State championship just out of reach for Bonny Eagle boys

PictureCo-captain Zach Maturo led the Scots on both offense and defense. J. Lannin photo
FROM STAFF REPORTS
        Despite a furious fourth quarter comeback, the BE boys basketball team fell to Bangor Saturday night in the state championship game at the Cross Arena in Portland.
     The boys lost to a team that had dominated Class AA all season long, thanks to their 6-6 center, Division I-bound Matt Fleming. But the Scots' defense almost upended the Rams, bringing them to within 3 points with less than four minutes to play. Foul shots proved the difference as Bangor won 58-48.
     Zach Maturo ended the game with 19 points and Jacob Humphrey added 11. Both will be back next year.
​    Bonny Eagle ended its season under first-year coach John Trull with an 18-3 record. 
     “These guys don’t quit, no matter what, it doesn’t matter who we play, when we play, they don’t quit,” Bonny Eagle Coach John Trull told reporters after the game. “I wouldn’t trade these guys for anyone. “I’d rather lose with these guys than win with those guys.”

To launch a slideshow of photos from the state championship game, click on the picture at left.

BEHS Unified team working together, off to a winning start

Picture
BEHS Unified team members: Front row from left Brandon Pierce, Aidan McGlone, Audrey Guillemette, Catherine Marean, James Raymond. 2nd row from left, Dolly Bassette, Kaitlyn Race, Abigail Healy, Nate Chamberland, Carter Gagnon, Mya Daniels, Coach Samantha Hart, Manager Alexis Grant. 3rd row from left, Coach Paula Pettersen, Sydney Owen, Grace Franklin, Tony Zarate, Elyssa Franklin, Josh Small, Arianna Bulger, Dale Kimball, Darin Grabenstein. Photo by Athen Hollis.
What's Inside
Click on the photos to read some of our latest stories
Fantastic Beasts
​Take Two
Getting to know our exchange students
Juuls are for tools
From BE to WCSH-6
BE IDOL a big success
Putting on
​"The Tempest"

Comic book legend lives on

With spring comes Lyme Disease​

Winter athletes
winning awards

Stress and social media... Are they related?

BY SARAH DUROCHER AND ELIZABETH TURNBULL
      Social media is a large part of most teenagers’ lives. Many high school students check their phones for messages in the hallways between classes or scroll through Instagram before class.                    Researchers have been studying teen use of cell phones to see how social media affects stress and mental health, and the results are significant.

Curfew leads to frustration

Picture
BY MACEY CABRAL
     With the school year half over, students are still adjusting to the laptop curfew that went into effect in September. Principal Mrs. Lori Napolitano explained part of the reasoning behind the decision was that many parents had sent complaints of their children staying up too late. Though the policy stems from parents’ concerns, Principal Napolitano says, the “final decision was [mine].” 

Two athletes
making BE proud

Picture
Aidan McGlone has earned many awards this year.
PictureSydney Gillingham, center, was one of three soccer captains this year.
BY ATHEN HOLLIS
   Two Bonny Eagle High School seniors, Sydney Gillingham and Aidan McGlone, earned distinctive honors for combining academic excellence with athletic achievement this past fall.

Earning their night's repose

Picture
BY AALIYAH PAUL and RACHEL CRAIG
     As students stream out of the building at 2 p.m. each day to the buses, to their jobs and to afternoon activities, six dedicated adults move against this human tide to work the night shift.
    They empty trash, scrub tables, and wash whiteboards and chalkboards in all 79 classrooms of Bonny Eagle High School. Each night they clean and disinfect all 12 restrooms, as well as the 10 offices, two teachers rooms, and random alcoves, corners and crevices scattered around the building.

Girls team makes it to the semifinals

Picture
Emily Bartash (left) and Mackenzie Emery show off the Lady Scots defense against Massabesic earlier this season. Lisa DeMarco photo.
PictureEmily blocks a South Portland shot as senior captain Samantha Avery looks on. J. Lannin photos.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
     By virtue of their opening round victory on Valentine's Day, the girls basketball team reached the semifinals of its regional tournament at the Cross Arena in Portland.
​     The girls, who finished 5th in Class AA South, had won 6 out of their last 7 regular season games to get to the playoffs. But they had to face #! ranked South Portland, who had defeated the Lady Scots during the regular season. The girls lost a hard-fought game, 58-36 ending their season with a record of 12-7.

Winter Assembly
was a great send-off 

Congratulations to the 2018 Bonny Eagle Homecoming court!

