SAD 41, Milo looking at sidewalk project

MILO — SAD 41 and the town of Milo are working together to have a sidewalk put in over the summer along Penquis Drive between West Main Street and the Penquis Valley School, to allow students to walk to and from the building and not be in the road with all the vehicle traffic before and after school.

Milo Town Manager Bob Canney has applied for a community grant through the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, Superintendent Darcie Fournier said during a March 4 school board meeting at Penquis Valley.

“The project is based on installing a sidewalk along Penquis Drive and we recently received an update from the state saying the project qualifies for the grant,” Fournier said. “It is not officially approved, we submitted the application.”

“It’s been nice to work with the town manager and support students and our community and our school,” she added.

The superintendent will keep the school board updated, and if funding is approved then the sidewalk project would be installed over the summer before classes resume in late August.

The idea of a sidewalk project leading to Milo Elementary has also been mentioned during past Milo Select Board meetings.

Husson University President Lynne Coy-Ogan reached out to Fournier to let her know about a new tuition-free opportunity for eligible Piscataquis County students.

“Graduates from Penquis Valley, starting this spring, will qualify for this scholarship which is free tuition to attend Husson, it’s pretty amazing,” Fournier said.

Among the requirements are the students need to be admitted to Husson, have earned a 3.0 grade point average in high school, have a family adjusted gross income of $80,000 or less and be eligible for federal Pell Grants.

“Spread the word, it’s a great opportunity for our graduates,” she said.

The scholarship is made possible by a donation from the late Harry Greenfield, who earned a degree in business administration from Husson in the 1960s. He went on to spend four years with the Boston Red Sox and to own a printing and mailing services company.

“Husson alumnus Harry Greenfield was so appreciative of the opportunities that Husson opened for him, so it seems fitting to honor his legacy in this way. We are grateful for the ability to expand our Opportunity Scholarship program to a second Maine county,” Husson President Lynne Coy-Ogan — a 1983 Foxcroft Academy graduate — said in a statement with Penobscot County being the first.

Students must be enrolled full time in a four-year degree at Husson. The scholarship will be available to students applying to begin classes in the fall of 2026. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Fournier also announced Penquis Valley math teacher Erika Landry has been nominated for the 2026 Piscataquis County Teacher of the Year honor.

“This recognition is a testament to the impact she has made to her students, her colleagues, our school and community, and we wish her the best of luck,” Fournier said.

Milo Elementary concluded its participation in the 2026 WinterKids’ Winter Games, Principal Tina Dumond said.

“It was a lot of planning, it was a lot of work but it was a lot of fun,” she said.

The school finishes seventh in the state and earned $750 which will go toward helping students enjoy the outdoors.

Images from WinterKids are available under the Live Feed portion of the school website at https://www.msad41.us/o/mes/live-feed.

WinterKids’ Winter Games is a statewide outdoor learning challenge that engaged 104 schools and 10,687 students across the state in a four-week winter competition held annually to help schools integrate movement, learning and wellness into the school day. This year’s Winter Games ran from Jan. 12 through Feb. 6 and centered on the theme HEART, focused on caring for our hearts and for each other, both physically and emotionally. HEART health and following your HEART guided students’ outdoor learning as schools moved through WinterKids’ four classic weekly themes: Physical Activity, Nutrition, Family and Winter Carnival, all supported by the Winter Games Playbook.

Participation in the Winter Games was free for all Maine schools. Each participating school received a toolkit with weekly incentives that complimented their daily activities and a Winter Games Playbook for every child, offering activity instructions, reflection prompts and connections that extended learning beyond the classroom.

Lunch for Brownville Elementary school students with Piscataquis County Sheriff Bob Young has been going very well since the informal weekly program began in the fall, Principal Joshua Bessey said.

Now Brownville Fire Chief Shawn Mitchell is coming in to dine with students.

“The kids seem to love it and it’s been very eye opening for me as I get to talk with the fire chief and the sheriff,” Bessey said, saying this has been a great asset.