Limestone

I spent the day Friday in Limestone visiting with Em and touring the Maine School of Science & Math. Let me start by saying what an interesting area it is. The town of Limestone couldn't be much smaller, a main street with a handful of businesses; but sitting on the hill on the way into town are these two very large school buildings...a reminder of what things were like in Limestone when Loring AFB still existed. You'd scratch your head if you didn't know why there's a large high school in this tiny town with a large auditorium and swimming pool, etc. The former middle school sits next door and has been converted to dorms for the MSSM students. Between MSSM students and LHS students there's about 200 kids, less than half the students the place was built for.
A quick aside: Last time I was in Limestone was 1979, losing a high school baseball playoff game 1-0. In the trophy case there sits the 1979 Class B State Championship trophy.
It is a great school for kids like Em, over-achievers, kids who aren't challenged in most traditional schools. The curriculum is very tough and many kids can't handle being there in an environment where they have to be self-motivated. As expected, Em is thriving in such an environment. She loves the school, its teachers, the town (my wonderful tree hugging, vegan, nerd!!) and being in a place surrounded by students like her.
Aside from being able to tour the school and meet with the teachers, the students put on a variety show that evening, as well as some of them (including Em) sang a capella during supper. Emily sang a song with the chorus, and she and another student performed 3 songs from the play "Wicked." I don't get to hear her sing very often, so that was a highlight. Another highlight was her performing a song from Phantom of the Opera as a piano solo!! Dad's very proud of you!

Finally, Shelly updated her blog recently with news about our family. I know many of you have asked about what's going on with my step "children," especially Tim in Korea. So you can read about them there.