RUMFORD — The Buckfield Junior-Senior High School boys’ soccer team donated $612 to the Dempsey Center in Lewiston by holding a charity hike in Grafton Notch State Park on Oct. 15, according to a letter from boys’ varsity soccer coach Kyle Rines.

A copy of Rines’ letter to the Dempsey Center was read to Regional School Unit 10 directors Monday. Every year the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams perform some type of community service, and for the past two years they have chosen to raise awareness of breast cancer during October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Rines said.

In preparation for the hike, the boys’ team took a pledge to carry a certain amount of weight in their packs for every dollar they earned. Altogether they carried 475 pounds on their 11-mile hike.

“We approached this opportunity with the phrase, ‘If many people can carry the weight of cancer, we can carry this weight today,’” Rines’ letter said.

In other news, directors were told that the athletic fields behind the high school were damaged by ATVs this past weekend.

“And we just put up a nice gate that would keep out trucks, probably, but four-wheelers can get in from other angles,” Superintendent Deborah Alden said.

The fields will be ready for games this week, a Buckfield administrator said.

In other business, Region 9 School of Applied Technology board member Craig Zurhorst told directors, “Contrary to what a lot of people may think, Region 9 does send a lot of people on to further schooling, whether it’s a four-year degree program, two-year degree programs or professional certification,” he said.

Region 9 serves the career and technical education needs of Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Dirigo High School in Dixfield and Telstar Regional High School in Bethel.

In addition to programs in automotive technology, building construction, Region 9 also offers high school diploma completion, high school equivalency training and testing, and has a “robust” adult education program, Zurhorst said.

In other news, Mountain Valley High School Principal Matthew Gilbert invited directors to a talk by retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills at 1 p.m. Thursday at Mountain Valley High School.

Mills is a quadruple amputee who was injured by an improvised explosive device while on duty in Afghanistan. Funding for Mills’ talk was paid for by River Valley Rising and River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition.

Directors also accepted the resignation of art teacher James Remington, effective Nov. 10. He teaches at Rumford and Meroby elementary schools. Remington has been an educator at the schools for 11 years.

mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net

The Buckfield Junior-Senior High School boys’ soccer team held a charity hike in Grafton Notch State Park on Oct. 15. The team donated $612 to the Dempsey Center in Lewiston, according to a letter from coach Kyle Rines.

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