SACS students attend College Fair & Sea Dogs baseball game in Portland

    The Portland Sea Dogs, the AA Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, with their sponsor, the University of Maine Farmington, hosted the second annual College Fair on Wednesday, April 15.  The fair featured representatives from more than 50 private, state and community colleges in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and throughout the United States.  
    After the college fair, students were invited to watch the Sea Dogs’ game at Hadlock Field versus the New Britain Rock Cats. The Sea Dogs awarded a $500 scholarship to one of the student attendees during the middle of the fifth inning of the game. 
Contributed photograph
FANS – Southern Aroostook students, from left, Logan Desmond, Scott McDonald and Joe Frazier show they’re Sea Dog fans.
    Jessica Walker, Gear Up Advisor and MELMAC grant coordinator, put together a group of 28 students and six chaperones to make the trek to Portland. The group making the four-hour bus ride consisted of freshmen, sophomores and junior students that indicated an interest in attending post-secondary education.
    Parent chaperone, Ruth Frazier said, “I think it’s a great opportunity for them to start looking at colleges as freshman versus waiting until their junior year. They had the opportunity to ask questions of the college representatives and get a lot of college information.” 
Contributed photograph
AUTOGRAPH – Southern Aroostook students getting autographs from Sea Dogs pitcher, Ryne Lawson are left to right, Liz Goodall, Eve Watson,  Kim Pratt and Jillian Diaferio.
    Though the Sea Dogs fell to the Rock Cats, the game was close and the students had a wonderful time cheering on the home team. Holly Vining, district accountant, had the pleasure of chaperoning the trip and said, “This was a great opportunity for students to gather information from a broad spectrum of colleges and programs available to them after graduation. Colleges from Maine to Hawaii were represented along with both the Navy and Air Force ROTC programs.  The students were enthusiastic about the college material they collected and the chance to speak with college recruiters.  The Sea Dogs game was also a big hit.”  
    The trip was made possible thanks to a MELMAC Education Foundation grant SACS received last year. SACS organizers would like to thank the volunteer chaperones and the students for making the trip such a fun and rewarding experience. Go Lars Anderson. Go Sea Dogs.