PARIS — Students who must meet community service or senior project requirements for graduation will be connected with groups at a nonprofit fair to be held next week, said Brewster Burns, English teacher and senior projects adviser at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.

The event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, at the school.

“It’s the connection that we’re doing,” Burns said. “Freshmen don’t really know how to connect. Parents usually do it,” he said of the process to get the students to link up with a nonprofit or government agencies and arrange for their community service. For example, he said, the Western Foothills Land Trust is always looking for help with its triathlon in the summer. “They need tons of volunteers. Kids wouldn’t know how to reach them,” he said.

The Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors implemented a 20-hour community service requirement for freshmen and sophomore students last year in which they must complete volunteer work for a nonprofit group or local government entity, such as working for a town’s park department. The senior project is an independent undertaking by all seniors who must involve significant new learning, and create a real-world product or service that has a positive impact on others, according to the school’s definition.

Burns said that the fair gives the students the opportunity to link up with a wide number of nonprofit groups and governmental agencies.

Burns said the idea came from a group of people in the Oxford Hills community, including officials at Healthy Oxford Hills, who were discussing ideas of how to get more volunteer help.

“They wanted to make connections,” he said.

So far, nearly 20 groups have signed up for the fair. They include the University of Maine 4-H Camp and Learning Center, Healthy Oxford Hills, Norway Parks and Recreation Department, Western Maine Art Group, McLaughlin Foundation, Norway Memorial Library, SeniorsPlus and Art Moves Dance Project Inc.

Other groups signed on as of Wednesday are ClubRowe, the Depot Program, the Progress Center, Community Concepts, REACH, University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Good Shepard Food-Bank.

Burns said he is hoping more groups will sign on to the fair by registering at http://tinyurl.com/26364mj

The groups will be provided with the table and chairs and then be asked to bring some visual displays and contact information. More information is available online, he said.

Burns said he is also hoping those who can not attend will register with ideas for community service or senior projects.

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