Picture
The 2018 Homecoming court poses for a picture during the dance. Back row from left to right, Zackary Allocca, Deytric Enking, Will Hendrix, Griffin Madore, and Will Whyte. Front row from left to right, Ashely Conners, Jazmyne Mejias, Allie Carpine, Sydney Gillingham, and Keelin Sweeney. Will Hendrix was crowned Homecoming King and Allie Carpine was crowned Homecoming queen. Photo by Diane York.

Girls soccer and field hockey made playoff runs this fall

     Both the girls field hockey team, under new coach Vonde Saunders, and the girls soccer team made it to the playoffs this fall. The field hockey team was eliminated in the first round by Gorham in a hard- fought, 1-0 game. The girls soccer team ended its season 9-4-2, with a loss to Windham in the state quarterfinals.

EDITORIAL
The death of the thinking student

BY ABIGAIL KOVACS 
​     I have spent over a decade in the public school system and am just now coming to the realization that I have been complicit in a massive fraud. While I may appear accomplished in the eyes of college admissions officers, it has not been in the way one might expect. Unfortunately, 10 years of traditional schooling and straight A’s has not made me any more intelligent. Despite what my grades may tell you, I am by no means smarter than any of my peers; I am, perhaps, simply the best at following instructions. ​

Students get it wrong this time

PictureJanet Mills is Maine's new governor, the first woman in the state's history to win the governorship. Wiki-commons photo
FROM STAFF REPORTS
    It used to be true that the way Bonny Eagle High School students voted in the state's Mock Election was a good predictor of how actual voters would vote in the November election. But this year, BEHS students -- along with students across the state ---- got two big items on the Mock Election ballot wrong.
     BEHS students overwhelmingly voted for Republican Shawn Moody to win the governorship over Democrat Janet Mills by a 447-109 margin. As most know by now, Mills became Maine's first female governor with 51% of the vote to Moody's 43%.
     BE students also predicted that Question #1, which asked voters if they wanted to fund home health care by taxing people with incomes over $125,000, would pass. The measure was resoundingly defeated by Maine voters.
     Students did match the real election in the races for U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives where Sen. Angus King and Rep. Chellie Pingree were re-elected.
   

Bonny Eagle gets to state finals with one-act play, Humbletown

PictureDara Khin from a scene in Humbletown.. For more photos, click on the words Bonny Eagle in the story headline.

BY SARAH DUROCHER AND BRIAN WAKEM
​    The BEHS drama club's journey is over, but it's likely the participants won't soon forget the 2018 statewide one-act play competition. It all started with a trip to Camden-Hills Regional High School on March 9. The students, competing with their historical satire, Humbletown: The Greatest Town On Earth, crossed their fingers as the crowd roared its approval. They were competing against three other Class A schools (schools with 500+ students): Camden Hills Regional High School, Waterville High School, and Edward Little High School. 
     Bonny Eagle's performance was on the first day of competition. While the cast and crew knew that it had been one of their best performances yet, they were informed shortly after they finished that they had exceeded the time limit by 5 seconds, and that they had been disqualified. The students, angry and disappointed, headed back to their hotel for the night.

Watching the birdie

Photos by Tabitha Burgess
FROM STAFF REPORTS
     The Class of 2020 made over $100 at its fundraising badminton tournament in late March.  Close to 22 teams, made up of students and staff members, participated in the double-elimination tourney. Though the second day of competition was postponed almost a week because of our two snow days, competitors hung in there and put on a good show. A team named 'Samolia' (Sam Connell and Mollie Ward) won the tournament.
      "We had a few bumps in the road, but those were expected," said sophomore class officer Athen Hollis. "I would say this event was successful given the obstacles we had to work around."
Wrestling team rising
PictureAlex Smith, Tyler Fitz, Brian Dupuis, Caleb Frost, Hayley Grant, Emily Welch, Alivia Stanley (Photo Courtesy of Caleb Frost).
 BY HAYDN GOULET
     While it has yet to achieve the same immense following as basketball or football, the fan base for wrestling has grown immensely this year.  Seniors Caleb Frost, Tyler Fitz, Alex Smith, and star freshman Colby Frost have all played a key role in the expansion of the wrestling fan base. As a team, they only have a 4-10 record, but each have great individual records.

