Portland Public School Department News

Third and fourth grade classes at Presumpscot Elementary School are working with the Children’s Museum of Maine to pilot a Junior Naturalist Program.

The program exposes children to natural wonders all around them with the goal of helping them feel a greater sense of stewardship.   Students are writing nature journals and participating in environmental education activities at local habitats that they can get to by public transportation.  For one trip, they traveled by bus to Hinckley Park in South Portland. 

Suzanne Kahn Eder, the museum’s science coordinator, is leading the program.  Funding came from the Davis Conservation Foundation and the Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust.

Portland’s three public middle schools - Lincoln, King and Moore - all sent teams to the MATHCOUNTS 2008 competition on February 9 at the University of Southern Maine.  Each team included four official members and other mathletes competing individually.

Lyman Moore Middle School’s team placed second overall at the meet.  The team members, all eighth graders, are Ellen Jewett, Sean Perry, Courtney McGorrill and Julie Kang.  The Moore team will compete in the state meet at Colby College on March 15.

Jewett finished first in the meet’s countdown round.  Perry came in fifth in that round and McGorrill placed sixth.

Four eighth graders competed as individuals on the Moore team: William (Sam) Hamilton, Peter Huynh, Kyle Lebourgne and Lars Murphy.  Julie Myers and parent Kathy Jewett coached the Moore team. 

Lincoln Middle School competed in the competition for the second year.  Members of the official Lincoln team are: Ngan Dao, sixth grade; Zachary DuPerry, sixth grade; Sam Dodge,  eighth grade, and Kelsey Foster, eighth grade.  Evan Moore, a sixth grader, competed as an individual.  Holly Towns and Zachary Brown coach Lincoln’s team.

King Middle School, also in its second year of competition, had the following eighth graders on its official team: Jacob Bigelow, Noah Lupica-Nowlin, Hugh Carroll and Isaac Jaegerman.  Competing as individuals were: Dylan Bruce, eighth grade; Benjamin Day, eighth grade, and Kiril Slussky, sixth grade.  King’s team is coached by Deborah Treadwell.

Two high school seniors from the Portland Public Schools have been named National Merit Finalists.  Christine Boucher, who attends Deering High School, and Gavin Bauer, a student at Portland High School, were selected based on their PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores.

Boucher and Bauer placed among the top students in Maine.  Nationwide, 15,000 finalists were chosen from among more than 1.4 million students who entered the competition.

The last day of classes in the Portland Public Schools now is set for June 18.  Any changes due to additional snow days will be posted here.