March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Pupils honored in pre-teen program> Area schools participate in annual state fifth-grade mock trial competition

Two area pupils were named winners in the Pre-Teen America Scholarship and Recognition Program held May 25-27 at Portland. Azure Jane Dillon, 11, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul O. Dillon of Exeter, won in the senior division, and Darci Caitlin Faye, 7, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Faye of Caribou, won in the junior division. Each girl received a $1,000 educational bond, a trophy and entry and travel allowances to compete in the 1997 Pre-Teen America national competition at Knoxville, Tenn. Both met with Gov. Angus King July 29 in Augusta for a tour of the capital. Dillon, who is home-schooled in conjunction with Bangor Christian School, is in seventh grade. She first placed first in the speech competition, second in the talent competition and won the highest scholastic and best on-stage awards. Faye, a second-grader at Hilltop School in Caribou, received volunteer service and talent trophies.

Nine area schools took part in the Maine State Bar Association’s Fifth Grade Mock Trial Program held May 13-17. The schools included Mapleton Elementary School; Southern Aroostook Consolidated School in Island Falls; Sedgwick Elementary School; Thomaston Grammar School; North Orrington School; Piscataquis Community Middle School in Guilford; Palmyra Consolidated School; Walker School in Liberty; and Columbia Falls Elementary School. The trial, based on the nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty, gave students a chance to learn about the judicial process by working with lawyers and judges, presenting evidence, asking and answering questions and deciding how justice would be served.

Amy and Rachael Brown of Mark Emery School in North Anson won the grand prize for Maine in the National Safe Kids Campaign and the Maine Coalition for Safe Kids. More than 100 elementary schools participated in this year’s program. For their winning entry, the Browns developed and taught a bus-safety program to other pupils in SAD 74. They emphasized how to be safe pedestrians around buses and how to evacuate a bus, get help and provide first aid. The sisters earned a trip to Washington, D.C., to discuss safety issues with members of Congress, help with safety promotions, study safety challenges and tour educational attractions.

Poster contest winners

Winners of the Penobscot River Festival ’96 Sixth Grade Poster Contest have been announced. Forty-six entries were received. Grand-prize winners were Tyson Grindle and Adam Carter of Jewett School in Bucksport and Amy McGraw of Center Drive School in Orrington. Their artwork appeared at the Discover Your River Festival held Sept. 6-7 at the Bucksport waterfront and Fort Knox. Each also received a plaque. Runner-up finishers Sonya Davis of Jewett School; Robert Reddy, Jennifer Freilino and Ashley Atwood of Orland Consolidated School; and Andy Smith and Samantha Mahan of Center Drive School each received a trophy.

Two area students and two classrooms were winners in the poster competition of the EPA New England’s 24th Annual Paul G. Keough Earth Artists Program. The program fosters greater awareness and concern for the environment. Christine Massey of Brownville Elementary School won in the fourth-grade division, and Morgan Raspante of Surry Elementary School won in grade six. Class winners were Donna Savage’s fourth-grade class at St. Agnes’ School in Pittsfield and Jennifer York’s fifth-grade class at Zippel Elementary School in Presque Isle.

Thirteen hundred students submitted posters in the district contests, and 51 were selected for state competition in the Annual Poster Contest sponsored by the Maine Association of Conservation Districts. Holden Elementary School students Sara Moreshead and Joey Novak placed first and second, and classmate David McDonald earned honorable mention. Contestants were given an opportunity to share their thoughts, knowledge and creativity about soil, water and related natural resource ideas based on this year’s theme, “How people live in harmony with the land.”

Award winners

Lisa Phinney of Bangor Christian Schools won the Best-of-Fair Award plus second- and third-place honors at the Maine Middle School Science Fair held April 28 at Brewer High School. Other BCS students who won awards were Tyler Wilson, first place in nursery, and honorable mention in biology; Chelsey Cronan, second in biology; Patrick McCleary, second in invention; Azure Dillon, seconds in veterinary science and volunteer ambulance, and honorable mention in biology; Rachel McLeod, third in biology; Stephen Putnam, third in physical science; Merideth Moores, third in volunteer ambulance; and Nathan Conley, the innovative award in physical science.

Ned Ferm, 14, of Mount Desert Elementary School, joined 50 other students at the eighth annual RespecTeen National Youth Forum May 11-16 at Washington, D.C. He was chosen from more than 15,000 students nationwide who entered letters they wrote to members of Congress in the RespecTeen Speak for Yourself contest. Ferm’s letter to Rep. John Baldacci discussed opposing the passage of a bill that mandates English as the official language of the United States.

Lyrica Hammann, an eighth-grade student at Ripley School in Glen Cove, was the only Maine recipient in the National Council of Teachers of English 1996 Promising Young Writers competition. More than 1,300 students were nominated for the award, and only 350 received certificates of recognition. Entries were judged on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development and style.

In the Johns Hopkins Mathematics and Verbal Talent Search conducted by the Center for Talented Youth, Jessica Dvorak, a seventh-grader at Leonard Middle School in Old Town, won first place in the verbal and overall competitions for the state of Maine. She also tied for second place in the verbal category in the national contest.

Jennifer Jackson and Joshua Yardley were named recepients of the Distinguished School Citizenship Award at Garland Street Middle School in Bangor. The eighth-graders were nominated and selected by the staff. The award is based on character, scholarship, leadership and service.

The state winner in the middle-school division of the Spring 1996 Maine Council on Economic Education Stock Market Game competition was the Lincoln Middle School. The team amassed $215,000 from its original investment of $100,000 during the 10-week contest period. For information about the next contest beginning in October, call 780-5927 or write the Maine Council on Economic Education, P.O. Box 9715-159, Portland, Maine 04104.

Summer activities

Thirteen students from Hancock County and two from Brewer took part in Challenges for Elementary School Students, a summer institute sponsored by the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education at the University of Iowa. The pilot program in Maine was held at Bar Harbor. The students in grades three through six studied tidal pools, fresh water and forest ecology, geology, archaeology and marine studies.

The School News column is compiled by Darlene S. Henderson.


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