PORTLAND

Group seeks nominations for outstanding teacher

Additional Photos

Kyle O’Brien, a Wells High School senior, is a semifinalist in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program. He is also an athlete who serves as captain of the track team. Courtesy photo

Kyle O’Brien, a Wells High School senior, is a semifinalist in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program. He is also an athlete who serves as captain of the track team. Courtesy photo

The Honey Exchange is looking for nominations for Outstanding Teachers in Cumberland County.

Kindergarten through Grade 12 students may submit a paragraph explaining why their teacher is deserving of the title.

The teacher selected will win a Honey Exchange Gift Basket, filled with honeys, honey dipper, locally-made soaps, candle, candle shade, tea towels, cards, poster and honey sauces valued at over $130.

Two runners up each will receive a $25 gift certificate to The Honey Exchange.

Nominations should be in the form of a hand-written paragraph.

Submissions should include the name of the teacher, the school’s name and the name and grade of the person submitting the nomination.

Entries should be mailed to: The Honey Exchange – Teacher Nomination, 494 Stevens Ave., Portland, ME 04103

Submissions received may be displayed at The Honey Exchange and must be mailed by Dec. 11.

The winner will be announced on Dec. 20.

For more details, call Meghan Gaven at 773-9333.

WELLS

WHS senior Kyle O’Brien scholarship semifinalist

Wells High School senior Kyle O’Brien of Wells has been named a semifinalist in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program after scoring high on the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test during his junior year.

O’Brien has been a member of the WHS Cross Country Team all four years and has been the team’s captain for the past two years. He has also been on the WHS indoor and outdoor track teams.

O’Brien plans to study engineering after graduation.

He is the son of Donna O’Brien.

SACO

Springvale woman earns home-care volunteer honor

The Home Care & Hospice Alliance of Maine recently presented the 2013 Home Care Volunteer of the Year Award to Dr. Muriel Poulin at the Annual Blaine House Tea celebration.

Poulin, a volunteer with HomeHealth Visiting Nurses, was, honored for her more than 20 years’ commitment to advance the mission of home health and hospice care.

Poulin is a former member of HomeHealth Visiting Nurses’ board of directors, board chair, leader on numerous committees and boards, and currently serves as the volunteer manager of the Sanford bookstore, Books Revisited.

In 1994, Poulin established the Poulin Family Nursing Education Fund to provide scholarships to employees of HomeHealth Visiting Nurses who are pursuing degrees in nursing.

PORTLAND

Common Good Ventures gets $2,500 grant from bank

People’s United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People’s United Bank, has awarded a $2,500 grant to Common Good Ventures, an organization that assists nonprofits in their efforts to address pressing social problems that affect economic health and quality of life in Maine.

WINDHAM

Vet, 95, wins competition with humorous personal tale

World War II Veteran Philip Kennard, 95, has been awarded first place in the VA Creative Arts Festival’s Creative Writing Division (Humorous Personal Experience) for his piece “Twice Delivered.”

The writing also placed first in the VA Maine HCS competition and was selected from hundreds of submissions at the national VA level.

Kennard’s winning entry is the first national win for VA Maine HCS.

SOUTH BERWICK

‘Hike Through History’ draws Maine Preservation award

The Old Berwick Historical Society and Maine School Administrative District 35 have won a statewide award from Maine Preservation for “organizational excellence” for their joint educational program “The South Berwick Hike Through History.”

The project has galvanized awareness of and public support for South Berwick’s historic village over the past two decades by creating a historic route through a district listed on the National Register of Historic Places, organizers said.

Maine Preservation promotes and preserves historic places, buildings, downtowns and neighborhoods.

AUBURN

College for ME-Androscoggin sets scholarship deadlines

College for ME-Androscoggin is accepting applications for two $1,000 scholarships designated for adult students: the Thomas W. and Beulah Long Musgrave Fund Scholarship and the First Class Scholarship.

