BIDDEFORD — Performances by Vandini the Children’s Magician of Maine, a bouncy house and music by the Alumni Band are all part of the Community Day and Carnival, planned for Saturday at Biddeford High School.
The public is encouraged to attend this free event, hosted by BHS, the Alumni Association and Edward Jones of Biddeford, said Biddeford School Department Director of Development Linda Verville.
Some of the other activities planned for the day include carnival games, gaming with Studios2Go, performances by the BHS cheerleaders, checking out Saco Bay Tackle’s fishing boat and tours of the renovated high school.
Free refreshments will also be on offer, such as milkshakes made by the Community Bicycle Center on its milkshake-making bike, and food and beverages provided by TJs Pizza and Hannaford Supermarket.
In addition to food and fun, the event will include information booths hosted by organizations that provide support and services for families that can help students stay in school, said Verville.
The idea for the event came about when Biddeford Primary School Assistant Principal Barbara Adriance went to an attendance summit earlier in the school year.
The focus wasn’t on truancy, but on “kids who just plain miss school,” she said.
At the summit, Adriance said, she learned that for students who miss 18 days or more a year, “The odds are those children aren’t going to catch up.”
There is greater likelihood that those students won’t graduate, she said, and that “the pattern of under-achievement will continue.”
Schools can only do so much, said Adriance.
“A lot of attendance issues are based in the home,” she said. “We need to support families.”
After presenting her information, the Biddeford School Department leadership team decided to hold an event that would be fun as well as provide important information to parents.
Some of the service providers who will be at the Saturday event include YouthBuild, Sweetser, Counseling Services Inc. and McArthur Public Library, said Eli Fletcher, who works with truant students at Biddeford High School.
“I took a new position at the high school,” said the former math teacher. “I help figure out why kids aren’t coming to school.”
Several organizations in the community offer services that can help families, said Fletcher, but “unless you talk to the right people, you might not find what you want.”
The goal of Saturday’s event is to connect parents with services and people who can help them and their children with a variety of needs. Some families may need help with serious issues, said Fletcher, but some might just need to find an activity for their children to be involved with after school, like scouting.
“If you can get kids in positive activities,” he said, “it will help them in all parts of their life and keep them coming to school.”
Biddeford Community Day and Carnival will take at Biddeford High School on Maplewood Avenue, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is a free event and the public is invited.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or [email protected].
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