Local students ‘take to the skies’ at Pratt & Whitney

Students from Scarborough, South Portland, Falmouth and Gorham high schools were among more than 50 Maine students who navigated an F-35 demonstrator as part of Maine Manufacturing Month on Oct. 10. 

U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, was also onboard and took the chance to work as a mock fighter pilot at Pratt & Whitney in North Berwick.

The project is part of ongoing events in October for Manufacturing Month, as the Manufacturers Association of Maine introduces area students to various high-tech careers available in manufacturing. Students from Biddeford Regional Center of Technology took part in the event.

Robotics teams from Falmouth/Gorham (Fal/Gor Northern Force), South Portland (The Riot Crew) and Fosters CTE (Mt. Blue Campus) participated in the event. 

Pratt & Whitney manufactures the F135 propulsion system for the F-35 fighter jet. The F-35 cockpit demonstrator simulates the fighter aircraft’s advanced technologies and capabilities in an interactive environment. 

S.P. musicians chosen for Jazz All-State

Several South Portland High School students were selected to Jazz All-State based on their audition performance. “What a wonderful showing for our school,” said Beth M. Doane of the South Portland Music Boosters. “Equally exciting is that SPHS will be hosting the MMEA Jazz All-State Festival on Jan. 12 and 13.”

Chosen to perform in January were: Max Saffier-Meng, All-State Combo,  (trombone); Jesse Pearlman, All-State Honors Jazz Band, (trumpet 1); Thomas Costin, (piano), Laura LeFebvre (alto 2) and Sam Withers (trumpet 3), All-State Jazz Band; soprano Amelia McNeil-Maddox, Jazz All-State Treble Jazz Choir; and soprano Gretchen Vose and alto Lilliana Brandao, Jazz All-State Mixed Jazz Choir.

Cape Elizabeth woman named distinguished alumna

Jane Taylor, of Cape Elizabeth, was named the 2017 Distinguished Alumna during Marietta College’s homecoming festivities Oct. 19-22.

Taylor graduated with the class of 1957 at Marietta in Ohio and won the 1995 Silver Seal Award from the National Council of State Garden Clubs. She was the founding curator of the national award-winning Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden in Michigan State University’s 17-acre Horticulture Gardens.

The Garden has been called “… the most creative half-acre in America” and is considered the national model for the design of gardens for children at public garden sites.

Taylor, who was also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State, received the eponymous “Jane L. Taylor Great American Gardeners Award” from the American Horticulture Society. She also received the Nancy Putnam Howard Award for Excellence in Horticulture, along with her husband, Lee, from the Herb Society of America.

Taylor received a Bachelor of Science in Biology with honors and was a member of Sigma Kappa sorority, the Geological Society and Greek Government at Marietta.

Members of the South Portland Robotics Team visited Pratt & Whitney in North Berwick to fly a simulated aircraft recently. From left are Zeke Herb, James Wickman, Jordan Mangini and Joe Diflore, with U.S. Sen. Angus King, independent from Maine, in the center.

Jake Lynch, a Cape Elizabeth native, has been awarded a second internship in the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The son of Chris and Laura Lynch, of Cape Elizabeth, Lynch recently graduated from Wake Forest University, where he majored in politics and international affairs.

The South Portland High School Marching Band received an unprecedented 12th gold medal at the Maine Band Director’s Association Marching Band Finals held Oct. 28 at Sanford High School. The marching band students, under the direction of Craig Skeffington, competed against 11 other bands from Maine and New Hampshire.

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