On May 16, Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor CSD School Committee Chair Larry Colcord announced CSD teachers retiring this year are Judy Dorr (39 years), Cathlene Parkhurst (34 years), Jo Haney (33 years), Susan Frisco (29 years)band Debbie Mellor (23 years). Colcord also announced two resignations: Lisa Arsenault and Jennifer Bryce.

“We want to thank them for doing a great service,” said Colcord. “It was also a total of (164) years for total combined service for these teachers.”

Committee members voted to accept a number of probationary and continuing contracts. For first-year probationary contracts: Kerrin Erhard (CSD Library/Media Teacher), Zachary Gray (Computer Technology Teacher), and Kristin Cameron (Occupational Therapy Teacher).

For second-year probationary contracts: Abby Manahan (CSD Teacher), Emelia Petroski (Elementary Teacher), Kendra Brown (Secondary Teacher), Jeff Waldrop (CSD Teacher), Christopher Baribeau (Secondary Teacher), and Adam Harter-Ives (Secondary Teacher).

For third-year probationary contracts: Sarah Gordon (Elementary Teacher), Christopher Liberti (Secondary Teacher), and Jane Wallace (Secondary Teacher).

For continuing contracts: Matthew Brewer (Secondary Teacher), Brooke Newberg (Secondary Teacher), Jessica Lessner (Elementary Teacher), and Sarah Wade (Elementary Teacher).

Teachers Chris Liberti and Chip Schwehm were joined by former technology integrator teacher Barbara Greenstone to present the board with their version of a proficiency-based system. The system proposes students be assessed on five standards: clear and effective communication, collaborative and quality work, integrative and informed thinking, creative and practical problem-solving and responsible and involved conduct in the school and community.

These standards will be assessed via a portfolio students will build over their four years at Boothbay Region High School and can include materials from any medium, be it writing, video or art, for example.

Said Greenstone, "We feel that it's an authentic way for students to show what they know and can do. We want the students, for the most part, to be in control with a lot of support of what goes into the portfolios and we want to give them the opportunity not only to show their best work, but also to show their progress."

While students can view in real time what their progression has been like in their BRHS career, Liberti also gave the perspective of the teacher responsible for guiding students through the portfolio process. "If I have a kid in math class and that kid struggles in math and that's the only thing that I see from that kid – I'd love to say that it never wears on me, but at some point it does. If I got to sit with that kid and see some of his strengths, it's rejuvenating to see they're working hard, they're doing good things, it's not just this one little piece of them that I have to see all day. And it's not just this one little piece of them that I can talk to them about."

Though Maine has not adopted a proficiency-based system, the three teachers said no matter what happens, this system will work for BRHS students.

BRHS Principal Dan Welch announced that for the fourth straight year, BRHS has been named a silver medal school by the US News and World Report. The school was also ranked eleventh in Maine out of 120 public high schools.

"The rankings are based on a formula made up of graduation rates, state testing data, percentage of students that participate in AP courses, and performances on AP tests. They put all of that together to come up with what they call a college readiness index. If you look at the other 1O schools that won gold or silver medals, they're pretty good schools. We're very proud of that and that goes out to a great community, great teachers, and the great support we have here. So I'm very proud of that."

Welch and Dean of Students Allan Crocker accompanied 15 seniors to the Mountain Valley Conference senior honors banquet. Students were individually recognized and given certificates for their hard work.

"One of our students, Max Hoecker, got a $500 scholarship. Wonderful for Max," said Welch.

Lilly Sherburne shared the goings on for the student body and also shared her experience of Washington, D.C. as a Prudential Financial’s Spirit of Community Award honoree.

"I got back and felt like I needed to sleep for two years, but ... I got to meet so many inspiring people around my age."

Sherburne met many students like herself from around the nation and remarked on some of their volunteer service: one student who awards service dogs to kids in need, another who started a nonprofit for sending games to kids in hospital, and one who wrote a book in middle school about having an incarcerated parent.

Sherburne said she was able to see many of the memorials including Lincoln Memorial, the National World War II Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

"I also got to meet Lindsey Vonn. She was our keynote speaker at our awards ceremony … She was so funny and humble. I asked her, 'How do you not stress out all the time? What do you do to keep confident?'"

"I just do my own thing," she said Vonn told her.

“I said, ‘Great, I'll do my own thing,’" said Sherburne.

Boothbay Region Elementary School Principal Mark Tess said teacher Michelle Miclette recently took five sixth grade students to Bigelow Labs and did a presentation on kelp from a study the students did earlier in the year.

"At the end, they had a little buffet where we had to eat some kelp. A little bit goes a long way with kelp," Tess said.

Tess said he brought up the event not just to show what these students in particular are doing, but to illustrate that kelp has the potential to be a lucrative aquaculture business and these opportunities will expose students to the educational and economic opportunities around them.

Said Tess, "It's really nice to see these kids getting interested and involved in this, now."

BRES Assistant Principal Tricia Campbell announced that in addition to the $30,000 approval by the Board of Trustees, the Parent and Teacher Organization has contributed $3,025 and the Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor is working to secure a $10,000 grant.

Blake Erhard attended the meeting with teacher Mark Gorey to show the committee his Champions of Change video titled “Eligibility.” The video explores BRHS’s switch to a system which allows a student failing one class to pass eligibility to play school sports. Gorey also played Lilley Harris’s Champions of Change video titled “Taking the ‘Extra’ Out of Extracurriculars” which explores the need for extracurricular activities as they have been proven to raise students’ grades.

Crocker announced the girls soccer team will be looking for a new coach as Ben Powell will be stepping down.

The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 13 in the BRHS library.