Bradley has been with USM since 1999 and is past President of ACSUM (the associated, clerical, office, laboratory and technical staff of the University of Maine System). He resides in Mechanic Falls.

The MOT degree at USM LAC is completed in a 2 ½-year full-time or 3 ½-year part time sequence and also offers a “jump-start” option where students can earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five ½ years.

Occupational Therapy has been identified as one of the health professions that is “recession proof”, and was also identified as having one of the highest wage increase percentages (6%) of all of the “hot jobs” outlined in a 2010 Forbe’s report. USM’s Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) program on the Lewiston campus is the only public post-baccalaureate program in the state of Maine. The Master of Occupational Therapy program provides exceptional instruction resulting in graduates who are well prepared to pass the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy Exam (NBCOT). 84% of the graduates of this program (over the last three years) have passed the National Certification Exam on their first attempt, compared to a national average of 83%. The majority of USM MOT graduates choose to stay in Maine and serve Maine citizens. The program at USM LAC enjoys a national and international reputation for excellence, and has been recognized by international scholars for its unique and rigorous curriculum.

For more information about the Master’s in Occupational Therapy program at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College, please visit their website at www.usm.maine.edu/ot or call 207-753-6523 for more information.

2011 Graduates from USM LAC’s Master of Occupational Therapy program are pictured at their pinning ceremony held in July. Left to right: Erin Knowles, Barbara Small, Erin Masterson, Nicholas Viti, Joyce Kennedy, Joshua Ferguson, Larissa Hine, Stacey Dunn, Elizabeth Nolan, Catherine Dow, Kathryn Brooks, Caitlin Cummings, Stacey Irek, Emily Cormier, Kristina Sabasteanski, Karen Thorp, Kaila-Ruth Smith.

Vazquez Jacobus is an Assistant Professor for the Social and Behavioral Sciences and Leadership and Organizational Studies programs at USM LAC where, through 2010, she was also the Coordinator of Community Service-Learning. She draws from a range of experiences as a lawyer and social worker and focuses her work on community engagement and capacity building, particularly through promoting diversity and building community among marginalized and disempowered communities. She founded USM LAC’s mentoring program, the Lewiston Youth Empowerment Program, which she has directed over seven semesters. In collaboration with Sandcastle Clinical and Educational Services, she has directed the interdisciplinary Building Castles Together program, which uses art and culture to build relationships and resiliency. Vazquez Jacobus is also a founding member of the Downtown Education Collaborative (DEC), the higher education community engagement collaborative through which a number of interdisciplinary community projects, such as the Local Food for Lewiston community food assessment, and the Promoting Academic Success after-school homework help program have been conducted

The annual Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement for Early Career Faculty is a national award recognizing a faculty member who connects their teaching, research, and service to community engagement. Lynton framed faculty scholarly activity as inclusive, collaborative, and problem-oriented work in which academics share knowledge-generating tasks with the public and involve community partners as collaborators in public problem-solving. He believed that the core value of reciprocity involves “true partnership, based on both sides bringing their own experience and expertise to the project.”

“Michelle absolutely leads both from the heart and by example, and has encouraged and challenged me to be my own advocate and to speak for those who are not able”, says former student and award supporter Daphne Comeau. “As a community member, this example has served me well; I have felt empowered to speak on my own behalf, especially when I am a member of a marginalized population and when I am in the position to represent others.”

“As a lawyer and social worker teaching at the community-based campus of a public university, I am committed to community engaged teaching, learning and scholarship as the most effective and just way to create access to higher education which is attainable to the most marginalized, as well as to foster the development of engaged citizens who are life-long learners, and thereby to strengthen our community”, says Vazquez Jacobus.

“I believe that the interdisciplinary collaborations and mutual partnerships inherent to community engaged teaching and learning are critical to our sustainability and to the obligation of a public university. My sources of inspiration, and aspiration, are USM LAC’s students. As they struggle to balance the weights they bear, as they delight in the discovery of their intrinsic expertise, and as they recognize their import to the community, I find my own.”

