School-Based Health Center opens at Hampden Academy

Transcription

March 2016 • Link-22 • RSU 22
- Hampden-Newburgh-Winterport-Frankfort
• Page 1
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HAMPDEN, ME
PERMIT NO. 2
RSU 22 • Hampden • Newburgh • Winterport • Frankfort
24 Main Road North, Hampden, ME 04444
March 2016
Hampden Academy School Nurse Barb Parent (left) with Family Nurse Practitioner Alicia
Grant-Singh of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Hampden Academy’s School-Based
Health Center.
A new School-Based Health
Center has opened in Hampden
Academy in partnership with Eastern Maine Medical Center to help
deliver care and evaluate students
experiencing health concerns.
To access School-Based Health
Center services, students must
have permission from their parents
or legal guardians and go through
the school nurse.
The center is designed to provide acute care evaluation services,
including (but not limited to) sore
throat, sinusitis, headache, urinary
tract infection symptoms, upper
respiratory infection symptoms,
pink eye (conjunctivitis symptoms),
acute asthma attack, rash, allergic
reactions, and abdominal pain.
School Nurse Barb Parent says
students come to see her in order to
access the center.
“If they have a medical issue for
which I would normally refer them
to their doctor, then I call the par-
Zach Ewing lobbies Maine lawmakers for Special Olympics
Zach Ewing, a Special Olympics
athlete from Hampden Academy
in skiing, track, and Unified Basketball, spent Friday, Feb. 12, in
Washington, DC, lobbying Maine
lawmakers in support of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Act.
Zach traveled with his parents, Josh and Tammy Ewing,
and met with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen. Angus King
(I-Maine), Rep. Chellie Pingry
(D-ME-1), and Rep. Bruce Poliquin
(R-ME-2).
Zach told the lawmakers that
the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Act
needs to be reinstated each year.
The act authorizes the Secretary
of Education to award grants and
promote the expansion Best Buddies, including activities to in(Please turn to page 2)
Josh Ewing, Tammy Ewing, Zach Ewing, Sen. Susan Collins, and Tim Shriver in Sen.
Collins’ office. Tim is the son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder and honorary chairperson of the Special Olympics.
ent as usual,” she says. “I explain
what we offer. The parents can
choose to have their child treated
at the School-Based Health Center,
or they can go to their regular doctor as they always have.”
Mrs. Parent says some parents
find that it’s a lot easier to have
their child treated at the center
rather than leaving work, picking
them up at school, and taking them
to a doctor’s office.
“I’m always going to call the
parents first,” she says. “If they’d
like their child to be seen at the
center, I make the appointment.
I’m still the first point of contact,
and the parents are the ones who
ultimately decide what happens to
their child.”
Since the School-Based Health
Center opened in mid-January,
many students have “opted in,”
with their parents signing the permission form that allows them to
receive treatment. “People can opt-in at any point
in the school year by simply calling
or e-mailing me,” Mrs. Parent says.
“Every day I get more students
opting in. The word is getting
around.” The primary care provider at
the Center is Alicia Grant-Singh,
FNP, a family nurse practitioner
at EMMC’s satellite clinic at the
former Rite-Aid building on North
Main Road in Hampden, which
opened 2½ years ago.
Alicia and a medical assistant
staff the Hampden Academy
School-Based Health Center on
Fridays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Mrs. Parent says she’s hoping
to increase the number of hours as
the number of students opting to
use the School-Based Health Center increases.
“We’re starting slow in phase 1,
but we’re hoping that as more stu(Please turn to page 2)
Reeds Brook one of 3 Maine schools nominated for Blue Ribbon Award
Reeds Brook Middle School is one of three
schools in Maine that has been nominated for
the U.S. Department of Education’s prestigious National Blue Ribbon Award for 2016.
Reeds Brook was selected by the Maine
Department of Education based on overall
academic excellence, meaning that Reeds
Brook students scored in the top 15 percent
statewide in reading and math, and all subgroups within the school scored in the top 40
percent in reading and math.
Principal Regan Nickels said the school had
to prepare a formal application for the award,
which was submitted to the USDOE National
Blue Ribbon Schools Program in mid-March.
The application was prepared by a committee comprised of Rachel Larrabee and Nancy
Simpson, math teachers and members of
the Faculty Council; Karyn Field, 8th grade
teacher who has been involved in the NEASC
accreditation process; Tom Leonard and Gail
(Please turn to page 3)
Reeds Brook Middle School (above) is one of three schools in Maine that have been nominated for the U.S. Department of
Education’s prestigious National Blue Ribbon Award for 2016.
Page 2 • Link-22 • RSU 22 - Hampden-Newburgh-Winterport-Frankfort • March 2016
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Superintendent’s message
School-Based Health Center opens at Hampden Academy;
2016-17 budget being developed with less in state subsidy;
Public Pre-K program expanding in RSU 22
By Rick Lyons, Superintendent of Schools, RSU 22
RSU 22 now has a School-Based
Health Center at Hampden Academy, which opened on January 8. The center is a cooperative effort with Eastern Maine Medical
Center, which is providing five
hours a week of nurse-practitioner
time from 8 to 1 on Fridays.
The center provides acute care
evaluation services for students
experiencing such conditions as
a sore throat, headache, urinary
tract infection symptoms, upper
respiratory tract infections, pink
eye (conjunctivitis symptoms),
acute asthma attack, rash, allergic
reactions, and abdominal pain.
To access services at the center,
students must have signed permission from their parents or legal
guardians, and they must first see
the school nurse, who will determine the best course of care given
the symptoms.
Parents were sent a form describing the services that the center
will offer, along with a form to sign
giving their children permission to
receive services at the center. As
of March 4, about 35 students had
been signed up for the program.
The Family Nurse Practitioner
at the center is Alicia GrantSingh, FNP, who has been working at EMMC’s new satellite office
in the former Rite-Aid building on
Main Road North next to the old
Hampden Academy. Students who
don’t have a primary care physician can have their parents select
Alicia as their PCP if they wish.
* * *
We are currently in Phase 1
of the School-Based Health Center program, which is limited to
Hampden Academy students.
Later this spring, we hope to
advance to Phase 2, in which
faculty and staff are able to access
the center. That could be quite advantageous, both to employees and
the district, as our health insurance costs are based on our experience rating. Our long-term hope
is that more convenient access to
health care could result in both a
healthier staff and reduced health
insurance premiums.
Phase 3, which we would like
to implement over the next three
to five years, would be to have the
School-Based Health Center serve
the entire district, including the
other three schools in Hampden
and the two schools in Winterport,
and to be in operation year-round.
After all, health issues affect
students and staff members at all
grade levels, and they don’t stop
during summer vacation.
The School-Based Health Center
has an advisory group that meets
every Friday to look at procedures,
programs, and protocols. We’re
always looking for ways to enrich
current practices and implement
future phases. We’re also reaching
out to other school-based health centers in the state in Brewer (run by
the Penobscot Community Health
Center), Foxcroft Academy, Maranacook High School, and SAD 75
(Mt. Ararat/Topsham).
Without question, this will be
one of the most significant initiatives that this district has undertaken. Research shows that the
healthier the student, the greater
chances for better student achievement and better student outcomes.
The center is the result of two
years of conversations with EMMC.
This year, we’ve been very fortunate
in that no school funds have been
needed to support the center, except
for some minor modifications to the
offices where the center is located.
In the future, we expect to support
the center in the district budget, but
we think the expenditures will be
very worthwhile.
* * *
We are in the process of developing the 2016-2017 district budget. This is always a challenging
process, but this year even more so
than usual.
On the one hand, we have identified several areas where increased
funding will be needed—in particular, staffing increases in the area of
special education, as the number of
children with special needs has increased by approximately 10 percent.
In addition, we have earmarked
monies in the budget to align with
the collective bargaining contract
that we are currently negotiating
with the teachers, along with the
salary increases that are part of
the third year of our support staff
contract.
We are also looking at an annual increase of 7-10% for health
insurance, which will have to be
included in the budget.
On the other hand, the state Department of Education announced
its list of state subsidies for local
school districts, and RSU 22 will
receive $181,000 less in general
aid to education next year than we
received this year. We met with
town officials on February 25 to
discuss these budget developments
and to receive feedback.
During March, we will be
reviewing the 2016-17 budget
with the RSU 22 Budget Committee. The first meeting will be on
Tuesday, March 29, at Hampden
Academy at 6:30 p.m.
* * *
RSU 22 offers a public Pre-K
program at Newburgh Elementary School, McGraw Elementary
School, and Smith Elementary
School, along with a few spots at
Highland Pre-School.
This year, we piloted an all-day
program in Newburgh which filled
to capacity in a short period of time.
Next year, we will continue the allday program in Newburgh and have
applied to the Department of Education to offer an all-day program in
Winterport. We will continue to
offer two half-day programs at McGraw, primarily because we don’t
have the classroom space needed
to expand those half-day programs
to full-day programs. We will also
offer a few full-day slots at Highland
Pre-School in Hampden to provide
consistency for students who have
attended there as 3 year olds.
To enroll in Pre-K, children
must be 4 years old by October 15,
2016. Some openings may be available for 3-year-olds on a spaceavailable basis.
For more information, go to the
RSU 22 website. Click on the “Our
Schools” tab and scroll down to
“Pre-K.”
If you have questions or comments, please email Dawn Moore,
principal at Smith Elementary
School, at [email protected], or
call her at 223-4282.
(Continued from page 1)
dents come in and we see the need,
we can increase the hours,” she
says. Mrs. Parent says EMMC has
been on board with that idea and
is planning for future phases of the
project.
The Center is funded primarily
by insurance payments. When parents agree to have their children
treated at the Center, they also
give permission for
EMMC to bill their insurance providers.
EMMC has a sliding scale for
billing patients who don’t have insurance and will do the same thing
for students who come into the
Center but don’t have insurance.
“EMMC will be taking a big hit
financially with the Center because
of reimbursement rates along with
uninsured students,” Mrs. Parent
says. “They’ve been incredibly generous because they believe in this
is published by Maine Regional School Unit No. 22 for the citizens
of Hampden, Newburgh, Winterport, and Frankfort.
Richard A. Lyons, Superintendent of Schools
David C. Wollstadt, Editor (www.SchoolNewsletters.net)
Maine Regional School Unit No. 22
24 Main Road North, Hampden, ME 04444
207-862-3255
www.rsu22.us
project. They’ve also supplied an
exam table and other equipment
needs at the Center.”
One of the benefits of having the
School-Based Health Center at HA
is that if a student doesn’t have a
primary care physician (PCP), his
parents can have Alicia designated
as the PCP. If they do that, the student can see her both at school and
at EMMC’s Hampden clinic during
school vacations.
Mrs. Parent says the SchoolBased Health Center will also be a
tremendous help for students who
are homeless.
“These students have no access
to medical care,” Mrs. Parent says.
“They’re often eligible for Maine
Care, but they need help with the
paperwork.” Mrs. Parent says RSU 22 started
talking with EMMC about setting
up a School-Based Health Center
approximately two years ago, but
the idea has been around for more
than two decades. When Mrs. Parent started working at Hampden
Academy 21 years ago, she said she
and Superintendent of Schools Rick
Lyons agreed that they wanted to
start a School-Based Health Center
at HA some day. “We know that students who
aren’t healthy can’t learn as well,”
she said. “Many students are unable to get the medical care that
they need in order to be healthy,
either because of finances, transportation, insurance coverage, or
life situations. Part of our mission
in RSU 22 is to foster a supportive
atmosphere for students that provides the necessary resources for
optimal learning. The new RSU 22
School-Based Health Center is one
way in which we can do that.”
Zach Ewing lobbies
Maine lawmakers
crease participation of people with
intellectual disabilities in social
relationships, community life,
education and employment and
also continues to improve access to
healthy athletes with the Healthy
Athletes Program and inclusive
sports like Unified Sports through
Project Unify.
