CARIBOU, Maine — Students being honored for their participation in Caribou’s Jobs for Maine Graduates Program on May 16 were told by speakers to think hard about the jobs they want to pursue before going on to college and to remember to give back to their communities.
Before presenting awards, RSU 39 Superintendent Timothy Doak, WAGM morning anchor Shawn Cunningham, and Caribou High School NHS adviser and social studies teacher Kenneth Atcheson touched on the importance of the JMG program, and United Way Director Sherry Locke was presented with a $1,000 grant check.
Doak told the nearly 100 people at the ceremony in the Performing Arts Center’s been an ambassador for JMG as long as he’s been involved with school administration, and that he “jumped on the opportunity” to serve on the state JMG board when asked.
The RSU 39 superintendent showed slides illustrating that, for the last 50 years, the labor force breakdown in Maine is approximately 20 percent professional, 20 percent skilled labor, and 60 percent unskilled labor.
“I grew up in Fort Fairfield working in potato houses and on potato farms, and that’s how I got my work ethic,” Doak said, “but I always knew education was going to be important. If you look across today’s job market, 20 percent is still professional, but 65 percent of Maine needs skilled labor, while 15 percent is unskilled.”
Doak ended his speech by urging students to choose their college majors wisely, and think about how it will impact their future.
“I’ve had friends come out with majors who don’t know what job they’ll get,” Doak said. “Pick a job, research it, and do a job shadow through JMG. Help mom and dad out when you go to college by knowing you’re going there for something you’re really going to like to do, and do well.”
Shawn Cunningham discussed the importance of community service and volunteering, and the many benefits one can reap from participating in charitable work.
“By going someplace once a week and participating in a service project all while working toward, and on, that next opportunity, you’re putting something directly into the universe and the universe, in turn, directly benefits you. So when that career opportunity does come along, you’re ready willing and able to take it on successfully.
Cunningham added that companies benefit immensely when hiring an employee with service experience.
“They gain a skilled workforce that’s dedicated, socially conscious, and civically engaged,” Cunningham said. “A workforce who, through service, has learned that the world is not disconnected, that we are all connected to the world and people who live in it are also responsible for empowering that world.”
The morning anchor said the “world breaks down” when people don’t invest and give back to their community.
“When we commit to community service, we ensure quality of life for people of all ages,” Cunningham said. “We ensure that the fates, fortunes, and futures of people aren’t futile but are instead fueled with possibility. For those who volunteer and commit to service, you’re living a life full of passion, purpose, and positivity.”
Kenneth Atcheson’s speech emphasized the importance of leadership, a topic he regularly covers as NHS adviser and social studies teacher.
“Leadership comes up in my class on a daily basis,” Atcheson said. “Today we’re discussing how the Cuban missile crisis changed the attitudes of President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev toward each other and thus the leadership of this world. Both men came to think of each other as humans, humans that are moral, mortal, and that no nation could lead the world into a nuclear holocaust. In encouraging each of the students here to become a leader, we must come with the willingness to follow others for the good of all.”
Atcheson added that leadership is vital to living a well-developed life.
“In being a leader you must listen to that still, small voice that we hear so often, it is the voice of our moral conscience,” Atcheson said. “No matter what people may say, everyone has this voice. It is what separates mankind from other forms of life.
Atcheson closed with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt regarding the difficulties of leadership.
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that this place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat,” Atcheson said, quoting the 26th president.
