Megan Millett, of South Paris, collects sap at Swain’s Family Farm for her senior project on Maine Maple Sunday. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen
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BETHEL —  Oxford Hills High School senior Megan Millett, of South Paris, will teach the science and industry of sugaring at Farmer Ed Swain’s Bethel Sugar House on Maine Maple Sunday weekend, March 22 and 23. She plans to help visitors better understand the science of why the sap runs and the process of how to boil it into maple syrup.

Megan Millett, of South Paris, collects sap at Swain’s Family Farm for her senior project on Maine Maple Sunday. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen

During a recent visit to the Bethel farm, Millett assisted Swain in pumping sap from 1,200 trees into a tank on his truck at his sap orchard on Annis Road. She also collected sap from the buckets on trees near the Route 2 farmhouse. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Preston Morse, photographed her to use in her project. Millett will spend at least 10 hours on her community-based senior project, a graduation requirement with the stipulation that it must have a positive impact on the community.

At Maine Maple Sunday, Millett will explain to visitors what they are seeing as they watch Swain boil sap. She will visually demonstrate that 40 gallons of sap makes one gallon of syrup. She’ll have her photos of the entire process on a tri-fold, too.

“I want to get into the science behind it,” said Millett, who plans to adapt her presentations based on the age of the visitor. She is excited to get people into the outdoors and teach something she has experienced and enjoyed since she was young. “I love the legacy of maple syruping in Maine.”  She loves eating it on pancakes and vanilla ice cream, too.

Millett rides in the back of the truck across Route 2 to collect sap from Ed Swain’s sap trees. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen

Her research will focus on maple sugaring yields and whether they have been affected by global warming, as well as its impact on Maine’s economy. She is also interested in examining how some farms have shifted to a more industrial approach, as opposed to Swain’s hands-on, manpower method.

She will present her final project at school on May 12.

Reflecting on the time-consuming process, Millett remarked, “Now I realize why real maple syrup is expensive.”

Senior projects at the school vary widely. One of Millett’s friends is crocheting hats and mittens to donate to homeless shelters, while other students are helping with after-school sports programs. Millett is confident her project is unique and hasn’t been done in recent years.

After high school, Millett plans to attend WyoTech in Wyoming to study diesel mechanics. Her father, Corey Millett, is a diesel mechanic, and she has grown up around farm trucks and machinery. “I want to work on tractors and 18-wheelers,” she said.

At the farm the sun is shining and the snow is melting. With cold nights and daytime temperatures reaching the 40’s the sap is running well unlike about five years ago when Swain said it was too cold and the sap wasn’t ready for Maine Maple Sunday.

This year he expects it to run into mid-April. Millet says, “It should be a good year.”

Megan Millett is shadowing Farmer Ed Swain, left, for her senior project on Maine Maple Sunday. Rose Lincoln/Bethel Citizen