FARMINGTON — Maine’s poet laureate Wesley McNair was invited to breakfast Friday by Teen Voices, a mentoring/reading program that brings together girls from Mt. Blue Middle School with women from the community and the University of Maine at Farmington.

NcNair read a poem titled “Happiness.”

Over his five-year tenure as laureate, McNair plans to be proactive in finding creative ways to expand an appreciation of poetry and the arts to people of all ages, he said.

“There are so many creative people out there in schools, but they often feel they have to mask to fit in,” he said.

Teen Voices is an expansion of Girls Talk, a mentoring collaboration between UMF and fifth- and sixth-graders.

“I really enjoy it,” seventh-grader Mercedes Feero said of Teen Voices. “It is a bonding time with people you know and who are like you, and I like having a mentor who is easy to connect to.”

The group meets monthly for a book discussion, a meal and activities. It is supported through fundraising.