Region 8, Mid-Coast School of Technology

MCST Students help raise funds for youth hockey

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:00:00 -0500

The students of the Mid-Coast School of Technology Marine Technology morning program put a united effort into crafting a 11’ Monhegan skiff that brought $1200 at the Fifth Annual Hat Trick Auction, that was held February 5, to benefit Maine Coast Skaters Association Youth Hockey, the Midcoast Ice Cats, and the Camden Hills Regional High School Windjammers. The idea was brought to the attention of Instructor Richard Irving by Kelly Fogg, mother of MCST Marine Tech student and youth hockey player Tyler Fogg. The students decided that even though there was an unfinished skiff in the shop that they could easily have put the final touches on, they wanted to build one from scratch. Tyler and his classmates, Richard Curtis, Sam Cousens, Chris Knight, Brandon Rich, Patrick O’Donnell and Sam Delano worked hard to meet the deadline of January 27, when all auction items needed to be delivered. They got it out the door on January 27th with the varnish on the thwart still wet. “The skiff could not have been completed without teamwork. It was a real learning experience,” said students Tyler and Richard. Mr. Irving was impressed with the final product given that it was the first lay-up (fiberglass composite) for this group of students. The initiative demonstrated by the students to start from scratch and see the project through is something that is fostered at Mid-Coast School of Technology. The curriculum at MCST is primarily project-based and the skills are learned and practiced through many community service projects. This project also shows the dedication the students have for keeping their extracurricular activities alive and funded. The home ice of all three youth hockey organizations is at Midcoast Recreation Center in Rockport, where hockey players from fledgling Atoms to mighty Midgets spend fun-filled winters chasing the puck, building strong teams, and learning good sportsmanship.

MCST January Students of the Month

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:00:00 -0500

The faculty at the Mid-Coast School of Technology has recognized two outstanding Students of the Month for January from the Medical Science and Culinary Arts programs. The award is based on demonstration of the characteristics of solid attendance, positive attitude, and excellent work ethic. Selected for the January Medical Science Program honor is Morgan Porter, a senior from Camden Hills Regional High School. Instructor Monique Priebe finds Morgan to bea “ conscientious and hard-working student who demonstrates great leadership skills. She is a team player, working well with her classmates and approaches the class and assigned projects with enthusiasm.” Dan Greiner, a home school student, is honored by the Culinary Arts program. Chef Josh Gamage appreciates Dan’s consistent and reliable focus on tasks in the kitchen. Chef Gamage reports that, “Dan is a model student. He shows initiative and enthusiasm.”

MCST December Students of the Month

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:00:00 -0500

Three students recognized at Mid-Coast School of Technology, Rockland, Maine: The faculty at the Mid-Coast School of Technology has recognized three outstanding Students of the Month for December from the Precision Machine Tool, Social Studies, and Residential Construction programs. The award is based on demonstration of the characteristics of solid attendance, positive attitude, and excellent work ethic. Selected for the December Precision Machine Tool Program honor is Josh Harjula, a senior from Rockland District High School. Instructor Rich Barratt considers Josh “a second year student who shows initiative and motivation. Josh has taught himself how to use the design program AutoCAD Inventor in order to create the blueprint for a machine part. He also has advanced to learning computer numerical control (CNC) machinery and how to program them. He’s a great role model in the class.” Evan Hopkins, a senior from North Haven Island is honored by the Social Studies program. Dennis Littlefield, Social Studies instructor appreciates Evan’s good nature. “Evan is an excellent student. He is conscientious, shows consistent and strong effort, and takes time to do a good job on all assigned work.” Derek Drechsler, a senior from Camden Hills Regional High School, was selected by the Residential Construction program. Instructor Dan Dishner finds Derek to be a very skilled worker who is self motivated. “I can put Derek on a task and not worry, he remains focused on getting the job done. He works well on a team and has even completed some facility jobs for the MCST Maintenance Department,” reports Mr. Dishner. Derek is also a SkillsUSA participant.

Student Built Firefighting Building Helps Students Train

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:11:47 -0500

December 23, 2009

A recent collaboration between programs at the Mid-coast School of Technology has resulted in the construction of a building built by students to be used by students. MCST started the 2009-10 school year with a brand new program. The Fire Fighting Program is well on its way of being a very successful and popular program. With the help of the Residential Construction students they now have a new training facility.

