me arts ed

2010 High school drawing competition

Katy Laverdiere, Bangor High School

The New Hampshire Institute of Art is holding their 2010 high school drawing exhibit until April 10th in the French Building Gallery. At the opening reception each student was presented a certificate of participation. More than $4,000 in Institutional Scholarships were awarded including tuition scholarships to the Institute’s BFA program and Pre-College Summer Workshop.

Congratulations to the following Maine student artists and their teachers:

• Samantha Bartlett, Maine Central Institute, Pittsfield, “Obscured Perspective from Above”. Art teacher: Jill Schvartz
• Allison DuBois, Livermore Falls High School, Livermore, “Opposite Hand Portrait of Sam Charles”. Art teacher: Helga Heyck
• Tyler Hunt, Bangor High School, Bangor, “Natascha”. Art teacher: Sarah Tabor
• Katy Laverdiere, Bangor High School, Bangor, “Weeds”. Art teacher: Sarah Taylor
• Brian O’leary, Casco Bay High School, Portland, “Brakes and Bars”. Art teacher: Diane Manzi

Tyler Hunt, Bangor High School

Mathematics and English Language Arts

You are invited to provide feedback on the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts by going to http://www.corestandards.org/ The deadline for providing feedback is April 2, 2010.

“The goal is to have a common core of state standards that states can voluntarily adopt. States may choose to include additional standards beyond the common core as long as the common core represents at least 85 percent of the state’s standards in English language arts and mathematics” (National Governors Association, Forty-Nine States and Territories Join Common Core Standards Initiative, 6/1/2009, http://www.corestandards.org ).

Did winter return?

After 70 degree weather last week, it felt like winter had returned today with the temperature only reaching 32 degrees in my part of the state. The St. George river canoe race is traditionally the last Saturday in March and is the first race of the race season. This is the 31st year it has been held.

About 100 boats put in at the bridge in Searsmont paddling for about an hour and finishes up on route 105 in Hope. I’ve never gone over for the race but this year was different.

My oldest son and a childhood friend decided to participate so we knew we couldn’t miss the excitement. I wouldn’t recommend that you do it this way but hey, when you’re 22 and full of energy, why not?! Last minute, they borrowed gear, took a look at the river this morning (for the first time) and climbed into their canoe labeled with the number 29.

Some of the participants had clearly done the race several times, some did it just for fun and some got wet. When we arrived at the half way point there were plenty of folks watching for the first boat to come through. I am not sure if they were there to cheer the paddlers on or to watch someone capsize?!

Even though the water temperature was cold, some boaters didn’t even have wet suits. In fact, more than one person had short sleeve shirts on. There were several single kayaks and a couple of young children paddling with their dads.

My son and his friend luckily didn’t capsize (of course, they were confident they wouldn’t) and they weren’t out of the boat 15 minutes when my son said, “I’m hooked, when is the next race?” We’re still not sure where they placed, 9 hours after the race, but we do know he had a great time. And the parents had a good time being spectators.

Afterwards, we warmed up over some lunch and headed down to Tanglewood 4H camp in Lincolnville for a long walk. We hadn’t been there in a while, the place holds many great memories for us. A great inspiration for creativity and art making! Needless to say after plenty of warm sunshine, wind and cold temperature, it was a grand day outdoors!