For two weeks, students in David Ezhaya’s government class have played host to a number of state officials in the first ever Bonny Eagle High School Distinguished Speaker Series. On Monday, the series culminated with an appearance by Gov. John Baldacci.
Baldacci spoke to an attentive crowd of about 60 students representing Ezhaya’s government class, his mock trial and prosecution teams, a journalism class and an eleventh grade English class.
State Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Cumberland, scheduled the speakers for the series, modeling the event after one he had held at Windham High School in 1984. Student attendance was deliberately kept low to encourage interaction between students and speaker.
Baldacci exhorted the students, saying they are “the future leaders.”
“High school all happens so fast,” he said. “That’s why we’re all taking time out to answer questions and have an exchange.”
Baldacci spoke of his background – growing up working in his family’s restaurant.
“We were raised with an ethic – serving the people,” he said. “It’s not being done for our benefit but for our community, our state and our nation.”
Addressing the need to keep young people in Maine, Baldacci spoke about the importance of education levels and investing research and development in Maine’s workers.
He stressed the need to protect Maine’s natural resources and structure services to maximize educational and job opportunities in the state.
“Students aren’t saying ‘jobs first,’ they’re saying ‘location first,'” he said.
After Baldacci finished speaking, students asked him various questions regarding jobs, health care and his educational and political experience.
While the governor spoke, students appeared to be genuinely interested in the topics he covered. And with their first mock trial competition of the school year scheduled for Thursday, members of the mock trial and mock prosecution teams observed him not only to hear his answers but to study his delivery as well.
“I learned more about how Gov. Baldacci wanted to bring people back to Maine,” said Marc Assante, a member of the mock trial team. “It gave me a better understanding of how to speak in public and to handle distractions and questions.”
But a student who had asked the governor several questions received a different impression from Baldacci.
“I just thought he was dancing around the questions I was asking,” said sophomore journalism student C. C. Burth.
Other state officials who were a part of the prestigious group of speakers for this series included Commissioner of Education Susan Gendron, Commissioner of Corrections Martin Magnusson, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, Attorney General Steve Rowe, State Treasurer David Lemoine, Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Court Robert Clifford and State Senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate Peter Mills.
Maine Governor John Baldacci spoke to students at Bonny Eagle High School on Monday. Baldacci rounded out The Distinguished Speaker Series, organized by State Senator Bill Diamond for David Ezhayaiffin Sherry welcomes Governor John Baldacci to the podium. Bonny Eagle High School students were treated to a host of Maine VIP speakers over the past two weeks.Send questions/comments to the editors.
