WELLS
School district observes Teacher Appreciation Week
Wells-Ogunquit Community School District (WOCSD) recognized its teaching staff in various ways last week during Teacher Appreciation Week.
At Wells Elementary School, the Parent-Teacher Student Association (PTSA) observed a weeklong schedule of providing treats such as lunch, coffee, cupcakes, doughnuts, and cookies, donated from local businesses. Students were encouraged to personally thank their teachers.
At Wells Junior High School, the appreciation continued during the week, with offerings of baskets filled with healthy snacks available to each grade level’s teaching team; a staff luncheon provided by For the Love of Food and Drink, with the school kitchen staff and a parent group providing special desserts to teachers each day.
At Wells High School, teachers were treated to a lunch on Monday and a gift bag along with doughnuts and coffee on Friday.

SANFORD
St. Thomas School sets up scholarship fund
The Donna Jacques’ Legacy of Love Scholarship Fund has been established at St. Thomas School. Jacques spent 41 years serving the school in a variety of roles and ways, most recently as principal prior to her retirement in 2020. Her capacity for caring is limitless, and her reputation for setting young people on the path to being good citizens and lifelong learners is unmatched.
“Donations made to this account will be restricted to direct scholarships to qualified school families,” said Fr. Wilfred Labbe, pastor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish. “In many of our conversations, Donna and I spoke about making sure a Catholic education was available to any and all who seek it. Generosity to this program will go a long way in making this dream a reality. I am making a monthly donation to this program and encourage all those who can to do the same.”
Donations can be made in a one-time offering or in installments. The donations can be sent directly to: St. Thomas School, c/o Donna Jacques Scholarship Fund, 69 North Avenue, Sanford, ME 04073. For more information or to set up another way to offer support, call the school at 324-5832.

GORHAM
Churches seek donations for Mother Seton House
St. Anne Church at 299 Main St. in Gorham and St. Hyacinth Church at 268 Brown St. in Westbrook are taking up special collections now through June to benefit Mother Seton House in Fryeburg. All are invited to take an empty baby bottle or bottles home from the churches and return them by June 19. Participants are asked to place change, dollars, or checks made out to Mother Seton House in the bottles.
All proceeds will be donated to Mother Seton House, which is a nonprofit home for pregnant women in difficult circumstances. The organization offers education, counseling, and support to all women in need regardless of race or religion. They also are taught about cooking, nutrition, baby care, child development, budgeting, and housekeeping.
For more information about the initiative, call Ed at 797-8746 or Mother Seton House at 935-1066 or email info@mothersetonhouse.com.

PORTLAND
MWPA announces Dibner Fellows for spring 2022
The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance (MWPA) announced that Anna Drzewiecki of Newcastle, Liz Iversen of South Portland, and Ev Waugh of Portland all are recipients of the Winter and Spring 2022 Martin Dibner Memorial Fellowship for Maine Writers. A partnership between the Maine Community Foundation and the MWPA; the Maine Community Foundation provides funding and the MWPA administers the fellowships. Fellows receive full funding to attend the MWPA’s Black Fly Writers Retreat in spring, the Harvest Writers Retreat in autumn, or a long-term workshop in either season.
Waugh, a fiction writer, was awarded the fellowship to attend Ron Currie Jr.’s 10-week fiction writing workshop. Her writing has appeared in Passengers Journal, Goat’s Milk Magazine, and other publications.
Drzewiecki and Iversen attended an all-expenses paid MWPA’s 2022 Black Fly Writers Retreat last week at the Ferry Beach Conference & Retreat Center in Saco, where they studied with award winning writers Éireann Lorsung and Susan Conley.
Drzewiecki works as a reporter at the Lincoln County News and edits youth writing at The Telling Room and translates narrative journalism from the French for a small press in Casablanca, Morocco.
Iversen, the daughter of a former U.S. Navy private and a Filipina immigrant, was born in the Philippines and grew up in South Dakota. Her fiction and essays have appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Passages North, Room, and elsewhere.
For more details, contact the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance’s executive director Gibson Fay-LeBlanc at director@mainewriters.org or call 228-8264.

