WMHS students visit colleges, attend workshops
Chelsea Haggett, Wiscasset School Committee member, speaks to seniors about the dangers of personal identity theft. Courtesy photo
Gabrielle Bailey, left, and Katelyn Long wait in the WMHS library for the bus which will take them to visit a Maine college for the day. Courtesy photo
Chelsea Haggett, Wiscasset School Committee member, speaks to seniors about the dangers of personal identity theft. Courtesy photo
Gabrielle Bailey, left, and Katelyn Long wait in the WMHS library for the bus which will take them to visit a Maine college for the day. Courtesy photo
Wiscasset Middle High School conducted its annual Maine Educational Loan Marketing Association Day on Nov. 14. The day was funded by the MELMAC Connecting Aspirations to a Plan Grant. The MELMAC Foundation is committed to supporting high-quality initiatives for increasing educational opportunities. Each year, WMHS students and teachers visit several colleges so that students can get a better understanding of the college experience. On Nov. 14, they visited St. Joseph's College in Standish, University of New England in Biddeford and Thomas College in Waterville.
Margaret Scally, WMHS guidance secretary, said: "The MELMAC-sponsored college visit offers many of our students their first look at the possibilities of a future college experience. Each year different colleges in Maine, and occasionally around New England, are selected to offer ... a look at a variety of colleges. The typical day includes a tour of the campus lead by current college students, a brief overview presentation by admissions staff, and lunch in the college dining room."
Students and chaperones complete post-visit surveys to help in future planning. The results are overwhelming positive. The guidance staff often hears from seniors that they have selected a college based on a visit provided by MELMAC.
While the freshmen, sophomores and juniors were on college tours, seniors attended seminars in '”Successful College Searches,” “Job Interviewing,” “College Essay and Application Work Sessions,” “Protecting Credit Scores,” ”Adult Education Training Opportunities” and a “Scholarship Work Session” led by WMHS guidance counselor Shaye Paradis.
Seniors started their day off by attending an informational meeting with Dr. Heather Wilmot, superintendent of schools. Wilmot said, "It was my pleasure to have Ben Clark reach out to me to speak with the senior class regarding local government. I saw this as an opportunity to connect their classroom learning targets to an authentic context such as the role of the Wiscasset School Committee. This work with students created a lot of questions on their behalf. Students inquired about how they could get more involved in local government and wanted to learn more about topics that the Wiscasset School Committee might be discussing in the future."
Event Date
Address
United States
Standard Post
