Sweet Senior Stories
from the Class of 2018
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BY LEA PILLSBURY
Weekends in Brunswick to visit my Dad, riding our bikes to Mister Bagel in the summer, ice skating at the green in the winter, baking lemon breads with my Nana, water balloon fights, hours of manhunt, countless sleepovers with neighborhood friends, my pink heelys and my blue dollhouse: these are the things I remember when I look back at my childhood.
As graduation approaches, many high school seniors can’t help reminiscing about childhood memories. It’s weird to think the people that watched you grow up—the people that have seen you almost every day since the age of five—will soon be part of your past. As the Class of 2018 goes off into the real world, the Eagle Times asked some seniors to share their favorite memories of growing up.
For me personally, racing off the sweltering hot bus and up the dirt driveway into my cousin’s house, quickly changing into swimsuits and running out to the pool is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of my early school days. My best friends growing up were my little brother Lewin and my cousin Ryan, and those bonds have not faded one bit.
Jenna Litif reminisced on learning how to snowboard when she was six.
“It’s still one of my favorite things to do,” she says. “It’s cool to be able to look back on memories with my siblings and parents, especially when they include things I still love to do.”
For Journey Barnes, memories of growing up are not so local. Moving to Maine from Texas in the fifth grade was a hard adjustment, but now she says, “I couldn’t imagine it any other way.”
Among her favorite childhood memories, were visits to family for reunions in Waco, Texas.
“I remember playing hide and seek on the farms and driving around golf carts with my cousins. I love looking back at my memories from Texas.”
Haydn Goulet shared a comical event as he looked back on his childhood memories. Hayden said, “Get ready for this one” and laughed. He recounted the time he found a dead bald eagle in his front yard at the age of six, saying, “I saw the dead eagle in my yard and I just thought it was a toy, so I brought it inside into my room and played with it.”
Haydn says his mom was shocked when she found him playing with a dead bird in his room. Needless to say, he didn’t get to keep it.
Some memories were a bit more poignant. Saydee Berthiaume is a cancer survivor and shared that her favorite childhood memory was going to Disney World for her “Make a Wish” vacation 10 years ago. She and her family flew to Florida to what she describes as “the most amazing thing that an eight-year-old can experience.” At the time she was still fighting cancer and she says the trip “brought some happiness to a hard time.”
Another unique memory was shared by Shaine Patterson and Christian Napolitano about Shaine’s iconic 3rd grade birthday party. He recounted how his dad “lifted a tarp up off of a picnic table and the entire table was covered with crowbars and baseball bats and we were all a little confused.”
He says his dad then pointed to a broken-down van in the driveway and told the boys to “get after it.”
Haydn Goutlet joined Shaine and Christian in their reminiscing of this memory, and the three laughed thinking back on how it must have looked having a group of 8-year-old boys smashing in a van with baseball bats.
When Ms. Lannin said, “It must have at least gotten some of your frustration out,” Shaine replied, “The only frustration I had was not being able to smash in that van’s windshield.”
The theme of friendships that have lasted years seemed to continue as other stories from seniors unfolded.
Jamie Bryant and Jenny Viera met the summer before sixth grade and now, nearly seven years later, the two live together and have formed a lifelong bond. Jamie says, “Meeting Jenny brought a lot of happiness to a hard time in my life.”
As soon as the conversation of their friendship began, they proceeded to tell story after story about their times together—from Halloween parties, games of manhunt, summer camp, and snow tubing. Although not related by blood, they consider themselves more like sisters than most biological sisters do.
Although we seniors will be going our separate ways in a few days, the memories we have together will always be close to our hearts.
Weekends in Brunswick to visit my Dad, riding our bikes to Mister Bagel in the summer, ice skating at the green in the winter, baking lemon breads with my Nana, water balloon fights, hours of manhunt, countless sleepovers with neighborhood friends, my pink heelys and my blue dollhouse: these are the things I remember when I look back at my childhood.
