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| Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson Kelley Marquis, right, a teacher at Fort Kent Elementary School, received the Aroostook Aspirations Initiative’s first ever Innovator of the Year Award at “Night with the Stars” gala on Sept. 20.. Congratulating Marquis are, from left: April Flagg, AAI’s executive director; and Ray and Sandy Gauvin, AAI co-founders. |
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — The 2014 Gauvin Scholars were celebrated in style on Sept. 20, as they were the guests of honor at a gala aptly titled, “Night with the Stars.”
The event, which was held at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, also served as a fundraiser for the Aroostook Aspirations Initiative (AAI).
“Our Gauvin Scholars are just beginning their own exploration of the opportunities Aroostook has. They are star clusters … amazing, wonderful, and an integral part of something larger. Tonight we celebrate them, their new paths, and their gentle launch into the world of Aroostook,” said April Flagg, AAI’s executive director. “The generosity of our sponsors pave the path of opportunity for our scholars of today and for the Gauvin Scholars of tomorrow … the scholars we haven’t met yet; they are undiscovered stars in our galaxy.”
Publicly launched in April 2013, AAI is designed to boost educational attainment and economic development in northern Maine. The organization was co-founded by Ray and Sandy Gauvin.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) delivered the evening’s keynote address.
“The stars are especially bright in the Crown of Maine on this first Night with the Stars,” said Collins. “This initiative began with the determination of Ray and Sandy Gauvin to help the young people of The County realize their college dreams and to stay in Aroostook. With optimism, vision, and a strong work ethic, the Gauvins, a committed board of directors, business leaders, the four colleges in Aroostook, and all 16 high schools joined together to develop a comprehensive, forward-looking program.
“Those same qualities are evident in the real stars we celebrate tonight. The Gauvin Scholars come from different schools and backgrounds, but they are all determined optimists and hard workers with records of service to their communities,” she said. “With their college careers just underway and new challenges waiting to be met, I know they will have the strength and confidence to achieve their goals, in knowing that all of Aroostook County is behind them.”
Collins shared with the scholars that the doors of opportunity have been opened to them and that they “have entered boldly and with a sense of purpose.”
“You share a determination to succeed, and we are here tonight because we believe in you. We also believe that Aroostook County’s future is so bright. This bright future is a reflection of the light — the energy, the commitment and ingenuity — that energized Aroostook Aspirations. As Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘The best way to predict your future is to create it,’” she said. “We are counting on the Gauvin Scholars to help create that future. The college educations you are pursuing represent a great deal of hard work on your part. They also represent a debt that you owe to so many who have made it possible, and there is no better way for you to repay that debt than to apply your talent, energy, skills and enthusiasm, right here in Aroostook County.”
During the gala, guests heard from some of the Gauvin Scholars.
“Two years ago, I was in a really bad car accident. I broke several bones, bruised a lot of my organs, had a collapsed lung, and I had a traumatic brain injury which is still affecting me today,” said Elizabeth Guimond, of Wisdom. “I was in the hospital for five weeks; three to four of those weeks I had to re-learn how to walk, swallow, read, write and do basic everyday functions.
“Every night a nurse would have to stay and baby-sit me just in case I rolled out of bed because I wasn’t balanced enough to get up on my own,” she said. “I am walking today. The ambulance and helicopter people thought that I wouldn’t even be alive today because my brain was shutting off at the scene of the accident, but I’m here, and the nurses inspired my career choice because they took really, really good care of me, and were really sweet and kind.”
Because she was not eligible for federal aid, Guimond was fearful she might not be able to afford college.
“I was scared that I wasn’t going to go very far because I was lacking support, but I was told by my Upward Bound adviser about the Gauvin Scholarship and I signed up for it,” she said. “I’m very thankful to have gotten the scholarship and I’m hoping that my story and my motivation and determination to get better in the hospital, and to go through the nursing program and hopefully get my nursing degree, will inspire young children, and people to sign up for scholarships and achieve their dreams.”
Andrew White, a Gauvin Scholar from Washburn, spoke about the importance of small businesses in Aroostook County.