March 2016 • Link-22 • RSU 22 - Hampden-Newburgh-Winterport-Frankfort • Page 3
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Curriculum Office Update
By Mary Giard, Director of Curriculum,
Instruction, and Assessment, RSU 22
Our district has been actively revising curriculum, studying feedback and grading options, and has continued to develop ways for
our students to learn
and become proficient
in ‘soft skills.’ We want
all of our students to be
academically successful
as well as to know how
to work with others and
understand the needs
of today’s employers.
Support from families,
schools, and the community is essential to
help our students be
Mary Giard
prepared for college, for
the military, or for jobs.
Employers want employees who:
• Speak clearly.
Maine’s Department of Education labels such
skills as the guiding principles. The language
used by schools includes the following categories:
• A clear and effective communicator.
• A self-directed and life long learner.
• A creative and practical problem solver.
• An integrative and informed thinker.
• A responsible and informed citizen.
By the end of the school year, all the schools
will begin reporting on students’ attainment of
soft skills as well as on content area academic
progress.
Please visit our website to learn more. Grade
level learning targets are posted for curriculum
content areas. Also please find more background information regarding proficiency-based
education in RSU 22 at our site: www.rsu22.us (Curriculum and Instruction located under the
Resources Tab)
RSU 22 goal: Students who are academically successful, know how
to work with others, and understand the needs of today’s employers
• Are able to complete a resume and/or job
application.
• Are dressed appropriately for the work
place.
• Are able to listen to the needs of the
employer and talk specifically about the duties
expected by that employer.
• Use cell phones in an appropriate way.
• Can work well and collaborate with others.
• Can interpret manuals and work-related
vocabulary.
• Can understand basic financial practices,
such as balancing a checkbook, completing a
tax form, etc..
• Are on time.
• Possess a strong work ethic.
In the K-12 education arena, we observe
students and chart their growth as they mature
and begin developing the important soft skills. RSU 22 ADULT EDUCATION
SPRING 2016
A wide variety of educational, professional development and personal
enrichment courses will again be made available for people to take through our
program during the spring academic season. To contact us you can call our office
at 862-6422 or email our program director at: [email protected].
Personal Enrichment Courses
RBMS Blue Ribbon Application Team—From left: Rachel Larrabee, Regan Nickels, Gail
Ociepka, Karyn Field, Nancy Simpson, and Laura Matthews. Not present: Tom Leonard.
RBMS nominated for Blue Ribbon Award
Ociepka, special education teachers;
Lori Matthews, 8th grade teacher; and
Mrs. Nickels.
“Applying has been a great
honor,” Mrs. Nickels said. “The
process has been rigorous, and we
are delighted to share the strong results that we have derived from our
committed teachers and students.
We could not be more proud of our
students, teachers, and parents.”
Every year, USDOE invites the
top education official in every state,
the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Department of Defense Education Activity,
and the Bureau of Indian Education, and the Council for American Private Education nominates
private schools. A total of 420 school
nationwide may be nominated, with
allocations determined by the numbers of K-12 students and schools in
each jurisdiction.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools
Program honors public and private
elementary, middle, and high schools
where students either achieve very
high learning standards or are making notable improvements in closing
the achievement gap.
The national award winners
will be announced in September.
Schools selected as National Blue
Ribbon Schools receive an award
plaque that affirms the hard work
of students, educators, families and
communities in creating safe and
welcoming schools where students
master challenging content. They
also receive an award flag that is
widely recognized as a symbol of
exemplary teaching and learning.
Once again this spring, we are offering a wide assortment of personal
enrichment courses and workshops. Some of the scheduled courses include:
Boston Flower Show Bus Trip
Jewelry Making
Introduction to Etsy
Wordpress Websites
Family Blogs & Websites
Introduction to Kindle Publishing
How to Buy & Sell on eBay
Beekeeping for Beginners
Growing Fruit Trees in Maine
Organic Gardening
Raising Backyard Chickens
Introduction to Song Writing
Play the Harmonica
Photography in the Field
Soccer Officiating Meditation for Relaxation
Intermediate iPad
Introduction to Facebook
Primitive Rug Hooking
Pickleball
Penny Rugs
Yeast Bread and Rolls
Homemade Pasta & Sauces
Basic Fly Casting
Basic CPR Certification
Maine Driving Dynamics
Basic First Aid
PiYo Live
High School Completion, HiSET,
and Basic Literacy Instruction
For adults looking to earn a high school diploma, a HiSET Certification,
or to improve basic literacy and ESL skills, we offer year-round opportunities
for advancement. If you are interested in earning your Adult Education
High School Diploma, you should get a copy of your high school transcript
and schedule a meeting with one of our staff. You may be closer to earning a
diploma than you think. In January 2014, the HiSET replaced the GED and
became Maine’s State High School Equivalency Diploma. Since then, our
program has helped many of our residents earn this life-changing credential.
Again, just contact our office at any time if you have questions about or
interest in the HiSET.
Career and Vocational Education
For people interested in vocational / career trainings, we have available
during the fall months a variety of CNA, CNA-M, CRMA, PSS and MHSS
programs. We also have access to self-paced online professional development
programs offering certifications in the pharmacy tech, medical coding & billing
and phlebotomy tech fields. Some of these courses combine online distance
learning with hands-on training experiences.
Distance Learning Courses
We continue to offer, through a partnership with Education to Go, nearly
500 interactive personal enrichment online courses to residents of RSU 22.
All classes are instructor-led, fit into convenient six-week formats and are
affordably priced. Some of the more popular course titles include:
Intro. to Microsoft Excel and Word
Introduction to QuickBooks 2015
Accounting Fundamentals
A to Z Grant Writing
Effective Business Writing
Math Refresher
Grammar Refresher
Introduction to Java Programming
Genealogy Basics
Adobe / Acrobat Photoshop
Discover Sign Language
Introduction to Interior Design
GRE, Praxis Test Preparation
Writing Your Life Story
Start a Pet Sitting Business
Introduction to Statistics
Publish and Sell Your E-Books
Using Social Media in Business
PC Troubleshooting
Lose Weight and Keep it Off
To view a complete catalog of distance learning courses, visit our web page:
www.ed2go.com/rsu22.
McGRAW WINTERFEST—Students create sculptures using marshmallows and
toothpicks during McGraw School’s Winterfest celebration on Thursday, March 3.
To view our complete Spring 2016 course schedule go to: www.riversideadultedpartnership.com
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HA Unified Basketball team
defeats Lewiston, 46-26,
for Northern Maine championship
The Hampden Academy Unified Basketball team went undefeated during
the regular season and won the Northern Maine championship, defeating
Lewiston, 46-26, on Tuesday, March 15,
at Hampden.
The Broncos were scheduled to play
Lisbon for the State Unified Basketball
title Thursday, March 17, in Lisbon.
Hampden, the defending state champion, was undefeated during the regular
season and earned the No. 1 seed in
the Northern Maine Unified Basketball
Tournament. On March 7, the Broncos
defeated No. 16 Mount Desert Island,
46-39, in the first round of the playoffs
On March 8, they beat No. 8 Edward
Little of Auburn to advance to the semifinals against No. 4 Oak Hill.
Hampden beat Oak Hill, 34-29, on
March 10 to advance to the regional
championship against Lewiston.
The Broncos beat MDI twice during
the regular season, winning 55-36 at
home on January 28, and beating the
Trojans at MDI on February 11.
The Broncos beat Oceanside, 55-34,
at Rockland in January, and won home
and away contests against Orono and
Brewer in January and February.
The team closed out its regular season
with an exciting, 68-64 home victory over
the Nokomis Warriors on March 1..
Unified Team coach Andrea Lee said
Unified Basketball has grown this season,
with twice as many local teams, allowing
the Broncos to spend more time playing
basketball and less time riding the bus.
The Unified Basketball tournament
included all 32 teams that played this
season. The championship game between
the Northern Maine and Southern Maine
regional winners was scheduled for
March 17 at Lisbon High School.
Zoe Ellingwood rehearses a scene from “Four Little Words,” with Harmony Stetson, Kati Gardella, Eleanor
Prescott, Rebekah Novak, Alexandra Buzzini, Mikayla Holmes, Paige Malkow, Alex Ross, and Nicholas Parker.
The HA Unified Basketball team. Front (l. to r.): Zach Ewing, Kelsey Tripp, Margaret Thurlow, Sarah Southard, Madison Springer, Kenny Brewer-Frazee, Josephine Trojecki. Back: Coach Andrea Lee, Andrew Gendreau, Garrett White,
Isaiah Palmer, Coach Linda MacDonald, Tessa Dinardo, Chandler St. Clair,
Kyle Townsend, Dakota Clement, Luke Kelley, Tyler Hewey, Robbie Martin.
Jordan Lockard rehearses a scene from “Four Little Words,” with Kati Gardella,
Eleanor Prescott, Rebekah Novak, and Alexandra Buzzini as backup singers
and Harmony Stetson and Mikayla Holmes in the background.
HA Drama Club enters state one-act play festival for first time
The Hampden Academy Drama
Club entered the state high school
one-act play competition for the first
time this spring.
The group performed Four Little
Words, by Edward Finnegan, at the
regional festival on March 4-5 at
Lawrence High School in Fairfield.
A public performance of Four
Little Words was held March 2 in the
Hampden Academy Performing Arts
Center.
English teacher and Drama Club
advisor Jenn Guare describes Four
Little Words as a backstage comedy
about a producer who’s besieged by a
parade of actresses auditioning for a
part with just one line: “Your taxicab
is waiting.”
Ms. Guare said she chose the play
for several reasons.
“It’s very funny, and it offers a
lot of opportunities for students
with different personalities to get
involved,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun
to create the different characters,
and it also allows us to showcase our
acting skills.”
The cast included: Nicholas
Parker as Douglas Fidgit, Broadway director; Mikayla Holmes as
old and sour Mrs. Crank; Alex Ross
as Jimmy Bright, the breezy office
boy; Alexandra Buzzini as the First
Actress, a dramatic dynamo; Rebekah Novak as the Second Actress,
small and speedy; Eleanor Prescott
as the Fourth Actress, who has a
flame for Fidgit; Kati Gardella as the
Fifth Actress, who is from N’Awlins;
Harmony Stetson as the Sixth
Actress, who talks a strange lan-
The cast of “Four Little Words”: Mikayla Patel, Mikayla Holmes, Kati Gardella, Harmony
Stetson, Jordan Lockard, Eleanor Prescott, Nicholas Parker, Alex Ross, Alexandra Buzzini,
Rebekah Novak, Avery Maietta, Zoe Ellingwood, and Paige Malkow.
guage; Mikayla Patel as the Third
Actress, woebegone and weepy; Zoe
Ellingwood as Oriole Bapp, the child
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HAMPDEN ACADEMY CROSS COUNTRY TEAM, which won the KVAC League Championship
and the Northern Maine Class A Championship last fall. Front row (l. to r.): Noah Hamel, Ben Chasse, Trevor Allen, Evan Allen,
Wyatt Lataille, Paul Casavant, Will Webb, and Patrick Welch. Back row: Assistant Coach Bill Leathem, Assistant Coach Danielle
Johnson, Isaac Anderson, Noah Gardner, Kurt Speed, Eiji Frey, Adam Colter, Cameron Mathies, Parker Harriman, Wyatt Lord,
Jason Mathies, Zachary Steigert, and Head Coach Dick Balentine.
prodigy of Theatre; Paige Malkow
as Verna Bapp, her adoring mother;
Avery Maietta as Gladwyn Bapp,
her suffering father; and Jordan
Lockard as the Seventh Actress, who
is oppressively operatic.
