Portland Public School Department

Michele Arcand saw Hall Elementary School in Portland for the first time a few years ago when she visited the playground with her children.  The building had been constructed nearly 50 years earlier as a temporary school to serve military families in Sagamore Village, and it looked uninviting.  Arcand decided then that she wanted to paint a mural on the outside to make the building more attractive and welcoming so that it would better reflect the warmth of the school community.

After three years of advocacy and hard work, Arcand’s effort finally is coming to fruition.  She teamed up with another parent, artist Sarah Herboldsheimer, to create a 40-panel mural that will be installed on the building’s exterior. 

Every child and employee at Hall - from kindergartners to the principal, custodians and busdrivers - participated in the project by contributing a handprint for the mural.  Every class chose a word that will be written on the mural in English and another of the 21 languages represented by the student population.  The brightly colored panels also incorporate imagery suggested by students, such as a musical note and the basketball hoop in the playground.

The first panels will be installed on Friday, May 16, just in time for Hall School’s 50th anniversary celebration the following day.  Arcand and Herboldsheimer plan to continue work throughout the summer, with the goal of completing the mural by the time school opens in September.

Both women are volunteering their time, and the project has taken over their lives.  They shepherded Arcand’s ambitious idea through several levels of school department approval, solicited donations from local businesses and planned an open mic fundraiser for the project at the Dogfish Café.  They’ve averaged three hours of sleep a night, and they’ve had little time to spend with their families.  The project has taken over Arcand’s driveway; all week, Hall families are dropping by to help with the painting.

But even before the first panel is installed, the project already has accomplished exactly what they had hoped: building pride and a sense of community among Hall School families and neighbors.  

“Our real goal,” said Herboldsheimer, “was to reflect on the outside what’s going on inside the school.”

A May 13th referendum on the fiscal year 2009 budget for the Portland Public Schools was approved by a nearly two-to-one margin.  The final vote was 2,311 in favor (65%) and 1,229 opposed (35 %).      

Casco Bay High School juniors have spent six months studying, researching and writing about public policy issues such as gas mileage standards and stem cell research regulation.  They will present and defend their policy proposals to panels of experts in related fields on May 20-23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room 250 at the school, located at 196 Allen Avenue.

The public policy projects are the capstone experience of a year-long humanities curriculum guided by the question, “What impact will you have as a generation?”  Students have focused on how law and policy are created, the economics of public policy and the dynamic relationship between policy and social change. 

Students are creating action projects related to their topics, with the goal of making authentic change in their community.  Projects include a film highlighting the plight of National Guard service people, an education campaign to save Darfur and a series of posters to assist automobile buyers to make environmentally sound choices.  Students also spent a week in West Virginia building houses for Habitat for Humanity, and they did week-long, individual internships at local job sites.

Portland Arts and Technology High School presents PATHSFEST, a celebration of student learning, on Thursday, May 22 from 8:30 to 1 p.m. at the school, located at 196 Allen Avenue, Portland.  The event is free and open to the public.

PATHSFEST will feature demonstrations, contests, interactive activities, exhibits and student-made items for sale.  The RE-MAX hot air balloon will give rides during the day. 

PATHSFEST will take place rain or shine.  For more information, please call (207) 874-8165.

The Portland School Committee at its May 7th meeting recognized Alfred Padula of Portland for his contributions to the Portland Public Schools as an “an environmentalist, a catalyst, a change agent and an unsung hero.”

School Committee Chair John Coyne read a proclamation citing Padula’s financial contributions to several school projects to encourage energy conservation.  They include:

· $35,000 donated for the installation of solar panels at the East End Community School.
· $25,000 for energy upgrades at Portland High School.
· $15,000 for the geodesic dome at Lincoln Middle School.
· $20,000 for LEED certification of the new Ocean Avenue Elementary School.

Coyne noted that Padula has given his time to work with Lincoln students on sustainability projects, and he has donated equipment and books to the middle school.

Padula retired in 1999 from his position as a Latin American studies professor at the University of Southern Maine.   Since then, he has devoted much of his time, energy and resources to encouraging energy conservation. 

