FALMOUTH

Food preserver program deadline is Friday

Friday is the deadline to submit applications for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Master Food Preserver program. The 10-session course will meet from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. each Tuesday from June 18 to Sept. 17 at UMaine Extension, 75 Clearwater Drive, and at Brunswick High School at 116 Maquoit Road, Brunswick.

The 35-hour course series combines lecture, discussion and hands-on kitchen practice. Topics include food preservation techniques such as canning, drying, freezing, and fermenting; food storage and safety; and prevention of food-borne illness.

Upon graduation, master food preservers volunteer and are resources in their communities to provide research-based information from UMaine Extension and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Application forms and more information is available at https://extension.umaine.edu/food-health/food-preservation/master-food-preservers. The $250 class fee is due on acceptance; limited financial assistance is available.

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For more details, call Marvin Tala at 781-6099, 800-287-1471 (in Maine) or email marvin.tala@maine.edu.

ELLSWORTH / PORTLAND

Foundation launches adult scholarship fund

The Maine Community Foundation has launched the Adult Learner Scholarship Fund to support nontraditional students who want to change their lives for the better through education and training.

Maine CF offers two types of Adult Learner Scholarships. A degree-seeking scholarship supports two- and four-year degree programs and certificate courses that fit into the regular calendar year. The application deadlines for these scholarships are June 15 and Dec. 15.

The second scholarship supports credential/certificate programs that last less than a full semester. These short-term scholarships will have a rolling deadline of the first of each month.

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Eligible applicants must be age 25 and older; work fulltime; have dependents other than a spouse; and be financially independent. Applicants also must not have received a standard high school diploma and delayed enrollment in college after high school for a reason other than a gap year activity.

Complete guidelines and application forms are available at www.mainecf.org or www.mainecf.org/find-a-scholarship/available-scholarships/for-adult-learners.

WELLS

Literary achievement awards presented

The Wells-Ogunquit Community School District presented its 33rd Literary Achievement Awards ceremony at Wells High School’s Olenn Performing Arts Center recently, recognizing 67 students who placed in this annual creative writing contest that received 252 entries this year.

Fourteen first-place winners, representing students from kindergarten through adult education, read all or a portion of their stories and poems before the audience. Prizes were awarded, including $500 to WHS senior Katherine Reidy for her first-place story.

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Other first-place winners included Maya Roche (kindergarten), Addisyn Avery (Grade 1), Scarlett Lantz (Grade 2), Sofia Passaretti (Grade 3), Francesca MacEwen (Grade 4), Camden Mosher (Grade 5), Victoria Chase (Grade 6), Samuel Coleman (Grade 7), Emily Kenney (Grade 8), Arianna Leighton (Grade 9), Kathryn Cafaro (Grade 10), Michael Patnaude (Grade 11), Katherine Reidy (Grade 12) and Paula Villa (an adult education student).

Students submitted various forms of writing including poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. All entries were judged anonymously at two levels, first by district staff members and then later by a community panel of judges. The top winners at each grade level received $100. Second-place winners received $50 each and third-place winners received $25 each. Honorable mentions received a $10 gift certificate to the Steakhouse in Wells.

PORTLAND

Altrusa Portland Club marks 90th birthday

The Altrusa Portland Club celebrated its 90th birthday on April 17 at the Opportunity Alliance Timber Room.

The focus of this nonprofit club is to promote literature. Each year, they deliver a new book for each kindergarten student to bring home. On average, 2,000 books are distributed to all kindergarteners in Portland, South Portland, Westbrook and Windham schools.

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The club also exists as a service organization that serves dinners at the Ronald McDonald House and to Wayside Communities. They also maintain the gardens at the Barron Center.

Established in 1929, Altrusa International Foundation of Portland chose to celebrate its 90th birthday by selecting 90 volunteers for nonprofit organizations, each eligible to receive $90. Christine Arlander of the Catherine Morrill Day Nursery was selected as this year’s Volunteer of the Year and her organization received $250 to benefit its community outreach efforts.

The birthday celebration featured appetizers and cake, supplied by SoPo Catering, and musical entertainment, provided by the The Baby Blues from the Greater Portland Boys & Girls Clubs’ Riverton Campus.

AUGUSTA

Winners announced for state math meet

The Maine School of Science and Mathematics has once again placed first at the Maine State Math Meet for the Maine Association of Math Leagues.

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Nine MSSM students earned medals at the in the 43rd annual MAML meet, with the school scoring 846 points out of a possible 920. MSSM junior James Hawkes was recognized as top scorer in the state during the regular season. Hawkes said this year was “filled with difficult questions. I appreciate the time and effort put in by the math teachers, who provided us with practice and taught us what we needed to know for each meet.”

In the Part One Individual Round, all students do the same six sets of math problems and scores are tallied individually and summed for the team. Ten students competed for up to 72 points each for a maximum score of 720, with MSSM scoring 667 points. In the Part Two Relay Round, each school split into two teams and completed problems dependent on the other half of the team to provide a partial answer. MSSM earned an 87 out of 100 possible points in round two and 92 out of possible 100 points in round three.

Ethan Winters of Gardiner and James Hawkes of Portland earned all possible 72 points, resulting in gold medals for grades 12 and 11, respectively. Other seniors to medal were Sandy Kweon of the Republic of South Korea in 5th place and George Johnson of Kennebunk in 11th. Minjin Lee, also of the Republic of South Korea, earned a silver; Jordan Theriault of Caribou earned a bronze, Christian Chagnon of Eliot placed 4th; and Oleksii Nikanov of Ukraine tied for 5th.

Madison Albert of North Yarmouth, the only sophomore on the team, earned a silver in her grade category.

The next step for the MSSM Math Team will be by invitation to compete in the American Regions Mathematics League held simultaneously at four locations around the United States. MSSM will join students who excel in mathematics from high schools in Maine from May 30 to June 2 at Penn State while other teams compete at the University of Las Vegas, the University of Iowa, and the University of Georgia. ARML has been called the “World Series of Mathematics Competitions” with 15 member teams representing large geographic regions; roughly 2,000 students compete at this event nationwide.


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