Windham childcare teacher honored with national award - By Elizabeth Richards

Birchwood Day Nursery School teacher Heather Marden has been selected by the Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation (TLLCCF) to receive the 2014 Terri Lynne Lokoff/Children’s TYLENOL® National Child Care Teacher Award. Marden is one of 54 recipients selected for the award from a nationwide pool of applicants. Marden will receive a grant of $1,000 to fund a project she created for her classroom, called “Light up Learning.”

“Light Up Learning” includes the purchase of a light table and hands-on materials to use with the table. Marden said that she didn’t want a one-time project, or something that would only be used for a little while and put aside. “I want something that’s going to be a permanent fixture in the classroom, that I can take any curriculum we’re doing or anything the kids are interested in doing and put this in,” she said. Having attempted numerous times to create her own light box with minimal success, Marden feels that the commercial unit will be an investment for the classroom. The box will allow her to incorporate many different materials, from letter tiles and x-ray cards to translucent building bricks, and involve all learning areas, including math, science, literacy, art and dramatic play. The versatility of the light box will also be a big advantage, as it can be used for large groups, small groups and individually. “That’s kind of how I made my choice, looking at the many benefits this would have,” said Marden.

Marden and Birchwood director/owner Connie DiBiase will fly to Philadelphia for events honoring the recipients on April 2^nd. At a luncheon that day, the top ten will speak about their projects. The following evening, the awards and grant money will be presented at a banquet. 

Marden applied for the recognition and grant after DiBiase put the paperwork and a note encouraging her to apply in her mailbox. At first glance, Marden said, she was intimidated by the idea of applying for a national award but ultimately decided to go for it. She collected the necessary recommendations from a parent, a colleague, and DiBiase, filled out the application, and put together the project proposal. Marden submitted her application in late fall of 2013, and was notified by letter in early February that she had been selected.

Marden began her career in education after college, working as a educational technician in special education for three years, then becoming a certified Wilson reading specialist, working one-on-one with children in Kindergarten through 12^th grade. The field was a little too structured and routine for her, she said, and didn’t allow room for her creative side. Seeking an outlet in education that would incorporate this aspect of her personality prompted a move to the early childhood field. When she was offered a preschool position after moving to Portsmouth, NH, she jumped right in. “It was an age I hadn’t done yet, and I thought it would be interesting to learn more about that age,” she said. “Immediately, I just knew, this is me.”  She enjoys the preschool age group, she said, because there is room for creativity, and teaching this age allows her to play a large role in the children’s first introduction to learning.

“I just love that they ask so many questions, and that I can ask just as many back. That’s the fun part for me,” she said of working with preschoolers. “They’re asking questions because they want to learn. When you get to that point in teaching when they’re not asking questions any more, something is wrong.”  

DiBiase said that she encouraged Marden to apply because of the creativity she has seen her use in the classroom, from finding ways to engage a child with trouble entering into play by using his interests to her detailed artist studies. 

Marden has worked at Birchwood for four years. She has two classes of nine children, a Monday/Wednesday/Friday group and one on Tuesday/Thursday. The children in her classes attend for 3 ½ hours a day, from 8:30 am to12 pm. Marden said the things she enjoys most about her job are the creativity and flexibility. “I love how I can have a lesson plan written up for a day and come in and never touch it because of what the children are doing. It’s what keeps the day interesting. No two days are alike,” she said.

 

Winning the award was a very humbling experience for her, Marden said. She had convinced herself that she didn’t have a chance in a nationwide competition, thinking that awards like this were only for teachers who were on committees, or working with the state chapter of NAEYC. “I haven’t really gotten to that point in my career yet. All my efforts are focused here in these four walls. So when I opened it up and saw that I got it, it was very humbling to know that the efforts you put into a classroom can be rewarded like that,” said Marden. She said she always feels personal satisfaction in her job, but to have someone outside recognize her efforts validated what she does even more.

Get healthcare marketplace help before deadline, March 31. - By Michelle Libby

Need health insurance and now it’s the last minute before the government imposed deadline? Portland Community Health Center and The Opportunity Alliance are co-sponsoring an opportunity for community members in the lakes region to make an appointment or to walk in for assistance with navigating the Health Insurance Marketplace. The event will take place at the Windham Public Library on Monday, March 24, from 1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and is being organized by Libby Cummings.

