PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Growing concerns of a declining population in Aroostook County over the last decade has led community leaders to establish programs encouraging young people to remain in The County.
One such organization is the Aroostook Aspirations Initiative.
The Aroostook Aspirations Initiative and subsequently the Gauvin Scholarship, created by Ray and Sandra Gauvin in 2011, provides academic, emotional and financial support to students who want to attend college and eventually launch their own careers in the area.
The unique mission of AAI is to show students the benefits of living and working in The County, by fostering partnerships with local business owners.
For Ray Gauvin, this mission is personal. When his father died when he was just 14 years old, the community rallied around him. Local business owners took him under their wings and helped raise money for him to attend college as the first in his family.
Through a lifelong career that expanded beyond Aroostook County, making its way to Massachussettes, Vermont and New Hampshire, Ray Gauvin never forgot where he came from and the people who helped him get started.
In creating the AAI, the goal is to not only help students succeed in college through local partnerships but also to encourage young people to remain in The County — which could be considered an ambitious undertaking as population trends reveal a phenomenon local officials describe as “out-migration.”
Since 2010, population in the County has dropped by 7.2 percent, with the majority of residents being older than 65 years old, according to the 2018 U.S. Census.
A 2017 study of Aroostook County by the Maine Center for Business and Economic Development revealed that between 2016 and 2026, a total of $677 million in disposable personal income and another $617 million in total output will be lost due to the declining population.
The AAI program hopes to change this by showing high school graduates what kinds of opportunities await them in the area.
“Out-migration of our youth from Aroostook County has reached staggering proportions. The young people labor under the misconception that in order to get a quality education and find good jobs, they need to leave The County … We are offering our students an opportunity to receive top-quality education and find career opportunities right here in Aroostook, helping them stay here and become an important part of the county’s fiber,” the program stated on their website.
According to the Gauvins, their mission to support students has been successful.
Between 92 and 95 percent of students in their programs successfully complete their college degrees and 85 to 89 percent of students remain in The County post-graduation, Sandy said on Monday.
This year, the newly inducted scholars seemed to already recognize the benefits of sticking close to home and shared similar reasons for doing so during the sixth annual AAI gala on Thursday, Sept. 12.
In fact, more than half of the scholars recognized during Thursday’s gala stated being close to home and family as the primary reason for pursuing a future in The County.
Knowing they wanted to stay local, first-year students Kassandra Farley and Samantha White decided to apply for the Gauvin Scholarship to help offset the cost of college while remaining close to their families in the Washburn area.
Speaking of why she applied for the scholarship, Farley said, “It gives [us] a lot more opportunities.”
Another student, Kassandra Nelson, applied for the Gauvin Scholarship to help her achieve a short-term goal of being debt-free by graduation time.
While many students apply to be a Gauvin Scholar for the financial help, some receive much more. Rachel Driscoll, who entered the AAI as a Gauvin scholar and is now deemed a Gauvin Fellow for completing the program, spoke at the gala on Thursday evening, sharing how the program provided her with emotional support during a challenging time.
Driscoll was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a child and said the program helped her finish her associate’s degree while undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Today, she is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in accounting at Husson University’s satellite campus in Presque Isle.
The Gauvins, along with the local business owners who participate in AAI, spoke on Thursday about the importance of seeing people through difficult times in their lives, and helping them to reach their greatest potential and create lasting connections to Aroostook County.
“The kids are the key,” Sandy Gauvin said during the event.
In addition to the scholars, local business owners and educators were also recognized at the event for their success. Ben Goodwin and Shannon Sleeper of Caribou High School both received accolades for Mentor of the Year and Innovative Educator of the Year, respectively.
Larry Shaw, CEO of MMG Insurance received the Road Back Home Award for his work in the County and Katahdin Trust Co. was named the Business of the Year.
