OLD ORCHARD BEACH

Retired teachers group project to benefit students

For the 75th year, Maine Education Association of Retired Teachers will take part in a daylong work project benefiting students, in honor of the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

The group’s York County educational retirees will join with students from Saint Joseph’s College future educators to spend Saturday at the Jameson Elementary School. They will work at the front entrance of the building to weed, mulch, paint and do other work to spruce up the campus.

The group also will partner with Staples office supply and general manager Matt Haas to donate school supplies and new or used books for the school’s students.

For more details, call Ruth C. Madden at 883-5991.

SCARBOROUGH

Church panel distributes school supplies backpacks

Vine and Branches, the outreach committee of St. Augustine Anglican Church, recently delivered 72 backpacks stuffed with school supplies to three school districts for homeless students in Old Orchard Beach, Saco and Biddeford.

Vine and Branches works directly with the school district to determine the specific needs of the districts and the students so that the backpacks are suitable. In the past seven years, nearly 500 backpacks have been delivered.

For more details, call 885-1018.

AUBURN

Madison Leslie wins two scholarships at pageant

Madison Leslie, a junior at St. Dominic Academy, recently represented Maine in the 12th annual Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Scholarship Pageant in Orlando, Fla.

She won two scholarships at the pageant, a $500 top vocalist award and a $500 nonfinalist talent award for her performance. She finished the competition with a total of $2,000 in scholarship prizes.

PORTLAND

Medical Center presents scholarships to 116

Maine Medical Center recently presented 116 scholarships totaling $109,000 to support continuing education of its current nurses and employees who want to pursue nursing degrees. The scholarships are in addition to MMC-funded tuition reimbursement for employees totaling about $700,000 each year.

Since 1999, MMC has awarded more than $1 million in nursing education scholarships. This year marked the inaugural year for the John E. Heye Nursing Scholarship, named for MMC’s former chief financial officer and treasurer and senior vice president of finance from 1995 to 2014, who died last year. MMC nurses Jennifer Dow, Julie Ontengco and Robin Matthews each received a partial scholarship to pursue continuing nursing education coursework.