Diversity, democracy project at Waynflete receives grant

Waynflete has received a $50,000 grant from Unum Insurance to support The Can We? Project, one of several initiatives run by the school’s Third Thought Institute for Civic Engagement program. The grant will be provided over a two-year period.

The project aims to “address the fractured state of our country and world” by encouraging students at high schools around Maine to practice empathy and learn skills important for democracy and to ” learn how to create common ground on which to collaborate.”

The grant allows the project to scale up over five years, work with up to 1,800 students from 45 high schools, and collaborate with partner schools and organizations such as Narrative 4, Maine Policy Institute, Jobs for Maine Graduates, Maine Principals’ Association, Maine Youth Votes and the Maine C3 Extended Learning Opportunities Network.

“There is a tangible benefit to creating opportunities for kids to learn dialogue skills,” said Geoff Wagg, head of Waynflete School. “We’ve seen it with our own students. Now, with the help of organizations like Unum, we can extend this skill training to high school students across Maine.”

Learn more about the project at waynflete.org/community/third-thought.

Falmouth grad awarded Fire-EMS scholarship

Falmouth Fire-EMS awarded a $1,500 scholarship to Audrey Murray, a 2023 graduate of Falmouth High School who is now studying nursing at Northeastern University in Massachusetts.

The scholarship was created four years ago to benefit Falmouth students who plan to pursue education in firefighting, emergency medical services, nursing or a related field.

In presenting the scholarship,  Assistant Chief Jay Hallett said, “It is great that we have local graduates going on to study in a field such as nursing. We are excited and happy to support people like Audrey from our community.”