OXFORD — Norway Savings Bank has donated $120,000 to fund Oxford Hills’ first cohort of students participating in NorthStar, a six-year adventure education program.

NorthStar’s roots go back to 2017 when it launched as part of a pilot partnership focused on youth mentorship, coordinated by Aspirations Incubator with eight school districts.

In western Maine, Maine School Administrative District 44 began matching seventh grade students with mentor Lyndsey Smith of the Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center.

The pilot program ran from 2017-2023, with data from each school district monitored yearly for participants’ engagement with education, peers and adults, graduation rates and postsecondary education aspirations.

This past year NorthStar expanded to Oxford Hills Middle School. OHMS educators Liz Coen and Brittany Moore welcomed NorthStar Director Smith and Program Justin Bondeson into classrooms at South Campus to introduce students to the program and get their feet wet with some early projects and field trips.

Close to home, the cohort visited Roberts Farm for hiking, geocaching and relationship-building activities, the Oxford Fair last fall, and went farther afield to tackle the ropes course at Pondicherry Park in Bridgton and visit the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel.

For a science unit, students also toured the Norway/Paris Solid Waste Transfer Station & Recycling Center and created their own pitches for processing waste which they presented in class.

Students also spent a day ice fishing on Lake Pennesseewassee, mentored by students with Oxford Hills Tech School’s

Coen said she is seeing positive impacts on her students, and not just in class. They take their experiences home and involve their families.

“The kids are trying new things that they may not otherwise have the opportunity,” she said. “They are more engaged, building relationships in school, and sharing with their parents.’

“We are building the same model in Oxford Hills as we developed at Telstar,” Smith told the Advertiser Democrat. “Initially, our focus has been on getting to know the staff and students there. We’re developing programming that supports the outdoor curriculum that’s already in place.”

Next year Bondeson will embed at OHMS as the program shifts to follow the established model – based on outings and peer engagement – NorthStar has built in Bethel.

“The donation from Norway Savings will see this cohort of middle school students through their senior year to graduation,” Smith said. “In Maine where kids are often rurally isolated, they may not have the opportunities” benefactors like Norway Savings can help open new avenues for kids to grow.

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