RUMFORD — The principals of Rumford and Buckfield high schools advised directors of Regional School Unit 10 on Tuesday evening about student recent activities and workshops, including job and career opportunities.

Mountain Valley High School Principal Tom Danylik and Buckfield Junior-Senior High School Principal Troy Eastman said juniors and seniors attended the Sunday River Career Day at the ski resort in Newry in September.

Eastman said students were introduced to entry-level positions to long-term career paths.

About 200 from the Buckfield school and 90 students from Mountain Valley in Rumford attended.

Danylik said students learned about jobs and careers in skier services, lift operations, accounting, the retail and tune-up shop, the engineering department, public safety, lift maintenance, snowmaking, events, hotel front office, food and beverage, and housekeeping.

“The feedback of our kids was great,” Eastman said. “I think several of them are thinking about trying to get a job there this winter.”

Danylik said any student who works at the resort gets a free season ski pass.

Eastman also advised the board about learning opportunities outside the classroom.

“In this day and age, learning has to happen outside of our school,” he said.

“Currently we have 12 students that are enrolled in our pilot extended learning opportunities program,” he said. “Four of those students are taking a career development course with our athletic trainer/retired science teacher,” which gives them the opportunity to learn about the life of an athletic trainer or a physical therapist.

Other students are participating in an internship program where they receive training in careers such as certified nursing assistant. They also fill out forms that ask them to reflect and write about their on-the-job learning and experiences, he said.

Mountain Valley High School Assistant Principal Craig Milledge told directors the school will hold a presentation and workshops Nov. 17 at the school with guest presenters, facilitated by the nonprofit organization SEED, which stands for Students Empowered to End Dependency.

Milledge said there is a need for more education and more preventative and education approaches on drug and alcohol addiction. “We need help, and I believe strongly in transparency,” he said.

In other business, the board approved $28,500 to move the beekeeping building near Mountain Valley Middle School in Mexico because construction of the new Mountain Valley Community School is expected to start within months.

Board Chairman Greg Buccina of Rumford said the bees need to be stabilized before it gets too cold.

“It was determined that it was kind of an emergency operation because it should be moved by November,” Director Peter DeFilipp of Mexico said.

Superintendent Deb Alden said she discovered four weeks ago that the site plans for the new school did not include the apiary. “We’re moving it to save it because it would be covered with dirt,” she said.

About $17,500 left from grants from 2000 are proposed to be used toward the $28,500, Alden said.

The school will be built at the site of Mountain Valley Middle School at 58 Highland Terrace and Meroby Elementary School at 21 Cross St. It will replace those schools and Rumford Elementary School and serve more than 1,000 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade. The estimated cost is $91.8 million. It’s expected to open in August 2025.

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