Ms. Guare said another advantage
of the show was that it had relatively
simple set and lighting design.
“This was our first time competing in the one-act festival,” she said.
“We wanted to be able to focus on
our established strengths.”
She said the rules for the one-act
competition include a number of
technical limitations, including a
strict time limit for set up and strike
down. Any production that exceeds
five minutes at either end (even if by
only one second) is disqualified.
The stage crew for the production included student director Justin
Hatch and technical director Lydia
Tilley, with set painting done by
Jazmine Miller and Reba Sands.
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5 schools invited to ‘Beanie and the Bamboozling Book Machine’
The Hampden Academy Drama
Club has invited five elementary
schools to come to the HA Performing Arts Center to see its annual
spring children’s play, Beanie and
The Bamboozling Book Machine.
The play is about a science wiz
named Beanie who invents a book
machine for the school science fair so
that he won’t have to read any of his
assigned books for school. However,
when he turns the machine on, it
malfunctions, with lights flashing,
thunder booming, and the witches
from Snow White, Hansel and Gretel,
and the Wizard of Oz popping out to
wreak havoc in the world. Beanie has
to get help from the heroes of those
three fairy tales to help capture the
witches and put them back in the
books where they belong.
Morning and afternoon performances will be held on Wednesday,
April 6, for students from Etna-Dixmont, Smith, Hermon and Wagner
schools, and on Thursday, April 7,
for students from McGraw, Hermon, and Weatherbee schools.
A public performance will be held
Friday evening, April 8, at 6:30 p.m.
Hunter Spencer, Aidan Babbitt, Jack Burridge, Miles Martin, Polly Frost, and Daija Misler rehearse a scene from “Beanie and the Bamboozling Book Machine.”
Admission will be by donation, with
the proceeds benefiting the Hampden Academy drama program.
The play is being directed by
Jenn Guare, HA English teacher
and Drama Club advisor.
“It’s a fun play,” she says. “It’s a
whole mishmash of the three fairy
tales, and you get to see different characters interacting with each other.”
Hampden Academy
The cast includes Aidan Babbitt
as Beanie Boren, Miles Martin as the
principal Mr. Wright, Justin Hatch
as Professor Librum of Bookworld,
with Star Emerson and Hunter
Spencer as his assistants. Beth Parsons and Ruby Ramsay play the evil
witches. The other fairy tale characters include Emily Gonthier as Snow
White, Jack Burridge and Polly Frost
as Hansel and Gretel, and Daija Misler as Dorothy Gale.
The stage crew includes Rob
Kissinger, Lydia Tilley, Andrew Tilley, and Krystal Grant.
Ms. Guare says the play is only
an hour long, and it’s suitable for
play-goers of all ages.
“Bring the kids, bring relatives,
and bring friends,” she says. “You’ll
have a good time.”
LIfe Skills students gain work experience at community job sites
For a number of students in the
Life Skills program at Hampden
Academy, one of the highlights of
their week is the opportunity to
learn about the world of work at a
job site in the community.
“Right now, we have seven students who receive job training at
local sites,” says Life Skills teacher Ira Weissman. “Not everyone
goes, but we try to have as many
students as possible go out.”
The job sites where the students
work and the duties they perform
are:
• Pizza Gourmet—cleaning
tables, high chairs, and toys in the
play area.
• Newburgh Town Office—vacuuming.
• White House Inn, Hermon—
vacuuming, mopping, sweeping,
cleaning windows, picking up
trash, and cleaning the stock room
and exercise room.
• Morgan Hill Event Center—
cleaning and helping decorate for
upcoming events.
• McGraw Elementary School
Pre-K—helping with Pre-K students.
• Hampden Hannaford—washing windows, cleaning cupboards,
and organizing and blocking stock.
• Bangor Humane Society.
(This job was recently discontinued because a scheduling conflict
with other volunteers left the student with not enough work to do.
Cindy Carlisle, owner of Pizza
Gourmet.
Cleaning high chairs at Pizza Gourmet.
Mr. Weissman says they’re looking
for another assignment for her.)
Students who go to community
job sites are accompanied by a
staff member who serves as the
job coach, making sure that the
students understand what they’re
supposed to do—and that they do
it properly.
Andy Laidman often receives
this assignment—to the point
where one Life Skills student gave
him the nickname, “King of Jobs.”
Mr. Weissman says the Life
Skills program is very grateful for
the local businesses that are able
to provide work opportunities that
the students can do.
“These jobs are really important, even if the students go only
once a week,” he says. “Our students are able to feel that they’re
doing the same things other people
do.”
Mr. Weissman said Angler’s
Restaurant in Hampden and
Geaghan’s Restaurant in Bangor
have provided job sites on a number of occasions in the past.
“We had students at Geaghan’s
Vacuuming at the Newburgh Town Office.
who would prepare vegetables,
weigh portions of french fries or
chicken, and other tasks,” he said.
“It was a great place to work.”
Another advantage of
Geaghan’s is that students could
get to the restaurant on the bus,
this providing independent travel
experience as well as work experience.
In addition to the community
job sites, several Life Skills students have in-school jobs, such as
delivering mail, laundry work, and
maintaining the drink machine.
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Student pantry set up at Hampden Academy to help students who need
school supplies, clothes, nonperishable foods, and toiletry items
A student pantry has been set
up at Hampden Academy to help
students in need and provide them
with toiletry items, clothes, nonperishable foods, and school supplies.
Students who need items from the
pantry should contact the school nurse
or one of the guidance counselors. All
such requests are confidential.
“If we have a student who we
know has a need, we can take him
or her up to the pantry to look at
what we have,” says School Nurse
Barb Parent. “We also want parents
and students to know that if they
have a need we aren’t aware of,
they can let their guidance counselor or the school nurse know and
we can assist them.”
The idea for the pantry came
from school counselor Erica Oliver,
who saw a post on Facebook in Dec
ember about a student pantry that
had been set up at a high school in
another state.
“Wow, we really need something
like that at Hampden Academy,”
Ms. Oliver said. “I thought of one of
our students who had been homeless temporarily and said to myself,
‘We really need this.’”
After she talked with Mrs. Parent and several others, the idea
“just exploded,” she said.
“The entire school started pitching
in, especially Key Club,” she said.
Donation boxes were set up in the
main office and a lot of toiletry items,
nonperishable food items, and quite a
bit of clothing have been collected as
people cleaned out their closets.
Every Friday, faculty members
who bring in a dollar or donate
items to the pantry get to wear
jeans. Previously, teachers were
allowed wear jeans one Friday a
month to raise money for scholarships; now, donations made on the
other three or four Fridays support
the student pantry.
In addition, Ms. Oliver says Key
Club is working to get more students
involved by setting up a competition
between academic advisory groups,
with the group that donates the
most items receiving some a reward.
Mrs. Parent says the pantry is
currently serving Hampden Academy
students; however, one of the students
she recently helped has two younger
siblings at other RSU 22 schools, so
they are being helped as well.
“We’re also giving food to the
whole family,” she said. “Good
Shepherd Food Bank has offered to
help keep us stocked with nonperishable food items.”
Mrs. Parent says the need for a
program like the student pantry is
greater than most people realize.
“We have a lot of families in RSU
22 that are impoverished,” she says.
“I think people would be shocked to
know that we have students attending Hampden Academy who are
homeless.”
Ms. Oliver added that there may
be a stigma for students who need
help to come forward.
However, she hopes that if students know that items they need
can be made available to them from
the pantry—and that everything
will be confidential—they’ll come.
Paul Casavant named Gatorade Maine Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year
Paul Casavant nears the two-mile mark
on Hampden Academy’s home crosscountry course on the Reeds Brook Trails
on September 17. Paul won in 16:37,
breaking his old course record time.
Paul Casavant, a junior at
Hampden Academy, has been
named the Gatorade Maine Boys
Cross Country Runner of the Year.
The award recognizes the combination of outstanding athletic
excellence, high standards of academic achievement, and exemplary
character demonstrated both on and
off the racecourse.
Paul placed second at the Maine
Class A state meet last fall with
a time of 16:31.26, leading the
Broncos to a third place finish as a
team. He placed 20th at the New
England High School Cross Country
Championships, the highest Maine
finisher. He won four of eight cross
country races during the season and
was named to the Portland Press
Herald All-State team.
Paul has maintained an A average
in the classroom and is ranked second
in his class academically. A black belt
in Shotokan Karate, he has volunteered locally as a freshman mentor
and as a youth running coach.
Dick Balentine, head coach of the
HA cross country teams, says Paul
is the most complete runner he has
ever coached.
“He is the heart and soul of our
cross country team, leading by
example every day with his enthus
iasm and work ethic,” he said.
In addition to cross country, Paul
competes in the 800 meter, mile,
and 2 mile events in indoor track
and the 800 meter, 1600 meter, and
3200 meter events in outdoor track.
This year, he won all three
events at the PVC indoor championships and was named the outstanding male athlete for the meet.
“That was quite a triple,” said
Mr. Balentine. “That’s a lot of racing in a short period of time.”
Paul had about an hour to rest
between each of the three events.
At the state meet, Paul competed
in only one event, the 2 mile
run, which he won with a time of
9:34.68.
He placed 4th in the 2 mile at
the New England championships in
Boston on February 27 with a
time of 9:22.63, more than six
seconds faster than his previous
personal best of 9:29, set two weeks
before the state meet. Paul ran a
9:24.09 in the New Balance nationals March 13 in New York.
Paul’s postgraduate plans include college, where he plans to
study biochemistry and continue
running. He looking at a variety of
college programs.
Paul says he has a couple of goals
for next year, including breaking 16
minutes in cross country (over a 5K
course). His personal best so far is
16:04, which he ran in the middle of
the season this fall.
He’d also like to see Hampden
Academy win a team championship
in cross country or at least finish
high enough to go to the New Englands as a team.
‘Hike for the Homeless’ hopes to attract ‘sea of purple’ on April 8
For the past ten years, Hampden
has been one of the four starting
points for the Hike for the Homeless,
the primary fund-raising event for
the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter.
This spring, the 21st Hike for
the Homeless will take place on
Saturday, April 9, and Hampden
Academy English Rob Kissinger is
hoping to see a “sea of purple” when
hikers gather at the HA parking lot
for the 9:30 a.m. start.
Hikers can register online at the
Bangor Area Homeless Shelter website (www.bangorareashelter.org).
Donations are not required to participate in the hike, but participants
are encouraged to collect pledges.
“If everyone does a little, together
we can accomplish a lot,” says Mr.
Kissinger.
Last year’s Hike for the Homeless drew 1,100 hikers and raised
$36,000 to benefit the homeless.
Hikers who register by March 31
and pay $15 will received an event
t-shirt. There will also be a small
number of t-shirts available for
purchase at the starting point.
The Hike for the Homeless
started in 1996 as a hike up Mt.
Katahdin by a small number of
hikers, mostly board members and
supporters of the shelter. In 2005
and 2006, the Hike was expanded
and moved to Cadillac Mountain in
Acadia National Park. In 2007, it
was expanded again, coming down
from the mountains and becoming a walk from points in Bangor,
Brewer, Veazie, and Hampden to
the Bangor waterfront.
When that happened, Mr. Kissinger said HA Principal Ruey Yehle
asked him if he and the Hampden
Academy Leadership Club would help
organize the Hike in Hampden. Mr.
Kissinger agreed, and he’s been an enthusiastic participant leading the “sea
of purple” from Hampden to Bangor
ever since. About five years ago, he
took his involvement to another level,
becoming a member of the Bangor
Area Homeless Shelter board.
Mr. Kissinger says the Hike has
grown exponentially since it became
a sea-level walk in 2007.
“The communities used to compete to see who could get the highest turnout,” he said. “These days,
there’s a lot less emphasis on competition and more on supporting the
shelter, but Hampden has consistently had a very strong turnout.”
