Dear Sun Spots: In response to increased needs, Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice (AHCH) is offering classes this winter for compassionate people to be trained as Hospice Volunteers and Bereavement Volunteers.

Training classes begin Jan 28.

Also, there will be a Bereavement Volunteer Training Class beginning Feb 5.

Hospice Volunteers help support terminally ill patients and their families at home, in long-term care facilities, and at the AHCH Hospice House in Auburn. A 27-hour Hospice course is being held Monday and Thursday evenings from Jan. 28 to Feb. 25.

Bereavement Volunteers offer companionship to someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one. A 15 hour Bereavement course will be held Tueday and Thursday afternoons from Feb. 5 to Feb. 19.

Volunteers are valued members of the Hospice & Bereavement Teams and are matched with patients or clients in or near their communities. We ask for a time commitment of two to four hours each week. Classes will be held in Lewiston at our Strawberry Avenue location.

For more information, please contact Volunteer Services at 777-7740 or 1-800-482-7412. – Nancy Greene, Volunteer Coordinator, Auburn.

Dear Sun Spots: Thank you for the information about John Seigenthaler. I know some of this because his father was often on the Lehrer News Hour. I also wished to know if he is employed as a journalist and if so where is he working? I had hoped he would be picked up by another network, as was John Roberts from CBS.

Also, the current issue of US News & World Report notes that the Maine School of Science and Math in Limestone achieved national recognition. What is this about? – No Name, No Town.

Answer: In addition to responses from readers, Sun Spots has not yet received any updated information on what Seigenthaler is currently up to. She is trying to reach him via his home state in the hopes she might be able to get an answer for you. Otherwise, it appears he has been laying low.

Regarding your note on the Maine School of Science and Math in Limestone: According to the school’s Web site, the school ranked 35th of the best in the nation, placing it in the top 100 high schools to earn a gold medal in its first annual ranking. The magazine reported the results in its Nov. 30 edition. MSSM is the only school from Maine to make the gold medal list. Six other schools in New England made the top 100 – one from Vermont and five from Massachusetts.

Our congratulations to MSSM!

Maine Education Commissioner Susan A. Gendron was previously quoted as noting not only was it good recognition for the school, but also “demonstrates the success of this unique learning opportunity for students from all over Maine. We recognized in the 1990s how critical math and science were to the economic future of the state and for our students. Maine Math and Science is a foundational component of our STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) agenda.”

Gendron said Maine’s only publicly-funded magnet school opens opportunities for all students, “not just the best and the brightest. It’s kids who are inquisitive about taking their math and science skills further.”

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