By Diane Hines
Houlton Rotary Club
HOULTON — During the weekly Monday luncheon meeting April 13, Houlton Rotarians heard the results of the April 9 Bingo Event, inducted a new member and heard from Aroostook Aspirations Initiative.
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PRESENTATION — The Houlton Rotary Club heard a presentation on Aroostook Aspirations during its April 13 meeting. Taking part are, from left, Rotary President Amy Hocking, April Flagg and Kristin Wells of Aroostook Aspiration Initiative and Rotarian Nancy Ketch.
Everyone was thanked for his or her efforts in making the Bingo night a success. A total of $4,518 was raised for the Youth Scholarship. This year’s exchange students are Hannah Jacobs and Keagan Fitzpatrick. These two individuals were on hand at the Bingo night assisting in the kitchen. Jacobs will be our exchange student to Italy and Fitzpatrick to the Netherlands.
Houlton’s Chief of Police Joe McKenna was formally sworn in as a member of Houlton’s Rotary Club. He was instructed on the ways of Rotary and took the oath of membership, administered by Past-President Leigh Cummings.
President Amy Hocking gave Joe his packet of Rotary information and Mike Clark delivered the Rotary coin. April Flagg and Kristin Wells of Aroostook Aspirations Initiative presented the program. The club had heard from this organization one year ago but new information was presented. This year April focused in her speech on the “Who, What and Why” of their organization.
Aroostook County suffers from population decrease, 16 percent of the current population has college degrees and household incomes are $10,000 less that the average for the state. Aroostook Aspirations Initiative currently works to educate one person from each high school in the county for a total of 16 students. The new goal is to assist 20 students. April stressed the connection between poverty level and lower education levels.
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NEW MEMBER — Houlton Police Chief Joe McKenna, middle, was welcomed to the Houlton Rotary Club as its newest member. With him are Rotary President Amy Hocking and Rotarian Darryl Malone.
What Aroostook Aspirations Initiative does is to in effect “grow Aroostook from within.” There is a “war for talent,” an effort to keep our talented youth here in the County to work and raise their families. April sees the connection between community involvement by students when they are growing up and whether or not these individuals choose to stay in the County as adults.
There is a $7,500 investment per student even though the scholarship is set at $2,000. The extra funds go towards the mentoring process that involves all the work to keep each student on track for their college experience. The students who qualify are first generation college students and are economically disadvantaged. A total of 97 percent of the students in this initiative receive college degrees and it is found that 75 percent of these students now live in Aroostook. April feels the initiative is the key to the success of communities in Aroostook County. Maine Commissioner of Education Stephen Bowen and the University of Maine Chancellor James Page see this initiative as a possible model for the state.
Anyone can help with this Gauvin County Scholarship Fund. Ray and Sandy Gauvin are the principal source of funding. For more information, the phone number is 760-0558, the office is located a 754 Main Street, Presque Isle and an email address is info@gauvinfund.org. The website is www.gauvinfund.org. Volunteers are needed in the mentoring part of this initiative, such as retirees who can share their experience working in the County and encourage the students on their journey. Also, donations are welcomed, for example, there is a monthly subscription available for the Aroostook Aspirations Initiative. Remember their mission is to reduce outward migration, increase degree attainment and grow Aroostook’s economy.