As graduation approaches, many high school seniors can’t help reminiscing about childhood memories. It’s weird to think the people that watched you grow up—the people that have seen you almost every day since the age of five—will soon be part of your past. As the Class of 2018 goes off into the real world, the Eagle Times asked some seniors to share their favorite memories of growing up.
For me personally, racing off the sweltering hot bus and up the dirt driveway into my cousin’s house, quickly changing into swimsuits and running out to the pool is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of my early school days. My best friends growing up were my little brother Lewin and my cousin Ryan, and those bonds have not faded one bit.
Jenna Litif reminisced on learning how to snowboard when she was six.
“It’s still one of my favorite things to do,” she says. “It’s cool to be able to look back on memories with my siblings and parents, especially when they include things I still love to do.”
For Journey Barnes, memories of growing up are not so local. Moving to Maine from Texas in the fifth grade was a hard adjustment, but now she says, “I couldn’t imagine it any other way.”
Among her favorite childhood memories, were visits to family for reunions in Waco, Texas.
“I remember playing hide and seek on the farms and driving around golf carts with my cousins. I love looking back at my memories from Texas.”
Haydn Goulet shared a comical event as he looked back on his childhood memories. Hayden said, “Get ready for this one” and laughed. He recounted the time he found a dead bald eagle in his front yard at the age of six, saying, “I saw the dead eagle in my yard and I just thought it was a toy, so I brought it inside into my room and played with it.”
Haydn says his mom was shocked when she found him playing with a dead bird in his room. Needless to say, he didn’t get to keep it.
Some memories were a bit more poignant. Saydee Berthiaume is a cancer survivor and shared that her favorite childhood memory was going to Disney World for her “Make a Wish” vacation 10 years ago. She and her family flew to Florida to what she describes as “the most amazing thing that an eight-year-old can experience.” At the time she was still fighting cancer and she says the trip “brought some happiness to a hard time.”
Another unique memory was shared by Shaine Patterson and Christian Napolitano about Shaine’s iconic 3rd grade birthday party. He recounted how his dad “lifted a tarp up off of a picnic table and the entire table was covered with crowbars and baseball bats and we were all a little confused.”
He says his dad then pointed to a broken-down van in the driveway and told the boys to “get after it.”
Haydn Goutlet joined Shaine and Christian in their reminiscing of this memory, and the three laughed thinking back on how it must have looked having a group of 8-year-old boys smashing in a van with baseball bats.
When Ms. Lannin said, “It must have at least gotten some of your frustration out,” Shaine replied, “The only frustration I had was not being able to smash in that van’s windshield.”
The theme of friendships that have lasted years seemed to continue as other stories from seniors unfolded.
Jamie Bryant and Jenny Viera met the summer before sixth grade and now, nearly seven years later, the two live together and have formed a lifelong bond. Jamie says, “Meeting Jenny brought a lot of happiness to a hard time in my life.”
As soon as the conversation of their friendship began, they proceeded to tell story after story about their times together—from Halloween parties, games of manhunt, summer camp, and snow tubing. Although not related by blood, they consider themselves more like sisters than most biological sisters do.
Although we seniors will be going our separate ways in a few days, the memories we have together will always be close to our hearts.
"Juuls Are For Tools"
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From BEHS to News Center 6
Screen shot by Brenna Finn
BY BRENNA FINN
Have you watched Channel 6 News lately? If so, you might have seen reporter and 2010 Bonny Eagle graduate Samantha York on your television screen. Samantha joined News Center Maine during the summer of 2014 soon after graduating from the University of Southern Maine with a major in Media Studies and Communications. Samantha says she always loved writing in school. Her English teachers, Mrs. Kathy Field and Mr. Dan Murphy, pushed her to pursue a career in journalism. To gain experience, Samantha took over the school’s morning announcements for the athletic director and narrated school and library introduction videos, which helped her learn the functions of a camera. She also started "BE in the Spotlight," a radio show that talked about what was going on at BEHS. |
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.
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.
Bonny Eagle gets to state finals with one-act play, Humbletown Dara 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." |
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Wrestling team rising
 Alex 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 Some 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 beginsBY 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 Mrs. 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 Adam 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 Colbe 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 Mrs. 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.