the penguin review, vol 1, issue 2

The Maine School of Science and Mathe-matics will be moving forward in the new year with plans to replace our existing greenhouse with a new one about three times the footprint (1200 square feet) of the current one. The project has been in the works for the past two years when the MSSM Foundation sought to upgrade the greenhouse to better serve the MSSM & Limestone commu-nity. According to MSSM Foundation President Lisa Smith, this addition will be much larger and more weather friendly. “Right now, the current greenhouse can only hold about four students at a time. A number of our windows have also been break-ing because of the cold winters and poor design,” Smith said. “Our new greenhouse will be better designed for the Northern Maine winters, as well as be able to hold an entire class for projects.” Students in the Engineering Explorations class at MSSM last year created the designs and presented them to the various compa-nies who were interested in donating to the project. Judy Yau, a senior from Newport has used the current struc-ture throughout her four years at MSSM. Yau’s research has won

her multiple awards and sees the new greenhouse to be very beneficial for future students. “It would provide more resources and more opportunities for all students to explore research. The school would also be able to provide more students with the opportunity of inde-pendent projects,” Yau said. “It would allow students to think outside of the box and dive into different ar-eas of study that they are interested in.” Deb McGann is a chemistry instructor

and utilizes the green-house frequently with her classes. She sees the upgraded facility to further expand her students’ research. “Our goal is to develop skills in the research process, from experimental design to data analysis. Raising our own pro-duce presents an opportunity to experience science first hand. The expanded greenhouse with better environmentalcontrols will allow us to consider more of the countless ques-tions the novel and exciting field of hydroponics has to offer,” McGann said.

inside this issue

PENGUINREVIEW

the

M S S M ’s p r e m i e r e n e w s l e t t e r w w i n t e r 2 0 1 4 w v o l u m e 1 , i s s u e 2

MSSM hosts Fall Open Housepage 4

LCS/MSSM boys soccer finish strong page 7

Luke Shorty honoredpage 6

wplease turn to page 9w

Blueprint of new greenhouse.

2

T H E P E N G U I N R E V I E W w w i n t e r 2 0 1 4 w T H E P E N G U I N R E V I E W w w i n t e r 2 0 1 4 w T H E P E N G U I N

Happy Holidays everyone! Though we are heading into the winter solstice, the darkest part of our year, I would like to share with you some of the bright and exciting events hap-pening at MSSM. The MSSM Foundation has sent out its fall appeal letter requesting support. As a result of their efforts, we are very close to finishing off a major part of our five year plan to develop and construct a greenhouse that will permit our students to design and implement their own research projects. If you know of anyone or any company that would be inter-ested in naming this exciting project, please get them in touch with us. This new addition will help showcase and demon-strate the types of student-based research that can happen right here in our own backyard. Earlier this semester, we enjoyed hosting members of the Maine Development Foundation’s Leadership Maine Chi Class. We have had a very successful start to our College Admission season with many students accepted into their top choice or early decision schools. J-Term promises to be an exciting and exhila-rating semester with courses ranging from Ukulele Building and Debate Madness to Quilting and Geometric Adventures. Students involved in our various academic teams are doing very well this semester. Our math teams are in the top 20 ranking

of the Maine State Math League. One of our VEX robotics teams is undefeated in their most recent competition and are consistently the highest scoring robot on the field! Basket-ball, swimming, and ski seasons are off to a great start and many of our MSSM students are participating in these activities. As you can see, it has been a very busy fall semester and we definitely are looking forward to an equally exciting spring semester with more visitors, more news of students accepted into their college of choice and of course, more snow! Thank you all for being part of the MSSM family and have a Happy Holiday Season,

