Noor Sager, 18, will graduate from Gorham High School next month. “Knowing Noor gives me great hope for our future,” says Principal Brian Jandreau. Robert Lowell / American Journal
Noor Sager will graduate from Gorham High School next month and hit the ground running.
The day after graduating with 199 classmates June 11, Sager will check into the dorms at Southern Maine Community College for summer classes. In July, Sager will be off to a weeklong Longfellow Young Writers Camp at the University of Maine in Farmington.
“I get so bored when I don’t have something to do,” the self-described Type A student said last week at the high school.
Born in Iraq to Raed Sager and Hind Faris and moving to the United States at age 3, Sager entered Gorham High School as a sophomore.
Principal Brian Jandreau says Sager represents the best in his students.
“Noor is an incredible citizen of our school community, epitomizing daily the respect, honesty, courage, compassion, and responsibility we hope to see in all of our students,” Jandreau said. “Knowing Noor gives me great hope for our future.”
Sager’s greatest strength is writing, he said.
“In fact, Noor is the only high school student I have ever known to publish a book and present to an audience of readers at a public library,” he said.
Through The Telling Room, a nonprofit literary organization for youth in Portland, Sager wrote and published a fantasy adventure novel, “A Destiny Borrowed,” while a junior. The first printing of 250 books sold out.
When teachers and others gathered at Baxter Memorial Library to hear Segar talk about the book, “I got so nervous I was pacing. I was crazy nervous.”
But Sager felt the love in the room, and “it all went off without too much trouble.”
Sager credits English teacher Steve Chabot as the best ever, “an amazing teacher.” Chabot praises Sager is one of the most gifted writers he’s ever taught.
“Noor has a genuine interest in reading and discussing all genres of literature, and was a valued member of the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition class,” he said.
Taking high school classes via Zoom during the pandemic was challenging, Sager had difficulty focusing during remote learning, but “I came out of it a little more resilient.”
After graduating from SMCC, Sager plans to earn a degree from a four-year college, possibly Emerson in Boston, and is eying a journalism major and then law school.
With senior classes now over and graduation just a few weeks away, Sager will job shadow a lawyer and and also work an internship for Chabot.
“Noor is cataloging and organizing my classroom library for me, and I can’t think of anyone better for the job,” Chabot said.
The 200 members of Gorham High School’s Class of 2023 will receive diplomas at graduation exercises at 4 p.m. June 11, on the stadium field at the school, 41 Morrill Ave.
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