Elm St. School in running for share of $1M

MECHANIC FALLS — The Elm Street School is in the running to win a share of $1 million, as part of a Calling all Communities campaign sponsored by U.S. Cellular.

According to U.S. Cellular spokesperson Kelly Cioe, the top 18 schools chosen will share in $1 million. The school with the most votes will win $150,000 and the next 17 schools will win $50,000. 

The campaign is open to all schools, kindergarten to grade 12, big, small, public or private. Cioe said the idea is to give communities the opportunity to help improve education by challenging them to rally community support. 

Elm Street Principal Angie Taylor said she's been advertising the school's feat as much as possible and is hoping to see more people get out and vote for Elm Street over the next two weeks. 

"It's on our sign outside of the school, I've put it in the parents newsletter," said Taylor. "I've shared it with the school committee, and the town manager of Mechanic Falls."

"It also goes out to faculty every week and I know they are spreading the word," she said. 

It's also been posted on Facebook, said Taylor. She said she's confident Elm Street School will move up in rank. 

Cioe said voting for your favorite school is as easy as visiting your nearest U.S. Cellular store between now and October 21, getting a voting code and casting your vote online at www.uscellular.com. 

You must be 18 years or older to vote and do not have to be U.S. Cellular customer. 

This is the fourth year U.S. Cellular has run the campaign, said Cioe, and no school in Maine has ever been chosen.

"We would love to see Mechanic Falls be a winner," said Cioe. As of last week, Elm Street School made it on the Top 100 list, she said. 

"They've got a little ways to go, but when you consider that there's been over 881 schools that have been voted for, being 91st is pretty impressive," she said Monday. 

On Tuesday, Cioe reported that Elm Street moved up to the 90th spot in the rankings. 

Another Maine school, Dirigo High School in Dixfield, was 94th on the list Monday, said Cioe, but on Tuesday slipped from the Top 100.  

"We would absolutely love to see a local school win in Maine," she said. 

According to Cioe, the Calling all Communities campaign is a chance for U.S. Cellular to give back to the community. 

She said what is nice about the campaign is that U.S. Cellular has left it up to the winning schools to decide how to spend their money.

If Elm Street wins, Taylor said the money would most likely be spent on new technology and professional development in the school curriculum. 

"But technology, honestly, would be the number one thing," she said. 

According to the U.S. Cellular website, since the campaign began in 2008, U.S. Cellular has awarded $3 million to 38 schools across the country. 

Since September 14, more than 57,000 votes have been cast for the campaign, it was announced Tuesday. 

Nearly 24,000 votes were cast last week, according to a release from U.S. Cellular and the number of participating schools now exceeds 100.  

Cioe said past Calling all Communities champions have spent their winnings in a variety of ways, such as renovating their gymnasiums, outfitting their classrooms with new computers or providing scholarships to graduating students. 

The winning school will be announced in November. 

"We just need to spread the word," says Taylor. "We can make this happen!"

For more information about U.S. Cellular and Calling All Communities, visit www. uscellular.com or www.facebook.com/uscellular.