Morning Sentinel
Hard work helps Mt. View students
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BY ALAN CROWELL
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 06/10/2008

THORNDIKE -- The valedictorian of Mount View High School's class of 2008 credits growing up on a horse farm for teaching him the value of hard work.

Brian Blanchard estimates he worked six to eight hours a day between school and homework during the winter and eight to 12 hours a day during the summer.

"Working on a horse farm has taught me to work hard and you will see rewards for it," said Blanchard, who also drives a sulky in harness racing and has assisted his father with training for about 10 years.

Sunday, Blanchard read from an article entitled "A Guide to a Happy Life," that has grown old and yellow on his family's refrigerator.

Included in the advice is to listen more and talk less. "You can't learn anything when you are talking," Blanchard said.

In terms of his own future, Blanchard said he plans to attend Colby College in Waterville next year. He hopes eventually to attend graduate school for either pharmacy or to be a veterinarian.

He could also go into horse racing.

"It is pretty rewarding and challenging as well," he said. "It has taught me that things may not go so hot for a couple of years but you just have to keep at it. You have to keep making yourself known and eventually you will succeed," he said.

He called his class "very, very talented. ... They are certainly going to do great things," said Blanchard.

Lynda Letteney, principal of Mount View High School, agreed.

"This is a bright group. The top 64 students had an 85-average or better. That is unusual," she said.

Another thing that stood out is the amount of time the class of 2008 spent volunteering in their communities.

The school requires seniors to do 15 hours of community service in order to graduate. Letteney said she gave out more than 30 certificates to students who had 30 hours or more of community service.

Elizabeth Higgins had more than 310 hours, said Letteney.

"It is cultural here. It is just culture in this community to help one another," he said.

Students teach, coach, read to younger students, shovel sidewalks, mow lawns for senior citizens and even work on farms for free, according to Letteney.

Living in a relatively isolated rural area, students don't have access to the sorts of cultural and educational resources available in many larger, more urban communities, said Letteney, but she said they tend to make up for it in other ways.

"They have a tremendous work ethic and a real sense of appreciation for the efforts that are made (for them)," she said.

Among the scholarship winners in the Class of 2008 are Stephen Pantalone who will attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Edwin Santana, who received a Reserve Officer Training Course (ROTC) scholarship. He will attend Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.

The Mount View High School Class of 2008

Matthew Abbott

Morganne Andrews

Mollie Arute

Charleen Bailey

Christopher Bailey

Michael Baker

Natasha Beckett

Ashlie Belcher

Nicole Bellerose

Breana Bennett

Brian Blanchard

Nikki Blodgett

Britney Bowden

Natalie Bowden

Jacob Bragg

Melinda Brown

Elizabeth Bruns

Andrea Bryant

Justin Butterfield

Ian Campbell

Nikalee Caron

Brian Carrara

Peter Champa

Melissa Conroy

Cassandra Cook

Harlan Crichton

Lyndsey Cronin

Shannon Davenport

Dakota Davis

Lauren Dimick

Alesha Donovan

Travis Doughty

Monika Dunphy

Jeffrey Emery

Benjamin English

Eben Estell

Dani Flewelling

Joshua Fuller

Scott Gibbs

Christian Giddings

Brandon Giggey

Ian Hall

William Harmon

Charles Henry

Elizabeth Higgins

Abigail Hill

Ethan Hodgdon

Colleen Holland

Nathan Howe

Nicholas Jameson

Ethan Jean

Amber Jewett

Natasha Johnson

Kayla Kaufmann

Derek Keller

Joseph Keresey

Stephanie Klein

Caitlin Kupferman

Stephanie Larrabee

Amber Leadbetter

Ryan Lefebvre

Elizabeth Lincoln

Daniel Lombard

Kristina MacDonald

Kevin Marsanskis

Kristin Masessa

Alison Maurice

Tessa Mayberry

Amanda Mayhew

Jeremy McDevitt

Malin McWalters

Cassandra Mehuren

Jacob Mehuren

Joseph Merrifield

Gerald Merry

Tyler Miles

Waylon Milliard

Ashley Moody

Devan Moody

Reginald Moulton Jr.

Emily Nason

Darcy Nickerson

Jasmine Noble

James Owen

Stephen Pantalone

Sara Phillips

Korei Proctor

Ashley Pulsifer

Jacqueline Quebec

Derek Ricker

Katie Roberts

Alex Roberts-Pierel

Edward Rodrigues

Alicia Rolfe

Trevor Russell

Peter Saball

Edwin Santana

Autumn Smith

Christina Smith

Adam Spaulding

Kimberly Spaulding

Albert Spencer

Edyth Spencer

Sean Sprowl

Joshua St. Clair

Felicia Story

Kaylie Thornhill

Alexandra Todd

Tyler Turner

Ayron Van Hoy

Kurtis Van Duysen

Patricia Waters

Kelley Welch

Briannah Wight

Alyssa Willette

Dallas York

Amanda Young

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