Two hundred and fifty students graduated from the University of Maine at Presque Isle during the 2011-2012 academic year. On Saturday, May 12, at 10:30 a.m. during the 2012 Commencement Exercises, the University’s 103rd Commencement, President Donald Zillman conferred degrees upon 161 students who participated in the ceremony held in Wieden Gymnasium.
UMPI is proud to announce its support for the second feature film by award-winning filmmakers, Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly (The Way We Get By). Gaudet and Pullapilly will kick off their casting calls for Blue Potato in Aroostook County at the following locations:
The American Red Cross and the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Residence Life Office are teaming up to pull off the University’s fifth “Super Blood Drive” this summer, the time of year when the need for blood increases.
The Super Blood Drive will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 25 in the Gentile Hall Gymnasium. The event is being sponsored by the University, UMPI’s Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and Pizza Hut, and cosponsored by Pat’s Pizza, Big Cheese Pizza, Country Farm’s Market, and Wal-Mart.
Three hundred and nine students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle have been named to the Dean’s List for the spring semester, according to Dr. Michael Sonntag, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host a Thunderstorm Safety/Spotter Workshop with WAGM Meteorologist Ted Shapiro on Friday, June 22 from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. in the Campus Center. Campus and community members of all ages are invited to attend this free event.
“The workshop will serve as an excellent primer for campus and community members as we continue through the thunderstorm season,” Shapiro said. “I’ll be sharing some important weather-watching skills everyone should know to help them identify impending thunderstorms so they can properly prepare for them. I’ll also teach folks about clues they can look for in the morning, hours before thunderstorms may even occur!”
Riverside Park in Downtown Presque Isle will once again be filled with music on Sunday afternoons this summer as the City of Presque Isle and the University of Maine at Presque Isle host the Fifth Annual “Music in the Park” Summer Concert Series.
This year’s music series will feature one show per month throughout the summer, kicking off on Sunday, June 10, and continuing with concerts on July 8, and Aug. 12, 2012.
Just over three years ago, the University of Maine at Presque Isle held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for its brand new Prometric Testing Center. In the years since, the center – located on the ground floor of South Hall – has provided a convenient and close-to-home option for the people of Aroostook County to complete their computer-based licensure exams and certifications.
“People don’t have to drive to Portland or Bangor anymore to take these tests,” John Harrington, Prometric Test Center Administrator, said, citing a major reason why the testing center has proved so popular since its opening in 2009. “I also have people coming in to test from all of the Maritime Provinces, and people from central Maine who couldn’t get a seat for a specialty test exam close to home.”
University of Maine at Presque Isle Criminal Justice Club members recently traveled to Sacramento and San Francisco, California, in conjunction with a course designed to increase student awareness of historical perspectives of policing and corrections. The trip included student ride-alongs with members of the Sacramento Police Department, visits to Folsom Prison, Alcatraz Prison, Berkeley Police Department, the California Highway Patrol academy, and various tourist attractions in the greater San Francisco area.
The students who participated in the trip included: Christina Hall, Hanad Ashkir, Mark Bartlett, Tom Dionne, Josh Esty, Josh Conroy, Sierra Turmenne, Richard Landry, and Ben Lulofs.
University of Maine at Presque Isle Writing Center tutors recently were in Queens, New York, to present at the annual Northeast Writing Centers Association [NEWCA] Conference at St. John’s University.
UMPI tutors Martha Franklin-Wight and Taylor Ussery attended the April conference with Writing Center Director Dr. Deborah Hodgkins. The UMPI group’s session, titled The Whole Writer, the Whole Tutor: What We Talk about When We Reflect on Practice, was an interactive one that first provided context and then engaged the audience in activities.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle S.E.A.M. [Student Education Association of Maine] members provided the afterschool program in Washburn with a special treat this spring – they hosted a Read Across America event that had children “traveling” all over the United States.
With the help of UMPI’s S.E.A.M. members and their imaginations, children were able to tour a bat cave in New Mexico, explore seashells in Florida, dig up fossils in Montana, and lay on a beach in Hawaii and learn a little about the Hawaiian language. Children were broken into groups and each was given a suitcase and a destination.