Wiscasset Middle High School's boys' high school basketball team will be a top-three seed in D south regionals, and the girls' team "just snapped a 122-game losing streak," Athletic Director Brandon Rogers told the school committee Jan. 14. "So all this is huge."

Rogers' comments drew applause in the WMHS library. The meeting was carried live on the school department's YouTube channel and a recording can be viewed there.

"I'm super excited with how we are progressing," Rogers said. "It's pretty awesome ...," including student-athletes' efforts on their schoolwork, he said. "There's an energy around athletics that is (being felt by) everyone in this building."

At the middle school, "super important (as) feeder programs," the boys will be a top-two seed in the Busline league, Rogers continued. "And our girls are competing every single day as well. So I think (these are) really encouraging signs for us moving forward as a team."

And this spring, he "really would love" to bring back a junior varsity baseball team, he said. "Just so we can at least get our toes wet ..." Rogers said there will be softball, and that track and field will be "massive."

Also Jan. 14, the committee accepted with regret Lisa Austin's resignation from gifted and talented and the retirements of longtime employees John Merry, maintenance and transportation director; bus driver Laurie Berry and custodian Alan Small.

In a Dec. 6 letter Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kim Andersson provided on request, Merry states his current contract is his last full one with the district and he plans to work full-time in the district until January 2026.

WES Principal Stacy Clements said plans are underway for a March 12 PreK open house. And the recent installation of an updated firewall is aiding cyber security, Technology Coordinator Chelsea Taylor said. “I know we’re a small school district, but it’s still important to be aware of the threats and … be as prepared as we can against that. This updated firewall is a big piece of ensuring that protection and moving in the right direction, with the times that we’re in.”

School Resource Officer Sgt. Perry Hatch said changes to the emergency response plan have included updating both staff’s and outside agencies’ contact information. “It’s not a one and done … It’s a living document,” he said of the plan. 

Next up in schools’ asbestos removal is, hopefully this summer, replacing floor tiles in Wiscasset Elementary School‘s  basement, Facilities and Transportation Director John Merry said. School administrators would like to repurpose some of the basement’s rooms, “and it’s long overdue,” he added.

Up to three WMHS seniors this year will get $2,500 apiece from Wormfest, Whitney and another of Wormfest's organizers, Lucy Oyster, said. They said the awards will be based on volunteerism, and the money does not have to go toward college; it can help the recipient as they learn a trade or enter the workforce. When Oyster said the award amount, School Committee Chair Jason Putnam said "Wow."

Alyson Graham told the meeting, her maritime studies students at WMHS will build a 32-foot rowboat obtained for free from Sail Tall Ships Maine. And Graham, who has "over 20 years' experience living on schooners (and) sailing with teenagers all over the world," said the nonprofit is again this year offering students free spots on a five-day trip aboard a small schooner.

Graham would eventually like the school to have a rowing team, and "a fleet of little boats" to ride the river, aiding placed-based learning and school pride. The outing club will build a six-foot sailboat from a kit that, like the rowboat, was free, Graham said.