The Downeaster train carried several Boothbay Region High School students to the University of New Hampshire in Durham to check out the campus March 9.

The trip was funded through the school's Maine Education Loan Marketing Corporation (MELMAC) Education Foundation grant, which prepares students for life after high school by providing opportunities for on-site visits to colleges, technical schools, workplaces, military organizations, or other post-secondary options. Students receive assistance and are continually mentored from the application process through acceptance. They’re encouraged to fill out FASA forms for college, are coached for SATs and college essays, and meet with BRHS graduates who return to tell students about their experiences. They've traveled to many campuses throughout Maine and New England. This was the first visit to the Durham campus.

BRHS School Resource Officer Larry Brown and College Placement Coordinator Kerrin Erhard were on board with the students. “We were able to get student rates, which offer a big discount.” The Downeaster left Brunswick at 7:30 a.m. The group got off the train in the middle of the UNH campus at 9:30 a.m., toured the campus, ate lunch at the dining hall, shopped in the bookstore and toured UNH's Equestrian Center, where Erhard, who attended UNH, used to ride. The group arrived back in Brunswick at about 4:30 p.m.

At this point in the year, about 62 percent of BRHS seniors have applied to a post-secondary program, Erhard said.

Students on the trip included Kyle Ames, Page Brown, Jake Brewer, Sam Burnham, Evy Case, Summer Chamberlin, Cameron Crocker, Tyler Field, Madeleine Gaudette, Lincoln Hamblett, Brooke Harmon, Kayla Lewis, John Rollins, Jo Shaw and Lovely Uberita.