CASTINE
Maritime Academy student Rookie of the Year
Maine Maritime’s Hazel Stoddard of Old Orchard Beach has been named the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Women’s Lacrosse Rookie of the Year. Olivia Alejandro (Houston) and Charlotte Rose (Newark, Del.) join Stoddard on the NAC First Team, while teammates Olivia Harriman of Orrington, Kirra Magaña, of Miami, Fla., and Beth Labbe of Brunswickall earned a spot of the NAC Second Team.
Stoddard, a 2021 graduate of Thornton Academy, was a four-year varsity soccer and lacrosse player. She now plays soccer and lacrosse at MMA.
Stoddard, a power engineering technology major had a record breaking year for the Mariners, earning a spot on the All-Tournament team in the NAC. The first-year attacker led the team with 87 goals and nine assists, for a total of 96 points this season, breaking the school’s single-season record for points and goals. She also won 97 draw controls, picked up 65 ground balls, and caused 27 turnovers, resetting the school’s single-season records for draw controls and ground balls. In conference play, she led the NAC with 43 goals and six assists, as well as 42 draw controls, 33 ground balls, and 15 caused turnovers.

RANGELEY LAKES
Trust hosts forest stewards tour
The Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (RLHT) recently hosted a Forest Stewards Guild field tour. The Forest Stewards Guild practices, advocates, and promotes responsible forest management to sustain the integrity of forest ecosystems and the human communities dependent upon them. Regional foresters, wildlife biologists, landowners, and stewardship professionals gathered at the RLHT’s Forest Legacy property to observe and discuss northern hardwood management. The outing provided an opportunity for experts to collaborate and share ideas to address the complex issues in forestry. Managers strive to promote ecological diversity, forest stand health, structure, and resiliency in the face of a changing climate by using exceptional forest management techniques. Maine’s Acadian forests also have the potential to sequester significant quantities of carbon to offset global emissions.

ROCKPORT
Maine Media meets goal ahead of schedule
Maine Media Workshops + College has raised more than $1 million for its Keystone Fund ahead of its scheduled deadline as it approaches its 50th anniversary and is completing the process for full accreditation with the New England Commission for Higher Education.
Managing a $1 million reserve fund further ensures the financial security for the college.
“I am delighted that the funding goal for the Keystone Fund at Maine Media has been met,” said Nils Tcheyan, chair of Maine Media’s Board of Directors. “The Keystone Fund will help ensure a vibrant and exciting future for Maine Media during a period of rapid transition in educational models and visual storytelling.”
The Keystone Fund was established in 2018 by Meg Weston, then president of Maine Media. Michael Mansfield, current president and CEO, continued the effort when he took the reins in 2020.
Mansfield and Weston teamed up in 2021 to raise the final amount needed to complete the goal, that was met through a grassroots campaign and demonstrates community and alumni support for Maine Media.
For more details, call 236-8581, email info@mainemedia.edu or go to mainemedia.edu.

FALMOUTH
Mackworth Island meeting rescheduled
The Mackworth Island Facility Assessment and Planning Informational Meeting, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has been rescheduled to June 29, from 6 to 8 p.m.
The Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services, the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing/Governor Baxter School for the Deaf, the Maine Department of Education, and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry will hold an informational meeting about facility assessment and planning work taking place on Mackworth Island. In early 2022, Harriman Associates, an architecture, engineering, and planning firm, began work on the Mackworth Island Concept Utilization plan. Their work included assessing all facilities, utilities, parking, circulation, transportation; considering environmental impacts; exploring potential future uses or necessary renovations of facilities and buildings; and developing a site plan with cost estimates. In this informational meeting, Harriman Associates will present the scope of work and their findings to date. An opportunity for public input and a question/answer period will conclude the meeting.
The meeting will be held at Falmouth Town Hall Council Chambers using a hybrid format. A link to join by Zoom can be found on the Falmouth Town website at falmouthme.org/home/events/130636.

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