Upcoming events at Presque isle campuses
Boucher to be inducted
in Aroostook County Health Care Professionals Wall of Distinction
A highly regarded educator, nurse and professional in emergency medical services, Daryl Boucher, will be honored as the 2012 inductee to the Aroostook County Health Care Professionals Wall of Distinction at an April 30 ceremony at Northern Maine Community College.
The wall of honor, the concept for which was developed by faculty in the nursing and allied health department at NMCC, was originally unveiled to the public in 2008. Criteria for selection to the Health Care Professionals Wall of Distinction include demonstrated commitment to health care, commitment to health care education, and contribution to the larger community of health care. Boucher will be the seventh individual to be honored by inclusion with this select group of health care professionals.
Daryl Boucher 
has been a member of the allied health department faculty for nearly 20 years, first as an adjunct nursing and EMS instructor and then transitioning to a full-time faculty member in 1998. He continued his role in the nursing program while taking on the added responsibilities of coordinating the new emergency medical services program beginning in 2001.
Under his leadership, the EMS offerings at the college have continued to expand to meet emerging needs in the region, in both credit and non-credit areas. Most recently, he was among those responsible for bringing a new community paramedicine program to NMCC, which will officially begin being offered this fall. The program allows for expanded career choices for experienced, licensed paramedics. He has worked to bring other advanced training opportunities to county EMS professionals as well, such as critical care emergency transport training and pediatric critical care transport training.
“Not only has Daryl strived to stay at the top of his field by devoting his time and effort to pursue advanced training, but he has brought that training back to The County so that his peers can obtain it locally,” said Dr. Kimberly Esquibel, NMCC nursing and allied health department chair. “He is a skilled paramedic and educator, who has played a large role in helping to build those same skills in both those new to the EMS profession and established paramedics and EMTs.”
Boucher has been working as a paramedic since 1988, first for Ambulance Service Inc. in Fort Kent and then for Crown Ambulance in Presque Isle. In addition to his duties at NMCC, he continues today to work as a paramedic for Crown Ambulance, as well as a staff and critical care flight nurse for TAMC.
Boucher holds a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the UMFK, a master of science in nursing education from St. Joseph’s College of Maine, and is currently a doctoral student at Capella University. He is a nationally registered paramedic and holds certifications in UMBC Pediatric and Neonatal Critical Care Transport and UMBC Critical Care Transport. He holds instructor certifications for AHA Basic Life Support, AHA Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Trauma Life Support.
He is a member of the Aroostook Region EMS Council, the Maine EMS Education Committee and the National Association of EMTs Exam Committee. He is a board member for the Aroostook County Public Health District Coordinating Council, a medical/rescue volunteer for the Maine Winter Sports Center and a volunteer for Special Olympics. He has authored several articles and textbook chapters. Boucher resides in Presque Isle with his wife, Stacy, and two daughters, Hana and Hilary.
A reception and induction ceremony for Boucher will take place Monday, April 30 at 2:30 p.m. The event will be held in the Edmunds Conference Center, and will include the unveiling of his official photo to be hung on the wall of distinction, located in the Christie Building near the entrance to the nursing and allied health wing.
For more information on the Aroostook County Health Care Professionals Wall of Distinction or the upcoming reception and induction ceremony, contact the NMCC college relations office at 768-2809.
Totally Trades conference planned
to engage girls in trade and technical professions
A hands-on, day-long event designed to encourage girls to consider careers in fields traditionally dominated by men will bring together 100 participants from schools throughout Aroostook County on Wednesday, April 25, on the Northern Maine Community College campus.
The Totally Trades conference will feature sessions ranging from carpentry and bridge building to heavy equipment operation and welding — all providing an opportunity for the girls to experience some aspect of the profession through a practical exercise.
“We want to give girls a hands-on workshop experience to spark their interest and raise awareness about some potentially high-opportunity and high-wage career fields that they may not have previously considered, as well as provide female role models — women who can lead by example, having already succeeded in pursuing work that traditionally is viewed as ‘man’s work’,” said Suzanne Senechal-Jandreau, conference planner and regional manager of the central Aroostook office of Women, Work and Community, a statewide organization committed to improving the economic lives of Maine women and their families.