Scholastic writing award winners to be honored

PictureSome of the award winners: Back row, L to R, Logan Hiltz, Michael MacFarland- Foley, Ian Jarvis, Lauren Bearor and Cassidy Grass. Front row, L to R: Michaella Tillo, Julia Morin, Kinsey Oliver, Tayler Johnson-Hartley, and Sydney Gillingham. Photo by Joanne Lannin
BY GARRETT HAWXWELL
      Fourteen BEHS students earned an award or recognition for their writing in the Scholastic Writing Contest. They will be recognized at a ceremony at Hannaford Hall, at the University of Southern Maine, Portland campus on March 16 at 6 p.m.
     Ian Jarvis was one of the winners, earning a Silver Key for his poem, Renaissance.
     “I enjoyed entering my piece in the contest and was happy to have been recognized,” said Ian.
     Two students won Gold Key awards: juniors Lauren Bearor for her short story, “Dark,” and Michael MacFarland-Foley for his poetry collection, “Outliers.”

Robotics build season begins

BY KADY MURPHY
​    ​High school students around the world have questioned for years what the future will look like. Will there be robots to do our work for us? We might have the answer to this question because of FIRST, an organization dedicated to spreading the recognition of science and technology. FIRST Robotics Competition is the subdivision of the program for high-school aged students, and it’s also the program in which our MSAD 6 robotics team, BERT 133, competes.
​    Every year, FIRST reveals the theme of the competition season. Last year’s theme was called FIRST Steamworks. This year, the competition is called FIRST Power Up and is video-game themed.
     Robotics teams from all over the world have six and a half weeks to build their robots and prepare for competitions. BERT has been brainstorming the best ways to tackle this year’s game.
​    

Chinese spoken here at BEHS

PictureMrs. Ji Wenhau during a Chinese language class at BEHS. Madison Chayer photo.
BY  MADISON CHAYER
​    Growing up in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of North China’s Hebei Province, our new Chinese language teacher, Mrs. Ji Wenhua, says that her experience in school was much different from what she is encountering at BEHS. In China, schools were much stricter and the students were forced to wear uniforms. She likes the fact that the students here are allowed to express who they are.
     Mrs. Wenhua says she was interested in working in the U.S. because the students know very little about China, and she’d love to give the students more in- formation about the culture.
“I think your country has the most advanced educational system,” adds Mrs. Wenhua.

Students with special needs learn how to cook

PictureAdam Carberry, Darren Gravenstien, and Chris Pillsbury. Photo by Lea Pillsbury.
BY LEA PILLSBURY
     On Wednesday’s the special needs students load the bus from the high school and are taken to the Jack Memorial School. Their faces light up as soon as they see Chris Pillsbury, who started the program in 201, with the hopes of teaching students in the special needs department to cook and have everyday life skills.
     The students yell “Hey Chef” and go in for personalised handshakes and hugs. One of the students, Dean, says “My favorite thing about coming here is seeing Mr. Pillsbury, don’t tell him this but I think of him as an older brother”.
    Pillsbury has always been a chef, working at places such as Fore Street and Becky’s Diner, running the Royal River Grillhouse, and previously having two restaurants of his own. 

 Unified basketball has another good year

PictureColbe Lewis (13) goes up for a shot in a 2017 Unified basketball game. The 2018 season is in full swing. For more photos, click on the words Unified Basketball in the story headline.

China trip shows similarities

PictureMrs. Napolitano takes a selfie with a group of Chinese students.
 BY ATHEN HOLLIS
     After a 10-day trip to China, Bonny Eagle High School Principal Mrs. Lori Napolitano has learned that Chinese education is more similar to America’s education than it is different, and she hopes other teachers can get this experience in future years.
     Mrs. Napolitano traveled to China in November with Mr. Benjamin Harris, the Bonny Eagle Middle School principal, and Mr. Douglas Parker, the Steep Falls Elemenary School principal, as part of the Chinese Bridge Delegation, a group sponsored by the national College Board.

Inside was so delightful at the BEHS winter talent assembly

FROM STAFF REPORTS
     As the snow came down outside, a cavalcade of voices entertained students at the annual holiday assembly on Dec. 22, hosted by Zach Klein as Santa and Nathan Carlow as the Grinch. Below, a group of select chorus members perform a vocal percussion rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" during the annual holiday assembly.  Staff photos and video

Teachers give Class of 2017 a deserving send-up/send-off

A modest proposal indeed

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following video captures Eagle Times editor Ronahn Clarke's farewell to BEHS at the Senior Last Assembly June 7 at the University of Southern Maine. Ronahn was Salutatorian of the Class of 2017. He will be attending Colby College in the fall.