Hampden participants also
have the longest hike, as Hampden
Academy is 4.5 miles away from the
finish line at the Bangor Waterfront.
Hermon High School, which replaced
Veazie as one of the starting points
several years ago, is 4.3 miles from
the finish line, while the Bangor and
Brewer hikers have to walk only 3.5
and 3.3 miles, respectively.
As a result, the starting time
from Hermon is the same as Hamp-
den—9:30 a.m.—while the Hike
starts at 10:30 in Bangor and Brewer.
Mr. Kissinger says the Hike is a
great event. “It doesn’t matter what
kind of shape you’re in,” he says.
“It’s a walk, not a run.”
“HOOPS FOR HOPE” SARAH’S HOUSE DONATION—The Hampden Academy
girls varsity and JV basketball teams conducted their annual “Hoops for Hope” fundraiser at home games throughout the month of January. The girls sold pink or purple
basketballs that were displayed on the “Hoops for Hope” wall at Hampden Academy.
They also raffled off shovels donated by Stacey and Mike Thibodeau (Mt. Waldo
Plastics in Winterport) and 20 lobsters donated by Chris Burke (a player’s dad who
is a lobster fisherman) each game. The girls raised $1,200, which they presented
to Dolores Landry, House Director for Sarah’s House, who gave them a tour of the
facility. Sarah’s House, which is located in the former Fox Run Furniture Galleries in
Holden, is a hospitality house for cancer patients at the Lafayette Cancer Center of
Maine. Front row (l. to r): Dolores Landry (House Director, Sarah’s House), Braylee
Wildman, Cassidy Burke, Marissa Gilpin, Camryn Bouchard, and Emily Murphy.
Back row: Brooklynn Scott, Peyton Smith, Courtney Dunton, Erica Martin, Bailey
Donovan, Sophie Narofsky, Aly Leno, Mikaela Alley, Sade Francis, Coach Tim Scott.
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Students celebrate Welcome Week at Smith
At Smith School, everyone is
welcome and that means YOU!
That is the message that the
Smith School Civil Rights Team
(CRT) was trying to emphasize
when planning Welcome Week during the 2nd week of February.
The team spent several months
planning for the special week where
students could celebrate and support each other. The purpose of Welcome Week was to help all students
to think about ways they can make
everyone feel welcome and accepted
regardless of differences.
Throughout the week, students
had the opportunity to see classroom doors decorated by other classes that all focused on the theme
of welcome. Civil Rights Team
members also read special morning
announcements and visited classrooms to read various books about
diversity and friendship.
Students participated in various
theme days throughout the week
such as “Tie Day” (where students
wore ties to show that we are all
“tied” together and have similarities)
and mismatched day (where students
could dress in mismatched clothes to
celebrate the way we are all unique).
The week ended with a special
assembly where students heard
some important messages about being kind and making sure everyone
who comes to Smith School feels
welcome. Students also were excited
to view a slide show with pictures
from the week.
LEROY H. SMITH
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The Smith School Civil Rights
Team hopes to make this special
week an annual event and plans to
expand it to include even more fun
activities for students each year.
They are looking forward to Welcome Week in 2017.
In the meantime, the team will
continue to help raise awareness
about bias and spread the important
message about accepting all people,
regardless of race, skin color, national
origin or ancestry, physical or mental
disability, gender or orientation.
The ‘3Bees’ at Smith: ‘Be Safe, Be Responsible, and Be Respectful’
Students at Smith School have
been working hard to show that
they know how to be great members
of our community. They demonstrate this each day by following
our rules, which are known as the
3Bees of “Be Safe, Be Responsible
and Be Respectful.” Each morning, when our student
announcers deliver the daily messages, they remind our students about
these important rules that help us to
work together so that we can learn.
Students who are spotted following
these rules are awarded bee stickers and get to write their names on a
white board in the lobby of the school.
During the month of January
teachers decided to keep track of how
many children were caught being
exceptional Smith School students. Students estimated that 100 bee
stickers might be given out during
that time. However, they were in for
a big surprise, for when it came time
to tally the results, they learned that
students had earned 575 bee stickers!
Amazing!
Three lucky winners were drawn
from the collection of outstanding
students and each got a new Smith
School T-shirt donated by the Smith
School Parent group, Partners in
Education (PIE). This was such a successful event
that we will be tallying up the bee
stickers again in February. Smith
School students are always striving
to be the best students they can be!
Smith students enjoy special treat on snowy
morning: the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers
The Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers perform at Smith Elementary School.
Smith School students had a special
treat on a snowy morning in February,
when the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers
visited us from Bar Harbor and performed
their fantastic show, “The Legend of the
Banana Kid.”
The students were enthralled with this
very entertaining show. After the show, the
performers raised the curtain and demonstrated for the students what happens
behind the scenes during a puppet show.
The children were given an opportunity to ask questions about what they
had seen. Students were very enthusi-
astic about finding out how the group
of siblings that make up The Frogtown
Mountain Puppeteers put such creative
shows together. From writing the scripts,
to creating the sets and puppets, to doing
the voices and making the puppets come
alive, both the students and teachers were
astounded by how much work and talent
their excellent production entails.
Smith school extends a big “Thank You”
to the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers, as
well as to the Maine Community Foundation for providing the grant to sponsor this
fantastic event!
Maine Assn. of Search and Rescue Dogs brings ‘Eron’ to Smith School
In January at an
assembly of students
the Smith School
was fortunate to host
members of the Maine
Association of Search
and Rescue Dogs.
Jim Bridge, Leslie
Howe, and their rescue
dog Eron, provided
some lessons and instructions about what
to do when you go into
the woods and especially if you become lost.
Mr. Bridge explained that being
prepared was very important. He suggested
that children should
bring items such as a
Jim Bridge of the Maine Association of Search and Rescue Dogs talks about what children should do when
garbage bag, water,
Leslie Howe and rescue dog Eron.
they go into the woods—and especially if they get lost.
and a whistle when
they are planning a woods trip. The
they can be found.
and also taught how to approach a
to locate it. After finding the obbag can be used as a poncho to stay
After Mr. Bridge’s important
dog one does not know.
ject, Eron is trained to return to
dry in the event of rain or snow, one
words, Ms. Howe introduced the
Then it was time for Eron to
Ms. Howe to alert her with a loud
always needs water, and a whistle
children to her dog Eron, who she
demonstrate his incredible talents.
bark and a “Pay Attention To Me”
could be key in alerting rescuers to
had raised and trained to be a
Eron was released to find an item
jump. When she followed him, sure
your location.
search and rescue dog from when he
that Ms. Howe had hidden in the
enough he had found it.
Most of all, Mr. Bridge stated,
was a puppy. Ms. Howe showed how
gym. Even with all the children
What an exciting and educational
was that once a person is lost, he or
the special dogs work with their
present, and amidst their exciteexperience for students and teachshe must stay in one place so that
owners, responding to commands,
ment, Eron used his super sniffer
ers alike.
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DI Northern Regional Showcase held at Hampden
Two Destination Imagination
teams from Wagner Middle School
participated in the DI Northern
Regional Showcase, which was held
March 5 at Hampden Academy.
One of the teams, the Animal
Justice League, is comprised of
Wagner 5th graders, including Rachel Palmer, Charlotte Beckwith,
Evan King, Stephanie Clisham,
Hanna McVeigh, Peter Van Overbeke, and Abby Adamo.
The 5th grade team manager
is Cassy Palmer, an educational
technician at Smith School. Sarah
McVeigh is co-manager.
The other team, the Sneaky
Sugar Suspects, is made up of
Wagner 6th graders, including
Gracie Farrar, Carly Philbrook, JoHannah Philbrook, Annika Bragg,
Olivia Saucier, Elizabeth Burgess,
and Rénee Drake.
The team manager is Nicolle
Philbrook, with Julie Burgess as
co-manager.
Both teams will compete in the
Maine State Destination Imagination Celebration April 9 at the University of Maine in Orono, where
they hope to earn invitations to
compete at the DI Global Celebration at the University of Tennessee
in Knoxville May 25-28.
At the state celebration, the 5th
and 6th grade teams will be joined
by two DI Rising Star teams (grades
K-2), one from Smith School and
one from McGraw School.
The Smith School Rising Star
team is managed by Katrina Larrabee; team members are Lydia
Adamo, Brooklynn Hawes, Madison Hawes, Kelvin Larrabee, Lily
Philbrook and Eva Saucier.
The McGraw School Rising Star
team is managed by Les French;
team members are Jack French,
Connor Jones and Ada Pultorak.
* * *
Destination Imagination, or DI,
is a national program where kids
Wagner 6th grade DI team goal: be invited to Globals 4th straight year
When the 6th grade Destination
Imagination team from Wagner
Middle School competes in the
Maine State DI Celebration on
April 9, they’ll be aiming for something no RSU 22 team has ever accomplished—being invited to the DI
Global Finals four years in a row.
The team—the “Sneaky Sugar
Suspects”—includes Gracie Farrar, Carly Philbrook, JoHanna
Philbrook, Rénee Drake, Elizabeth
Burgess, Olivia Saucier, and Annika Bragg. The team manager is
Nicolle Philbrook and Julie Burgess
is co-manager.
Four of the 6th graders—Gracie,
Carlie, Johanna, and Rénee—have
been on the team for four years—
and Elizabeth has been on it for
three years. Olivia joined the team
last year, and Annika is a newcomer this year.
In 2012 and 2013, the team
went to Globals when the students
were 3rd and 4th graders at Smith.
Last year, as 5th graders, the team
performed well enough at the Maine
State DI Celebration to be invited to
Globals, but they decided not to go
because of fund-raising constraints.
This year, they’d like to be invited
for the fourth year in a row, and go
back to Globals for a third time.
The Sneaky Sugar Suspects
chose this year’s team name because their challenge, “Get a Clue,”
required them to write a mystery
story with three suspects—and the
rules say they don’t find out until
the very end of their skit which
suspect is guilty.
The mystery had to be set somewhere in the world before 1990—
the team chose 1976, because that
was when gourmet jelly beans came
out on the market. The theme of
the story is that when the new jelly
beans were supposed to be revealed
to the public, the jar went missing,
and they had to identify three different suspects for the crime.
The 6th graders have fond memories of their trips to Knoxville.
“It was really hot and really fun,”
said Gracie.
“It was absolutely amazing,” said
Elizabeth. “Every single event we
went to was like a gigantic rock
concert. The music was very loud.”
JoHanna recalled that one of the
events was a duct tape ball.
“Two years ago, we had to make
dresses out of duct tape,” she said.
“DI broke a world record for the
most duct tape outfits.”
“JoHanna made the front page of
the DI newspaper that year,” Rénee
said.
In 2014, the team had the top
The Sneaky Sugar Suspects—Front row (l. to r.): JoHannah Philbrook, Olivia Saucier, Annika
Bragg, and Elizabeth Burgess. Back row: Carly Philbrook, Gracie Farrar, and Rénee Drake.
score for all grade levels in the Instant Challenge at the Maine State
DI Celebration. The year before at
Globals, they earned one of the top
10 scores in their group of close to
100 teams.
Wagner 5th graders raise $630 for Animal Orphanage through DI challenge
The Animal Justice League, the
5th grade Destination Imagination
team at Wagner Middle School,
raised over $600 for the Old Town
Animal Orphanage in a little over
a month as part of their DI community service challenge, “The Meme
Event.”
“The Meme Event” was an unusual challenge, because in addition
to creating an interesting presentation for the judges, the team had to
identify a need in the community
and develop a project plan to address that need.
