The school year of 2016-17 has barely ended and the Board of The Boothbay Region Student Aid Fund is gearing up for another year dedicated to supporting graduates of Boothbay Region High School who are pursuing higher education.

At the August meeting, five new members are joining this vital community organization. Common threads among these new members are strong connections to education, our local schools and the community-at-large, as well as to the Student Aid Fund. The new board members are Madea Harris, Wendy Johnson, Ella Long, Michael Maxim and Ron Ross.

Harris moved to the Boothbay region three years ago from Orlando, Florida. She and her family – six children ranging from 20 months to 16 years – now live year-round on Southport. She and her husband Bruce are lawyers and he maintains his practice in Orlando, but spends at least three days a week here in Maine. She is a graduate of Yale University and Florida State College of Law and is very involved in her children’s activities; she volunteers at her children’s schools, her church and in other community activities. She has taken a sabbatical from her law practice to focus on raising her children.

Johnson and her husband Paul have been an integral part of the Boothbay community, having owned both the Blue Moon Cafe and the Red Cup Coffee House. They lived in Boston and Philadelphia before coming to Boothbay – first seasonally, before moving here full-time in 1987. They live on Barters Island. She graduated from Florida State with a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance; she teaches yoga. Their son Jimi graduated from BRHS in 2010 and then from the New School in New York City in 2015. Wendy Johnson adds, without the help of BRSAF, this opportunity would have been out of her son’s reach. The Johnsons are very grateful for the aid offered them and Wendy is eager to commit herself to the work of the BRSAF.

Long and her husband Steve live on Southport, having retired here from Darien, Connecticut. After earning her bachelor of science degree in aquatic biology from Brown University, she was awarded a second bachelor of science degree in psychology from the University of Melbourne. Her career was in life sciences and editing, and she coached high school track and field in Darien. A deacon of the Boothbay Harbor Congregational Church, she also sits on various committees at the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. Two of their three children are in graduate school and the third has just graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She fully appreciates the value of a quality education and the importance of providing financial support to aspiring students.

Maxim was raised in Edgecomb, the son of two educators who spent their careers in the local schools. He graduated from Wayneflete School and attended Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, concentrating in studio art. He is the manager of Abacus where he has worked since 1971. His community involvement includes performing with Y-Arts, teaching classes at the YMCA for the past six years and serving on a variety of community boards. He is president of the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce and is also a member of the Boothbay Region Community Resource Council Board.

Ross has lived in Boothbay for more than 10 years and brings a wealth of educational experience to the BRSAF. A former biology professor at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, he became involved in Drew’s Continuing Education Division and then served as director of development for the university. He is active in community organizations including the Boothbay Region Land Trust, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, the Congregational Church and other groups.

BRSAF’s mission is to help offset the financial burden of BRHS graduates who are attending post-secondary accredited institutions: training schools, community colleges or colleges and universities. Students who qualify for financial assistance may receive grants – not loans – for six years.

With the continued support of the local community, the Student Aid Fund awarded over $400,000 to 70 recipients in June.