The proposed building needed several features required in the fire fighting trade. The skills included breaking in and entering a window, breaking in a door entry, climbing a ladder on a two story building, erecting a ladder on a roof using a ladder hook, and cutting a hole through the roof to gain access to the inside of the building. All of this information was provided to the students in the Residential Construction and they designed a structure with a 12’ x 16’ footprint, a fourteen foot wall on the front of the building, a roof on the back of the building that was at least twelve feet in length with at least an eight inch rise, a loft on the inside, two windows and a steel entry door. Construction began in mid-September. Both the morning and afternoon Residential Construction students worked on the project. The building was detailed enough so that all students were able to do some framing, scaffold installation, roofing and siding, skills important to the building trade. They also learned what it’s like to work in the elements putting time in on windy days with temperatures in the twenty’s. The building is located behind the main school building so the wind off the ocean made for typical midcoast conditions. They also learned the value of teamwork, working together on a common goal. The Residential Construction class was able to finish up the building before the first snowstorm and the keys were handed over to the Fire Fighting program at the end of November.

When asked how the structure will serve the students, Mike Drinkwater Firefighting Instructor, explained, “It will allow the students to perform many hands-on skills that are vital in the fire service. These skills will include, but are not limited to, ladder practices, rescue techniques, hose advances, ventilation and forcible entry procedures. Having this building on campus will allow the students to train on site versus having to be transported to an off site location.” There is a great deal of satisfaction and pride from Residential Construction instructor Dan Dishner and all the students involved in the construction. They know that the structure will serve the new program well and benefit the surrounding communities for years to come with future fire fighters being properly trained in the skills of fire fighting.

MCST November Students of the Month

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:13:43 -0500

Two students recognized at Mid-Coast School of Technology, Rockland, Maine: The faculty at the Mid-Coast School of Technology has recognized two outstanding Students of the Month for November from the Small Engine Repair and Technical Communications programs. The award is based on demonstration of the characteristics of solid attendance, positive attitude, and excellent work ethic. Selected for the November Small Engine Repair Program honor is Aaron Keating, a junior from Medomak Valley High School. Instructor Glenn Wooster considers Aaron “a very focused student who sees all assigned tasks to completion. Aaron is helpful and when he finishes something asks what’s next. He is well respected by his classmates and is a very good student.” Emilia Doak, a senior from Vinalhaven Island is honored by the Technical Communications program. Sue Stewart, Tech Communications instructor appreciates Emilia’s self-motivation. “Emilia is dedicated and hard working. She’s gregarious and involved in classroom matters and always strives to do her best.”

MCST Students Participate in Craft Championships

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:58:13 -0500

November 20, 2009 - The largest group ever to represent Mid-Coast School of Technology recently attended the 10th Annual Craft Championships. Twenty one students from the Residential Construction program participated in a number of events taking place at the Augusta Civic Center. Instructor Dan Dishner was proud of the attendance and engagement of the MCST students. "I thought all of the students did a good job of participating this year. They were all required to do at least one event. Several did at least three," said Dishner. Out of the 21 students, six were women, five who are currently in the program at MCST and one former student, Anaya Miller. When asked which students really stood out in their performance during the day, Dishner said, "If I were to choose any student(s) I'd probably go with Anaya Miller and Amanda Peterson. Last year Anaya was stumped on a rigging task. She headed right to it again this year taking Amanda with her. The task is to rig an apparatus and lift it with a chain hoist so that it remains level. Together, those two girls worked on that for almost an hour. The woman overseeing the rigging booth has been coming for years and was very impressed with their effort. Both girls had their name mentioned over the intercom for best effort of the day."

Each year Associated Builders and Contractors of Maine hosts Craft Championships at the Augusta Civic Center. Utilizing the Civic Center’s Main Auditorium, there is over 24,500 square feet of hands-on activities for high school students to engage. Maine’s Craft Championships is unique to any others in the nation because our industry trades people work directly with high school students on a wide range of construction projects. While some students are working inside, other students are working outside in welding trailers, line trucks, or driving a dump truck. This past year, over 1200 Maine high school students attended and participated in over thirty hands-on construction activities with ABC members throughout the day. The students were also able to visit with representatives from community colleges to learn about furthering their education in the construction industry.

