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I am a student at Spruce Mountain High School and the Foster Career and Technical Education Center. I fully and strongly support LD 1740, An Act to Establish the Maine Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics Matching Grant Program. I helped advocate for this bill because I’ve seen firsthand how programs like this can change students’ lives — mine included.
I started with three years in FIRST LEGO League, then moved into FIRST Robotics in high school, where I’ve now been a member for three years. Because of robotics, I learned how to bookkeep, how to talk to the public, how to secure funding, and how to work as part of a team. It gave me real-world skills and changed how I saw myself.
Robotics led me to apply to the Foster Career and Technical Education Center, where I’m currently in the Business Academy program. I’m learning personal finance, marketing, accounting, and computer application skills — skills that are getting me ready for the workforce. Because of these opportunities, I now plan to attend college and get a degree in business administration.
Since my freshman year, I’ve judged at our state FIRST LEGO League competitions. I care deeply about supporting younger students on their path to hands-on learning. I want to support their futures and help prepare them for the workforce, just like others helped me.
LD 1740 is a bill I believe in with everything I’ve got. It supports the kind of programs that built me into the student, leader, and future professional I am today. Please call your state representatives and senators and tell them to support LD 1740.
This bill matters. I’m living proof of what it can do.
Mason LaBonte
Livermore