The recipient of the Award will be announced in late July, and the Award will be presented at the 17th Annual Conference of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU), which will be held from October 9-11, 2011, at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Professor Michelle Vazquez Jacobus is pictured here at the African Cultural Fair in Auburn’s Festival Plaza. Left to right is student Godfrey Banda, USM LAC Advisor Mary Sylvain-Leonas, USM Mulitcultural Student Affairs Coordinator Reza Jalali, Vazquez Jacobus, and student Nasma Abdi.

Lionel (Nel) Meservier, Eddie Bouchard, Ray Chouinard, Don LeBlanc, Gerry Meservier, Mickey Meservier and Therese Dube all played with C’est Si Bon at various times.  The members successfully produced several commercially-released albums and were also active members of the Franco-American community.  The donation to the Collection is therefore also of importance for the history it provides on past Franco festivals in Biddeford, Augusta, Lewiston and elsewhere.

The items will be housed permanently at the Collection, and will be available to view during the Collection’s regular hours.  Anyone with further C’est Si Bon or festival memorabilia is also invited to add them to the Collection.

The University of Southern Maine’s Franco-American Collection, located at 51 Westminster Street in Lewiston, is one of the largest repositories of Franco-American archival material in the State of Maine. The Collection is open to the public four days a week, Mondays-Thursdays, 9am – 4pm. The Collection’s holdings cover local history, government, religion, language, education, industry, sports and the arts. The Collection focuses on Lewiston-Auburn and other areas of Maine, with additional regional materials providing a link to the wider contexts of French North America.  More information is available online at www.usm.maine.edu/franco/ or by calling 753-6545.

C’est Si Bon in 1999.  The group recently donated many materials related to the history of the band to USM’s Franco-American College. Pictured left to Right are Don LeBlanc (Fiddle); Eddie Bouchard (Guitar); Gerry Meservier (Drums); Nel Meservier (Keyboard) and Ray Chouinard (Spoons).

Running concurrently is “Taiwan Sublime,” a selection of photographs by Huang Ting-sheng, in the Hall Gallery. The exhibition is touring through the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston. “Taiwan Sublime” also includes several Taiwanese puppets and traditional toys.

Artists with work in “Tell Me a Story” are Holly Berry, Ashley Bryan, Aileen Darragh, Jamie Hogan, Wendy Kindred, Holly Meade, Leane Morin, Anne Sibley O’Brien, Mary Beth Owens, Rebekah Raye, Robert Shetterly, Helen Stevens, and Melissa Sweet. There are illustrations from more than 30 books representing a variety of cultures, from traditional folktales to others based on true stories. Internationally known artist Ashley Bryan has many illustrations from his award-winning books on African folktales. There is also be a selection of his puppets made from materials he finds near his home on Islesford, an island off the coast of Maine. The exhibition features a video of Ashley Bryan.

Represented in the exhibition are books about Uganda, Russia, Thailand, Paris, Korea, Ireland, Bangladesh, Japan, Jamaica, Romania, Ethiopia, Spain, Pacific Northwest, Passamaquoddy Native Americans, and others.

Audrey Maynard, children’s book editor for Tilbury House Publishers, remarks in the exhibition essay about the changes in the world of children’s literature over the past 25 years. She notes that “from the careful renditions of the birchbark artistry of Passamaquoddy baskets, to the use of Romanian folkloric patterns, to the replication of Iranian rug designs, these illustrators worked with diligence to produce beautiful art that is culturally sensitive, accurate, and non-stereotypic…These are powerful stories that have been written to encourage young children to value the beauty and diversity of our world and to protect its handmade and distinctive qualities.”" She continues, “In the best multi-cultural books, it is often the illustrations that will light the way for the reader to embark on a unique journey of discovery.”

The exhibition, supported by Bangor Savings Bank, is held in partnership with the Auburn Public Library and the Lewiston Public Library, both with a summer reading programs, “One World, Many Stories.”

The exhibition continues through August 12

Holly Berry, How Mama Brought the Spring, written by Fran Manushkin and Demon Slayer by Huang Ting-sheng