January 7, 2008 Press Release in mainebusiness.com

Note to Volunteers:

Now is the time to call any teachers or school administrators you are working with to set up the schedule for this school year. Please also e-mail Debbie Daggett at info@maine-ssv.org with your schedule. Also, throughout the year, please provide Debbie with such information as: the name of the school, names of teachers, number of hours you spend in classroom, number of classes in which you participate, and the hours you spend preparing for each class session.

Grant from Maine Community Foundation:

Last November we received a very generous grant from the Maine Community Foundation. It has allowed us to expand some programs and it will support our activities through the first half of this school year.

Junior Solar Sprint Program at Sugg School, Lisbon, Maine:

Two MSSV volunteers assisted two science teachers at the Sugg School in Lisbon, Maine, with the introduction of the Junior Solar Sprint Program in their classes. The program has the students working in teams to build and race small solar-powered cars. The volunteers prepared notes on the mechanical and electrical theory of the cars and presented these subjects to the classes. The volunteers assisted the students with the design and construction of their cars (within the limits of what assistance adults are allowed to provide). We think that our participation enhanced the students' knowledge and we learned about what works and what doesn't work with this program. We look forward to other schools' participation in the Junior Solar Sprint Program.

After-School Science Club:

We would like to assist schools in setting up after-school clubs for students interested in electronics and physical science projects. We could provide assistance to students who want to learn to design and build electronic devices. We have experienced volunteers and we have access to electronic parts. This club would be suitable for high school students and very advanced eighth grade students. Any teachers who would like assistance setting up such a program should contact Edmond R. Pelta info@maine-ssv.org.

New additions to the program administration - Elaine and Nancy:

We have added two part-time assistants to our staff. They are Elaine Tselikis and Nancy Stencil.

Elaine Tselikis will deal with public information, which means press and media and publications. Elaine has considerable professional experience in this area and we are beginning to see results.

Nancy Stencil runs her own company providing web site design and support. The web site you are looking at is the result of Nancy's effort.