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).

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 (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).

See our calendar page for a calendar view of events, meetings, etc.