Communities That Care

Posted on November 21, 2011

Five Town Communities That Care Celebrates 23rd Cycle of S.T.A.R.

Five Town Communities That Care hosted its twenty-third celebration of student achievement for the STAR Program on Wednesday night at Rockport Elementary School.  Students, who learned new skills in a variety of classes, came together to share what they learned with their families, instructors, classmates and friends.  The celebration included pizza (thanks to donations from Domino’s and Pizza Hut), along with salad and the traditional STAR sheet cake (from the Camden Hannaford).

Participants from the 23rd cycle of the STAR Program celebrate their accomplishments.

Classes for this cycle included Animal Antics at the Camden-Rockport Animal Rescue League, Aldermere Farm Hands at Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s Aldermere Farm, Cooking hosted by Chestnut Street Baptist Church, Swimming hosted by The Country Inn, and both Art in Nature and Pottery held at Camden Hills Regional High School.  Instructors for this cycle included Laura Stupca (Shelter Manager at Camden Rockport Animal Rescue League), Sarah Post and Heidi Baker of Aldermere Farm, Marissa Kelley of Lincolnville in the cooking class, Jennifer Valles of Rockland in the swimming class, Jessica Decke of Tanglewood in Art and Nature, and Russell Kahn of CHRHS in the Pottery class.  The stellar support staff included veterans Cathy Cleaveland and Randy Wood; along with newcomers Melissa Carter, Rosemarie Bettit, and Malcom Smith.  The friendly staff of Luce Transportation provided busing service for the program, and The Teen Center served as a launch point for the CRMS students before the program day began.  The program was coordinated by Danielle Dutton, who has been involved with the program in various ways over the past three years.

Students enjoyed Fun Friday activities at Tanglewood, Shirt Tail Point Park, The Teen Center, and Oakland Park Bowling Lanes this cycle.  Many thanks to the staff and management of those organizations, as well as the folks at the Miller Farm in Rockport, for making the experiences possible at a modest cost!

STAR participants and their families enjoy dinner and the award ceremony.

STAR (Skills Training and Recognition) is an after school program for students in grades 5 – 8 in Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville, and Rockport. The STAR program focuses on skill development, recognizing youth as they learn these skills, and connecting youth with opportunities to give back by using these skills in the larger community. Five Town Communities That Care has offered STAR at no cost to participants for three cycles a year since it was implemented in the spring of 2004.  The program has won national, state, and local awards.

This particular celebration was bittersweet, as programming has been put on hold while Five Town CTC engages in a campaign to raise additional funds.  For more information on contributing to Five Town Communities That Care, or to get involved in the campaign to raise funds to reinstate the STAR Program, email alex@fivetownctc.org or call 236-9800.  To learn more about Five Town CTC, visit the website at www.fivetownctc.org, the Five Town CTC blog at www.fivetownctc.blogspot.com, the facebook page at www.facebook.com/FiveTownCTC, or follow the organization on Twitter (FiveTownCTC).

Posted on November 18, 2011

Five Town CTC Launches Weekly Blog

Posted on November 7, 2011

STAR Program To Go On Hiatus

After a great, uninterrupted run of eight years, Five Town Communities That Care (CTC) is saddened to announce that the organization will be unable to provide their award-winning STAR after-school program for the remainder of the 2011-12 school year. Despite intensive efforts, Five Town CTC was not successful in securing necessary funding to continue STAR this winter, but will pursue all options to allow reinstatement of the program in the fall of 2012. The current cycle will end  November 8th.

For the past four years, the majority of the funding for STAR came from federal funds administered by the state. STAR, the flagship program of Five Town CTC, has had a positive influence on hundreds of local adolescents since it began in 2004. Over 75 percent of this year’s incoming freshmen at CHRHS have participated in at least one STAR cycle.

“We know that STAR works,” said Ken Gardiner, Chair of Five Town CTC’s Funding Workgroup. “Community recognition for positive youth involvement in the community has risen since we began the program. In 2004, just before we began STAR, only 38% of grade 8 students here said that adults noticed when they were doing good things in the community.  That number had risen to over 52% as of 2010. When kids feel that adults value their contributions, they are less likely to get involved in substance abuse, violence, delinquency, and other problem behaviors.  Knowing that STAR has a measureable, positive effect on the community makes this situation even more heartbreaking.”

To support prevention programming in the face of evaporating public funds, Five Town CTC will increase its efforts to secure support from the community it serves. The goal will be to raise sufficient funds to offer STAR for the entire 2012-2013 school year, rather than attempting to run the program cycle by cycle. “It would take a significant gift received by February 1^st to bring back STAR in time for a spring 2012 cycle,” Gardiner said. “In these times, we know that everyone has tightened their belts.  But we’ll never rule out the generosity of this community.”

STAR (Skills Training and Recognition) is an after school program for students in grades 5 – 8 in Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville, and Rockport. The STAR program focuses on skill development, recognizing youth as they learn these skills, and connecting youth with opportunities to give back by using these skills in the larger community. Five Town Communities That Care has offered STAR at no cost for participants for three cycles a year since it was implemented in the spring of 2004.  The program has won national, state, and local awards.

For more information on contributing to Five Town Communities That Care, or to get involved in the campaign to raise funds to reinstate the STAR Program, email alex@fivetownctc.org or call 236-9800.

Posted on November 1, 2011

SOUND OFF About “Hopes and Frustrations” in November Issue

“Hopes and Frustrations”

SOUND OFF, A Monthly Five Town CTC Feature, Seeks Original Artwork and Writing From Teens

Sponsored by Five Town Communities That Care (FTCTC), SOUND OFF is looking for submissions for its November issue on the theme of “Hopes and Frustrations.” SOUND OFF is open to youth aged 11-18.  Through interviews and creative work, young people have the opportunity to share what hopes they have—and the frustrations they encounter as obstacles.

SOUND OFF will accept poetry, short fiction, blogs, journal entries, lyrics, cartoons, photography, and original artwork from Five Town area teens in Appleton, Hope, Camden, Rockport and Lincolnville. Leads on area teens who might provide powerful interviews are also appreciated.  Five Town CTC reserves the right to publish some work under anonymous pseudonyms, and is always willing to do so if contributors wish to be unnamed in publication. Chosen pieces will find an audience of more than 8,000 people online and in print.

Educators, parents and community leaders are encouraged to connect with the SOUND OFF editor, Kay Stephens, who works personally with the teens to fine-tune submissions.  Individual teenagers may also submit work on their own, but publication of works by youth under age 18 may require permission of a parent or guardian. Creative work may be presented with some sort of adult comment attached to it for context. All submissions will be reviewed by a committee and may be edited by Stephens.

All content for this issue needs to be in by November 25, preferably sooner. To submit, email editor@fivetownctc.org, call (207) 236-9800 or mail to: Five Town Communities That Care, P.O. Box 1135, 219 Meadow Street, Rockport, ME 04856. Please include a real name and a phone number so Stephens can get in touch with you for editing purposes.