Senator Jill Duson, D-Portland, and Sen. Stacy Brenner, D-Scarborough, welcomed Annemarie Orth to the State House on May 23 to recognize her achievement of winning the 2023 Language Teacher of the Year from Educators for a Multilingual Maine.
From left, Sen. Stacy Brenner, Sen. Jill Duson, Annemarie Orth, and her husband, Dan. Courtesy photo
Duson presented her with a legislative sentiment to recognize her accomplishments. “Annemarie is an inspirational and transformational teacher at Casco Bay High School,” said Duson on the Senate floor. “She has positively impacted the lives of many students through the many years she has taught in Portland. Educators are the backbone of our community. As our state continues to diversify, bilingualism is becoming even more present and important. I’m truly grateful for the heart and passion Annemarie has brought to the table, both inside and outside of the classroom.”
“Now more than ever, I am honored to have the opportunity to recognize educators and leaders like Annemarie,” Brenner said. “Her tireless work, like that of educators statewide, is critical to nurturing the growth of students in our community. As a mother of a child in high school, I see how important it is to have teachers who care deeply about their students and their success.”
Duson is serving her first term in the Maine State Legislature and represents Senate District 27, which includes parts of Westbrook and Portland. Brenner is serving her second term in the Maine State Legislature and represents State District 30, which includes all of Gorham and most of Scarborough.
Resident completes WPI research project
Henry Yoder, a Scarborough resident and member of the class of 2023 majoring in computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, recently completed a senior thesis that is required of all graduating seniors as part of the university’s distinctive project-based educational experience. According to a May 24 news release, the project, VisNLP 2.0: Teaching Neural Network-Based NLP Analytics, was Yoder’s Major Qualifying Project, one that is usually team-based and often focuses on very specific issues or needs of an organization that has partnered with the university to sponsor the student’s work.
“It’s inspiring to see the creativity and skills that our students bring to these projects, as well as the professionalism with which they present their research,” saidArne Gericke, interim dean of undergraduate studies and director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, in an email. “Their experience managing a major project like this-including identifying a problem and researching all of the implications and possible solutions while also managing team dynamics over an extended period of several months-sets them up well for success not only in their first jobs after graduation but throughout their careers.”
According to the news release, the project “is a signature element of the innovative undergraduate experience at WPI, project-based learning offers students the opportunity to apply their scientific and technical knowledge to real problems that affect the quality of people’s lives-an experience that changes the student and their world.
“In addition to providing tangible work experience that proves valuable to employers, MQPs often lead to publications in peer-reviewed journals, presentations at regional and national conferences, patents, and entrepreneurial ventures. Others become useful innovations and products for their corporate sponsors.”
Prior to their MQP, students complete an Interactive Qualifying Project, usually in their junior year, with a team of other students across disciplines; the projects may or may not relate to the students’ fields of study and are sponsored by organizations across the globe to give students real-world experience addressing problems that lie at the intersection of science and society. Approximately 85 percent of WPI students complete a project at one of the university’s 50-plus off-campus project centers located in more than 30 countries around the world.
Parenteau wins Hofstra film award
Trevor Parenteau (Scarborough High School, class of 2020, Hofstra University, class of 2024) won the best Intermediate Film award at the Hofstra University film festival on May 19.
Resident graduates from Holy Cross
Holy Cross celebrated nearly 762 bachelor of arts degree recipients at its 177th commencement held on May 26 at the DCU Center in Worcester.
Graduates included:
John Goff, Scarborough.
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