Fundraising to help VCS grads attend MSSM

by Mary Grow

Last academic year, a Vassalboro Community School graduate named Judson Smith was a freshman at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone. Smith is glad he was able to attend the specialized residential high school (see the Jan. 9, 2025, issue of The Town Line, p. 2, for an interview with Smith midway through the year).

This spring, VCS eighth-graders Savannah Judkins and Agatha Meyer were accepted to enter MSSM’s freshman class in September 2025.

Having three students qualify for the prestigious school brought pride and pleasure to VCS personnel, and to many Vassalboro residents not directly connected with VCS.

One of the latter is John Reuthe. To express his feelings in a practical way, he is organizing, and donating to, a fund-raiser to help pay Vassalboro students’ costs.

As Vassalboro School Board members explained at their April 8 meeting, the state pays students’ tuition at MSSM, but not room and board, which they said cost around $11,000 a year. School board members researched records and found a policy under which they voted to give each family $5,303 in aid for the coming school year.

Reuthe pointed out that in addition to the remaining room and board costs, high-school students have other expenses. He and some of his neighbors have therefore organized the Vassalboro Community Scholarship Fund at MSSM.

The Vassalboro fund is a subdivision of the school’s MSSM Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Donations to the Vassalboro fund by credit card may be made via the school’s website. Checks should be made payable to the Maine School of Science and Mathematics Foundation and mailed to the school at 95 High Street, Limestone, ME 0750.

For more information on the local project, Reuthe’s email address is john@ereuthe.com.

Reuthe is particularly pleased that two more girls will be attending MSSM. He comes from a family in which many women, despite being born poor in rural areas, managed to get a science education that led to a successful career.

Before the Covid epidemic, Reuthe said, he and his late wife Elizabeth provided summer camperships at MSSM for female students. His wife’s illness and death distracted him from resuming the program.

But when the grandmother of one of the new MSSM students mentioned that the family might have trouble paying room and board, Reuthe’s instant reaction was, “I’ll find a way to help.”

After discussions with MSSM executive director Rob Constantine and dean of enrollment management Santiago Durango, Reuthe and his group organized the Vassalboro fund. His long-term goal is to establish an ongoing source of money to help support future VCS graduates, boys and girls, who gain admission to MSSM.

As of June 22, Reuthe estimated donations totaled about $6,000. The initial payment to MSSM for next year is due in mid-July, he said.

Reuthe was impressed by MSSM students he met during the family’s earlier involvement with the school. “The kids are serious,” he said. “They work all day long and love it.”

Many go on to technical colleges and careers in science, engineering and other technical fields.

Constantine said MSSM’s 2025-26 enrollment is about 112 students – some applications remain to be finalized. Of the total, he said, 52, or close to 46.5 percent, are girls.