Wiscasset Middle High School finished fourth in WGME’s Spirit Challenge on Friday, March 4, WMHS technology coordinator Deb Pooler said. More importantly, she said, the school and the Wiscasset community raised 52,689 pounds of food for Good Shepherd Food Bank.

Coupled with the 58,662 pounds Wiscasset raised when it won the contest in 2014, the total raised locally now comes to 111,351 pounds, Pooler said.

“I’m so proud of our hometown. They did really well,” she said after returning from the televised, live finale at the Portland station. Anchor Jeff Peterson told her Wiscasset did a heck of a job, Pooler added.

Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot joined Pooler and WMHS student council members Daren Wood, Grant Hefler, Brandon Goud and Kennedy Orr at the finale.

It was a good experience, being there with the other schools from the contest, Hefler said in a phone interview Saturday. His favorite part was probably getting to see firsthand how the morning news program came together, he said. “We all got to sit and watch the live broadcast right across the room.”

For him, the highlight of the two-month contest was the early morning, televised rally at the school Jan. 22, Hefler said. “Because everyone was all pumped.”  A lot of the same businesses and people who turned out to help also did so in 2014, he said.

Comparing the 2014 contest to the latest one, Wiscasset’s second run at the Spirit Cup, Hefler said they were pretty close in terms of school and community participation. And like Pooler, Hefler was impressed at the amount of food Wiscasset amassed over the two contests to help fight hunger.

“That’s almost incredible,” he said. “So honestly, that felt really good ... That’s going to feed a lot of people. And it actually shows that if everybody has one goal, you generally can reach it in a short time.”

Wilmot described the energy at the finale as exhilarating. In an email response to the Wiscasset Newspaper, Wilmot writes that she, Pooler and the students were surrounded by other school departments “equally committed to supporting an effort to reduce food insecurity in Maine.

“Our students consistently impress me with their poise, positive attitude and drive to make a difference,” Wilmot’s email continues. “The community of Wiscasset has a lot to be proud of!”

Third place in the challenge went to Wilmot’s prior employer, Lisbon; second place, Maranacook; and first, Gray-New Gloucester, Pooler said.