“This is a last minute opportunity for folks to procure health insurance without an insurance tax penalty for 2014,” said Richard Wurfel, a Windham resident and volunteer for the organizations. 

When a resident has an appointment or drops in, it could take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half to select insurance from one of the two insurance carriers, Anthem or Maine Health Care Options, said Wurfel. He recommends that clients bring in their most recent tax forms or know the adjusted gross income from the tax forms, which is written in bold lettering. Also know the social security number and date of birth for all members of the family who are signing up for health coverage and what those individuals may have as income. “Come prepared to guesstimate or project what they believe their adjusted gross income will be in the 2014 tax year,” said Wurfel.  

“Most people are not aware of the money value of the tax penalty. It’s a minimum of $95 or one percent of the adjusted gross income for 2014. For a family with $30,000 AGI, that makes the penalty $300,” Wurfel said.

Anyone can obtain healthcare through www.healthcare.gov, but the process can be daunting. This is the way to take care of it with help, he said.

“There’s a lot of negative media trying to tank the whole affordable health care, but for an individual making under $20,000 there are always subsidies that are applied through the marketplace,” Wurfel said.

There are usually three volunteers ready to assist at most events. This is determined by the number of appointments that are scheduled, Wurfel said. “We prefer folks to call and make appointments. It’s better for the whole situation,” he said.

In February, 4.2 million people have signed up for their health insurance through the marketplace. In Maine almost 26,000 people have signed up as of February.  “We are seeing a real spike,” said Wurfel. “It’s up 40 percent after the President appeared on the Internet show “Between Two Ferns.”

“The intent of the ACA was to get more people insured so the cost for healthcare for the uninsured decreases,” said Wurfel.

“We are thrilled to be of assistance. We know it’s been a difficult and confusing situation for the public and we’re happy to help,” said Wurfel. “We’re just plodding along one sign-up at a time.”

For more information visit www.enroll207.com or www.mainecahc.org (Consumers for affordable healthcare) or for an appointment call 207-874-2141 ext. 5007.

Windham High School wins regional One Act competition - By Michelle Libby

The Windham High School One Act ensemble cast took home first place at the regional One Act competition held at WHS on Saturday. The cast of approximately 30 stormed the stage when Windham was announced as the winner surpassing ten other schools with their performance of “The Spirit of Life – A play in one act.” The play was based on the book Hassidic Tales of the Holocaust by Yaffa Eliach and adapted to stage by David Eliet. 
 

The play about the Holocaust was described as “horrifically amazing” by some students and brought others to tears. 

Senior Brenna Ryder helped to choose the play after she and her father went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. 

“The tower of life struck me more than anything thing else there,” Ryder said, who has been a part of the One Acts for eight years. “I always felt I wanted to do this.” 

The woman who created the tower of life also wrote the book the play was based on, Ryder said.

The subject was a difficult one for some of the students as they learned about what the Jewish people went through and how it felt to be persecuted through the series of vignettes. 

“We wanted to win because we wanted to bring this message to other schools. The overall message was intolerance of any kind is not okay. One group is not better than another and never letting something like that happen ever again,” said Ryder. 

The One Act competition has many rules and regulations. There can be no musicals. There can be no more than five gallons of water on the stage. There is a five minute set up time. Take too long and the team is disqualified. The play cannot be over 40 minutes or…disqualified. There is finally a five minute strike period (clear the stage) or…disqualified. 

As soon as last year’s One Act competition was over, Ryder and her father, Matthew Ryder, the director of the One Act plays, began looking at what to perform for this year. Once they chose “The Spirit of Life” Brenna chose the music to accompany the actors. “I wanted authentic Jewish music and traditional Jewish folk songs,” she said. Rehearsals began in December. 

Having home court advantage was good for the WHS team. “There’s an advantage when you’re using your own lighting and things you’ve been practicing with,” Ryder said. “I wouldn’t have designed the stage I did if it were at Bonny Eagle or another school with a smaller stage.”

Three of Windham’s actors, Kyah Morrissette, Will Wheaton and Johanna Stanley were recognized for the All-conference cast and Brenna Ryder was given a special commendation award for instrumental and vocal conducting. 

“We scored the most points overall of any school at our regional site and received a perfect score for lighting design thanks to our amazing lighting designer Jennifer Bernier,” said Matthew Ryder. “We also had a near-perfect score for costume design thanks to our costumer Kyah Morrissette!” 