-Luke C. Shorty

On Thursday, October 23, MSSM greeted 45 members from the Maine Development Foundation’s Leadership Maine Chi Class. The group consisted of managers, CEO’s, Executive Directors hailing from all 16 counties in Maine. Members from Leadership Maine were treated to a lunch at the MSSM cafeteria, followed by a few words from MSSM’s Executive Director Luke Shorty. Members were then given a tour of MSSM by our admissions ambassadors. Mid-after-noon, participants gathered for a question and answer session with MSSM administratiors. “I was very impressed with how interested and excited the Leadership Maine Chi class was about MSSM & STEM educa-tion. It was truly a pleasure to break bread with them at lunch and to hear how their leadership journey has gone as a recent alum myself,” Shorty said. “I was also very impressed with how responsive and educated our admission ambassadors were in showing our guests around.” MSSM was among many of the stops for the Chi Class. While in Aroostook County, the class also made stops to the Loring Commerce Center, downtown Presque Isle and a stop at the end of Route 1 in Fort Kent. For more information and a list of members of Leadership Maine’s Chi Class, you can visit their website at: http://mdf.org/lm_thisyearsclass.php. Photo courtesy of Maine Development Foundation.

3


The New Year is upon us and that means acceptance letters will soon be sent to new members of our MSSM family. The interest throughout our state of Maine continues to be strong so I again encourage all of you who know someone who would be interested in attending our award winning school to apply by the first of February. Our November Open House will be one of the last mega Open Houses as we have outgrown the ability to properly care for our guests. Moving forward, we will cap such events by hosting more of them throughout the school year. This year, our admission ambassadors are led by Ashley Jutras, Maddy Wiliams and Anas Beshir along with veteran ambassadors Rebecca Hatt, Judy Yau, Tommy Giggey, Corin Rose, Brittany Clark, Sadie Hood, ThomasHenry Reagan, Leah Kihn, Dalton Canonico, Nicholas Chouinard, Justin Hamilton, Samantha Heino, Gordon McCulloh, Jasmine Waite, and Sage Williams. In addition, Madison Allen, Anastasiya Bershanska, Ahmed Beshir, Sierra Dann, Laura Dolci, Allison Johnson, Hui Kennedy, Naomi Kihn, Jessica Lindsay, Atticus Maloney, Elizaveta Maslak, Kendal Millard, Andrew Reilley, Ben Schade, Victor So, Haley Taranko, Lily Tedford, and Emma Van-norsdall have joined us. The ambassadors are developing some new ideas to add to our Open House format. To meet the needs of our guests, they are creat-ing opportunities to highlight life at the Maine School of Science and

Mathematics. This year, our Open House will be in the middle of J-Term which will be another opportunity to showcase our school’s unique learning experiences. The Admission Review Committee is comprised of Matt Grillo, Pete Pedersen, Norma O’Keefe, and Dan Melega who diligently read all of the applicants’ files. Without the devoted and efficient support of this committee, the role of admitting stu-dents to MSSM would be daunting. The work they do behind the scenes is very much appreciated. Please continue to wear your penguin attire with MSSM pride!

Sierra Dann, Megan Faucher and Jessica Lindsay at the registra-tion table at November’s Open House.

MSSM Holiday Concert 2014On Friday, December 12, students and faculty enjoyed a concert provided by the MSSM Band led by conductor

Andrew Sullivan. They played a wide range of music for all those who were enjoying dinner in the cafeteria. Great job everyone!

Once again, the Maine School of Science and Math-ematics held its annual fall Open House from Sunday, November 9 to Monday, Novem-ber 10. Sixty five students and their families made the trek to Limestone from all over Maine, with one family coming as far away as North Eastham, MA (about 30 min-utes north of West Yarmouth, MA). Registration for the event began Sunday afternoon as students were interviewed by various faculty members. At 3:30, MSSM’s Dean of Enrollment Alan Whittemore and Executive Director Luke Shorty opened the Open House with a skit in the auditorium with the help from flying fish controlled by our admission ambassadors. After a PowerPoint presentation from Shorty, the students and families toured the campus led by our ambassadors. At around 5:15, a turkey dinner was served in the cafeteria followed by an ice cream social at the Manor. After ice cream, everyone retired to their

hotels for the night. The next morn-ing, students sat in classes while the parents met in the auditorium to hear from MSSM ad-ministratiors. Each family who attended the Open House received a bag of potatoes as a gift, as well as directions on how to make a po-tato clock. Overall, this Open House was one of the most attended in the school’s history. “It is hard to

