Gordan Inducted into Hall

Raymond Elementary School music teacher Patricia Gordan has been recognized as one of Maine’s outstanding teachers by being inducted into the Unum Educators Hall of Fame Starting Six. The goal of the Educator’s Hall of Fame is to recognize, honor and celebrate the good work of Maine educators. As one of this year’s inductees, Gordan will be honored at the Friday, Feb. 1 Portland Pirates hockey game. She will receive a personalized Pirates uniform, have her picture taken with the team and assist with the ceremonial first puck.

She will also receive an honorarium from UNUM for her recognition as a teacher who “embodies the true meaning of being an educator.” Gordan is deserving of this award as her teaching and dedication to music education has made a positive impact on thousands of children.

This is a notable honor as many teachers are nominated each year and only six are chosen. To celebrate this honor, the Portland Pirates have provided Raymond Elementary School with more than one hundred free student tickets for the game. The arena is sure to be filled with an abundance of Raymond students and their parents as they watch Gordan be honored while enjoying the game.

Youth Group Rocks

If you happened to be driving by the Raymond Community Church Saturday night and early Sunday morning you may have noticed the church rocking off its foundation. The Raymond Village Community Church Youth Group participated in a Rock-a-Thon to support a local charity and their activities.

Ten students participated in the rock-a-thon, which was a fun filled and mostly sleepless night, rocking in rocking chairs from 7 p.m. until 8:30 the following morning. The group watched movies, played games, did crafts and ate snacks to pass the night away. The event was very successful raising more than $600, and $450 of this amount will be contributed to “Keep Raymond Warm,” Raymond’s local fuel assistance program. The Raymond Village Community Church Youth Group is a wonderful group of middle and high school students who participate in service projects, have lots of fun and enrich the life of the church community.

Special Town Meeting

A special town meeting where two ordinances will be discussed and voted upon will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. at the Broadcast Studio. The first ordinance deals with the town’s chimney ordinance to allow certain prefabricated chimneys. The second ordinance is to make a decision on appropriating funds for improvements to the heating and ventilation system at Jordan Small Middle School.

After conducting tests on the air quality and energy efficiency of the entire building in the spring of 2007, it was discovered that some rooms were found to have higher CO2 levels than are recommended for schools. Although the CO2 levels are not dangerously high, the optimum range is under 1000 ppm and there are rooms that frequently test in the 1,500 -2,000 ppm range, which can affect alertness.

Since discovering this problem, the school purchased monitoring equipment and conducted frequent tests throughout the building. In addition, a state inspector did further testing. The biggest hurdle is that the rate and volume of air exchange needs to be increased in many rooms but to do that, the capacity of the heating system also needs to be increased. Many options were explored and found to be very costly. After spending nearly a year trying to rectify this problem, the school board has compiled a comprehensive, well-developed plan. This plan will bring our facility up to current standards and improve the control and efficiency of the heating system. It is important that Raymond residents attend this meeting to learn about both ordinances and cast a vote.

Souper Bowl

Several middle school students from Raymond will be participating in a Souper Bowl of Caring event Sunday, Feb. 3 at St. Gregory’s Church in Gray. This fundraiser, conducted by the St. Gregory’s religious education youth group, requires students to bring a large pot in which money will be collected at the end of the Super Bowl weekend masses. The money collected will then be donated to a local charity. In previous years, the group has donated to Camp Sunshine and Lungs for George. This year, the group has decided to give the donation in person to the Hope Haven Gospel Mission in Lewiston.

The pastor of the mission will give our students a tour of their facility and give a brief talk on what their organization does for the poor and homeless in their community. This will happen after their Sunday afternoon meal. Last year, the Hope Haven Gospel Mission served 15,389 meals and sheltered 361 people. Their goal is to share the love of God through the Lord Jesus Christ to every needy individual while providing shelter, meals, hope and recovery 365 days a year. Through this process, they offer structure in the development of moral character while mentoring willing clients to re-enter the world as responsible citizens.

This will be a rewarding and educational experience for our students as it is the perfect opportunity to show them the importance of helping others in need. As they watch the Super Bowl after participating in the Souper Bowl, I am confident these children will have a higher appreciation for what so many of us take for granted.

The youth group at Raymond Village Community Church rocked the night away Saturday while raising