HOULTON, Maine — The Region Two School of Applied Technology has named Olivia White as its Career and Technical Education Student of the Year.
Richard B. Mitchell, an instructor at the school, announced the selection Wednesday afternoon in a press release.
White, a senior at Houlton Middle-High School, is the daughter of Scott and Pam White of Houlton. She has been a student in the early childhood education program at Region Two School of Applied Technology for two years.
“It is clear Olivia has found her calling in the early childhood education field,” Mitchell said. “She not only retains the course content taught in the classroom and uses prior knowledge to build upon her newly acquired knowledge, but she easily applies what she’s learned in the classroom to her field placement opportunities in both Region Two’s on-site collaborative Head Start classroom as well as her off-site field placement in a kindergarten classroom at the local elementary school.”
“I was so happy and grateful,” White said Wednesday. “There are so many amazing students at Region Two. To be named Student of the Year is such an honor.”
During her time at the school White has taken advantage of many academic opportunities that were made available to her. She is a Bridge Year student, who has also participated in dual enrollments from Northern Maine Community College in her early childhood course. Between these two programs White is entering college as a sophomore next year at the University of Maine at Farmington, where she will study early childhood special education and has been accepted into their honors program, Mitchell stated.
“While participating in these academically rigorous programs Olivia has maintained exceptional grades and has been inducted into both NTHS at Region Two and NHS at her home high school as well as earned an excellence in Bridge Year math award,” Mitchell stated.
White has also earned a variety of industry credentials including: CPR/First Aid, Fire Extinguisher Safety, ServSafe Food Handlers, OSHA-10, EverFi, Mandated Reporting, People-First Language, and by graduation will have earned her CECA – certified early childhood assistant certification.
“Everything about the class is amazing,” White said. “I’ve always known I wanted to work with children so I had been planning on taking this course for years, but never expected this program to be so informative and helpful. Miss [Alison] Reece is the kindest and most helpful teachers I have ever had. She has a way of making everyone feel involved and important, and it’s not just her it’s the whole Region Two program.”