Amanda Peterson builds a brick wall.

Left to right: Graham Deleo, Justin Koons, and Cierra Little prepare to get a birds eye view of all the action in the scissor lift.

Left to right: Mike Marble, Ike Morin and Jeff Bailey (in the back) building a rebar cage.

Brandon Fuller installing a garage door.

MCST October Students of the Month

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:45:41 -0500

The faculty at the Mid-Coast School of Technology has recognized two outstanding Students of the Month for October from the Auto Technology and PreEngineering programs. The award is based on demonstration of the characteristics of solid attendance, positive attitude, and excellent work ethic. Selected for the October Auto Tech Program honor is Brandon Eugley, a junior from Medomak Valley High School. Instructor Tom Vannah considers Brandon “a great role model for other students. He is a focused student who is looking forward to participating in SkillsUSA. The work ethic he is demonstrating now will serve him well in the future.” Andy Lewis, a senior who is home schooled from the Medomak region, is honored by the PreEngineering program. Loren Arford, PreEngineering instructor appreciates Andy’s self-motivation. “Andy takes on interesting projects without being assigned. On group projects he remains focused and contributes even when the job is tedious. Andy makes great use of his strengths in science and math to solve class assignments.”

Pictured from left to right are Andy Lewis and Brandon Eugley.

Medomak Valley High Math class and Camden National Bank "team-up"

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:00:00 -0400

As reported by the Lincoln County Newspaper, October 29, 2009

A new course offering at Medomak Valley High School has students involved in an innovative approach to math. This new course integrates previously learned math skills with the application of algebraic principals in business and industry.

Through the study of problems from standard deviation and the co-efficient of variation to quality control, students experience math in the "real world."

MVHS Math teacher Joyce Davidson, challenges students with topics including financial systems, quality control, value stream-mapping, flow analysis, and Takt Time.

During a recent unit on banking, Davidson asked MVHS School to Career Coordinator Suzanne Hall, "Do you have any contacts who could present a financial literacy lesson?"

As a Waldoboro Business Association Board member, Hall was able to arrange for Camden National Bank to sponsor a lively class presentation on one phase of banking. Students were so enthusiastic following the class that plans are already being made for more topics in banking, accounting, and industry analysis, including Lean Manufacturing.

Fall Open House Raffle Winners

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:00:00 -0400

MCST hosts a Fall Open House annually. The Open House this year occurred on October 1. We hosted a spaghetti dinner prepared by our Culinary Arts program and the classrooms and shops were open for tours and conversations with instructors from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Along with refreshments in the lobby, MCST sponsored a raffle as the first fund raising event for our school scholarship fund. In 2008-09 we awarded a total of $19,000 in local scholarships to our graduating students. We hope to meet and exceed that amount this year.

The raffle winners from the October 1 drawing included:

Complete Vehicle Hand Wash including Windows and Vacuum – Terri Hallowell
Oil Change, Tire Rotation & Balance – Karen Young
Free Blood Pressure Screening – Andrea Garver
Two Pies of Choice – Bill Thomas
Free Engine Tune Up for OPE – Julie Schwalm
Reese Hitch Cover – Matt Woods
Half Model of Dory – Cathy Harrell
Long Handled Garden Tool – Tom Stammen
Carbon Monoxide Detector – Beth Fisher
Two Blue Bird Houses – Cindy Mudgett
Mount & Balance of Winter Tires – Alice Knight
Pair of Wooden Sawhorses – D. J. Cooke

MCST Welcomes New Staff Members

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:00:00 -0400

The Mid-Coast School of Technology welcomed four new staff members to its team for the 2009-10 school year. In instructional positions are Christine Blaisdell, Math Instructor and Mike Drinkwater, Fire Fighting Instructor. In support staff positions are Steve Tuttle, Maintenance Director and Sherry Moody, Business Manager. MCST is fortunate to have these talented and dedicated professionals. MCST is committed to serving students in the midcoast region in preparing them for work or post secondary opportunities through teaching trade skills and workplace responsibility.

