Lady Eagles - Class A State Soccer Champs - By Stephanie Coffin

The Lady Eagles Girls varsity soccer team’s week in review in three easy steps: 

1. Monday - Coach Lebel gives birth to baby Benjamin.

2. Wednesday - the Lady Eagles win the Class A Western Maine Regional Finals against Thornton Academy.

3. Saturday - the Lady Eagles become Class A State Champions!

Top-ranked Windham hosted number three Thornton Academy Wednesday night under the lights at the Windham High School Stadium. Coach Lebel, who gave birth to her son on Monday, came to cheer her girls on along with the fans for both teams. The photographers were surrounding the soccer field ready to capture the moment in picture as we all waited to see who would be crowned champion.

The Lady Eagles took an early lead in both drive and desire by keeping the ball in Thornton Academy’s territory for most of the first half. Sophomore Ciera Berthiaume scored Windham’s first goal showing TA that she was here to play and to the delight of the Eagles Nest crowd making the game 1-0. Senior Jenna Soucy showed TA’s defense that she also was here to perform and could get by their defense to score the second goal for Windham.

 The second half started with Windham 2 – TA 0. However, the TA’s offense must have gotten a pep talk by their coach because they stepped up their game scored their first goal within two minutes of half time. The game continued as a fast paced, aggressive performance from both sides that was just too exciting to remain seated. Emily Gilman and a TA player collided that resulted in the TA player sitting out the remainder of the game. 

Ciara Berthiaume scored again with an assist from Cassie Symonds, making the score Windham-3 to TA-1. TA rallied back with back to back goals tying and forcing the championship game into overtime.

The first 15-minute overtime period went scoreless making the fans wonder if it will all come down to penalty kicks as the semifinal game against Scarborough did. Moving in to the second overtime period with 10:47 left to play, Berthiaume forces TA to a corner kick. Kicking the ball low, Berthiaume found senior Emily Gorrivan as she made her way through the TA players using her body to drive the ball home. Gorrivan, not even realizing or believing what she had just done took a moment to realize that she made the Lady Eagles champions!

As the Lady Eagles headed to states on Saturday in Bath against the Bangor Rams they carried with them their motto “Offense wins games but defense wins championships”. 

And that is just what happened on Saturday, the offense took charge of the game out shooting Bangor with shots on goal 38-8. While the defense kept the ball from getting too close to goalkeeper Kate Kneeland and the net by keeping the ball over the midfield line.

The first half of the game went scoreless. However, 51 seconds into the second half Ciera Berthiaume accepted a pass from Shannon Valente to score the first of three goals for the Lady Eagles. Once the momentum started there was no stopping the girls from Windham. Luisa Sbardella scored the second goal of the game 27 minutes later when she accepted a pass from Jenna Soucy and out maneuvered Bangor’s defender for the ball. Jenna Soucy wrapped up the third goal about three minutes later when she accepted a pass from Emily Gorrivan while making her way past three Bangor defenders to find her way into the net. 

The Rams were trying their best throughout the game to bring the ball into Windham territory, while Cassie Symonds, Shannon Valente and Katie Herzig continued their efforts to push the ball back and block any attempts made by Bangor. The Rams were successful a few times and got down field, however, the Lady Eagle defenders consisting of Emily Gilman, Ariana Davidson, Lauren Shoemaker, Laura McKenna, Jordan Sargent and Hannah Haskell just would not allow that to happen and made the Rams go home scoreless.

The ‘Eagles Nest’ classmates came to Bath to cheer on their Lady Eagles and it was exciting to see all the fans, parents, family, and friends and school faculty that were there also to support them. It was a great year to be a part of this team in any of these positions. The team is made up of a wonderful bunch of girls, great parents, great fan support and great coaching. Fans can’t wait to see what happens next year.

Congratulations Windham Lady Eagles Varsity Girls Soccer!

 

Windham students compete on Kick Start - By Elizabeth Richards

On the current season of Kick Start, a game show for eighth graders that airs on WPXT, seven of the 27 contestants are from Windham schools. Any eighth grader in the state of Maine can audition for the show, and this year, many of those kids came from the Windham area. During the auditions, kids are asked about themselves to be sure they are comfortable on set and in front of a camera, said Megan Littlefield, who is the promotions coordinator for WPXT, and one of the executive producers of Kick Start. “All the Windham kids have been great,” she said.
 

The show has 13 episodes per season. The winner of each of the first nine episodes moves on to a semi-final show, and the three semi-final winners compete in the finals. The winner of the final round receives a $2,500 NextGen College Investment Plan. 

Kick Start is split into three sections. The first, The Speed Splat Throwdown, has contestants competing for points by buzzing in to answer as many of the questions as they can in three minutes. The Buildy Thing incorporates some kind of physical challenge with contestants creating something within a specific time frame. The final section, the Slop Drop Showdown, has all competitors answering true/false or multiple choice questions at the same time to compete for points. Contestants who answer three of these questions incorrectly end up doused in slime.

Littlefield says the station produces the show because they want to be involved in communities and help encourage kids to start thinking about college at an early age. All eighth graders in the state are invited to audition. Though they try to put on as many kids who audition as they can, Littlefield says, “It turns out a lot of eighth graders are very nervous to get in front of camera.” The show will be filming again in the spring, so current eighth graders who wish to get involved can audition for that season. 

Windham Middle School had five students on the show this season: Wyatt Yost, Matthew Kluchnik, Graham Giroux, Jaren Preston and Glenn O’Brien. Two students from Windham Christian Academy, Anna Blaschke and Corban Ridlon, also appeared this season. 

