Mayor Brennan and Portland ConnectED to Congratulate Casco Bay High School Seniors at Culmination of Congress Street College Application March

Portland, Maine - On Friday, December 13th, Casco Bay High School seniors will lead the first-ever march down Congress Street to take that most critical step towards post-secondary success by putting their college applications in the mail—to be followed by gathering/celebration  at City Hall.

What: The entire senior class of Portland’s Casco Bay High School (CBHS) will march down Congress Street from the Portland Museum of Art to the downtown post office to mail their college applications.

When: December 13th at 1 p.m.

The parade will include a police escort, music, roller-skaters and TD Bank’s WOW! van.  Downtown business owners and workers, as well as other community members, are encouraged to line the streets and cheer for the students.

Portland Mayor Michael F. Brennan will meet the students at the Post Office Square Post Office at 400 Congress Street at about 1:30 and invite them over to warm up and celebrate the occasion at Portland City Hall for a celebration, with expected brief remarks from Mayor Brennan, Portland ConnectED Executive Director Mike Dixon, CBHS Principal Derek Pierce, and a student representative to be selected.

CBHS is joining other Expeditionary Learning high schools throughout the country in holding events on December 13th to honor seniors’ perseverance in seeking post-secondary opportunities.  Students who already submitted applications online will mail a follow-up postcard to a top choice school, an updated transcript or a letter to a significant adult in their lives who has given them support as they achieved that milestone.

CBHS requires each student to apply to college and strives for 100 percent of its graduates to be accepted to at least one post-secondary school.  CBHS met that goal with three of its five graduating classes.

With 60% of the jobs in the new economy projected to require some sort of post-secondary training just five years from now (some say this figure will increase to 90% over the next decade), it is true now more than ever that high school graduation is not so much a final destination as a critical milestone in an ongoing journey.  Accordingly, the many community partners of Portland ConnectED have committed to work together to ensure ever-increasing post-secondary enrollment, persistence, and completion for all Portland students.

When:             Friday, December 13th, 1:00 – 2:00

Where:            Portland Art Museum           1:00
                                    Congress Street        1:00 – 1:30
                                    Post Office Square    1:30
                                    Portland City Hall      1:45