The district is promoting its Aspire Higher program
in many ways.
PARIS – SAD 17 officials hope they can enlist enough support from area businesses to provide 25 $100 scholarships to students whose names will be drawn at the Oct. 4 homecoming game.
That’s $2,500, a modest investment in a child’s future, says Tally Decato, Oxford Hills Middle School guidance counselor.
A student has to march in the Homecoming Parade to be eligible for the scholarship. There will be signs advertising all the scholarships available to students from the area, she said. Information is also available at the schools and banks, Decato added.
The parade, she said, is a way to “demonstrate that this community thinks that education is important.”
Those planning to march should be at the Middle School on Pine Street at 10:30 a.m., using the Market Square entrance to Pine Street. The parade starts at 11 a.m.
High School students and floats, including cheerleaders, will follow the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Band and take Charles Street near Hancock Lumber to the Don Gouin Athletic Complex.
The rest of the students, parents, community members, floats and firetrucks will go in the high school parking lot, as they have in the past. A bus will be available to take the students, teachers and parents back to the Middle School.
Decato is on the school district’s Dollars for Scholars Committee. In addition to promoting the district’s “Aspire Higher” initiative, its primary goal is to have at least 80 percent of the students attend post-secondary institutions.
Students receiving scholarships will receive a certificate saying that the $100 can be obtained upon graduation from high school and proof of enrollment in a post-secondary education program.
Community support for higher education is starting to show, Decato said. Last June, 70 percent of the graduates were enrolled in post-graduate education.
SAD 17 Supt. Mark Eastman said he’s everyone, students and parents alike, to join in the parade.
“Walking with your son, daughter, or grandchildren will demonstrate your commitment to their future,” he said.
If the parade has to be canceled due to inclement weather, announcements will be made on WOXO starting at 8:30 a.m.
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