Bangor - Their tents and signs no longer grace the lawn of the Bangor Public Library, but the city's Occupy movement still has a presence in town that's shaping the opinions of a younger generation.

"What I was most curious about was their whole plan for how they plan to go about their expenditures economically," said Charlie Volkwein, a student at John Bapst Memorial High School.

The school invited members of Occupy Bangor to attend a forum hosted by Volkwein and a panel of other students.

"We think they had a high level of interest and we think that's great," said Occupy member Lawrence Reichard.

Reichard spent Monday morning answering questions prepared by students. They ranged anywhere from what is the 99% to when will the movement come to an end.

"My personal opinion is it seems as though they kind of generalize a lot of their answers and skidded around the ones I was really interested in," said Volkwein.

Volkwein's comment are nothing new to the movement, however.

"We've heard this a lot, you know that, and I don't believe we're not specific. I think we're as specific as either of the major political parties," said Reichard.

And with contrasting viewpoints, it seems the school achieved exactly what it set out to do.

"One of the things we're trying to prepare kids for is to participate in democracy," said principal, David Armistead.

The panel discussion is just the first in a series they'll be holding throughout the year.

"I think it's cool that even though we're not voting right now we're still going to be getting to hear people's perspectives," said student, Mary Carmac

The hope is that they'll take what they learned here and make a difference outside of the classroom.

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