College scholarships inspire SAD 41 elementary students

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    In order to help Maine students, especially those living in rural and/or economically challenged areas, think about opportunities available to them through education and what they can do after high school, Maine College Circle awards Futures of Maine college scholarships to grade 3-6 pupils who wrote winning essays on their college and career aspirations. On May 30 Maine College Circle Director Bob Stuart visited both Milo Elementary and Brownville Elementary to announce the nearly 40 winners of this year’s $100 college scholarships.

    “I am very proud of everybody this year, you all worked very hard,” Milo Elementary Guidance Counselor Susie Davis told the third-, fourth- and fifth-graders gathered in the multi-purpose room for the mid-morning presentation, many of whom had family members in attendance to hear the announcement of the college scholarship awards. “We have a record 23 recipients today of Future Maine Scholarships.”
    Davis thanked the teachers for having the essay writing be part of the classroom curriculum, as well as parents and others who worked with the students on the essays and scholarship application packages. “This is something to be proud of as a community, to have this many scholarships for young people,” she said, adding that the first Futures of Maine scholarship recipients at Milo Elementary are now about to graduate from high school.
    “I actually believe you guys can accomplish anything you want to accomplish,” Stuart said to the students. He said he liked how the pupils have set goals, saying some want to be game wardens and others wrote they would like to become astronauts. “I really like how you guys set the bar, and you may change your mind and that’s fine.”
    Stuart said the scholarship money can be used for college, the application fee or for another purpose related to a student’s aspirations, such as acting camp or a sewing machine for a future fashion designer. “I really want to support your aspirations,” he said. Stuart said in addition to the $100 scholarship and a T-shirt, the recipients also will receive a VIP pass that can provide them with insider access when they visit many of the colleges in Maine.
    One by one Stuart read excerpts from the winning 23 Milo Elementary essays, with the essay writers then coming forward to receive a medal, certificate and T-shirt. Among the various careers the students want to have someday are a chef, nurse, carpenter, dairy farmer, computer engineer, translator, doctor of sports medicine, marine biologist, singer, jazz musician and professional wrestler. The colleges the essay writers want to attend beforehand range from those across Maine to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Miami, University of Wisconsin and University of Washington.
    “The word that keeps coming to mind is potential, and as I read your essays you guys have so much potential,” Stuart concluded.
    In the afternoon Stuart visited Brownville Elementary to announce the names of the school’s 16 Futures of Maine Scholarships. At the start of the presentation Stuart introduced Trevor Lyford, who he said is a past scholarship recipient at Brownville Elementary and now is the 2014 Penquis Valley High School Valedictorian who will be attending Brown University in Providence, R.I. to study biology on a pre-med track.
    Stuart said in Lyford’s essay the then sixth-grader wrote how he wanted to be a professional basketball player and a physical education teacher. Stuart said Lyford’s aspirations changed and “now he’s going to a place called Brown University.”
    He said Brown is part of the Ivy League, which is made up of some of the top universities in the world. Stuart said only about one of every 11 Brown applicants is accepted, so Lyford was accepted when 10 others were at least initially turned down.
    “If you are thinking I can’t do this you ought to talk to him because there’s a guy who did, so I am convinced any of you guys can do anything you want to,” Stuart said.
    “The other thing I want to talk to you about is goals,” he said. “If you don’t set goals and don’t set your sights on something you won’t go anywhere.” Stuart then asked Lyford if the approximate cost to attend Brown was around $60,000 annually, which Lyford said it was but added that he would be receiving about $48,000 in aid for each year.
    “If you are thinking I can’t do that, go ask Trevor,” Stuart said.
    Brownville Elementary is one of 12 schools across the state that has been recognized for its leadership in building early aspirations in education, by both Maine College Circle and the Perloff Foundation. Stuart presented Guidance Counselor BJ Bowden with a certificate and $200 donation to help continue the efforts in exploring student aspirations at Brownville Elementary.