The conference is a free, one-day event for Aroostook County girls in grades 8 through 12. Funding for the activity is made possible through monies and in-kind services provided by the Maine DOT/Federal Highway Administration, Maine Department of Education, Time Warner Cable of Maine and Women Unlimited. Local monetary sponsors include: Northern Maine Development Commission, Sarah LeClaire (attorney), K-PEL Industrial Services, McCain Foods USA, Soderberg Construction, S.W. Collins, Dr. Donald Cassidy and Solman & Hunter, P.A. with in-kind support from Rathbun Lumber.
The conference is generously supported by the NMCC campus community, which serves as a host site for the event, and is a featured activity during the college’s recognition of April as National Community College Month.
“We are so pleased to join with Women, Work & Community to make this important event possible. Technical skills and programs have always been the core of the college, beginning back in our original days as a vocational technical institute to now, 50 years later, as a comprehensive community college. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase to students and members of the community what educational and career options are available to them,” said Karen Gonya, NMCC associate director of development and college relations.
Conference registration will begin at 9 a.m. in the Edmunds Conference Center. Following an official welcome, participants will break into the first of three sessions focusing on a specific career. A large group activity facilitated by Women Unlimited will wrap up the day.
Individuals seeking more information on the Totally Trades conference can go to www.totallytradesmaine.org or call Senechal-Jandreau at 764-0050.
UMPI to host reading, book signing for UMPI alum
The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host alumnus Christopher Morton 
for a reading and book signing to mark his debut publication — a compilation of 20 essays that provide humorous insight into life for one particular family guy in northern Maine. The event will take place on Monday, April 30, in the UMPI Library and include a reception and welcome at 6:30 p.m., a reading at 7 p.m. and a book signing to be held immediately following.
Morton’s book, “You Kids Quit Pooping on the Lawn!,” explores a wide range of unexpected topics, from family life and the terrors of fatherhood and more.
A former columnist and staff writer for UMPI’s own University Times, Morton graduated in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. He writes for the “Sharpened Axe” blog and lives in Mapleton with his wife and four children.
The public is invited to attend this free event. Light refreshments will be served. Copies of the book will be on display and for sale.
For more information about this event, call the University’s Community and Media Relations Office at 768-9452 or e-mail sara.martin@umpi.edu.
Pullen Gallery to present 2012 Fine Art Senior Thesis exhibits
The University of Maine at Presque Isle Fine Art Program faculty has announced that three solo shows developed through the 2012 Fine Art Senior Thesis Exhibition course will be hosted in April and May at the Pullen Art Gallery.
The six-credit, academic-year-long course provides students with the kind of in-depth educational opportunity that most art students never experience until they are in graduate school. In fact, UMPI’s fine art program is the only one in the entire state in which every senior must prepare for and host a one-person art exhibition of his or her work, and defend it orally and in writing, in order to graduate.
Three students will display their works during week-long shows held between April 20 and May 12. The exhibition schedule is as follows:
• April 20-26 — Bryanne Thomas, drawing. Reception will be held on Friday, April 20, 5-7 p.m.;
• April 27 to May 3 — Carolyn Anderson, photography. Reception will be held on Friday, April 27, 5-7 p.m.; and
• May 4-12 — Alanna Venturo, painting-watercolor. Reception will be held on Friday, May 11, 5-7 p.m.
These Fine Art students have spent an entire academic year preparing for their shows. As part of the Fine Art Senior Exhibition course, art students spend the fall semester of their senior year developing ideas and creating pieces for their shows. These pieces get critiqued by all four art professors and fellow senior art students, teaching students through real experiences how to talk about and defend their work. Some students go on to rework pieces, others to start new pieces, and still others to take a new direction altogether. By the end of the fall semester, seniors complete a short research paper and artist’s statement and host a mini art show to prepare for their final show in the spring. They must present this show to their art professors and fellow students. Students must successfully complete the fall semester of this course in order to continue the course during the spring semester.
Beginning in the spring, seniors begin very focused work to prepare for their final shows and endure a rigorous critique schedule to aid them in this preparation. Students are responsible for preparing for every aspect of their exhibition — from making the frames and labels for their pieces, to advertising and promoting their show to the campus and community, to arranging for their art receptions (including food and music), to developing their final artist’s statement. During their actual show, seniors have to talk about their work, present their artist’s statement and be able to answer audience questions. As a final component of this year-long project, students must turn in their final thesis, an in-depth research paper about their work and the art and artists that influenced it.
Members of the campus and community are invited to view each show that will be on display this spring in the Pullen Art Gallery and to attend all show receptions. For additional information, call Dr. Leo-Paul Cyr at 768-9609.
