Former SAD 17 teacher and school board director Ron Kugell, left, of Oxford presents an award in his name to Western Foothills Land Trust during a school district employee rally Monday. Lee Dassler, director of WFLT, accepted the award on the organization’s behalf. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

PARIS — Monday marked an annual rite of passage in Oxford Hills, with more than five hundred employees filling the parking lot and the Mark Eastman Auditorium at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School to kick off the new school year.

Stephen Hills is a new employee of SAD 17’s transportation department. As a retired trucker, he said he just wants to keep driving. He will drive a transport van in Oxford Hills. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

The welcome rally provided space to introduce new staff, announce award honorees, reintroduce district leadership and reinforce Maine School Administrative District 17’s mission statement and strategic goals for public education.

Two little citizens who attend Waterford Memorial School, Jackson and Lauren Denison, led the auditorium in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a staff choral performance of the National Anthem and acknowledgement of lands formerly inhabited by Indigenous people.

Longtime educator and school board director Ron Kugell came to bestow the award named for him to Western Foothills Land Trust for their commitment to educational programs and opportunities. MFLT Director Lee Dassler accepted the award on behalf of the organization.

Oxford Hills teacher Lyndsay Denison and her kids Jackson and Lauren Denison led the entire SAD 17 workforce in a recital of the Pledge of Allegiance during a welcome reception at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Monday. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

Another achievement award, the Mary Lou Burns Education Service Award was given to Otisfield teacher Kemson Bourque, announced by Jessika Sheldrick, Otisfield Community School’s principal.

The crowd was also treated to a video montage of students from Hebron Station School who are entering eleventh grade at OHCHS. The students have been part of a program begun when they were in kindergarten that followed them through each year. Recently retired OHCHS English teacher Brewster Burns initiated the project with the help of an Aspirations grant.

The students shared their perspectives of leaving childhood for adulthood, the high expectations of their parents for doing dishes and dusting, and their first jobs. The video included excerpts of their experiences with their driver’s license that turned into a confessional of sorts about losing their licenses, breaking curfew and jumping curbs, with one expressing a wish that their parents never see the video.