Guest speaker for Houlton Rotary Club on July 7th was April Flagg with Aroostook Aspirations, pictured here left to right Amy Hocking, Rotary Club President

April Flagg, Aroostook Aspirations Executive Director

Sandy Gauvin, Aroostook Aspirations

Jane Torres, Rotary Club Vice President

April said that today at Houlton Rotary she wanted to take some time to really introduce our program and it’s many components. Because the program has so many parts, it is certainly a challenge to share everything we would like in a half hour!

What an incredible group of people the Houlton Rotary is! We were so delighted to have the chance to so speak with them. Generally, we wanted to explain the way our program works. We are not a scholarship program; we are a program that offers a scholarship as a part of the support we provide our scholars with. In addition the scholarship, we have weekend retreats with the students, SHANTE (skills, habits, assets, networking, teamwork, and education. This first event with our scholars allows them to get to know each other an our staff and review some of the expectations they will face in college. We also prepare them for our next event, a formal gala to celebrate their successes and to raise money for our program. Following the gala, Heidi’s Hope, an innovative concept involving service, will occur on October 18th. Rotary, and especial the Houlton division, is well know for it’s continued generosity both with time and financial resources. We wanted to share with the members there that we are filling a need in the County, a more educated and skilled work force, and we are offering a solution to problems that plague our region, poverty and unemployment or underemployment, and outward migration. Our program wants to fi the need, but we also want to assure that the level of need decreases over time. An educated and skilled workforce is key to that goal. Our program is working to address the underlying issues in Aroostook: poverty, unemployment, and outward migration. Our program is a long term strategic response to these challenges.

For more information please call April at 207-760-0558, or email her at april.flagg@gmail.com or visit their website and face book page.