“To me, small business is what my family has built its foundation on. For 13 of the 17 years I’ve been around, my family has owned a small gas station in Washburn,” he said. “We’re not Irving, or Gulf, or Shell, and we can’t offer the deals that you could receive from Sam’s Club or Walmart, but we make a living, and we do that through honesty, integrity, a love for small communities and a deep connection with our customer base. It’s these very values that I was raised on; they will forever be the basis of my morals and my work ethic.
“But most importantly, our small business has provided me with a bright future in the shadow that has been cast by great recession and a failing economy. As large corporations continue to target the ‘small guy,’ it’s essential that people understand how much support small businesses need especially in a rural area with a low population,” said White. “So ask yourselves, ‘Do you ever consider the importance of small business in Aroostook County?’ ‘Have you ever thought about what it takes to keep a small business in a small community going?’ It’s the support of the community’s people, so tonight I challenge you to consider these things the next time you’re driving out of your small community to buy something that was — though possibly more expensive — available right next to your front door.”
Two awards were presented at the gala. In announcing Kevin Marquis as AAI’s Mentor of the Year, Gauvin Scholar Stephanie Hammond of Easton praised Marquis for his willingness to help others.
“This person is very, very, very near and dear to my heart, and probably the entire town of Easton’s heart,” she said. “He’s probably got the biggest heart of anybody that I know; he’ll give the shirt off of his back for you if ever given the chance.”
“It’s a privilege to work with young people, and I’ve done this for better than 30 years,” said Marquis, who is Easton’s FFA adviser and the town’s mailman. “I’ve had the opportunity over the years to work with some young folks that a lot of people didn’t have a lot of faith in, and most young people if you give them a chance and open a door of opportunity, you’ll be amazed at the results you get.”
Kelley Marquis, a teacher at Fort Kent Elementary School, received the Innovator of the Year Award.
“The Innovator of the Year Award is presented to an educator, or a group of educators, or a group of students who have gone above and beyond to bring technology and innovation to the classroom or to their school district,” said Flagg. “Tonight’s educator uses technology not just as a tool, but as a resource, a guide, an unexplored world.
“She teaches her students to blog, and uses this blog to connect her students with authors and other classrooms all over the country. She uses Twitter as another connection for her students, and opens the world of Scratch, Pixel Press and Kahoot, all programs that provide her students with immediate and amazing feedback,” Flagg said. “She uses YouTube to help her students create book trailers for literature circles, and she even helps the future movie makers of our time to begin that journey through exposure to programs like iMovie, and encourages the future engineers with programs like LEGO Wedo.”
In accepting the award, Marquis said it’s rewarding helping “these stars shine as we set them on their path.”
“I work with such a supportive district, a great group of educators, and an amazing group of students,” she said. “It’s my pleasure to be an educator in such a great part of the world. Thank you very much. I’m very, very honored.”
AAI President Sandy Gauvin, a former teacher, said the Gauvin Scholars are the hope for the future.
“We often hear that kids don’t want to stay around here because there are no jobs, but I’m here to tell you that’s absolutely untrue. Look in the help wanted ads … there’s lots of jobs. The difference is they require skilled workers. It’s not the same today as it was years ago,” she said. “I would have students that would say, ‘Oh, I don’t need to go to college. I’m going to be a mechanic.’ That doesn’t work today; everything is so computerized. Things have changed. We need the skilled workers.
“We also desperately need to stem the outmigration of our young people. We need to get our children trained so they can get good jobs, build their own businesses, and create entrepreneurial enterprises that can be managed right here in Aroostook County,” said Gauvin. “There’s so much opportunity up here for these kids; we’ve just got to get it out there. These students are not only the hope for a brighter future for Aroostook County, but they bring with them promise that transcends time. They will bring back the vitality, the work ethic, the economic well being that’s an integral part of our past and that Aroostook County was known for. But they’ll also be taking us into the future creating a new kind of vitality, a work ethic, and new industries that’s incomparable, and provide a new face to the economic well being of the future.”
For more information, visit the Aroostook Aspirations Initiative website at www.gauvinfund.org, e-mail info@gauvinfund.org or call 764-0876. Donations can be mailed to: Aroostook Aspirations Initiative, 26 North St., Box 138, Presque Isle, Maine 04769.
