Girl Scouts of Maine honors Gold and Silver awardees

Girl Scouts of Maine reimagined its annual G.I.R.L. Celebration for 2020 due to the pandemic, taking it online with a “Celebration Saturdays” video series honoring Girl Scouts and adult volunteers, including the Girl Scout Gold and Silver Awards, the two highest honors a Girl Scout can earn. Future Leader’s Scholarships were also awarded.

The Gold Award Girl Scouts honored include Isabella Chandler of Cumberland, Kylie Josephson of Cumberland, Helen Vaughan of Cape Elizabeth, Isabel Berman of Cape Elizabeth, Jessica Schlotterbeck of Lisbon and Audra Hamlin of Stoneham. From saving bees to addressing the vaping epidemic and sports bias in their schools, the girls made significant, sustainable impacts in their communities. To learn more about their Gold Award projects visit girlscoutsofmaine.org.

“Gold Award Girl Scouts are the dreamers and the doers who take ‘make the world a better place’ to the next level,” said Joanne Crepeau, CEO, Girl Scouts of Maine. “Seniors and Ambassadors tackle issues dear to them and drive lasting change in their communities.

“The Girl Scout Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable – proof that not only can she make a difference, but also that she already has.”

The Gold Award video celebration highlighted Zoom interviews of the Gold Award Girl Scouts by 2019 Miss Maine, Carolyn Brady of Brunswick, who is a Gold Award Girl Scout, a lifetime member and active Girl Scout volunteer.

Silver Award allows Girl Scout Cadettes in middle school to focus on an issue they care about and take action to make a difference. This year 21 Girl Scouts across the state earned their Silver Award. Local Silver Award Girl Scouts honored were Ginger Waters and Taylor Mario of Bath; Katie Hankinson, Chloe Pierce and Olivia Stewart of Cumberland; Abby Fiore and Maeve Donnelly of Gorham; Lorenza Piper of New Gloucester; and Autumn Wellington, Leah Cromarty, Olivia McCartney, Mackinna Campbell and Madison Boucher, all of Westbrook. Their projects are also highlighted at girlscoutsofmaine.org.

Local Girl Scouts graduating high school that were awarded Future Leaders Scholarships included Meredith Hetrick of Cape Elizabeth, Audrey Hankinson of Cumberland, Py Morin of Pownal and Maureen Grant of Westbrook.

STEM grants to aid NYA with IT, competitions

North Yarmouth Academy received grants of more than $50,000 from the Davis Family Foundation and Toshiba America Foundation to support STEM education.

The bulk of the grant will upgrade the core network infrastructure to support the demands of the modern classroom by creating experiences for younger students with broader access to technology for robot building and programming, 3D printing and video creation. The funds will also mean the school can offer more STEM challenges/competitions such as Maine State Science Fair, Solar Car Challenge and Maine 3D Printing Design Challenge. Other enhanced STEM offerings will be added to the curriculum and co-curricular experiences in the coming year.

In addition, $3,133 was secured to purchase underwater remotely operated vehicle kits and enter NYA into the Sea Perch program. Sea Perch is an innovative underwater robotics program that equips teachers and students with the resources they need to build an underwater remotely operated vehicle.

SMCC awarded grants to help low-income, disabled students

Southern Maine Community will receive more than $2.6 million in federal grants aimed at helping first-generation, low-income and disabled students achieve academic success.

The U.S. Department of Education is awarding two separate grants to SMCC’s TRIO Student Support Services program to provide academic and other support services for 240 students annually over the next five years. The goal is to increase students’ retention and graduation rates, facilitate their transfer to four-year colleges and foster an institutional climate of support.

“These grants represent investments in our students, in our college and in our state,” SMCC President Joe Cassidy said. “They will allow us to continue to give students the support and guidance they need to achieve academic success and career success after graduation.”

The TRIO SSS program guides students to graduation through the use of individualized counseling and advising, peer mentoring, academic tutoring and other support services. The program may also provide grant aid to qualifying students.

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