The judges did nit-pick a bit, Brenna said. “They said, ‘you have a diamond here, we just want to help you improve.’ We only want to improve now that we are going onto states,” she added. States will be at Camden Hills Regional High School in Camden on March 21 and 22. 

The cast will spend the next couple of weeks fine tuning the performance and hopefully will have another public performance and another school one, possibly, said Brenna. 

One of the other goals for the cast is to raise enough money to go to the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C.

The cast and crew have started a Go Fund page to raise money for that. The link is www.gofundme.com/5UQXVG.

Catch of the Day!

On Saturday, fishermen under the age of 12, including this curious tot, turned out to try their hands at catching fish as a part of the Kid’s Derby portion of the Sebago Lake Ice Fishing Derby sponsored by Sebago Lakes Rotary. The event was held at Range Pond State Park in Poland from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. To make it easier, the holes were pre-drilled and traps and bait were provided. Many fish were caught. Photos by Dawn Dyer.

Answering the question: Why is the Sebago Lake water table so low? - By Elizabeth Richards

The flow and depth of Sebago Lake is controlled by the Eel Weir Dam, which sits at the outlet of the lake and the head of the Presumpscot River. Sappi Fine Paper, which owns the dam, holds a license from the Federal Energy Regulation Commission to manage the dam in accordance with a Lake Level Management Plan that originated in 1997, was tweaked in 2000, and had major changes proposed in 2011 which have not yet been acted on. That proposal is currently under appeal.
 

Brad Goulet, hydro manager for Sappi Fine Paper, said that the current plan calls for lowering the lake early in the fall before the weather turns to freezing, with a goal of having the wave action scour the sandy shoreline and try to push it back up onto the beach. In the summer, he said, people want the lake to be full for recreational purposes. The boating and wave action can be counter to establishing a shoreline, and can in fact cause shoreline erosion as well as having a negative impact on water quality, he said.

Goulet said he doesn’t know what will happen with the current proposal, but that the changes were proposed by Sappi in large part to try and establish a plan that would allow for a more consistent outflow from the lake into the Presumpscot. “The main reason we proposed a change to the plan wasn’t so much for lake level as much as trying to establish a plan that didn’t require us to operate the river in what amounted to flood or drought conditions,” he said. 

There’s a big disconnect among people whose primary interests are in recreational or aesthetic aspects of Sebago Lake not realizing the impacts on the river, said Goulet. If the lake were kept full too long, the river would dry up and the lake water quality would deteriorate. The natural flushing of the lake is good for both the lake water quality, and the river, he said. 

In addition to the federal license mandates, said Goulet, the Eel Weir Dam also has a State issued water quality certificate under the Clean Water Act, which impacts what they are able to do.

There are many perspectives to consider when looking at lake level management, and it’s difficult to find a plan that will satisfy everyone. For example, said Goulet, the state park has the best shore frontage when the lake is around 2 feet below full, and at that same level, there are people who are upset, saying that the lake is empty. 

Goulet said it is improbable that they can continue to raise the level because in order to do so, you have to shortchange water going into the Presumpscot River. Sebago Lake accounts for 80 percent of the water flow in the river, and that has to support fish, waste treatment facilities from municipalities, kayaking, boating and fishing on the river as well.

The dam has been at the minimum flow of water, 17,500 cfm, for a month and a half, said Goulet, trying to get the lake level to come up. In the winter, it is difficult to get the water level up because the lake is frozen over, he added. They are also considerations around melting snow, and the potential for flooding. One of the proposed changes to the plan was to have a little more room for fluctuation in natural conditions. “When you’re trying to fill the lake in the spring, you really don’t know how much water is going to come at you from the snow pack. If you get a warm stretch and a bunch of rain, the opening in the river is only so big to get it out,” said Goulet.

The changes proposed do not call for differences in the top or bottom levels of the lake. Sappi would still try to fill the lake to capacity and lower the level in the same time frames, said Goulet. “It’s what happens in between that we looked for some latitude in, to try and level out what happens in the river,” he said.  

Goulet said he is happy to talk to anyone with questions. He also maintains a Tumblr blog where anyone who is interested can check in regularly, or subscribe to get email updates when something changes. Each week, he uses this blog to communicate what is happening in lake levels, and to inform the public on what Sappi is doing at the dam. The blog can be found at tumblr.com by searching for the words “Presumpscot River.”