The Wagner 5th graders chose
to address the needs of lost or stray
animals in the community by supporting a no-kill animal shelter. They chose the Old Town Animal
Orphanage and set a goal of raising $350 for the shelter. The team
created a meme—a sad kitty/happy
kitty drawing—to help convey their
message of helping animals. The project plan called for
raising the funds by holding bake
sales, putting collection cans
in local businesses, redeeming
bottles, and writing letters to two
Walmart stores asking for donations. In a little over a month the
The Animal Justice League—Front row (l. to r.): Hanna McVeigh, Peter Van Overbeke,
and Abby Adamo. Second row: Charlotte Beckwith, Evan King, Rachel Palmer, Stephanie Clisham, and Lori Smart, President , Old Town Animal Orphange Board of Directors.
Third row: Cassandra Palmer, team manager, and Sarah McVeigh, team manager.
team raised over $630.
On Monday, February 22, the
seven team members— Rachel
Palmer, Charlotte Beckwith, Evan
King, Stephanie Clisham, Hanna
McVeigh, Peter Van Overbeke, and
Abby Adamo—delivered purchased
cat food and a cash donation to the
Orphanage, which is located next to
the Airport in Old Town.
From that point on, the team
had to play catch-up to get their
presentation ready for the Northern
Regional Showcase at Hampden
Academy on March 5 and the State
DI Celebration at the University of
Maine on April 9.
“It’s a difficult challenge for
them,” says team manager Cassy
Palmer. “They spent all that time
raising money; now they have
just a short amount of time to put
together their skit and meet all the
requirements of the challenge.”
Three members of the Animal
Justice League—Rachel Palmer,
Charlotte Beckwith, and Evan
King—have been enjoying DI for
four years.
Both Rachel and Charlotte
say the best part about DI is that
they’ve been able to get to know a
lot of people—and they enjoy trying
to come up with solutions to the
various challenges that DI presents
them with.
Charlotte adds that she “likes the
drama and the narrating.”
Stephanie said she also enjoys
the acting part of the challenges.
“It’s really fun to perform in front
of people,” she says.
Evan said he enjoys DI “because
a lot of my friends do it as well.”
Academy
in grades K-12, learn, act, and
express their ideas and thoughts
to solve creative challenges. Every
team has to solve two challenges. There is an Instant Challenge
where you are given a problem
that the team has to solve within a
short time limit. These are usually building or acting challenges. The team does not know what
their challenge will be ahead of
time. There is also a Central Challenge. The team has a choice of six
problems to solve. They create an
interesting presentation to show
their solution to the appraisers
within strict guidelines and time
limits. The options are endless on
what you can build. * * *
Although this was the first year
that a DI regional event has been
held at Hampden Academy, RSU
22 has a long history of involvement with Destination Imagination
(DI) and its predecessor organization, Odyssey of the Mind (OM).
In the past 18 years, 12 teams
from RSU 22 schools have advanced to the DI Global Finals,
including seven teams in the last
six years.
The current 6th grade team from
Wagner made it to Globals in 2013
and 2014, when they were 3rd and
4th graders at Smith. They were
invited to Globals last year, but
decided not to make the trip due to
fund-raising constraints.
In 2010, a team of 4th graders
from Weatherbee made the trip—
and then repeated as 5th graders
in 2011 and as 6th graders from
Reeds Brook in 2012.
In 2012, a team of 5th graders
from Weatherbee went to Globals
and repeated in 2013 when they
were in the 6th grade at Reeds
Brook.
Other RSU 22 teams went to
Globals in Florida in 1998, in Iowa
in 2000, and in Knoxville in 2003,
2004, and 2006.
All of the RSU 22 DI teams have
had great support from our local
community as they fund-raised for
their trips to Globals.
For 16 years—from 2000 to
2015—the state director of DI was
a Hampden resident, Richard Fernald.
Mr. Fernald, who recently
retired as principal at Corinna
Elementary School, said he got
involved in DI 30 years ago, when
his daughter came home and
said, “Daddy, we need some help.
There’s a program at school [McGraw Elementary School] that I
want to be in, but we need volunteers.”
As a result, he became a team
manager for five or six years, and
then volunteered as an appraiser
for another 10 years, before becoming state director. All three of his
daughters went through Hampden
schools, graduated from Hampden
Academy, and participated in DI.
Two area residents, Linda
Boucher of Hampden and Scott
Burgess of Winterport, are also
active as appraisers at DI competitions.
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The Hampden Academy Robotics Team in action at the Brewer High School gym.
Gearheads ‘A Team’ returning to
VEX Robotics World Championships
The Hampden Academy Robotics
Teams will be returning to the VEX
Robotics World Championships,
which will be held April 20-23 in
Louisville, KY. The
Gearheads A Team, consisting
of Zac Perry, Levi Nash, Catherine
Trojecki, A J Meo, and Dylan Noyes,
won the Design Award at the Maine
State Championships and thereby
earned the right to compete at the
Worlds. The B Team consisting of
Nate Haiden, Nick Hashey, Carrie
Foren, Nate Cust, and Krystal Grant
received the Create Award at States.
The team did not qualify to compete
at the Worlds, but they will be traveling to Louisville to support the A
Team and help with the event.
The C Team, consisting of Miles
Martin, Kaelan Dinwiddie, Jordan Collins, Riah Malachi, Devon
Downs, Dylan Cannon, and Ariel
Thompson, and the D Team of Will
Collins, Alex Smith, Tyler Rinfret,
Nick Gautnier, Steven Santiago,
Isaiah Swartz, and Nathaniel
Jordan also competed at the state
competition, which was held on February 13 at Hampden Academy.
Fifty teams were eligible for the
state meet. A total of 46 signed up, but
a weekend snowstorm cut the attendance to 36. All four Gearhead teams
at the state competition succeeded in
reaching the elimination rounds. The
A Team combined with teams from
Spruce Mountain and Mt. Abram high
school to be the No. 2 seed and the
C Team combined with the D and B
teams to be the No. 4 seed.
The A and B Teams will need
to raise about $10,500 to go to the
Worlds. People who would like to
donate should check the Hampden
Academy Robotics web page (http://
ha.rsu22.us/about/news/category/
robotics/) or their Facebook page
“Hampden Academy Robotics” or call
Hampden Academy at 862-3791 and
ask for Mr. Huff or Mr. Moore. You
can also donate on their “gofundme”
account at https://www.gofundme.
com/haroboticsworlds. Checks
should be made out to Hampden
Academy Robotics. Your support will
be greatly appreciated.
Currently the teams are offering a
Tim Hortons coffee mugs fundraiser.
The mugs cost $20 but entitle the
buyer to free coffee every Sunday for
the rest of 2016. The team needs to
raise the funds to travel to Louisville
A Team—Zac Perry, Levi Nash, Catherine Trojecki, and Dylan Noyes.
B Team—Nate Haiden, Nick Hashey, Carrie Foren, Nate Cust, and Krystal Grant
by April 19, which is the day they are
scheduled to leave.
The Robotics team at Hampden
Academy is growing. Last year, the
team had seven members, including
four on the A Team and three on
the B Team. This year, there are 24
members—five each on the A and
B teams and seven each on the C
and D teams. The teams are still an
after-school activity.
During the year, the A Team was a
tournament finalist at the Brewer and
Erskine Academy tournaments. The
B Team was the champion at Brewer,
a finalist at Erskine Academy, and
winner of the Excellence Award and
the Robot Skills Award at Brewer and
a Design Award winner at Erskine
Academy. The C Team was a finalist at Erskine Academy, while the D
Team was a finalist at Brewer and
winner of the Judges Award and the
Programming Skills Award at Brewer.
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Arthur Bennett
(5th Grade)
Matthew Southard
(8th Grade)
Zoe Peabody
(8th Grade)
Abby Stone
(5th Grade)
LillyAnne Keeley
(7th Grade)
Maddie Humphrey
(7th Grade)
Wagner students BUSTED! for showing Wagner pride
Busted!
That’s a phrase that usually means that someone has been
caught doing something they’re not
supposed to be doing.
At Wagner Middle School, however, students are being “busted”
for doing something good—having
Wagner pride.
Students can be “busted” when
teachers observe them doing good
things without being asked, being
especially nice to other students,
or displaying other behaviors that
show Wagner pride.
The teacher then fills out a
“Busted!” form with the student’s
name and what he or she did that
showed Wagner pride. The student
puts the form in a big “Busted!” box,
and every Wednesday, a name is
drawn and the winner get to pick a
prize.
“The students are excited about
it,” says 8th grade teacher Saman-
tha Dunton. “They
WAGNER MIDDLE SCHOOL
want to be busted.
They’re happy when
they get busted for
showing Wagner
Pride.”
Ms. Dunton says
teachers started busting students around
the second week of
January, and they
—“Helping set up the cafeteria.”
collected about 50 “Busted!” slips
—“Cleaning a mess.”
during the first three weeks. Dur —“Picking up a mess.”
ing February, they collected an
additional 100 slips, despite losing a
—“Unstacking chairs.”
week to vacation.
—“Helping a classmate.”
What do students get busted for?
—“Helping out.”
The explanations that teachers (and
—“Taking care of a friend’s
other adult staff members) write on
lunchbox.”
the “Busted!” slips tell the story:
—“Cleaning up a mess.”
—“Helpful at the end of the day,
—“Taking care of someone else’s
again.”
mess.”
—“Running an errand.”
—“Helping work in the kitchen.”
—“Helping with headphones.”
—“Helping in the art room with
—“Picking up chairs.”
out me asking.”
—“Picking up a water bottle,
emptying it in the sink, and then
leaving the bottle in the returnables
can.”
—“Picking up trash in hallway.”
—“Cleaning up litter in the hall.”
Ms. Dunton says the goal of the
Busted! program is to encourage
Wagner Pride and recognize students who are already showing it,
and she thinks it’s working.
“We’re starting to see a lot of
positive things going on,” she says.
“That’s good.”
Wagner 5th graders participate
in ‘Mystery Skype’ guessing
game with Illinois students
Stephanie Sheehan’s 5th grade class at Wagner Middle School has participated in a “Mystery Skype” guessing game with a 5th grade classroom at
the Elm Bridge School in Bloomingdale, IL.
A Mystery Skype lesson involves students in a simple guessing game.
Two classrooms arrange to connect with each other using Skype, a video
calling service, and then ask questions to discover each other’s location.
Ms. Sheehan’s class found their counterparts in Illinois through Google
Communities and set up the Skype call. Students in both classrooms had jobs they were responsible for, such as the
Greeter, Mappers, Questioners, Notetakers, Photographers, and Fact Givers.
The Greeter was responsible for starting the Skype call and introducing
themselves.
The Questioners were responsible for asking key questions that the Mappers used to eliminate certain areas on the map. For example, the Questioner might ask, “Are you east of the Mississippi River?” Depending on the
answer, the Mapper would adjust the map. Notetakers took notes as conversations went back and forth between
Stephanie Sheehan’s 5th grade class play “Mystery Skype” with a class from Illinois.
schools and questions were asked and answered.
When one class thinks it knows the location
of the other class, the Announcer says they are
ready to make a guess.
Grade 5 students at Wagner had lots of fun
and were able to guess that their Mystery Skype
partners were in Illinois before they could guess
the Wagner students were in Maine! At the end of the session, the Fact Givers
shared some fun facts about Maine and Illinois. The Wagner students also walked around
a bit to show the Illinois students a Skype
view of their classrooms and the weather outside. The principal of Elm Bridge School came
on at the end, introduced herself, and thanked
the Wagner students for a successful Mystery
Skype.
THE WAGNER MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM won the Penobscot Valley Middle School
“We made new friends, web connections, and
League “A Flight” Championship for 2016. Team members are—Front row (l. to r.): Emma Campbell, Lydia
learned about another state,” said Ms. Sheehan,
Tracy, Abby Astbury, Johannah Philbrook, and Annika Bragg. Back row: Maddy Humphrey (manager), Eliza Murwho noted that Mystery Skype can be adapted for
phy, Megan Deans, Jasmine Willett, Catrina El-Hajj, Alydia Brillant, Jenna Pelletier, Kaitlyn Jipson, Libby Nute,
different age groups, languages, and to fit in with
Makenzie Alley, and Grace Farrar (manager).
whatever a class is currently studying.
