Horticulture fair connects students to jobs
Monica Danforth hadn’t been at the job fair more than 15 minutes before the job opportunities started coming her way.
She was among the dozens of horticulture students who got an early start on their summer job search at the Horticulture Department’s annual job fair that connects students with landscapers, garden centers and other potential employers.
The Feb. 22 fair in Jewett Hall featured more than a dozen businesses in search of employees with horticulture skills.
“Everybody’s looking for employees,” said Monica, a first-year student from Farmington. “This program gives us a lot of opportunities.”
The job fair is held each winter to meet employee needs while also providing students hands-on job opportunities in their field.
When he was an SMCC student eight years ago, the fair helped Matt McAdam land a seasonal job that later led to a full-time position at Estabrook’s garden center in Yarmouth. At this year’s fair, he was representing Estabrook’s in search of employees for the busy season ahead.
“We need employees who are well-educated to help with customers and the everyday things we do,” he said. “The students have the hands-on experience we’re looking for.”
Community Conversation
Students, faculty, and staff came together at the annual Community Conversation to share ideas about civil discourse, integrity and engagement.
About 150 people turned out for the Feb. 24 event in the HUB, gathering in small groups around tables, exchanging ideas about civility and then sharing those with the whole group. Participants also shared ideas on how to do things differently to move the college forward toward positive change.
Some of the ideas put forth included offering classes that break from the traditional semester mold; encouraging students and faculty/staff to connect with each other on multiple levels; having faculty show up a few minutes early for classes to engage with students; or simply being more open to listening to others.
The theme of this year’s gathering was “Living our values: Challenging each other to do the right thing.”
Organizers will summarize the ideas and post the information on the MySMCC portal in the weeks ahead to share with students and employees.
Radiography student Joe Kubetz said it’s important for the SMCC community to come together and share their thoughts.
“I came here today because I wanted to hear ideas from other people in the SMCC community,” he said. “This is also a good opportunity for me to pass along any ideas I may have.”
SMCC hoops teams head to nationals
The SeaWolves’ basketball teams are heading to Uniontown, Pa., to compete in the national United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division II championship tournament.
The teams left South Portland for the tournament on Sunday night and are scheduled to play their opening games on Thursday. Tournament games are being streamed live over the USCAA website at http://basketball.theuscaa.com.
The men were guaranteed a spot in the tournament after winning the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) tourney with an 85-74 win over NHTI on Feb. 19. The women fell in the YSCC semifinals, but were all but assured of spot in the national championships with a stellar regular season in which they were ranked No. 1 nationally during the regular season.
The men have a record of 23-6 overall and 12-2 in conference games and are seeded No. 5 in the national tournament. The women were 23-4 and 12-2 and are seeded fourth.
“The student athletes from both programs did an outstanding job of representing SMCC,” said Matt Richards, SMCC’s Athletics Director and coach of the men’s team. “Both teams now get the experience of playing together at the USCAA national tournament.”
Lighthouse repairs underway ahead of 120th anniversary
The iconic Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse is undergoing repairs that will result in new windows and weatherization that will help preserve the historic structure well into the future.
The Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse Trust has undertaken a $70,000 project called “Weathertight” that is broken into three phases:
- Repairs to the ventilation ball at the top of the lighthouse, repairs to fix interior water damage, and identification of additional repairs to make the structure as weather-tight as possible. This phase started in October and is nearly complete.
- Replacement of glass block windows installed by the Coast Guard when the lighthouse was automated in the early 1960s. The new windows will meet the original design specifications to restore the lighthouse to its original look when it was built in 1896-97. Fabrication of the windows has begun and most if not all of them will be installed this spring.
- The final phase will correct other areas where water is getting into the lighthouse and will include re-glazing the glass panels in the lantern room (where the light is housed) and removing old caulk and other sealants with new and improved materials where the balconies attach to the structure. This phase will be completed as soon as it’s warm enough for the materials to be effective and may be completed before the lighthouse opens to the public for the summer season.
The 120th anniversary of the lighting of the light is in May. The Spring Point Ledge Light Trust is planning a grand opening celebration on the Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend to kick off its summer season of lighthouse openings.
For more information or to donate, visit the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse Trust website.