Bangor Metro - September 2009

September 2009

Laptop Pioneers

Henry Garfield
64,000 new Apple laptops go to work in Maine schools this month, as part of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative expansion. But Guilford is already way ahead in the laptop race, and has been for a decade. by Henry Garfield

Schools of Import

Melanie Brooks and Chandler Hendrix
Maine town academies, once a staple throughout the state, are using their unique programming and quality of life to attract international and out-of-state students. Short story: Everybody wins

Weekend Scholars

Craig Idlebrook
The University of Maine’s Hutchinson Center in Belfast is nontraditional in its students, teaching methods, and financial model. Maybe that’s why as other schools cut programs “The Hutch” keeps on growing.

Care to the Bone

Henry Garfield
A diagnosis of bone cancer in rural Maine is not as catastrophic as it once was, now that Ian Dickey, MD, and his team are on the job.

Northern Lights

Henry Garfield
Fort Kent native Joyce Hedlund is all about the power of education, both in her own life and in the life of the community.

Shhh, it's Russo

Annaliese Jakimides
Novelist Richard Russo works very hard to stay out of his readers’ or characters’ way. That’s why, to anyone who understands small-town life, his work is so very spot-on

Kitchen Corps

Ashley Pearson
In the Penobscot Job Corps kitchen, students learn more than culinary necessities. They’re taught to give back to the community in a scrumptious and gracious manner.

Wild Instructors

Brad Eden
Nature can be the best classroom of all.

Earl Hornswaggle: Blendin' in with Mainah's

Mark Ricketts
Earl Hornswaggle, the oldest man in Bangor.

Soapbox Derby: Who was your favorite teacher?

Sean Faircloth and Scott K Fish
Our Soapbox Derby guys spar so eloquently each month in defense of their political ideals, one wonders: Was a school teacher involved in shaping those formidable minds?

Perspectives: Christopher and Ann Joles

Photographs by Christopher and Ann Joles
The art of photographing people in a controlled setting is difficult enough with a professional model. Creating a portrait where even a camera-shy high school senior connects with the lens as captivatingly as any magazine celebrity is a minor miracle—one that photographers Christopher and Ann Joles accomplish again and again. For them and other serious photography portrait artists, this takes ongoing study and an investment in high caliber equipment and sets. It also requires something intangible: the ability to draw out the essence of their young subject and freeze it in time, in a way that is both emotionally authentic and visually beautiful.

Civility at the Crossroads

Annaliese Jakimides
With a little courtesy, life works just fine. Even without stoplights.