believe that nearly 20 years have passed since our opening, yet the same level of energy and excitement seen back then is still evident in today’s prospective students and families,” Whitte-more said. “Our faculty are amazing. They willingly gave up their entire Sunday afternoon to interview dozens of young people who represented every county in Maine while attend-ing our fall Open House.” MSSM’s administrative Assistant Danielle Deschaine has been coordinating MSSM’s Open Houses for many years

and compliments the entire MSSM community for making it possible. “This Open House would not have been a success without the entire MSSM community, including our cooks, custodians, faculty and staff for their hard work,” Deschaine said. “We couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help,” Darlene Turner and her daughter Amy came up from Deer Isle to attend the Open House. “Amy is always looking for new challenges, so this would be her ultimate dream to go to school here. This Open House had a lot of great information. They have done a great job organizing this event,” Turner said. Shorty was pleased with the overall interest in this fall’s Open House. “It was an exciting Open House. We’ve had so much interest that we had to start directing people to our January event. It was nice to see so many people from summer camp coming back to MSSM,” Shorty said.

4


Opening Presentation with some big fish!


5


Over September break, seven students from Deb McGann’s Computational Biology class got the unique opportunity to visit both the Jackson Laboratory (JAX) and the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) in Bar Harbor. The students stayed on the Jackson Laboratory campus while attending the three day short course. According to McGann, this is the ninth year that she has been organizing the trip for her students. “MDIBL is a gem of a research center. Having the oppor-tunity for students to speak with scientists and see research in action is invaluable. Our students tend to be interested and curious about science, but trips to research facilities really help them to imagine how their interests can translate into exciting and rewarding careers,” McGann said. MSSM senior Anas Beshir was one of the seven students who attended the field trip. “We visited their library, common room, laboratories and observed their courses. One of the courses we attended was a graduate level course with med students. During our lunch, we enjoyed talking with the scientists who worked there,” Beshir said. Marina Mozak, a senior who also went on the trip was

amazed at how well the guest speakers communicated with their audience. “One of the teachers who spoke to us, Karl Browman, did a great job speaking. He spoke in a way that we understood everything he said. There were a lot of students from the local schools there as well. The laboratories also gave us access to all the speakers’ presentations. It’s nice that we are able to take them back and reference them,” Mozak said. Having visited for nine years, McGann continues to praise both laboratories. “Our visit to the lab each fall gives the students a chance to meet face to face with the scientist with whom they will work throughout the year in their computational biology course,” McGann said. For more information about upcoming courses and confer-ences at the Jackson Laboratory, you can visit their website at http://www.jax.org/index.html and click on “Courses and Edu-cation.” For more information about the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory’s upcoming courses, you can visit their website at http://www.mdibl.org/ and click on “Courses” at the top of the page.

Anas Beshir

L-R: Cecilia Howard, Anastasiya Bershanska and Marina Mozak.

Anas Beshir, Anastasiya Bershanska and Elizaveta Maslak on Cadillac Mountain on MDI. Not pictured but in attendance were Ben Schade & Judy Yau


As a student, Samantha Heino is used to writing research papers for class. But it’s not every day that one of her essays would win honorable mention in an international contest. That’s exactly what happened to Heino as she entered her essay in the 2014 Ocean Awareness Student Contest, organized by the national environ-mental nonprofit From the Bow’s Seat. “I originally saw the contest last school year on a bulletin board poster outside of Mrs. McGann’s classroom. The poster for the contest was really eye-catching. At first, I thought about writing something just as a side project. I became inter-ested in the topic of plastic pollution after I went on a trip to the Bahamas during last year’s J-Term. I’ve had a personal interest in this problem for a while,” Heino said. Heino had McGann proofread the essay before she submitted it. After more than a year of waiting, she heard from the

organizers of the contest that she was named an honorable mention with a $250 cash prize. The nonprofit contest awarded prizes for the top three winners as well as ten honorable mentions. McGann was very proud to hear that Samantha’s essay was rec-

ognized by the contest leaders. “My first thought when I heard Sam had received an award was that she exemplified the best of MSSM. Sam took on this challenge on her own initiative, not because it was a requirement, but because it was an issue she feels strongly about. She wrote and re-vised it and asked for others to comment on it. She was determined to submit a high quality essay. I was delighted to hear her hard work had been

recognized,” McGann said. Heino will be recognized for her essay at a future assembly. In the meantime, a copy of the award-winning essay is available on our homepage, www.mssm.org. For more information about the contest, you can visit their website at http://www.fromthebowseat.org/contest.php.

