Page 9 - Newsletter Winter 2018

Both Jim and Tim were asked about the importance of the Alumni Association to the school. Jim noted the
importance of the connections and the institutional knowledge and stated that, “I’m very impressed with the
Association and how well organized it is.” Tim added, “The amount of money for scholarships provided by the
Association is amazing!”

When the subject of family came up, Jim pointed out another thing the two have in common ... both of their
wives are outstanding athletes. Jim’s wife, Mary Jo, is a member of the UMF Basketball Hall of Fame while Tim’s
wife, Erica McGary Tweedie ‘00, is in the UMPI Basketball Hall of Fame. Jim has been married to Mary Jo for 35
By Nancy Ketch ‘82; Photo by Joe Cyr ‘89 years. They have 4 adopted children ages 29-17 and a 21 month old grandson. Tim & Erica, who is a Guidance
Counselor at the school, have been married for 13 years. They have 3 sons, Jay who is 11, Ty, 8 and Leo, 3. Jay is a
namesake for Tim’s grandfather Jay Brewer who many will remember as a teacher and principal in the district.

We wish both Jim and Tim the utmost success as they move Houlton Middle/High School to the next level. We
have invited Jim to pen this column in the future and will look forward to hearing about all the great things
happening at the school.

Music Department

UPDATE By Kevin Mania, HHS Music Faculty

The music department started the school year off in full stride. The first week of school we auditioned for this year’s musical,
“Tuck Everlasting.” This year we are lucky to have over 30 Middle and High School students performing. Our production
dates will be November 15, 16, 17, 18. That’s right, four performances! Thursday and Friday will be at 7:00 p.m. and
Saturday and Sunday will be at 2:00 p.m. We are very excited to bring this great family musical to our Houlton Community
Arts Center stage. We also started up Middle School Jazz Band, High School Jazz Band, and High School Modern Band
already, and things are going great with them as well. Our extra curricular offerings listed above service over 60 kids right now.

During the school day we are offering a good number of classes and experiences as well. We offer to 6th and 8th grade students
a music explore class which consists of Bucket Drumming, Ukulele Playing, and Modern Band. For high school electives we
are offering Piano Class, Rock History, Band, Chorus and Modern Band. The kids seem excited and are always scratching for
more. We will be having our High School concert on December 3rd and our Middle School concert on December 4th this
year. Soon after our concerts, we will start up with our Pep Band performances for our Shire teams in Alumni Gym and the
Millar Arena. If anyone is interested in trying to do an Alumni Pep band performance at a game send me an email ASAP and I
can see what we can pull off this year.

I want to thank the Alumni Association for funding our new recording studio supplies. Along with our new Modern Band
program, something that we thought would be a great addition, is the option to record and learn more about how the real
world of a musician works. This summer, I wrote a grant proposal to the Alumni Association to help develop this idea.
Through your generosity we are now starting to work with Pro Tools, which is the industry standard for recording studios.
We also have a new digital mixer, microphones, and more to come. Students will now be able to produce their own music as
well as recording and listen back to themselves to use as an assessment tool. We will be using this workstation for all of our
ensembles soon. If any alumni has worked in the industry and wants to connect with us about your experiences, we would
love to hear from you. Our current students need to hear the great things you have done. With being a small town, I try to
always tell them to think big, anything is possible, and it can start right here in Houlton. We look forward to letting you know
more about our new venture in upcoming issues of the Alumni Newsletter.
Photo courtesy of Penny Nevers ‘61

Thank you for all your support and generosity that you continually give to Houlton High School. As always, please feel free to
come visit or contact us anytime. Best wishes through the holidays and new year.

www.houltonalumni.com PAGE 9