Twenty-five Deering High School students are enrolled in an intensive pre-engineering class that allows them to test theories in lab experiments using automobile, manufacturing technology and telecommunications equipment.  The class, offered through a partnership between Deering and Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS), also gives students the opportunity to work with engineers at local companies.

Students spend half of their school day on the semester-long class.   They study pre-engineering theory with John Cobleigh, a Deering advanced physics teacher, and Alan Carp, a Deering advanced pre-calculus teacher.

The class draws on the faculty and facilities of three PATHS programs - manufacturing technology, automobile technology and telecommunications - when conducting experiments that tackle real-world problems. For example, students measured the velocity and distance of a speeding car in one experiment, and they measured periodic electrical signals using an oscilloscope in another.

“We planned field trips to CMP (Central Maine Power) and Fairchild Semiconductor- not just to visit, but to work with their engineers,” said Carp.  The class also drew on the resources of Cianbro and Stantec Consulting.

The course has helped students integrate science and math, apply their knowledge and learn to work cooperatively and independently.  “Students need the capability to work with all types of workers and this is one way we can expose them to that,” Carp said.

Seven students from Portland High School placed in their respective categories of the National Spanish Exam, according to the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

Rachel Regier and Chris Pike placed in the regular level three exam category.  Brian Furey and Eoin McCarron placed in the regular level four exam, and Leyna Gomez won a bronze medal in the bilingual level four exam.  Aaron Peisner and Kristin Rogers placed in the level five exam.

The Portland Public Schools will hold the following graduation ceremonies:

· Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) - Friday, May 16, 8:30 a.m. (morning session) and 11:30 a.m. (afternoon session) at the school, located at 196 Allen Ave.

· Portland High School - Wednesday, June 4, 10:30 a.m. at Merrill Auditorium.

· Deering High School - Thursday, June 5, 10:30 a.m. at Cumberland County Civic Center.

· Portland Adult Education - Thursday, June 5, 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Merrill Auditorium.

Several classes and musical groups at Deering and Portland High are working together on a project that will culminate with a performance of highlights from Gluck’s eighteenth century opera, “Orpheus and Eurydice.”    

Portland High students are translating the myth of Orpheus from French and Latin.  Students are preparing art pieces that illustrate the myth.   Portland High School acting students Jesse Dziedzic, Sidney Dritz and Eileen Hanley are performing from the translated script.  Students from Portland Ballet are dancing in the ballet sequences in the opera.

The Deering High School Chorus directed by Mark Nordli and the Deering-Portland High School Orchestra led by Julianne Eberl will perform the opera highlights with community members on Tuesday, May 27, at 7 p.m. in the Portland High School auditorium.  The concert is free and open to the public; donations at the door are welcome. 

“This is a very special opportunity for our students to be involved in the staging of an opera,” said Eberl.  “We are grateful for all of the community support that has brought the year-long project to fruition.”

The project received a Portland Education Partnership Reachout grant for $300, a $500 grant from the Dettling Family and $1,500 from the Children Matter grant program sponsored by Bank of America.

Julie Goell, a professional singer, bassist and founding member of the Casco Bay Tummlers, is staging the show. Performers include Michael Albert, a Portland High graduate who now works as the registrar at the Portland Conservatory of Music, Christina Astrachan, a professional singer who teaches at Bates College, and Leela Nowrangi, a professional singer and teacher who owns an Old Port art gallery.  About 70 students are involved in the musical performance, ballet sequences, acting segments and technical production. 

Eleven high school juniors from the Portland Public Schools have been selected to enter the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program.  They are among the 50,000 highest scoring participants out of 1.5 million students who took the PSAT/NMSQT last fall.  They will compete for scholarships and recognition.

Qualifying students at Deering High School are John B. Clarke, Illaria R. Dana, Kevin T. MacDowell and Eric D. Mason.  Portland High students who qualified are Nathan Buck, Sidney Dritz, Brian Furey, Nathaniel Jewett, Make Kinner, Eoin McCarron and Victoria McIntyre.