The scholarships will be offered in partnership with the Maine Community Foundation for students ages 25 and older who are currently enrolled in an accredited program of study leading to a degree, certification or similar recognition.

Up to five Musgrave Fund Scholarships may be awarded to adult students residing in Androscoggin County for the semester or term beginning after Jan. 1.

College for ME-Androscoggin’s First Class Scholarship covers the tuition cost of a single three-credit course for adults who are starting college for the first time or who are restarting after an absence of many years.

Applications can be downloaded from www.collegeformeandroscoggin.org.

Deadlines for submitting applications are Dec. 2 for the First Class Scholarship and Dec. 9 for the Musgrave Fund Scholarship.

For more details or to download a form, go to www.mainecf.org.

LEBANON

Fifth-graders accepting donations for online auction

Lebanon Elementary School fifth-graders will accept donations for their annual online auction, which runs from Sunday through Dec. 7.

Window shop and register to bid today at www.les5th.org.

The auction is the primary fundraiser for a four-day, three-night trip to Ferry Beach Ecology School in Saco in April, the capstone experience of the school’s Kindergarten through Grade 5 science curriculum.

For more information on the program, visit www.fbes.org/multiyearprograms.

BIDDEFORD

Hannaford gives $40,000 to help launch food pantry

Hannaford Supermarkets has donated $40,000 to help launch a School Pantry Program at John F. Kennedy Memorial School.

The program, being supported by the Good Shepherd Food Bank, was begun to provide children and families who lack access to nutritious food at home a reliable source of food for evenings, weekends, and vacations outside of the regular school environment.

Biddeford has a poverty rate of 13.3 percent, slightly higher than the statewide rate of 12.8 percent.

Sixty-one percent of students at JFK Memorial qualify for free or reduced-price meals in school.

While these children can depend on lunch at school, they often go home at night and on the weekends to empty cupboards and must rely on convenience store snacks or fast food restaurants for meals.

The school is located at 64 West St.

For more details, call Clara Whitney of the Good Shepherd Food Bank at 782-3554 Ext. 1166.

JEFFERSON

Nature Center wins grant to teach forest stewardship

Hidden Valley Nature Center was awarded $6,500 from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund in order to support a two-year initiative to educate visitors about the importance of sound forest stewardship.

HVNC manages 1,000 acres of forest for diverse values such as timber growth, wildlife habitat, and recreation and serves as a model landowner for other woodland owners in the region. Everything that is done on site – logging, trail building, camping, recreation – can all be done on woodlots between ten and 2,000 acres.

In conjunction with the Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation district, HVNC is developing a series of interpretive signs associated with three key locations.

Very detailed maps will be created and displayed on the website as well as in the education center.

Visitors will may walk a forestry trail that will lead them across HVNC and through areas handled with several different management styles, each with different objectives.

Signs and maps located at key locations will give visitors something to think about as they experience different kinds of woodlands.

For more information on HVNC, visit www.hnvc.org, call 200-8840, or email info@hvnc.org.

SEARSPORT

Museum calls for entries for gingerbread Christmas event

Penobscot Marine Museum is looking for gingerbread houses to be entered into its Gingerbread Christmas by the Sea Annual Gingerbread House Competition.

Children and adults can bring their creations to the Museum Shop and Framer at 40 East Main St. by Dec. 5.

The public is invited to vote for their favorite gingerbread house during the opening party for the winter exhibit “Underfoot” from 4 to 7 p.m. Dec. 6.

For more details, call Lin Calista at 548-0334.

SANFORD

Head Start program gets knitted goods from RSVP

The Portland Chapter of RSVP recently delivered its seasonal donation of blankets and hand-knitted winter hats and mittens to the York County Community Action Corporation’s Head Start Program for distribution to the various program sites in the coming days.

Members of RSVP, who are age 55 and older, annually participate in activities that range from building houses and working on environmental projects to immunizing children and teaching children to read.

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