MEXICO — At least eight Region 9 School of Applied Technology students are crossing traditional gender lines to learn skills.

Region 9 student services coordinator Cheryl Ellis told the board at its meeting Wednesday night that one boy is enrolled in the certified nursing assistant program.

She said three girls are learning to maintain automobiles, two are in forestry, and one each is enrolled in the building trades and the metal trades.

“This is a good year for nontraditional students,” Ellis said.

In another student matter, Ellis said school personnel are learning suicide prevention skills. The state has mandated that personnel in all schools undergo such training.

Ellis said two so-called gatekeepers must be chosen to take the next level of suicide prevention training.

Director Brenda Gammon said the vocational school has provided several tours during the past few weeks, including from Mountain Valley Middle School students and a couple of groups of elementary school students.

She said the staff and board will be focused on the tasks required of the periodic Maine Department of Education review. The state team will visit the school in the fall. Before then, 11 Region 9 committees will meet almost weekly to prepare data for the review.

In another matter, Gammon said a survey of Region 9 students likely will take place soon after Christmas. The survey has several purposes, including learning what programs students would like to have offered, as well as any barriers to students attending a vocational program at Region 9.

She said she plans to meet with the superintendents of RSU 10 and SAD 44 later this month to begin a discussion on any scheduling issues that may prevent some students from attending the vocational school.

Region 9 serves about 160 students from Dixfield, Rumford and Bethel high schools.

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