Middle schools to benefit from King grant

    Maine middle schools will benefit from a grant by the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. The grant awarded, to the Allagash Alliance, will deliver a chapter book about Maine’s Allagash Wilderness Waterway to schools across the state.
    Through the story, An Allagash Haunting, The Story of Emile Camille, written by former Allagash Waterway supervisor Tim Caverly and illustrated by Millinocket artist Frank Manzo, readers will accompany ten-year old Olivia, as she travels this legendary canoe route.  As a storm approaches, people will join with the little girl as she learns a secret about her mother’s past, and meets a French Canadian lumberman from 1925.
    The Literacy Project began last fall by a pilot project to place the book in seven schools to encourage students to learn about their home state. Private donations as well as funding from financial institutions, Lions Clubs, Rotaries, provided books to schools in the towns of Bethel, Medway, Millinocket, Katahdin, Lubec, and Whiting. Allagash Alliance President Rollin Thurlow says that the response from those schools were so positive that the non-profit organization decided to apply to the King Foundation to supply additional schools. The Allagash is a national treasure, and a delight for students to study, said Thurlow.
     This project provides a 10,000-word chapter book to eighth grade classrooms. The story, sized to accommodate backpacks or lugged on a camping trip, takes place in the heart of Maine’s north woods.  Pupils will find challenge words in bold throughout the text with a glossary in the back of the book. An illustrated map is included in the book.  
    Author Tim Caverly said that he was pleased that students are enjoying the books. The Allagash is a special place for Maine and with the current state budget issues, it is rewarding to see that the Allagash Alliance has found a way to provide a new reading tool to our schools, says Caverly.
    An Allagash Haunting is Volume II of a collection of stories from the Allagash River.  People, who would like more information about the Literacy Project, should contact Rollin Thurlow, President of the Allagash Alliance at (207) 564-3667, or Tim Caverly at (207) 907-0517. Information is also available at www.allagashtails.com.