Samantha Heino

6

The Maine School of Science and Mathematics is pleased to an-nounce that our very own Luke Shorty, MSSM’s Executive Director for the past three and a half years received the Champion Award for Education, Training and Leadership Development from the Maine Develop-ment Foundation. The prestigious award was given at the Maine Development Foundation’s 36th Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Octo-ber 7 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Shorty was awarded along with six other Maine leaders who are continuing to develop and enhance leadership. “I’m really excited and honored to be recognized by the Maine Development Founda-tion. I recently graduated from their ‘Leadership Maine’ program that helped me continue to sharpen my leadership skills. I was not expecting this award at all. It is very humbling,” Shorty said.

Carol Taylor, a program consultant for the Maine Development Foundation spoke highly of Shorty’s leadership qualities. “Luke was selected as this year’s winner not only because of the

tremendous impact he has had on the students of MSSM, but also because he has a similar impact on each person with whom he comes in contact. His unflagging optimism and cre-ativity inspires others to reach beyond what they thought possible. This was clear in my experience guiding Luke as he participated in the Beta Class of Leadership Maine: Education Leaders Experience. We’re honored to celebrate his impact

on education and on the future leaders of Maine,” Taylor said. Additional information about the event can be found under the events tab on the Maine Development Foundation’s website at www.mdf.org.

Harold Clossey, President & CEO of MDF & Luke Shorty.


7

The LCS/MSSM boys soccer season has finished another success-ful season evenly split with 7 wins, 7 losses. Some of the highlights this season include overcoming a 0-6 deficit and winning the next seven out of eight games and bringing the team to tenth place in playoffs. In the post-season, LCS/MSSM lost a tough opening round game against the Fort Fair-field Tigers by a score of 1-0. Still, the team gelled well and gained momentum through-out the season. “This season has been great. We beat last year’s Class C East-ern Maine champs, Madawaska. I think what brought this to-gether is that everyone got along as a team,” Jon Hamilton, LCS/MSSM soccer coach, said. “We are a school unlike most because the kids that come from afar don’t know each other. Most of the other area teams played with each other throughout middle school, so they know their positions, which is a big advantage,” Hamilton said. According to Hamilton, this year is the most represented by MSSM students in quite a while. 15 of the 22 students on the team were MSSM students. “The team has hung out together more than in years past. This is a team unlike any that I’ve ever coached before,” Hamilton said. Gordon McCulloh is a second year junior at MSSM and this is his first year on the soccer team. Even though the team lost early in play-offs, he expects the team to continue to improve and grow next season. “Making it to playoffs for a sport that so many of us play was incredibly energizing. We proved to both ourselves and the community that an academically-rigorous institution can still offer valuable experiences outside of classes

and work,” McCulloh said. “We will have to work on further im-proving our team synergy, but I believe that this team can go far in the future,” McCulloh said.

LCS senior Dylan Nadeau has been on the soccer team for the past four years and notices a big change in the dy-namics of the team. “It’s been really great working with the MSSM kids. When I was a freshman, we only had two MSSM students and the rest were LCS. Now the majority is MSSM students,” Nadeau said. “We’ve learned to bond with each other over the course of the season, which really turned our season right around.” During the fall sports awards, Ham-

ilton surprised senior Zeb Keith-Hardy and junior Tyler Simmons as the newest members..

Photo of team at Awards Night:Front row: L-R: Andy Whitman, Anthony Fiori, Chris Kenney, Jacob Hatfield, Gordon McCulloh, Paddy Keith-HardyMiddle Row: Alex Sprague, Ahmed Beshir, Dylan Nadeau, Brennan Lane, Drew Emond, Tobyn BlattBack row: Mathew Hancock, Travis Hatfield, Grier Ostermann, Sam Kupiec, Tommy Giggey, Joshua “Zeb” Keith-Hardy, and Max Kay.

