drives began, the WCY has distributed more than 10,000lbs of food and $7,500 in cash donations to Waldo County food pantries. WCY members often bring in boxes or cans on their way to work out.

“Our membership takes ‘community’ seriously,” said Russell Werkman, CEO. “They see the WCY as a community hub where they can make an impact on everyone’s health, not just their own.”

About the WCY

The WCY serves Waldo County as the hub for healthy living, youth development, and social responsibility. In May of 1977, the WCY was created as a force for good in the community. It became a standalone 501(c)3 charitable organization in 1995. Since then, the WCY has cemented itself as a cornerstone of Waldo County, providing opportunities for those from every walk of life to achieve better wellness and find belonging in a supportive, accepting community.

Full Article

BCOPE: Meeting Us Where We Are by Emma Witham

 

A painting by a former student at BCOPE.

BELFAST — BCOPE was created from a grant from the Office of Substance Abuse and opened its doors at the red and white shoe factory, otherwise known as the Belfast Center, in 1990. That was my mother’s generation as well as many more parents of current BCOPIANS.

The space was much smaller than we have now, with four rooms, no kitchen and no office, but they made do with what they had. Then, 12 years later in 2002, they made home on Merriam Drive where we still are in 2024.

The first time I stepped through the doors of BCOPE, I felt a connection to the school like no other; on the walls were picture frames filled with photos of families and friends, grinning. I saw my mother, too, smiling at me through the grainy texture of the photograph, and on another wall, my older sister holding baskets of food she was helping prepare. BCOPE carries its history through any building, every teacher, and each student.

What you may notice as you walk through the BCOPE doors are circles. The tables are set in a way that invites everyone into the conversation. The teachers and staff of BCOPE don’t like anyone to be forgotten or go unheard. And the circles bring a certain sense of unity to our community.

You may also notice just how many BCOPE graduates there are in the community, working hard and supporting their families. Students who were buoyed by the self-assurance that their time at BCOPE provided. BCOPE graduates are everywhere!

Students who wish to attend BCOPE go through an application process. Each student is required to write a personal essay about why they need to come to BCOPE and their ability to work with the BCOPE community in a supportive and healthy manner.

Every student who decides to join BCOPE is accepted as fast as they let themselves be. I’ve never found myself to be surrounded by such an encouraging group of people. Every day I am thankful for the help they’ve given me for the last three years.

Policies are still implemented in the BCOPE guidelines that keep kids focused and safe. Our phones aren’t to be used during classes unless granted permission. Each student is encouraged to speak to any of the teachers if we have a problem, even personal problems that are outside of school.

Also, there is certainly no slacking off at BCOPE — everyone is expected to participate and come to school ready to learn. Helen, among others, has driven to students’ houses to bring them to school, when asked. We also have chores and duties that have certainly instilled in me personal and external responsibility.

BCOPE has a singular overarching mission statement: to give everyone who attends an opportunity to succeed. Students know how they individually learn and what they need to learn. That understanding is applied to their projects and their academic work. The school becomes a place for students to thrive and everyone is accommodated in their own special ways.

“The only person in your way is yourself.” — Helen Scipione. That was our principal’s and my teacher’s response to my doubts. I’d gone into her office with a brewing worry that I merely wasn’t good enough to write, and she knew, she reassured me. I am lucky to have her guidance; to be able to hear and understand her affirmations. Helen seems to almost always know what to say and when she doesn’t she helps you figure out what can be said.

“You are a loved child,” is the sentiment most often said and also the hardest to forget, and it is proven to me every single day.