A Wiscasset High School contingent will make an early morning trip to Portland Friday, when television station WGME names the winner of its Spirit Challenge.

“I'm nervous but I'm excited at the same time,” WHS staff member Deb Pooler said about the upcoming announcement.

She'll be getting up at 3:15 a.m. Friday, March 7, to meet five students an hour later for the trip to the studio. The station will provide the group with breakfast, Pooler said.

WGME staff visited the school on February 28 and March 3, doing interviews ahead of the announcement, Pooler said.

Station staff didn't spill who the winner is, but did reveal that Wiscasset High was one of just three entrants that managed to raise more than $10,000 in cash toward the Spirit Challenge's food drive, benefiting Good Shepherd Food Bank, Pooler said.

That doesn't necessarily mean the school finished in the top three overall; placement depends on the number of pounds of food collected, from a combination of food donations and cash for the food bank.

Regardless of how Wiscasset High finishes in the contest, Pooler said school staff and students are feeling good about the experience. People and businesses made contributions and the school had a successful rally that aired live on the station in January.

“This has brought the community together, and we've helped so many people with the food we've collected, we feel like we're already winners,” Pooler said.

The winning school and a tally on all the food the schools collected will be revealed between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. Friday, according to morning news co-anchor Jeff Peterson.

“Keep your fingers crossed,” Pooler said.

The station is hoping to eclipse the 126,188 pounds of food raised in a prior Spirit Challenge, Peterson added.