WELLS

Junior high student wins local geography competition

Additional Images

Wells Junior High contestants in the recent geography bee at the school include, from left, Wyatt Rowe, Covy Dufort, Garner Holdsworth, Katie Plourde, first runner-up Spencer Poulin, champion Matt Chase, Tori Hayward, Hannah Chase, Samuel Norbert and Guss Madsen. Reg Bennett photo

Students at St. Brigid Catholic School in Portland prepare bags of healthy snacks collected by eighth-graders to distribute to children in community programs. Courtesy photo

Wells Junior High School eighth-grader Matt Chase won the school’s geography bee, in the first round of the 27th annual National Geography Bee.

He also was the 2013 local champion.

Fellow eighth-grader Spencer Poulin was the runner-up and other finalists were Hannah Chase, Covy Dufort, Tori Hayward, Garner Holdsworth, Guss Madsen, Samuel Norbert, Katie Plourde and Wyatt Rowe.

At the end of March, after passing a national qualifying exam, Chase will be eligible to compete in a state geography bee to be held at a University of Maine campus.

State winners are invited to compete at the National Geography Bee in May in Washington, D.C., for a chance to win a $50,000 scholarship and a trip to the Galapagos Islands.

SCARBOROUGH

Senior selected to attend the U.S. Naval Academy

Scarborough High School senior Nathan Howard has accepted an offer to attend the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Howard was nominated by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree in December.

“Acceptance to a U.S. service academy is extremely competitive and reflects highly on a student’s scholarship, community service and character,” Pingree said in a prepared statement. “Along with all the other Maine students my office nominated, Nathan has demonstrated an incredible commitment to serving the country and a maturity well beyond his years.”

Howard first became interested in attending the academy while taking part in a STEM program there when he was in seventh grade. He is the son of Michele and Frederick Howard.

SANFORD

Transit bus route extended to former Nasson campus

Sanford Transit bus has extended its route to include the former Nasson College campus in Springvale, offering riders transportation to Nasson Health Care, the district courthouse, Anderson Learning Center, Sanford Community Adult Education, The Career Center and the Springvale Library, along with other businesses in the area.

The Sanford Transit bus loop runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

One-way fares are $1 for riders over 8 years old, and 50 cents for riders 8 and younger, as well as for seniors and persons with disabilities. Regular riders can purchase a discounted pass from the driver or from York County Community Action at 6 Spruce St. For more details, call Brad Bohon at 324-5762, ext. 2954.

PORTLAND

Students collect snacks for other kids in community

St. Brigid Catholic School eighth-grade students recently collected nearly 700 pounds of healthy snacks to benefit the Wayside Food Healthy Snacks program during the Maine Catholic Schools Week community outreach initiatives.

The program provides snacks to children at several Portland community policing centers.

After collecting the goodies, students placed hundreds of granola bars, boxes of raisins, bags of pretzels and other snacks in paper bags they had decorated with drawings and words of support such as “never give up,” “good luck” and “keep your head up.” The students filled 60 banana boxes with the bagged treats. Studies and service go hand in hand at the school.

In September, third-graders turned a science lesson into a way to help others when they delivered the vegetables grown in their new garden to the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in Portland.

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