New staff members pictured below are seated left to right Sherry Moody and Christine Blaisdell; and standing left to right Steve Tuttle and Mike Drinkwater.

MCST Launches New Fire Fighting Program

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:26:09 -0400

(As reported by Daniel Dunkle, Herald Gazette Business / Associate Editor, appearing in Village Soup Knox County) "We are training the next generation of firefighters," says new instructor Mike Drinkwater. Eleven students make up the new firefighting course at the Mid-Coast School of Technology. Each student is required to join their local fire department as a junior firefighter to help keep the cost of the course down. These students need a little more equipment than the standard paper and pencil. They will be working with more expensive learning tools, including ladders, radios, and air packs.

Local departments represented by the students are: Union, Friendship, Rockland, Owls Head, St. George, Rockport and Newcastle. Drinkwater is grateful for the support and assistance of local departments with making this course a reality for the students. The students will train with live fire and practice what they learn in class with their gear. In addition, the class is working with the school's Carpentry / Residential Construction Program, which will build a training building for the class to use. The building will allow students to learn ladder procedures, window and door entry, along with evacuation techniques.

This is full year program and students will complete the state's written and practical exams at the end of the course. Each student has the opportunity to earn six college credits toward an Associate's degree in fire science. The program curriculum, written by the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Fire Protection Association is accepted in 34 states nationwide.

Drinkwater has 26 years of volunteer fire fighting experience, mostly in Piscataquis County. He served as Fire Chief for nine years in Greenville, where he previously served as Assistant Fire Chief and Lieutenant. He has been a state fire instructor for nine years. Firefighting is a family tradition for Drinkwater, whose father still serves on the Greenville fire department at the age of 71. Drinkwater has relocated to the midcoast area for this teaching opportunity and has relatives in Spruce Head.

Spring 2009 Tech Times

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:53:50 -0400

Please use the following link to read our Spring 2009 newsletter MCST Tech Times.

Spring 09 Tech Times.pdf

Building Bridges

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0400

April 2009 - MCST teachers Richard Irving, Marine Tech; Mike Chaples, Auto Body; Sue Stewart, English; Glenn Wooster; Small Engines; Pam Pleas, School-to-Career Coordinator at Camden Hills Regional High School; and Suzanne Hall, School-to-Career Coordinator at Medomak Valley High School as well as CHRHS teachers Bill Anderson, Laurence Rizzio and Nate Larlee (Zenith) took part in the “Building Bridges Program” this spring, sponsored by the Maine Marine Trades Association and Maine’s North Star Alliance Initiative Program. This program provides Maine educators with knowledge, information and insights into three fast growing industry sectors: Marine Systems Research and Design, Boatbuilding, and Composites. This program has been offered throughout Maine and has been so positively received that teachers in some regions are on a waiting list to participate in future programs.

Through this program, the teachers experienced first-hand the exciting innovations happening in some of Maine's Marine Trades, Boatbuilding and Composites businesses in our area. Teachers visited and were given tours at the Marine Systems Training Center in Thomaston, Pope Sails and Rigging, Atlantic Challenge, Lyman Morse Boatbuilding, Back Cove Yachts, Journey’s End Marina, and finally a field trip to the University of Maine to visit their Advanced Structures and Composites program (AEWC).

Ms. Pleas said: “We learned so much about these businesses and about the employability skills that are currently in demand in these industries. We’re all incorporating that information into our curriculum and transition plans for students.”

At every site we visited, we heard about the value and importance of “soft skills.” Employers said they look for employees who have a strong work ethic, are able to communicate well with others and work as part of a team. One employer said, “We can teach our employees the technical skills they need, but we can’t teach them a strong work ethic.”

Bill Anderson said “I gained a much better understanding of the range of marine trade options available for our students.” In addition, he said this program made it even clearer to him that “the transition piece for all students in preparation for post-secondary life, needs to be at the forefront for an effective education, one that teaches pertinent, relevant skills.”

Another Building Bridges program will be offered Fall 2009. If you’d like to learn more about this program, contact Stacey Palmer at spalmer@mainemarinetrades.com