The Teen Trendsetters Program website

 Machias Memorial High School and Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School were selected to jointly implement the Teen Trendsetters program, a program of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. 

The schools are one of 22 pairs of schools in Maine being funded by the Barbara Bush Foundation. In an exciting venture to give back to our community, volunteers from Sunrise Senior College are providing administrative support for the program.. The SSC Board has also committed to hosting a party for the mentors and their mentees at the end of the school year. The Machias Teen Trendsetters program is the first in the state to partner with a Senior College, resulting in a truly multi-generational project and one which offers SSC members an opportunity to support community schools. This unique partnership began as one outcome of SSC being represented on the AOS 96 Family Literacy Team. 

Teen Trendsetters is a hands-on reading mentoring program that is expanding across the United States. The program offers first, second, and third grade students an exciting opportunity to take part in a program that supports children as they read through the sciences. Participation results in improved reading skills, an interest in science, higher reading scores, and confident learning. High school teens are the true champions of this volunteer program, spending one-on-one time each week reading with their young mentees and bonding over books. 

Each participating elementary school student is being paired with a teen from the high school who has been trained as a reading mentor. These ambitious teens have committed to meet every week during the school year for a fun mentoring session at Rose Gaffney. The elementary child and the teen mentor will work with a series of educational, entertaining books and resources to improve reading skills and promote an interest in science. All elementary students who participate receive 17 books over the school year to add to their home library, providing an opportunity to share their reading experience with their families. The young readers are also connected to an internet library, allowing them to access additional reading materials at any time. 

Twenty high school students volunteered to become reading mentors. They have all been trained as reading mentors and are meeting weekly with the elementary students. The program is overseen by Cindy Thompson, MMHS librarian and Teen Trendsetter Program Advisor, with assistance from Renee Look, first grade teacher and the Teen Trendsetter Program Advisor for Rose M. Gaffney. Mrs. Thompson recently commented that she would not have been able to launch the program without the help of the SSC volunteers. For more information on the TeenTrendsetters program, please visit www.BarbaraBush.org.

As the days begin to lengthen, one might think that couch potatoes might be sprouting and springing up all around. But not so with Gold LEAF members who signed up for two very different types of movement classes in December. 

The first was a Creative Movement class that involved physical exercise of a gentle type, accompanied with reflection and some "journal writing" types of activities. The surprisingly large class received the instruction joyfully, and in some cases were said to have broken the sound barrier with their laughter. They were so enamored with this very unusual type of movement class that the office is scrambling to find more suitable venues and times for it to continue into the spring. 

Then in the second week of December, members signed up, again in large numbers, for the "Pickleball: A New Experience" gathering at the local community center gymnasium. Pickleball has been scheduled for three times each week at the center, but this was an opportunity to introduce the game, its history and rules to a new set of learners. Hand-outs explained where the game began originally and how it is played, along with some of its special terms and rules like "Stay out of the Kitchen!" A few folks just planned to root for the various teams of two, or just observe. However, most made their way onto the courts and are now newly proclaimed enthusiasts, with a long season of indoor pickleball to look forward to in the months ahead. Kudos to Gold LEAF members who are coming out to these fitness classes just showing that seniors, even in winter, can avoid the couch potato syndrome!