Mitchell Scholars are inclined to stay connected to the institute, reach out to help others and even enjoy a night out at the ballpark.

Joe Blunda, who graduated from Gorham High School in 1999, and Loren Bowley, who graduated from Bonny Eagle High School in 2000, both explained this week how Mitchell Scholars stay involved with the institute to make a difference in the lives of others.

Meaghan Quigley, a Mitchell Scholar this year after graduating from Westbrook High School, is excited to see how the connections and programs play out.

“I had no idea it was so extensive,” Quigley said of the programs available behind the cash scholarship. She will begin studies at Wheaton this fall.

Blunda said the institute has formed an advisory council of alumni to connect more effectively with scholars. The institute has an entire community built around Sen. George Mitchell’s philosophy that “everyone deserves an equal opportunity to find success,” Blunda said in an e-mail from New York City, where he works for the general counsel to the New York Mercantile Exchange, which he said is the market where the nation’s gasoline and precious metal prices are set.

Bowley, a 2004 graduate of the University of Maine, is involved with the institute and its alumni council. She said the council, like the institute, also provides scholarships as an additional boost for present Mitchell Scholars.

“We think it’s a nice way to give back for what the Mitchell Institute has done for us,” said Bowley, a Hollis native.

Bowley and Blunda both received $1,000 for each of their four years in college. Blunda said the amount – which the institute increased last year to $1,250 a year – was much more than other available scholarships.

The scholarships boosted careers for both Bowley and Blunda. “I didn’t have any college debt to pay back,” said Bowley, now a ninth-grade English teacher at Traip Academy in Kittery.

Blunda, a 2003 graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, said he depended on the scholarship a few times in college to pay for some key expenses like supplemental course materials. But, Blunda said, the scholarship is worth more than just the figure on the check.

“It’s almost like a person’s first opportunity to invest in his intellectual growth without any unnecessary strings attached,” Blunda said.

Blunda credited the scholarship in securing a job. “Though I used non-institute contacts to get my interview, it was largely due to the work experience enabled by the scholarship that I was offered a job on the spot,” Blunda said.

He said the alumni council recently held its first workshop for alumni and scholars facing the job market. Blunda said the alumni council invited industry leaders, who met with scholars in small groups in the workshop hosted by Unum, which Blunda said has long been a partner with the institute.

Blunda said the workshop topics included information about Maine industries, reading a paycheck, decoding benefit plans and writing resumes.

“The purpose of the workshop was to help scholars and alumni assess their marketability and career expectations, particularly in Maine,” said Blunda, who, with friends that include other Mitchell Scholars, is formulating a five-year plan to return and do business in Maine.

Results of the Mitchell scholarships are far reaching. He described the institute staff as focused, compassionate professionals who are good role models. “The institute doesn’t just cut a check,” Blunda said.

“I definitely think this is the way to do scholarships,” said Quigley. She will be getting $1,250 a year, but the connections to the institute, with the implicit idea that the scholars will give back to develop communities in Maine is an important aspect of the scholarship for her.

“I’m definitely going to keep in touch with them,” she said.

Bowley said the institute has a dedicated staff. She said it mentors scholars in college and she recalled meeting with institute staff at the university.

“It has been a great experience for me,” said Bowley who added she got a thrill seeing a high school graduate this year receive the scholarship.

Mitchell Scholars also participate in a state reading program for kindergarten and first-grade students in Portland and Bangor. Bowley was instrumental in expanding the Mitchell Scholars’ participation in reading to include Kittery.

The institute scholars program transcends education and careers, as they share in some fun, too. Tuesday, the scholars attended a Sea Dogs baseball game in Portland.

Cutline (Loren Bowley)