When asked why they decided to audition, many of the students who were on this season said they had known people – a relative or a friend – who had been on the show in previous years. Others heard about it on Q97.9, whose morning show host Jeff Parsons is also the Kick Start host. “I thought it would be really cool to be on a TV show,” said Ridlon. 

Preston, whose brother had been on the show, said he’d been thinking about it for a while. “It was fun to watch and looked like an enjoyable experience,” he said.

The students had positive things to say about the experience, and said they enjoyed having the opportunity to participate in the show. “The best thing about it is all my friends and family, everyone I knew wanted to watch it, and even those I didn’t know. I felt like a totally celebrity,” said Giroux. 

Kluchnik was interested in the technical aspects of the show, and he said that seeing the set design was what he enjoyed most. “That was really cool,” he said. The experience was a good one overall, he said.

Yost, who was the winner on his episode, said “It was one of the best experiences of my life.” His semi-final episode will air on December 12^th.

The Buildy Thing was the most talked about among participants. For some it was their favorite part, while others found it to be the most challenging aspect of the show. “I liked the buildy thing. We had to build foam noodles on your fingers. It was fun, but it was scary,” said Ridlon.

Giroux was tied for points with another contestant moving into the buildy thing. His challenge was to build a cookie tower without using his hands, which he said he was surprisingly good at. He left that round in the lead, but ended up getting slimed in the final round.

Blaschke said she enjoyed trying to build a boat. “It didn’t work out too well, but it was fun trying,” she said. She also said she found the boat building to be the hardest part for her. Many of the questions, she said, were fairly easy. 

Ridlon, on the other hand, said she thought the final round questions were the hardest part. For Yost, the most challenging was the speed round because answers had to come immediately.

Many of the students who were slimed said it was not fun. “I used to watch Nickelodeon shows and thought it would be really cool to get slimed, but it’s not,” said Ridlon. 

Blaschke agreed. “The slime was nasty,” she said. 

But Yost had a different opinion. “I loved the slime,” he said. “It was just really fun.”

Some participants said the show helped them gain some important insights into themselves. “It made me feel a little more – upbeat with life,” said Giroux. He said he felt he’d been more negative than usual for a while before the show, participating gave him a better outlook. “Because I lost and just dealt with that. It made me learn that sometimes you’ve got to lose, and sometimes you’re going to win,” he said.

Blaschke, who came in second on her episode, said she learned a few things as well. “It’s a lot easier to go in front of people than it was before,” she said.

And some other skills were developed as well. “I’m better at making structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows,” quipped Yost.

Veteran's honor those present and those who have passed - By Rob McClure

G.K. Chesterton once wrote: "Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die." A fitting quote on a day set aside to honor the sacrifice and commitment routinely asked of our troops.
 

Monday, Nov 11^th, two local veteran organizations, VFW Post 10643 and American Legion Post 148 of Windham, hosted a Veterans Honoring Veterans Program at the Windham Veterans Center. The event was billed as a gathering of both local veterans as well as the general public, who were invited to attend as an opportunity to honor those who are serving and for those who have served in defense of our Country. 

 

Veterans and the public were welcomed as Boy Scout Troop 805 members presented colors, which was quickly followed by a wonderful rendition of the National Anthem by the Windham Chamber Singers. The introduction was followed by a heartfelt thanks to all the troops who had just been deployed to provide relief in the Philippines. 

The crowd of nearly 300 people filled the room to capacity. All five branches of the US military were represented: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard, all in neatly pressed full dress uniforms, garnished with ribbons and medals. Patriotism was running high. Throughout the event, several speakers were overcome with emotion.

Commander Roger Timmons presented awards to this year’s winners of the Patriot’s Pen Essay. Each winner received a cash award and personally recited their work to the audience. The winners were: Payton White, Holden Anderson, Megan Joy and Lauren Clark. Anne Libby, a senior at Windham High School, won the Voice of Democracy contest. 

Seated at the main table as honored guests were Senator Gary Plummer, Representative Jane Pringle, Representative Thomas Tyler, councilor Dennis Welch, councilor David Nadeau and General William Begert.

Keynote speaker General Bergert, never talked about his credentials, but he flew more than 300 combat missions over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War. He has logged more than 875 hours of combat earning him two Legion of Merit medals, two Distinguished Flying Cross medals and twelve Air medals. 

Bergert praised and thanked the members of our armed forces as he spoke about each conflict beginning with the First World War. “During those times, our soldiers had no idea when they would return home. They weren’t signing up for six months, not even a one or two year tour, they were committed until victory,” said Bergert. “Look at what our troops are doing today, at this moment. Providing relief, food and medicine to the Philippines. These humanitarian actions are happening today because of our troops readiness. The Philippine people may not have another week.” Bergert ended on a note that troop readiness must not be overlooked or taken for granted.

The Windham Chamber Singers performed another song which was followed by the Chaplains final prayer. The program ended on a gracious note as the crowd was led outside to the Memorial Garden to dedicate the ashes of deceased veterans Ralph Johnson and Barry Lombard. The outside ceremony included a granite bench dedication in memory of veteran Harold Lewis. Finally, the ceremonies concluded with a memorial garden stone dedication to MIA/POWs and Scout Dean Preston’s rendition of Taps played on his trumpet. Guests were invited back in for closing refreshments, courtesy of Dinah Aldrich.

… And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?