LCS/MSSM boys team. Photos courtesy of Holly Hancock.


Photo of all 16 students who attended the conference in Augusta.Back Row L-R: Stewart Doe, Laszlo Steinhoff, Padraig Keith-Hardy, and Cole Butler.Middle Row L-R: Fox Maxwell, Brennan Lane, Keith Languet, Elizaveta Maslak, and Judy Yau.Front Row L-R: Jason Webb, Aly East, Emma Herring, Madeline Williams and Jessie Willinghan.


8

It has become a tradition for Dan Melega’s YMCA Youth In Government club to head to Augusta every November. This year, sixteen students from MSSM took part in the State YMCA Youth In Government on November 14, 15, and 16. The program allows high school students in Maine to participate in a mock legislative session at the Maine State House and to learn a little bit more about how the government works as a whole. “This is a great opportunity for any high school student to learn more about the legislative process, including introduc-ing a new bill, having the bill assigned to the committee, and

more,” Melega said. “I’ve tak-en my students to Augusta ev-ery year since I’ve started.” What makes the YMCA Youth In Gov-ernment pro-gram so special is that all of the bills are drafted by students. The program is entirely student-driven, including hav-ing their own peers elected to serve in lead-ership positions during State House weekend. “It really gives the students a good idea about how every-thing works. They get passionate about it,” Melega said. “I require my students to write a bill in order to go because it gives them something to become invested in and follow.” The highlight of the trip this year included Sam Kupiec’s bill being recognized as “Best Bill.” Kupiec’s bill proposed adding a five cent deposit on all cigarette butts. Kupiec hoped that his bill would inspire high school students to quit smoking. “Change has to begin somewhere and I am hoping that introducing this idea to high school students will get the ball rolling,” Kupiec said. “I had no idea that it would be recog-nized as ‘Best Bill.’ It was really an honor to be highlighted by my fellow peers, let alone actually receiving the award.” In addition, five MSSM students were elected to CONA, or the YMCA Conference on National Affairs. They include senior Judy Yau, junior Elizaveta Maslak, senior Jason Webb, junior Jessie Willinghan and senior Kupiec. All of them have the opportunity to represent Maine at the national conference in Black Mountain, N.C. on June 27 through July 2. “They may not know it yet, but this conference will be a great way for them to network with other students and adults. The connections these guys make will last them a long time, which is very beneficial to them,” Melega said. For more information about the YMCA Youth In Gov-ernement program including a listing of all the bills that were passed into law by the students, you can visit their website at http://www.yiginme.org/.

Sam Kupiec serving as Senate Chair for the committee on Business and Labor.Photos courtesy of Daniel C. Melega.

Left Pillar: Sam Kupiec, Right Pillar: Andy Whitman

9


of the All-Aroostook team. Dylan Nadeau from LCS was the second in state for the most saves this season. Chris Kenney, an MSSM junior was awarded the Coach’s Award by Hamilton, and Zeb Keith-Hardy was awarded MVP. For more information on LCS/MSSM soccer team, you can contact Coach Hamilton at [email protected].

Senior Grier Ostermann ready to kick the ball.Photos courtesy of Holly Hancock.

Over the past two years, both members of the school board and foundation board have been working to raise the remain-ing funds to complete the greenhouse project by pledging to either raise or donate $1,250, with the foundation matching each member, or up to $40,000 in total. Jason Judd, the vice chair of the school board; Walter Specht and Elizabeth Reuthe, board members of the foundation recently donated $1,250 each towards the project. The estimated cost is about $148,400. Around $110,000 has already been raised with about $38,000 still needed. Smith is hoping that the remaining funds will be raised by April with construction starting shortly thereafter and completed by August 2015. To donate to the MSSM greenhouse project, you can visit our website at www.mssm.org/donate. The foundation accepts donations by credit card, cash or check.

Current geenhouse. Photo taken in 2012.

