SAD 4 officials continue to watch athletic participation numbers

GUILFORD — The regular season is underway for fall high school and middle school sports across Maine. In SAD 4 some Pirate teams have been experiencing dwindling roster numbers in recent years. This season there is no Piscataquis Community Middle School field hockey program, several players are able to be part of the team at the Ridge View Community School in Dexter, as district officials discussed the issue during a Sept. 10 school board meeting at Piscataquis Community Elementary School.

“We currently have a problem with numbers in all sports, not just middle school girls soccer and field hockey,” Piscataquis Community Secondary School Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Andy Shorey said.  Before the start of the season there was a question as to whether the two teams would have enough numbers for a season, and there is a PCMS girls soccer squad in 2024 with a small number of about a dozen.

Shorey mentioned last winter the PCHS boys basketball team had a roster in the single digits, just enough for one full team and not for a separate junior varsity. Despite having eight players, these Pirates still advanced to the Class C North quarterfinal round at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. 

He said athletic directors SAD 4 has worked with have been great. Last spring PCHS did not have its own softball team as the half dozen Pirate players were part of the squad at Greenville High School under a cooperative agreement, and the reverse was true for baseball between the two schools. PCHS and Dexter Regional High School also have a cooperative agreement for football with Pirates being part of Dexter’s gridiron team.

Previously middle school teams in the Penquis League have not had shared rosters in the same manner as the high school level, with the formal cooperative agreements for the secondary schools, as Shorey said Ridge View agreed to let the PCMS field hockey players be on its team.

“It’s more about the experience than winning a Penquis League championship, in my opinion,” Shorey said. “It’s worked out well, the girls get a chance to play.”

“This is not a decision that builds programs, it’s difficult for field hockey at the high school,” Principal John Keane said, with only a small number of potentially future PCHS players currently competing at the middle school level.

During the August meeting Keane said a survey of students asked why they weren’t taking part in sports and common reasons cited are they would rather work an after-school job, not wanting to put in the time commitment for practices and games, and not wanting to put in the commitment needed if they were not going to see much playing time.

In other business, PCES Principal Anita Wright mentioned how each year she challenges the sixth-graders to make a difference in their world as the “Make a Difference” challenge encourages students to brainstorm, develop, and complete projects that positively impact others around the world. 

After Christy Gardner from Mission Working Dogs spoke at last year’s Veterans Day assembly, the then grade 5 students decided their goal would be to get a therapy dog for PCES. Once this was decided, Wright and PCES Social Worker Alexis Rollins contacted Mission Working Dogs to see if they could make the idea a reality.

Mission Working Dogs is a Lewiston-based nonprofit that breeds and trains service, therapy, and facility dogs for veterans, schools, and nursing homes, amongst other various communities and populations. Gardner and her team have been working with PCES to determine what is needed to get a therapy dog in the school, and will continue to work with the sixth-graders throughout the year to complete the project. 

The therapy dog will provide numerous benefits to PCES students through helping them to form healthy attachments, develop emotional intelligence and strategies, and reduce anxiety and stress. The students will be able to see the entire process of the dog being born, naming the animal, being updated on its progress through training, and watching the canine grow during its first year of life.

“It’s a lot of work, it’s a new initiative to have a therapy dog in the school and group we’re working with, Mission Working Dogs, it’s new to them too,” Wright said, mentioning the idea was given approval by the school board last year.

“The earliest that dog would actually get here is January of 2026, so it’s a lengthy process,” she said. The training process takes about 15 months and the sixth-graders know they will have moved on from PCES by the time the dog is in the building.

The principal mentioned $5,000 as an approximate cost, which includes a liability policy. “We have gone through a lot of what if scenarios,” Wright said.

The dog would live with Rollins and if something were to happen then Rollins would take over ownership.

Wright said the first fundraiser is a Welcome Back Carnival starting at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the school as part of an open house.

The open house will include the debut of a Story Walk designed by the outdoor education committee.

In her report Superintendent Kelly MacFadyen said district officials continue to have weekly Zoom meetings with Child Development Services and the Maine Department of Education to discuss the transition of providing services to 3-year-olds.

MacFadyen wrote that SAD 4 is serving 11 3- and 4-year-olds identified by CDS. Disability categories include speech and language, autism, and developmental delays. 

The report said two students are attending the collaborative program in Dover-Foxcroft. SAD 4 hired a one on one ed tech for a student at Head Start and a part-time speech therapist will be hired. These services are set to be reimbursed in full by the DOE.