Issue of June 13, 2008
They hope to be a teacher, a researcher, a sports psychologist and a biomedical engineer.
They are the four top South Portland High School seniors, who shared a keynote address Sunday during outdoor graduation exercises, where 209 students received diplomas.
Under bright skies, valedictorian Dorothea Crowley, salutatorian Carolyn Conley, and Thomas Biskup and Brianna Wing each offered a short speech to fellow members of the class of 2008. The ceremony took place at George E. Martin Memorial Field, the school’s athletic field.
Stumbling home after a late night studying his sophomore year, senior class speaker Matthew Roy knew high school life had nothing in common with the overblown drama of bad late-night television.
Or did it?
“Scandals – check. Drugs – check. Awkward love triangles? Even I know something about that,” he admitted.
Parents, cover your ears.
As the class of 2008 sat at attention under the glare of the 2 p.m. sun on a muggy, windless, sweltering Sunday, Roy revealed his classmates’ fail-safe method of coping with stress: “silliness.”
As a class, he said, the graduates of 2008 knew how to “take almost nothing seriously,” while piling up achievements including the highest average SAT scores in the state. Cape Elizabeth seniors, Roy said, know how to “be so chill – yet achieve so much.”
They began the great journey of high school in a building where the road map to class – forget the road map to success – changed daily.
Succeeding in school didn’t just mean showing up. It meant navigating ever-changing routes to each class in a building under construction, and even remembering which bathrooms were open on which days.
Four years later, the Scarborough High School class of 2008 had contributed to 16 state titles in athletics, produced 26 all-state musicians, and could boast extracurricular teams that had won national recognition.
They had made it to class; they had even, Principal Patricia Conant noted, learned how to walk (to “Pomp and Circumstance”) and not chew gum.
On Sunday evening, the 220-member class graduated before a full house in Portland’s Merrill Auditorium.
In her welcome speech, Nicole Chaloux-Pinette, class president, listed the important lessons of elementary school (“boys are not gross and girls do not have cooties”), middle school (“being seen out with your family is not cool”) and high school (“mono is really contagious”), but pointed out that Scarborough students learn a few serious lessons, as well.
“The people you love will always be there to hold your hand,” she said.
The Scarborough Land Conservation Trust is renovating a large dairy barn attached to the farmhouse at Broadturn Farm, formerly the Meserve Farm.
The floors and sills of the barn, which dates back to the early 1800s, are being replaced. A specialized timber framer, Michael Alderson, of Round Pond, has been hired to renovate the barn using traditional post and beam techniques, in keeping with the historical aspect of the structure. Timber framing entails using heavy timbers that are joined together with pegged joints. This barn will be jacked up for a period to level the barn before the sills are replaced.
This extensive project will cost in excess of $25,000. Once renovation is completed, the barn will be an essential aspect of farm activities. It will be used by the camp counselors and children at Farm Camp, wedding guests, etc.
The barn restoration project should be completed by June 19, in time for the first wedding at the farm, later in June.
Nate Marles’ startup computer repair business could not be going better.
Current Computer Tech of South Portland has about 65 clients who seek Marles’ services to fix and upgrade computers.
With revenues double over last year, Marles is branching into retail, offering electronics for sale at discount prices.
Of course, Marles is not allowed to leave the house for jobs until he finishes his homework.
Marles is just 17, a South Portland High School junior who has quickly developed a local reputation among PC users, as well as small business owners, for his expertise with computers.
Accusations of conflict of interest and pandering to voters surfaced Monday night at a South Portland City Council workshop, as members debated whether dogs should be restricted or banned from Willard Beach this summer.
At issue was a proposal by Councilor Maxine Beecher to pass a law that would prohibit dogs from Willard Beach during the busy summer season or limit pet access to evening hours.
“For two decades dogs have ruled Willard Beach,” said Beecher, noting that pets are allowed on the beach all day during the winter and from 6-9 a.m. in the summer.
Responding to some complaints by beachside residents, Beecher asked fellow councilors whether they would be willing to amend city ordinances to restrict pet access to the city’s most popular beach.
Emily Croft, a senior at Cape Elizabeth High School, has been selected by the Maine Beta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International as the recipient of its Susanne M. M. Flagg Grant.
The Susanne M. M. Flagg Grant is awarded annually to a senior girl who is planning to pursue a career in education. This year the grant is $1,000. Delta Kappa Gamma is an honorary society of women teachers.
The Scarborough Red Storm just completed another perfect regular season to earn the No. 1 seed entering the Western Maine Class A softball tournament. The defending state champs haven’t lost in two years the win streak is 36 and counting.
Still, longtime coach Tom Griffin sees room for improvement. Those uniforms are just too clean.
“We haven’t been diving for balls and I’ve been really irked about that,” Griffin said. “On (tough) plays defensively, we’re not leaving our feet. So after practice the other day, I had them rolling in the dirt for about five minutes. They were dragging each other through the dirt. Then I had them sit down and said, ‘You’re dirty. We’re going to get dirty the rest of the way.’ So they all went home from practice the other day dirty, just filthy and muddy. I think they got the message.”
It sure appeared that way during Monday’s 3-1 win over South Portland in the SMAA semifinals at Scarborough. Second baseman Reegan Brackett set the tone early, diving to rob Alexis Bogdanovich and the Red Riots of a base hit on a sharp line drive on the second pitch of the game, then erasing Kelsey Flaherty, who had reached on a ground-rule double on the first pitch, by tossing to second for the double play.
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The Scarborough girls overcame a slight deficit midway through the Class A state championship meet to claim their third straight state title at Windham High School on Saturday. The Red Storm finished the day with 72 points to edge Edward Little, which finished just two points behind with 70. Massabesic was third with 52 points.
In fourth place was Brunswick with 50 points followed by Gorham, Messalonskee, Bangor, Bonny Eagle, Cony, Thornton Academy, Cheverus, Lewiston, Mt. Ararat, Biddeford, Kennebunk, Marshwood, Deering, Brewer, Sanford, Morse, Mt. Blue, Skowhegan, Noble, South Portland, Oxford Hills and Westbrook.
“I thought 70 points would win it and we ended up having to score more than 70,” said Scarborough head coach Ron Kelly. “Edward Little stepped up too. They have a young team and they had a lot of people step up for them.”
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