A Big Thank You to Marian Reagan, Maya Howard, Sheila Nichols,Traci Gere, Donna & Emma Raymond, Beth Reilley and Maroo Eymontt for the lovely gift bags of “snowman soup” that they generously made for MSSM’s faculty & staff. The soup

was graciously delivered by members of MSSM’s student senate. Thank you so much!

A big congratulations to Terry Helmes (left) and our very own Don Cyr (right) for receiving the 2014 Honor Award for Outstanding Community Service from Maine Preservation. In 1983, Mr. Cyr founded the Association Culturelle et Historique du Mont-Carmel with the purpose of saving the Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel church. In 1990, Mr. Cyr hired Terry Helmes to work on the restoration project. Over the years, the two of them have garnered over $2.8 million in grants for this project. The church is now a museum housing Acadian artifacts. A huge congrats to Terry Helmes and Don Cyr for their tireless work on this project!!

n o t e s

10


MSSM students Jasmine Waite & Allison Johnson helped create a Christmas tree for the Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle recently. They placed books on a frame built by Dr. Greg Hamlin. As a member of the Library Board of Directors, Nurse Louise Hamlin helped coor-dinate the project.

WAGM-TV in Presque Isle was there and had a story about the book tree on a recent newscast. This is the link for inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKMk18cm3Ok

Thank you Jasmine, Allison, Nurse Louise and Dr. Hamlin for sharing the MSSM spirit!

Alums,We need YOUR stories!

Be part of history in contributing to our 20th anniversary booklet!

For more information,E-mail our Enrollment Director

Alan Whittemore [email protected]

to find out more!


11

Mr. McCartney’s Medieval FeastOnce again, Mr. McCartney transformed MSSM to the Medieval time period for a feast like no other.

Students in his classes dressed up as the time period and enjoyed a delicious feast. Everyone had a blast!

2014 Holiday DinnerSpecial thanks to all of our cooks, chefs and everyone else who helped out!

More photos on our Facebook page!


a l u m n i w update

Sarah Bean ‘98 recently had her artwork featured at the National Museum of Woman in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Her piece, ”Ulysses” will be placed in their per-manent collection. After graudating from MSSM in 1998, Sarah moved to NYC and then to Montreal. Her artwork can be seen at www.artandpoems.com. More about the museum can be found at their website at http://nmwa.org/.

Angie Harbert (Dinsmore) ‘97 now lives in North Ogden, UT. She works at ATK in Utah as a systems engineer in their Research and Development lab. She married her husband, John Harbert, last Oc-tober in Ogden, Utah.

HEY Alumni, YOU CAN BE HERE TOO!Submit your new job, marriage, birth or anything else you

want to update us on for our next issue in March! Send your stories to [email protected] to be featured!

We’d LOVE to hear from YOU!

The PENGUIN REVIEW is a quarterly newsletter distrubted by MSSM’s Admission Department. Hard copies of our newsletter are avaliable upon request at our school located at 95 High Street in Limestone, Maine. The Maine School of Science and Mathemat-ics (MSSM) is a tuition-free, public, residential high school that enrolls students from across the state and serves over 600 students each year through its academic and summer offerings. Opened in 1995, the school provides high school students a rigorous, stu-dent-centered curriculum that emphasizes the connections between math, science, and humanities, and culminates in opportunities for authentic research. MSSM’s summer camps inspire Maine middle school students to explore their passion for science, math, engineering, and technology. MSSM also provides professional development oppor-tunities for educators. Sign up now to receive the electronic version of our newsletter delivered right to your e-mail! Go to our website, www.mssm.org and scroll down to “Newsletter Subscribe.” Next newsletter distributed on March 13.

w Ben Pinette, editor & [email protected]

w Alan Whittemore, Dean of Enrollment Management [email protected]

“It was also great to have a representative from every county in Maine show up to MSSM. Overall, it was a pleasure and I’m excited to see what will happen in January,” MSSM will be hosting another Open House for prospective students on January 18 & 19. For more information about our January open house and to register, please visit our website at www.mssm.org and scroll down to “Open House.”

the penguin review, vol 1, issue 2

Documents

e r e n e w s

e w w w i n t e r

e t t e r w w i n t

w t h e p e n g u i

s p r e

s s u e

students research

current greenhouse