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7-8 Explorers serve noon meal at soup kitchen
Seven student volunteers
from Wagner Middle School
made a pasta bake from
scratch and served it with a
salad to more than 90 people
for the noon meal at the
Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen in
Bangor on Friday, January 29.
The students were the 7th
and 8th grade Explorers from
Wagner—Jerdon Kiesman,
Grace Koelbl, Matt Knupp,
Kaylee Varnum, Josh Kord,
Alex Holmes, and Garrett
Donovan.
They were accompanied by
Ruth Lyons, gifted and talented coordinator for RSU 22,
Jen Huerth, school counselor
at Wagner, and Ms. Huerth’s
mother, Jill Hoyt, who is a
Cheese is added to the pasta bake.
Making salad.
long-time volunteer at the
soup kitchen.
The students arrived about
9 a.m. and started preparing the pasta bake, which is
similar to lasagna but cooked
in mass quantities. They
browned the hamburger and
onions and put the sauce together, cooked the pasta, and
then layered the pasta, sauce,
and cheese together in a giant
pan and put it in the soup
kitchen oven for an hour.
While the pasta bake was
in the oven, they prepared the
salad and rolled sets of plastic
cutlery and paper napkins.
Then they served lunch to a
very appreciative group of
diners, starting about 11:45
7th-8th grade Explorers in the Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen in Bangor.
and finishing up about 1.
Ms. Huerth said the students
it was a stick-to-your-ribs type of
“Those extra days are days
received a round of applause from
meal, very hearty and fulfilling.
when the soup kitchen needs the
the diners.
Every tray was totally full.”
extra support,” Ms. Huerth says.
“The volunteers at the soup
She said the Explorers would
She added that groups like
kitchen are usually adults, so the
like to serve another meal in the
the Explorers are important to
people being served rarely see
spring.
the soup kitchen because they
kids,” she said. “A lot of people
“Our goal is three times a
provided the food as well as the
commented about seeing the kids
year—fall, winter, and spring—
volunteers.
doing the cooking and serving,
but it takes a lot of planning and
“To get a group that will bring
and they really like it. I heard
preparation,” she said.
its own food—that’s a huge donathem start clapping—and it was
The students are likely to return
tion,” she said.
for the students.”
on one of the “extra days” during a
Funds for the meal included
Ms. Huerth noted that the
month, as a lot of people volunteer
$50 from the Wagner student
students were very respectful and
for a particular day each month—
activities budget (funds raised
polite to the diners—and they’re
say, the first Monday or the second
through student activities, such
already planning another visit.
Tuesday. That tends to leave openas bottle drives, hat days, dances,
“We’ve thought about how we
ings for the fifth day in any given
etc.), $50 from the gifted and
could tweak the menu,” she said.
month (January 29 was the fifth
talented budget, and $75 from a
“The people really loved the food—
Friday in January).
community donation.
Garrett
Donovan wins
Geography Bee
Eighth grader Garrett Donovan
won the Wagner Middle School
Geography Bee on January 16 and
will compete in the state National
Geographic Bee on April 1 at The
University
of Maine at
Farmington.
Garrett
became
eligible for
the state
competition
by scoring in
the top 100
in an online
qualifying
test that
was taken
by all of the
individual
school
winners in
Maine.
Eighth
grader
Garrett Donovan
Keegan
Danforth was the runner-up in the
Wagner bee.
The bee started in December
with mini-classroom bees to select
one representative of each instructional group. These classroom winners were:
• 8th grade: Madison Baker.
• 7th grade: Madison Humphrey,
LillyAnne Keeley, and Andrea Moody.
• 6th grade: Caden BuchananWallace, Morgan Gray, and Adam
Pinkos.
• 5th grade: Gabe Allen, Aaron
Donovan, and Peyton Spahr.
The bee was organized by 5th grade
teacher Steven Douglas, who has been
responsible for the Geography Bee in
Winterport schools for 20 years, going
back to the time when Leroy H. Smith
School was a K-8 school.
He recalls that a Smith School 8th
grader, Nate Drummond, won the
local Geography Bee in the spring of
1995, won the Maine State Geography Bee, and traveled to Washington,
DC, for the National Geography Bee.
At the national bee, he reached the
semifinal round (the top 20 contestants) but did not make it into the
final round (the top 10).
8 from Wagner selected
for District 5 Middle School
Honors Festival
Eight 7th and 8th grade students were selected to represent Wagner Middle School at
the 2015 Maine Music Educators Association
District 5 Middle School Honors Festival,
which was held at Ridge View Community
School in Dexter on Friday, November 6.
Participants were:
Honors Chorus: Sage Tate and Matt Southard, baritones; Miranda LaHaye, alto; and
Madi Baker and Moxie Flanagan, sopranos.
Honors Concert Band: Brody Jamison, percussion; Wade Brown, baritone saxophone; and
Jerdon Kiesman, alto saxophone.
MMEA District 5 spans from Searsport to
Millinocket. Music teachers nominated their
top students, who were then placed in the
honors ensembles.
The honors ensembles rehearsed all day
Friday and held a public performance Friday
evening.
SPELLING BEE WINNER—Peyton Spahr (left photo) won the Wagner Middle School Spelling Bee. Peyton, along with
Aaron Donovan, Wynter Zakariahsen and LillyAnne Keeley, represented Wagner at the PVML league bee at Glenburn
Elementary School on February 23. The classroom winners who competed in the Wagner bee are shown at right.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jazz Social and Silent Auction raise $3,200 for RBMS Music
A Jazz Social and Silent Auction
at Reeds Brook Middle School on
March 3 raised $3,200 to help defray the cost of sending the 7th and
8th grade Chorus and Concert Band
to the Funtown Music Festival on
June 4.
The festival will be held at Old
Orchard Beach High School. The
7th and 8th grade band and chorus
will perform in the morning and
then spend the rest of their day at
Funtown Park in Saco.
The Jazz Social featured the
Twisted Swing Big Band, a Hampden-Bangor area community jazz
band. The evening included a silent
auction with over 40 items that
were donated by local businesses
and community members.
Music teacher and band director
Becky Mallory said everyone associated with the music program is
extremely grateful for the outpouring of support from the community.
In addition, she noted that the Music Boosters worked endless hours
talking to businesses, organizing
REEDS BROOK
MIDDLE SCHOOL
the event, setting up the auction
displays, and providing additional
refreshments.
Mrs. Mallory said 122 students
are involved with the 7th and 8th
grade Chorus and Concert Band.
7th, 8th graders at Reeds Brook learn about visual note-taking
Seventh and eighth
grade students at Reeds
Brook Middle School
recently participated in a
visual note-taking training developed by the Maine
Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) of the Maine
Department of Education.
Anne Marie QuirionHutton, Apple Professional
Educator for the State of
Maine, led the students
through the basics of recording images using the
Notability App on their
iPads to capture their learning.
This style of note taking
offers students who may be
visual learners or artistically inclined an alternative to
Students show some of the visual notes they recorded on their iPads.
traditional text based notes.
The training was organized by 7th grade
is one of her favorite strategies for learning.
teacher Julia Michaud, who participated in one
“Not only does it give me an opportunity to
of Ms. Quirion-Hutton’s visual note-taking sesdraw in school, it gives me something to resions at the Maine Association of Middle Level
member along with the topic or fact,” she said.
Educators last October.
“It helps visual leaners.”
“One of the most valuable steps in visual
Levi, another 7th grader, says he also likes
note taking comes when students explain
visual note-taking. “I find them [visual notes]
what the images they have drawn represent.
helpful for note-taking homework like we reThe connection between the drawing and the
cently had in social studies.” explaining is really powerful,” Mrs. Michaud
Bryce says you don’t have to be an accomsays. “This metacognitive process reinforces
plished artist to benefit from visual note-taktheir understanding.”
ing.
Another advantage of digital note-taking is
“Even though I may not be the best artist,
that a lot of students enjoy it. Mrs. Michaud
my friends and I can always share a laugh
says she’s seen greater engagement in note
about our creations,” Bryce says. “This strategy
taking among many of her students when they
has given me a good opportunity to be creative
have the option to draw their understanding of
in the classroom. It’s actually quite efficient,
what they have read or heard..
either when done alone or when paired with
Sophie, a 7th grader, says visual note taking
other notes.”
Levi Husson wins Reeds Brook Spelling Bee
Seventh grader Levi Husson
spelled “pinnacle” correctly to
become the winner of the schoolwide spelling bee at Reeds Brook
Middle School, which was held on
February 2.
Caroline Pickering, also a 7th
grader, placed second, while 8th
grader Cooper Leland placed third.
By virtue of their first and second
place awards, Levi and Caroline
competed in the Penobscot County
Spelling Bee at Husson University
on March 5.
At the Penobscot County bee,
Caroline placed second and Levi
placed fifth.
The entire school participated in
the spelling bee, with the winners
Reeds Brook spellers Cooper Leeland, Levi Husson, and Caroline Pickering.
of 24 classroom bees in all three
grades meeting in the finals.
word in that round, and all three were back in
The final bee lasted 16 rounds, with the final
the competition.
three contestants going for eight rounds before
In a spelling bee, a contestant who misses a
Levi was declared the winner.
word is eliminated. However, if all the contestants
At one point, Cooper and Caroline both
in a round are eliminated, they all get back in.
thought they were eliminated because of mis The beemaster was Reed Farrar, who teaches
spelled words, but then Levi misspelled his
8th grade English.
A SAMPLE OF DIGITAL NOTE-TAKING by 7th grader
MaKenna, who says: “We were given an assignment to read
a chapter and summarize the main events using skills we
learned in the training. My notes show the important details of
Ulysses’ adventure on Cannibal Beach.”
34 from Reeds Brook selected
for District 5 Middle School
Honors Festival
Thirty-four 7th and 8th grade students were
selected to represent Reeds Brook Middle School
at the 2015 Maine Music Educators Association
District 5 Middle School Honors Festival, which was
held at Ridge View Community School in Dexter on
Friday, November 6.
Participants were:
Honors Orchestra: Pheobe Wagner, violin.
Honors Chorus: Andrew Barrett, Robert Brown,
Colby Small, David Kelley, Colby Bennoch, Sam
Holyoke, and Marc Fachiol, baritones; Rosie Shelley, Anjolia Williams, Sarah Stanicki, Clara Bowlby,
and Emi Verhar, altos; and Bailey Anderson and
Sarah Gass, sopranos..
Honors Concert Band: Ingrid Plant, Madison Thew,
and Bryan Frost, flute; Denali Eyles, clarinet; KJ
Morse, alto saxophone; Keagan Haskell, tenor saxophone; Isaac Olson, baritone saxophone; Ryan Scott
and Robert Buzzini, trumpet; Emily Garib, Aurelia
Maietta, and Travis Brown, baritone horn; Samantha
Quesnel, Jonathan Turlo, and Alex Kennard, trombone; Simon Boone, tuba; and Zach Scott, percussion.
MMEA District 5 spans from Searsport to Millinocket. Music teachers nominated their top students,
who were then placed in the honors ensembles.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In RBMS basketball, there’s more than just the A and B
teams; you can also play for David Haggan on the C teams
Bryan Frost
Bryan Frost wins RB
Geographic Bee
Bryan Frost, a seventh grader from
Mr. Kash’s social studies class, won the
Reeds Brook Middle School National
Geographic Bee competition for 2016.
