Messalonskee Jobs for Maine Graduates teacher Skip Bessey Jr. to award Scholarships
For the first time, Messalonskee Jobs for Maine Graduates teacher Skip Bessey Jr. will be awarding scholarships to a pair of seniors at JMG’s annual year-ending ceremony.
Bessey, in his ninth year as a JMG instructor, will hand out the rewards in a ceremony slated to run from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday in the Messalonskee Performing Arts Center.
“It will be two scholarships each year, starting this year, which is really exciting,” he said.
Bessey said the Miranda Travers Memorial JMG Scholarship targets students planning to pursue a career in the medical field and provides $1,000 for each recipient.
The scholarship, Bessey said, is named in memory of the daughter of Tracie Travers, a JMG teacher who used to teach at Messalonskee.
Bessey said Miranda Travers, who worked in the medical field, died unexpectedly at the age of 35.
While the scholarship gives a new aspect to the year-ending ceremony, Bessey said the event goes beyond monetary awards. He realized that value when he first became familiar with the program about a decade ago.
“I really just loved what JMG did,” he said “I just loved that they talked about what you might do after high school.”
Bessey said the real-world approach JMG takes to education is more needed today than ever before for students.
Too many students, he said, struggle at what is traditionally labeled the “soft skills” – being on time, working hard, etc. Bessey, though, said he doesn’t blame students for this deficiency.
Instead, he said, he tells them they are a product of a society that tends to undermine those important fundamental qualities.
JMG provides a solution.
“Our job,” Bessey said, “is to make sure that [students] become a useful, happy part of society.”