SKOWHEGAN — In order to get young people interested in attending college after high school, you have to get to them early — in elementary school.

That was the message from Maine College Circle on Tuesday night during a Future of Maine College Aspirations Scholarships event at Skowhegan Area High School. Sixty-five school children in grades three through six each received a $100 scholarship award that they can use toward college — even if it’s years in the future.

“If you talk to a 12th-grade boy or girl about college in rural Maine, you’re about eight years too late,” said Bob Stuart, executive director of Maine College Circle, which for more than 16 years has conducted workshops and reached more than 60,000 students in 119 Maine communities. “Most of those (students) have started making those decisions about their future in early middle school. Coming to them in 12th grade and saying they really ought to go to college, I’m not sure that’s even a good thing to do.

“That’s why I spend all of my time speaking to third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders these days. It’s important for them to build their aspirations and help them see a path to the future.”

Scholarships are awarded with the assistance of the primary sponsor, Dead River Co., along with Tacconet Federal Credit Union, Unum insurance and nonprofit foundations, Stuart said.

Dead River Chief Executive Officer Bob Moore was on hand for the awards Tuesday night.

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“We’re really proud to be involved in this, especially with the kinds of kids the awards are appealing to. They’re kids from more rural Maine and don’t have the same kind of exposure to the potential college experience or any post-high school experience, whatever it is,” Moore said. “It’s all about aspirations, getting them thinking about college.”

The College Aspirations Scholarships are awarded to grade-school students based on an essay about college and career aspirations. Scholarships are redeemable upon enrollment in any post-secondary educational program. What holds most students back from success in education isn’t ability, according to Stuart; it’s desire, motivation and information.

Twenty-two community members read and assessed 276 applications before awarding 65 scholarships. In addition, teachers spent numerous hours outside of normal class time to help students form and articulate their thoughts in order to do their best in the application process.

Award recipient Jacob Munn, a third-grader who attends Mill Stream Elementary School in Norridgewock, said he wants to go to college to learn how to build robots.

“I wrote about being an inventor,” the youngster said. “I want to invent things that will change the world. I’ll have to go to college to do that. I want to study about electronics.”

Scholarship winner Autumn-Rose Honas, who attends Moscow Elementary School, was quiet Tuesday night leading up to the awards, but Stuart in his presentation said she hopes to be a vegetarian and loves animals.

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Fifth-grader Hailey Paquet, who also attends the Norridgewock School, said she wants to do her best, which includes going to college.

“I wrote about being a set designer,” she said before the awards ceremony. “That’s what I want to be. The money will help me get into college and get my books and stuff.”

She said she knows college “costs a lot” but that she will be ready when the time comes.

According to a study of college participation rates of Maine’s high school graduates published by the University of Southern Maine in March 2013, about 6 out of 10 high school graduates enroll in a college or university, and 90 percent of those who start college enroll full time.

That means 40 percent of graduating seniors don’t enroll in college, a number that has been fairly consistent over the last two decades, according to the study.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that more than 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs will require some type of post-secondary education or training, but not all that education and training has to result in a two-year or four-year college degree. Some of those jobs may require only a certificate-granting course or a similar program, according to the report.

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This year, College Circle, a Maine nonprofit group, held workshops for students at elementary and middle schools in Skowhegan, Canaan, Moscow, Norridgewock and Bingham. In these workshops, students discussed the idea and value of higher education, the opportunities that are available for everyone, and why college or any kind of education after high school is essential.

Stuart said he understands that the program looks like fluff and free advertisement for sponsors doing “nice little ceremonies for young kids,” but he said he has spent the past 30 years trying to help young students understand their opportunities in high education.

“It’s really not about money,” he said. “Somebody is going to say it’s only a hundred bucks and big deal, and that will pay for a book, and of course they’re right. The goal is not to send more kids to college; it is to develop more kids who want to go to college. The goal is to build a brighter future for all these communities that we support throughout Maine.”

He said communities in Maine are having a harder time making it than they did 40 years ago when shoe shops, forestry and paper mill work, manufacturing, agriculture and other labor-intensive jobs were plentiful.

“The economy is changing and has changed, and Skowhegan is a very good example of that,” Stuart said. “I go to these small towns and I say, ‘What in the world is the future of this community and how do we make it better?’ And the only thing I can think of is education. It’s not simple; it’s long-term.”

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Doug_Harlow


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