Bryan will compete in the state
Geographic Bee April 1 at the University of Maine at Farmington. He became eligible for the state competition
by scoring in the top 100 in an online
qualifying test that was taken by all of
the individual school winners in Maine.
The National Geographic Society’s
annual National Geographic Bee is
a competition for public, private and
home schools in the United States and
territories. Schools with students in
grades 4-8 are eligible.
All students at Reeds Brook participated in the classroom round through
their social studies classes. In addition
to Bryan, the classroom winners were:
Mychal Beaulieu, Tia Blejeru, Simon
Boone, Clara Bowlby, Liam Castrucci,
Isaiah Dove, Olivia Ferriter, Brody
Haskell, Amelia Plant, Ingrid Plant,
Ethan Rishton, Colby Small, Dallin
Thomas, and Nathan Whitcomb.
The classroom winners went on to
compete in a school-wide competition on
February 2, where Bryan was the winner.
State winners are eligible to compete for
a $50,000 scholarship along with a trip to
Washington, DC for the final Bee in May.
At most middle schools, if
you play basketball and don’t
make the A team, you try out
for the B team.
Reeds Brook Middle School
is unique in that it offers a
third alternative—you may
get to play for David Haggan
on the C team.
Mr. Haggan, who teaches
6th and 8th grade social studies, coaches both boys and
girls. Most of the teams they
play are B teams from smaller
middle schools in the area.
“The C teams are designed
to keep as many students
GIRLS C TEAM—Front row (l. to r.): Manisha Oebel, Paige Chahley, Aurelia Maietta,
Chelsea Hoyt, and Amber Engstrom. Back row: Owen Gray (Manager), Sophia Sanas possible in the program
tiago, Camden Baker, Morgan Townsend, Marion Glinski, Emily Briggs, and Coach
and to give them a feeling
Haggan. Photo by BEL Portraits.
of camaraderie,” says Mr.
Haggan. “They want to play
on a real team, and this gives
them the opportunity.”
This year, 13 boys and 11
girls in grades 6-8 played on
the two C teams.
“We try to have a no-cut
policy, but this year we had
too many boys, so we couldn’t
keep all of them,” he said.
Funding is always an issue, because money is needed
for bus transportation and
referees. This year, Reeds
Brook athletic director Lori
Matthews was able to proBOYS C TEAM— Front row (l. to r.): Heath Mitchell, Ethan Pottle, Colby Benoch, Gabe
vide funds; in past years, the
Beswick, Gabe Whittaker, and Bryan Frost. Back row: Owen Gray (Manager), Chester
Reeds Brook Athletic BoostTurner, Brayden Smith, Simon Boone, Jackson Elkins, Trevor Reed, Chris Madden,
ers Club (RBABC) has often
Brayden Cole, and Coach Haggan. Photo by BEL Portraits.
helped to fund the C teams.
“They [the boosters club] are wonderful people,”
skills and playing for a championship, and Coach
says Mr. Haggan. “It’s because of them that we’ve
Haggan says C team players are no exception. been able to have programs like this for about nine
As an example, he points to Tyler Norris, who
of the past 12 years. Last year, we didn’t have a
played on the Reeds Brook C team nine years ago
team, but this year they brought it back.”
as an 6th grader. He moved up to the B team in 7th
This year’s C teams played seven games, and
grade and the A team in 8th grade. At Hampden
Coach Haggan played every player in every quarter.
Acacemy, he played on the varsity, and when he was a
“We have equal playing time for everyone, and
senior, he played with Zach Gilpin and made two key
we typically win about 50% of our games,” he says.
plays down the stretch to help the Broncos beat South
“The emphasis is on having a great time, learning
Portland, 45-41, for the Class A boys championship.
better skills, and being part of the group.”
Tyler is now a starting forward for the Husson
All basketball players dream of improving their
Eagles.
McGraw students enjoy music,
rescue dog on ‘Enrichment Days’
EARL C. McGRAW SCHOOL
In previous years, RSU 22 has scheduled several early release days
in which students are dismissed early so that teachers can work together on various professional development activities.
This year, Earl C. McGraw School has decided to implement a series of
enrichment opportunities for students in lieu of the early release days.
In November, Hampden Academy band director Pat Michaud and the
Rhythm and Blues Project band entertained McGraw students
from 9:30 to 10:30 for the first Enrichment Day activity.
In January, Leslie Howe and Jim Bridge of the Maine Association of Search and Rescue Dogs (MESARD) brought their
rescue dog Eron to demonstrate search and rescue techniques.
They also spoke with the students about what to do if they are
lost in the woods.
Mr. Bridge showed a video of how a little girl who got lost protected herself by bringing a safety bag with such things as a plastic
garbage bag to help her stay dry and a whistle to call for help.
The students had a great time meeting Eron, the rescue dog,
and watching him find an item that Mrs. Howe hid in the gym.
On March 18, a troupe from the Penobscot Theatre was scheduled to visit McGraw for a Enrichment Day presentation in which
they brought costumes and demonstrated how actors can take on
a character’s traits by subtle shifts in body movement and voice.
The final Enrichment Day activity will be Farm Day on May
27. The program will include a demonstration on dairy cows
by RSU 22 School Board member Keith Miller. School nurse
Brittany Layman and her husband have a plywood dairy cow
which children can use to practice their milking skills—but
The Rhythm and Blues Project band from Hampden Academy performs for McGraw students.
they may bring a real cow and possibly a newborn calf.
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Weatherbee teachers form ‘peer
observation team’ to help each
other become better teachers
Six staff members at George B.
Weatherbee School—five teachers
and the school counselor—have
formed a peer observation team to
help each other grow professionally
and become better teachers.
The team was organized by 4th
grade teacher Meghan Schall as
part of her Master’s degree program
in Educational Leadership at the
University of Maine.
Instead of a traditional internship where she follows the principal
around, Mrs. Schall was asked to
take a leadership role in her school
that would directly impact students
and learning.
Since she was also taking a course
in supervision and evaluation, she decided to combine the two and focus on
how teachers could help each other
improve their teaching skills.
In addition to Mrs. Schall, the
team includes Kelly O’Brien, school
counselor; Becca Gross, 3rd grade;
Lee Birmingham and Christy
Whitehouse, 4th grade; and Susan
O’Brien, 5th grade.
The team started in September
with a series of lunchtime discussions about professional development and what process to use for
peer observations.
“We talked a lot about goalsetting and how to talk with people
to find out what they were looking
for feedback on,” said Mrs. Schall.
“Then we talked about different
ways of collecting data and how we
would organize the post-observation
conference where we would talk
about what we saw and give feedback to each other.”
They also agreed that the focus
was not evaluative, but for each
teacher’s personal growth.
Once they felt ready to go into
each other’s classrooms and observe
one another, they contacted Principal Christine Boone and set Thursday, Feb. 25, as the first day for
peer observations and Friday, Feb.
26, as the day for the post-observation conferences. Mrs. Boone scheduled subs to cover for the teachers
when they left their classrooms to
observe their peers, and also for the
post-observation conferences on the
next day.
Susan O’Brien said research shows
that conducting peer observations is
one of the most productive professional development strategies.
“We’re in someone else’s classroom, and we’re picking up on what
they do really really well, but we’re
also sitting back with a peer and
reflecting on our own teaching,” she
said. “Research says that is the
way to have a sustainable [professional] development. If we just visit
a class we would be popping in, getting some ideas, and then coming
back and trying to implement them. We might forget about it later. But
this is long-lasting—we’re seeing
best practices demonstrated by our
peers and we’re reflecting on what
we saw in their classroom.”
Christy Whitehouse said she
enjoyed being part of the group,
“because it’s really about colleagues
Weatherbee students say Winter Warm Up Food Drive was a success.
The Weatherbee Peer Observation Team—Front row (l. to r.): Christy Whitehouse and
Meghan Schall. Back row: Susan O’Brien, Lee Birmingham, Becca Gross, and Kelly O’Brien.
getting together and learning from
each other. The best way to become
the best teacher is to be in someone’s classroom learning different
strategies and ideas.”
Lee Birmingham added that the
challenge now is to extend peer observation to other teachers, not just
the members of the team.
Susan O’Brien agreed. “We want
to keep it a revolving door,” she
said. “We want to create an atmos
phere where we can ask each other
for help and support each other.”
Mrs. Boone shared that “This
team work led by Mrs. Schall is the
kind of professionalism and high
caliber work that makes the difference in the long run. They gave
their own time, effort, and energy
because they knew it would improve
their craft. I am hopeful this practice
continues and will certainly continue
to encourage and support it.”
GEORGE B. WEATHERBEE SCHOOL
Weatherbee students display signs showing success in Coins for Zambia drive.
Weatherbee School completes ‘near and far’ community service project
Weatherbee School has completed a “near and far” community
service project to help people in
Hampden and Zambia.
The “near” component was called
the “Winter Warm Up Food Drive.”
Each classroom was given a specific
item to collect for the Hampden
Food Cupboard. The items ranged
from macaroni and cheese to canned
carrots, bars of soap, toilet paper
and items in between.
The “far” component was called
“Coins for Zambia—Your Change
Can Change a Life!” Students were
encouraged to bring in coins to help
an elementary school (K-8) in Chishi, Zambia, Africa.
Both components began January
19 and were completed February 12.
The Weatherbee community col-
lected 70 cans of tuna, 20 cans of
baked beans, 51 jars of peanut butter,
112 boxes of macaroni and cheese, 72
boxes of cereal, 35 cans/jars of pasta
sauce, 66 rolls of toilet paper, 218
bars of soap, 107 tubes of toothpaste,
72 cans of tomato soup, 24 cans of
pineapple, 190 containers of applesauce, 10 cans of beef stew, 18 cans of
chicken noodle soup, 32 cans of carrots, 58 cans of corn, 25 boxes of pasta,
406 packets of instant oatmeal, and
15 miscellaneous items, for a total of
1,601 items for the “near” component,
the Hampden Food Cupboard.
The coin collection for Zambia netted $1,700. The PTO was
amazed by the generosity of the
Weatherbee families, and we’re
very proud to be able to send this
amount to the school in Zambia. Six of our classrooms, raised more
than $100, and one of those classrooms donated more than $300.
The PTO would like to thank the
generous Weatherbee community
in helping to reach out to neighbors
near and far.
Other PTO projects during the
school year include: • Fall fundraising for the staff
and students at Weatherbee to provide funds for field trips, supplies
no longer covered in the budget,
as well as items requested by staff
through the PTO grant program. • Volunteers are recruited for
the fall Scholastic book fair, with all
proceeds going to the library.
• Volunteers are recruited to
bring in food for the staff on different
occasions, including Mid-Week Fun
Food on Wednesdays, Maine Day,
and during Staff Appreciation Week. • The PTO also lines up volunteers to help out with Weatherbee’s
annual Maine Day celebration, which
recognizes the birthday of the state
of Maine. This day is set aside for
workshops for the students that relate
to Maine, its history, resources, and
attractions. The PTO also helps to put
on a luncheon for staff, guest speakers, and volunteers on Maine Day. • The PTO loves to show its
gratitude for the Weatherbee staff
in May as the school celebrates Staff
Appreciation Week. This week is usually finished off by a delicious, buffet
luncheon. • At the end of the year, the PTO
helps to recruit volunteers for the
school variety show and field day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weatherbee School partners with Penquis Foster Grandparent program
This year Weatherbee School welcomed a
new team member in foster grandparent Rachel Holmes. Rachel has served other Maine
elementary schools in the past as a foster
grandparent, and Weatherbee feels very fortunate that she is on board with them for the
2015-16 school year. Foster grandparents are placed in partnering schools by Penquis with the expectation
that the grandparent supports basic reading,
math or other academic skills while also building meaningful relationships through listening, acceptance, positive reinforcement, and
most of all, an intergenerational friendship. Rachel Holmes, or Grammie Rachel, as she
is called by Weatherbee students and staff,
has already exceeded those expectations. Her
Grammie Rachel and friends at Weatherbee School.
