Kennebunk High School senior Cameron Munro, who will graduate Sunday, will be heading to Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston in the fall to study mechanical engineering. TAMMY WELLS/Journal Tribune
KENNEBUNK — When Cameron Munro was 7 years old, he began weeding gardens for a family friend.
He’s still weeding and doing other farm chores — but now for six farms, instead of one. As well, Munro works about 20 hours a week for a package handling firm, and he has a carpentry gig with an area general contractor.
All that, and he’s still in school — Munro will graduate on Sunday afternoon. He’s a member of the Class of 2019 at Kennebunk High School.
So it isn’t surprising perhaps that Munro, a matter-of-fact guy with maturity beyond his 18 years and an affinity for hard work, has a 4.0 grade point average.
Munro does most of his school work at KHS, but has been attending Sanford Regional Technical Center for the past two years, where he studied pre-engineering and robotics.
He will attend Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts in the fall. He plans to study mechanical engineering and is thinking about a minor in machining.
“It is the best fit for me,” he said of his choice.
Munro has been coping with dyslexia — a learning disability that impacts his reading, writing and spelling abilities, since he was a boy. But 10 years of tutoring, three of them through the Children’s Dyslexia Centers, a program of the Scottish Rite Freemasons, has made a difference, he said.
“That helped significantly,” he said. “It was one of the best helps I had.”
These days, Munro also finds software — like a program that turns the spoken word to text, very helpful.
Still, he said, he knows that whenever a teacher estimates a writing assignment will take 30 or 60 minutes, it will take him considerably longer. That fact doesn’t seem to have impacted his grades — he has been named a member of the National Technical Honor Society.
Maybe that comes from the work ethic, the one that, when he was a bit younger, inspired Munro to bicycle seven miles to a farm to do weeding and other chores, and then pedal seven miles home to Kennebunk.
In the winter, he is a ski instructor at Mount Abrams, as is his mother, Jeannie Munro.
So what’s with the work ethic?
“I like working,” he said. “It’s been ingrained in me.”
In the summer Munro kayaks, rides a mountain bikes and goes hiking.
“If it’s outdoors and it looks like fun, I’m doing it,” he said.
Munro played football but sustained injuries to his back and legs — and said he continued to play until his doctor told him he needed to stop or find a new physician.
He credits his mother for her support of his work habits and helping him deal with dyslexia.
These days, he said, she is apt to advise that he take a day off, now and again, but that doesn’t often happen.
“There’s no off switch,” he said.
Kennebunk High School graduation is set for 1 p.m. Sunday on the school’s stadium field, but will be inside the school gym if there is rain.
Jason Albaum is valedictorian of the 172 member senior class and will give an address, as will salutatorian Isabel Hauser. Guest speaker is English and literacy teacher Andrew Young.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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