In a year when it seems nothing is ordinary, hope is vital. Gorham High School (GHS) seniors are holding tight to their hopes for a successful future.
In January, Aspire Gorham released its fourth monthly newsletter and chose to feature the aspirations of GHS seniors. The Aspire initiative is a unique partnership between the Gorham School District, Jobs for Maine Grads (JMG), and the MELMAC Education foundation.
JMG’s focus is to provide Maine students with the tools they need to graduate high school and to pursue their passions while attending post-secondary school. The Aspire initiative grew out of JMG’s work and focuses on uplifting GHS students in their exploration of post-secondary options.
JMG regularly hosts career talks at GHS, currently via Zoom, in which students get the opportunity to hear directly from career professionals in fields of interest. The program also connects students with local or remote internships, encouraging GHS students to get real experience in a potential career prior to graduating.
GHS-based JMG coordinators Jen Belanger and Eliza Kenigsburg launched the Aspire Gorham Newsletter in October 2020 in an effort to communicate JMG’s impact on student’s lives to the larger community. The hope was that wider community support for JMG’s work would provide students with more opportunities to obtain internships or career experience with supportive businesses around Gorham, as well as raise awareness of the program’s work to GHS students and staff.
Courtesy of Jen BelangerOne of the Gorham High School senior aspirations as printed in the Aspire Gorham January Newsletter.
The January edition of Aspire Gorham’s Newsletter put the spotlight on the goals, plans, and dreams of GHS seniors. Belanger spoke on the creation of this special edition of the newsletter and the importance of goal-setting for high school students, especially in 2021. “Goal setting is an incredibly powerful action—it requires critical thinking and reflection. The act of simply taking the time to write the goals down is a first step to actually achieving those goals,” said Belanger.
Each student’s response was vastly different from others’ which is a testament to the success of such reflection. In reading the January newsletter, students’ understanding of their own skills and aspirations is evident.
GHS senior Brooke Phillips tied her passion for her prospective major into a larger moral goal stating, “I am going to begin college in the Fall of 2021. I aspire to this because I know that the major I am going into fits me perfectly. I am excited to get out there and begin my journey on becoming the best me. I am going to make this happen by getting a head start on college classes and by keeping up with grades and extracurriculars.”
In order to be featured in this edition of the newsletter, students volunteered to fill out a Google Form with information on their personal aspirations. Kenigsburg also conducted outreach within the school by attending a few English courses and speaking to students with under-represented goals.
Fifteen GHS seniors were featured in the newsletter, which Belanger hopes “has made them feel as if their goals and aspirations are valued, and that they feel celebrated as a class in this very unusual year.”
Belanger is also looking forward to making the January “Senior Aspirations” edition annual. “I love sharing stories and celebrating successes, and this newsletter had 15 stories to share and celebrate,” said Belanger.
She expressed that JMG is also always on the lookout for career or post-secondary oriented activities from the community to feature in the newsletter. “I would love for teachers, parents, and community members to reach out to me with activities that help support students in creating and working towards their future goals. This information will help to make the Newsletter even better in the future,” said Belanger.
The Aspire Gorham Newsletter is published monthly on the Aspire Gorham page under the “About” tab on the Gorham School District website. Previous newsletters can be found in the same location.