20 hours a week make a big difference for
some students! Volunteer station director at
Weatherbee, Kathi Lawler, describes Rachel as a
Mrs. Holmes uses a program that promotes
hard worker!
reading fluency called Great Leaps. However,
“Grammie Rachel is willing to do whatever
she also uses intuition and the expertise that can
meets a student’s particular needs,” she says.
only come with the experience of a Grammie.
“She gives the children she serves her undivided
Principal Christine Boone says Rachel is quick
attention.”
to say, “I’m not a teacher.” However, this is often
She reads to them, reads with them and liscoupled with a “but” and a very sound instructens to them read. She likes to stay busy and we
tional practice that helps the student better
certainly keep her busy. Grammie Rachel prefers
understand the concept being taught.
to keep busy and along with working directly
“She brings a valuable lens to teaching and
with student, in a “free” moment, helps with
learning, and we appreciate that,” says Mrs. Boone.
management pieces of the reading program.
Rachel is a mother of one son, a grandmother of
4th graders enjoy talk
by Channel 5 meteorologist
Fourth grade students at Weatherbee School have been reading
nonfiction and researching extreme
weather.
Students have learned to use text
features and structures to help them
find and take notes as part of a research team. Using the Lucy Calkins
reading curriculum as a teaching
resource, teachers have guided students who will share their learning by
writing presentations to teach others.
On Friday, February 26, students
welcomed Todd Simcox, Channel 5
meteorologist, to share his knowledge and expertise in the area of
weather and forecasting. Students
were able to learn about the training, tools and responsibilities of a
meteorologist. Students were able
to ask prepared questions about
their weather topic to help enhance
their research.
As a celebration of their learning,
computer teacher Sue Oberholtzer
will assist in recording student
presentations about their weather
events using a “green screen” similar to the technology Mr. Simcox
uses during broadcasting. Students
will have the opportunity to add
images of their event to the iMovie
program and bring their presentations to life.
four, a great grandmother of one, and has “mothered” many children in the town of Winterport,
where she resides with her husband, Jimmy.
She loves kids, and it shows as she goes
above and beyond to grow those intergenerational relationships at Weatherbee School. She
bakes homemade treats for students on special
occasions and notices when certain kids need
an extra boost or additional check-ins.
Due to the nature of the foster grandparent program, she is often in a position to give
all of her energy to one child at a time. While
all children deserve this level of 1/1 attention,
schools are not staffed to be able to consistently
provide this opportunity for most children and
Grammie Rachel changes that! Students who
work with her report that she is “a really good
listener.” They are excited to get to read to her
and know they can count on a word of praise or
some personal compliment.
Weatherbee uses Box Top money to contribute
$200 to the Foster Grandparent program and pay
RSU 22 for the cost of her lunches. It is money
very well spent. Throughout the year she will
give over 900 hours to the students of Weatherbee School and create special memories and
friendships that will promote the life-long learning she models every day.
Schools need foster grandparents, especially
when they are as devoted and caring as Rachel
Holmes.
Channel 5 meteorologist Todd Simcox talks about weather and forecasting.
RSU 22 Health and Wellness Coordinator supports district health needs
Students at Earl C. McGraw
School know Brittany Layman as
the school nurse for their school
two days per week, but her primary job since
she was hired
in October
2014 has been
district Health
and Wellness
Coordinator for
RSU 22.
Before
joining RSU
Brittany Layman
22, Mrs. Layman spent 10 years as an oncology nurse at EMMC, working on
both patient and staff education.
After a decade of in-hospital nursing, she said she was ready for a
change, and when the Health and
Wellness Coordinator position
became open, she applied.
She’s happy to be working in
RSU 22, because she likes the
focus on wellness—and because
both of her children are students
at McGraw.
In her new role, Mrs. Layman
looks for opportunities for students
to do healthy things and to improve
their access to good health care.
“Our goal is to do healthy things
like improve nutrition, increase
physical activity, and do some
work within curriculum for health
and physical education,” she says.
“It’s a lot of fun.”
The crowning achievement,
from a health and wellness standpoint has been the establishment
of the new School-Based Health
Center at Hampden Academy.
Mrs. Layman said she was able
to use her connections at EMMC
to help get the project started.
“That was really exciting,” she
said. “It’s still exciting, because it’s
still in its infancy.”
In the past year and a half, Mrs.
Layman haw worked on a variety
of health and wellness initiatives,
including:
• Nutrition education, including the use of two mobile kitchens
that were donated by Hannaford
to McGraw and Smith elementary
schools. The mobile kitchen has a
convection oven, a hot plate, and
all of the appropriate utensils. Mrs.
Layman can drive it around show
students how to prepare different
foods, such as pumpkins and potatoes, why they’re good for you—all
while getting students to use their
hands and learn different skills.
Mrs. Layman said she used the
mobile kitchens every couple weeks
during the fall but less frequently
during the winter when fresh produce is scarce. She’s start using it
more often again this spring.
• The Farm to School program
in Maine is another focal point, as
RSU 22 has been recognized for a
number of activities in this area, including the garden at Reeds Brook
Middle School, with both outdoor
and indoor beds, as well as the orchard next to the Central Office.
“We have students who come
out and help with the gardens, and
we’re working to expand that,” she
said. “We’ve put in a proposal to
the principal at Hampden Academy to offer some type of academic
credit for high school students who
come out and work in the garden
and learn some science.”
Mrs. Layman also helped secure
funding for the Honeybee Project,
which has received a lot of publicity in recent months.
“We’re trying to tie the honeybee and garden projects together,
because that’s a really innovative
project in Maine,” she said. “Pollinators and vegetables go together,
so we’ll be doing presentation on
the two of them at the Maine Wellness Conference in April.”
• A Dental Hygiene program
has been implemented at Smith
Elementary School and Wagner
Middle School in Winterport. Dental hyegienist Alyssa Wade visits
both schools twice a year, doing
basic cleaning, applying sealents,
and helping with referrals to area
dentists who accept their insurance so they can have bigger work
done if needed.
Mrs. Layman said the program
doesn’t cost the district anything.
“It’s a great asset,” she said.
Ms. Wade came came in October, spending a day at each school She visited Smith School again on
March 18, and she’ll be making her
second visit at Wagner on March 30.
Mrs. Layman said she was working
with Laura Norris, school nurse for
Smith and Wagner, to increase the
number of children who are able to
receive dental hygiene services. • Mrs. Layman also does a lot
of grant-writing to support health
and wellness activities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RSU 22 Education Foundation provides
seed money for Reeds Brook students to
make Christmas, Mother’s Day candles as
fund-raiser for spring field trip to Bar Harbor
Special education students at
Reeds Brook Middle School are
earning money for a field trip in the
spring by making Christmas and
Mother’s Day candles.
The students, in Gail Ociepka’s
self-contained classroom, made
Christmas candles with labels and
sold them to staff and families .
They had only two left over.
Encouraged by that success,
they decided to sell Mother’s Day
candles, which will be in teacups
with hand-crafted cards and labels. They will be sold for $15.
People who would like to purchase a Teacup candle and card
for Mother’s Day should email
Ms. Ociepka at gociepka@rsu22.
us or call the office at Reeds Brook
Middle School, 862-3540 and ask for
room 206.
“We’d like to have an idea of how
many Mother’s Day candles we
have to make,” she said.
Ms. Ociepka’s candle project benefited from a grant from the RSU
22 Education Foundation, which allowed them to purchase the materials for the project.
She says the class is hoping
to go to Bar Harbor at the end of
they year and go on a cruise where
divers with video cameras give the
passengers a view of the ocean bottom and the creatures—starfish,
lobsters, etc.—that live there.
Ms. Ociepka says her students
have tried to be very thrifty in
designing and producing their
candles, including purchasing many
of the containers for the candles
at Goodwill, Salvation Army and
Hands of Hope.
Making Mother’s Day candles.
Bone Marrow Drive held on March 12 for Hampden resident
Tim Hayden, but if you missed it, you can still help
The National Honor Society
sponsored a Bone Marrow Donor drive at Hampden Academy
on March 12 for Tim Hayden, a
Hampden resident and father of
two HA students.
Tim, 46, was diagnosed with
Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
on January 1, 2016, and needs a
bone marrow transplant to save
his life. He is currently undergoing
aggressive chemotherapy treatment with the plan of receiving a
bone marrow transplant once he is
well enough and a donor match is
found.
Prospective donors who attended the March 12 donor drive had
their cheek swabbed by a volunteer. The swabs were sent to Delete Blood Cancer for processing,
and the prospective donors name
and test results are being entered
in the bone marrow registry.
Anyone in good health between
the ages of 18 to 55 was eligible.
Eliza Eastman, one of the NHS
volunteers who worked on the
March 12 drive, told Link-22 that
a bone marrow donor has to be
matched very specifically with the
recipient.
“Everyone who attended the donor drive was not only supporting
Tim, but they were supporting all
of the other people who need bone
marrow transplants,” she said.
* * *
If you weren’t able to attend the
donor drive on March 12, you can
still be a bone marrow donor by
registering online at www.deletebloodcancer.org.
Tim Hayden and family.
People who register online swab
their own cheek and send the swab
the Delete Blood Cancer. The
swab is sent to a laboratory for
HLA (human leukocyte antigen)
typing. HLAs are protein markers on your cells that are used in
matching patients and donors.
Once your HLA typings are
complete, you will be listed anonymously—by donor number and
HLA type—on the Be The Match
Registry® operated by the National Marrow Donor Program. Then
you will receive a letter letting
you know that you are officially
listed and available to doctors who
are searching the registry to find
matches for their patients.
* * *
There are two ways to donate—
a Peripheral Blood Stem Cell
Donation or a Bone Marrow Donation. The patient’s doctor chooses
the method that promises the best
outcome for the patient.
In about 75% of cases, the donation method used is the Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Donation, a
non-surgical, outpatient procedure
in which blood stem cells are collected via the bloodstream. During
the procedure, blood is drawn from
one arm and passed through a
machine that filters out the blood
stem cells, and returned through
the other arm. The actual donation
takes 4 to 8 hours over the course
of 1 or 2 days.
In about 25% of cases, generally
when the patient is a child, the
bone marrow is collected directly.
This is a 1- to 2-hour surgical
procedure performed under anesthesia, so no pain is experienced
during the donation. Marrow cells
are collected from the back of your
pelvic bone using a syringe.
* * *
According to Delete Blood
Cancer, more than 500,000 donors have registered in the U.S.
and over 5 million worldwide, but
that’s still not enough to help every patient in need of a transplant.
In fact, 6 out of 10 patients are
unable to find a compatible donor.
Every year, approximately
14,000 patients need to find a compatible donor outside their family.
Their doctors search the national
registry for potential donors who
share a similar Human Leukocyte
Antigen (HLA) tissue type. A close
HLA match increases the chance
that the patient’s body will accept
donated cells as its own and not
fight them. Currently, only about
4 in 10 patients can find a donor
with a very close HLA type.
People who want to help but
aren’t able (or would prefer not) to
sign up for the national registry can
help financially or as a volunteer.
It costs $65 to lab test each
potential donor’s swabs and determine their HLA tissue type. Delete
Blood Cancer relies on contributions to sponsor the nearly 150,000
new donors who register each year.
In addition, people can organize
a blood donor drive, host a “swab
party” to encourage people to register, or volunteer in other ways.
Delete Blood Cancer hosts
thousands of drives every year
and always needs volunteers to
help make them more successful.
Volunteering is a great experience
that includes promoting the event,
educating and registering potential donors, setting up and wrapping up.

School-Based Health Center opens at Hampden Academy

Transcription

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