Falmouth, Maine Coast students are well-versed 

Students from Falmouth and Maine Coast Waldorf School in Freeport made the grade when 20 high school poets were selected as honorees at the Merriconeag Poetry Festival.

Maine’s Poet Laureate, Stuart Kestenbaum, selected the finalists from a pool that included submissions from 20 area high schools. The poetry festival will be held at the Waldorf School at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 29.

This year’s local finalists are: Falmouth High School – Emma Auer, Ella Coffin, Kayla Ford, Blake Knox, Sophie Magadieu, Naomi Radtke Rowe, and Claudia Spelman; Maine Coast Waldorf School – Myah Garrison, Wilson Haims, Miles Lloyd and Charles Van West; Cape Elizabeth High School – Makena Deveraux and Raina Sparks; Morse High School – Sidonia Stanton, Elizabeth Schotten, and Nina Keyes; Deering High School – Janessa Roberts;  North Yarmouth Academy – Jackie Ellsworth; Gorham High School – Grace Flynn. 

Four high schools placed multiple winners among the finalists: Falmouth High School led the way with seven, followed by Maine Coast Waldorf School with four, Morse High School in Bath with three, and Cape Elizabeth High School with two. In all, eight high schools will be represented at the festival, including North Yarmouth Academy, Deering, Gorham and Spruce Mountain.

The winning poets will meet Kestenbaum, who will speak about the importance of poetry and read some of his own work. The awardees will read their winning poems, receive a booklet comprised of all the finalists’ pieces, and receive as well as a gift certificate provided by a local bookstore. The top three prize-winners will have their poems displayed on a large poster that will be distributed to the nearly 50 public and private high schools whose students were invited to submit work.

Greely students make local history 

Greely Middle School students placed in the top three tiers at the Maine National History Day competition held at the Univesity of Maine Orono on April 7. The students have been invited to compete in the national competition in Washington, D.C., June 10-14.

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First-place winners included Devin Gifford for Junior Individual Performance; Matthew Gilbert and Don Strawbridge for Junior Group Documentary; and Meredith Cloutier for Junior Individual Exhibition.

Awarded second place were Lucy Noonan, Junior Individual Exhibition and Connor Albert, Junior Individual Documentary. Teddy Conway was named the third-place for Junior Individual Documentary.

Freeport High School students Maya Egan, Lucy Wing, Sadie Southall and Rhea Fitzpatrick spent April 3 shadowing Madame House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, and testifying during the hearing of LD 1884, An Act to Create a Community Protection Order to Allow Courts to Prevent High-Risk Individuals from Possessing Firearms.

Greely Middle School fourth- and fifth-graders raised $1,500 during a one-mile Habitat for Humanity Walk on March 30 after learning all about the nonprofit organization.

During a Freeport High School Charity Walk held April 6, students and staff walked two miles through downtown Freeport and raised over $3,000 for Old Dogs New Digs.


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