At Lawrence High School, Ms. Perry’s Animal Science Block 2 class prepared Thanksgiving dinner last week with the students in the Lawrence Education Alternative Program and feasted on their efforts. They learned about where the foods came from and who/what was involved in the process of getting the food to the table.
Ms. Piccard and Mrs. Beaulieu and the students in our Life Skills program also shopped and prepared a Thanksgiving meal for themselves and a few well connected staff that they invited to enjoy! Students proudly shared their bounty with folks and it was well received by those lucky enough to partake!
Clinton's third grade held their own Thanksgiving parade after reading, "Balloons on Broadway" which tells the story of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.
Happy Thanksgiving from Clinton Elementary School!
Benton Elementary partnered with Colby College's Education Department to deliver a series of engaging activities with our first through sixth grade students on November 15th and 16th. Colby research students, under the supervision of the Colby Education Department Head and our school administration, developed a presentation to teach students that differences of all shapes and sizes are worth celebrating. This event was a fun experience for all, and we know our school is a safer and happier place when we celebrate our differences and include everyone.
At Fairfield Primary, students participated in Thanksgiving activities in Mrs. Salley's class: the students made placemats and had fancy napkins and tablecloths for their Thanksgiving dinner. In Mrs. Lerette's class the students made butter!
At Albion Elementary, after listening to the book, Balloons Over Broadway, Ms. Wastella's students made some balloons like the ones in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. They were able to "parade" them for the Kindergarten and first-grade classes.
On Tuesday at Lawrence Junior High School, Mrs. Easler's and Mrs. White's classes joined forces in the multipurpose room to learn how to program the Sphero bots. Two guests from the Maine Department of Education visited us to lead in the pairing and programming of the bots with the student's individual Chromebooks. The students learned how to animate the matrices of the bots and how to move them in certain directions at certain speeds. Some were even able to move them in the patterns of geometric shapes. At one point, an exciting game of zombie apocalypse broke out and they learned how quickly a virus can spread. Students were engaged, learning, and enjoying themselves all at the same time!
Congratulations to the Lawrence High School football team for their victory last Saturday over Cony to win the Northern Maine Class B Championship. They will be playing in the State Championship game on Saturday at 2:30 PM at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland against Kennebunk High School! Go Bulldogs! Please come out and support our team!
Tickets are electronic and on sale through the QR code below. This is a Maine Principals’ Association event and they manage all ticket sales and pricing. You can also purchase tickets by going online to the MPA site.
This week Fairfield Primary students took a field trip to a fire station. This is important for elementary students as it provides a hands-on, interactive learning experience that enhances their understanding of fire safety, introduces them to community helpers, and fosters a sense of civic responsibility and appreciation for emergency services.
At Clinton Elementary the third graders are busy working on art projects. Some are working on foreground, middle ground, and background while using mixed media for their Redwood trees. Other students are working on their op-art cubes. Art is crucial for elementary students as it fosters creativity, critical thinking, and emotional expression, contributing to well-rounded cognitive and socio-emotional development.
At Albion Elementary, third grade students practiced their multiplication skills while completing a festive seasonal craft! Students represented a basic fact in 4 different ways, using the strategies of equal groups, repeated addition, arrays, and fact families to solve their equation.
The learning process often involves teaching others about what we know. At Benton Elementary, Aubri Brooks and her braille teacher, Ms. Erin, recently created a braille activity for Mrs. Cloutier’s sixth-grade class. Aubri taught her classmates how to identify and read the braille alphabet, then she challenged each classmate to find a book she had personalized with their name. Our sixth graders were thoroughly engaged in this activity and enjoyed learning about a different form of communication.
At Lawrence Junior High School students created visual displays for books that they have read. Having students craft a display for a book that they read offers a more immersive and impactful alternative to the traditional book report. Unlike a standard written summary, a visually appealing display allows the student to delve into various creative elements, such as visuals, artifacts, and interactive components, creating a multi-dimensional representation of the story.
The National Honors Society Induction took place Wednesday night with 16 new members being inducted into the Lawrence High School Chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS). The new members are:
Sophomores - Hannah Carlton, Kiera Day, Brooklyn Ferreira, Arianna Goodwin, Sophia Griffith, and Brock Merrill. Juniors - Michael Hamlin, Madisyn Niles, Taylor Pellerin, Alyssa Welch, and Noah Young. Seniors - Whitney Churchill, Kaylee Elkins, Colby Nadeau, Sophie Rosebush, and Maddox Santone. Congratulations to the students on being recognized for their exemplary scholarship, leadership, service, and character through their induction. The members of the National Honor Society baked cookies for the school communities affected by the Lewiston event as a gesture of support and caring from the Lawrence Bulldogs to the Lewiston Blue Devils, Edward Little Red Eddies and Winthrop Ramblers. Mrs. Hebert, NHS Advisor and English teacher, delivered them to the three schools on Tuesday. Thank you to all involved in helping to bake cookies over the weekend to contribute to this goodwill effort.
At Clinton Elementary the students were working on a garden plot project. They were given a hundredths chart and asked to work in groups to figure out how to plant their garden given the conditions. (For example, 1/3 of their veggies had to be green). This unit required the students to think about fractions and decimals, which was a great wrap-up to Unit one 6th-grade math!
At Benton Elementary first and fourth-grade “Benton Buddies” are in full swing! Pairs of students in Melissa Patterson's first-grade class and Kim Hatch’s fourth-grade class recently met for some "getting to know you" tasks. Buddies will meet once a month to participate in a variety of fun, partner activities. This program encourages our older students to be leaders and positive role models in our school as they interact with our youngest Benton bulldogs.
At Albion Elementary Mrs. Fletcher read the story, "Sarabella's Thinking Cap" by Judy Schachner to Mrs. Smith's class during their Library time. Then she had them make thinking caps! Creating projects based on what a child has read reinforces comprehension and enhances critical thinking and creativity.
Jenni Flood, from the Flood Farm, brought Fairfield Primary some Cabot cheese and our new cafeteria mascot. On Tuesday, the students cast their votes for the cow’s name. Meet Daisy!
Every so often, the high school will hold a Community Homeroom during Advisory time. Today was one of those times. The students and faculty had author and retired Maine Biologist and Waterville resident, Ron Joseph, speak to us about his new book, Bald Eagles, Bear Cubs, and Hermit Bill, and regale us with some stories about his experiences. His specialty is ornithology (the study of birds); specifically songbirds. He shared photographs of his grandparents’ farm where he spent much of his time during his childhood as well as wildlife photos. One photo, in particular, was of a bear cub that he held during a biologist outing to bear dens during the winter to change out the radio collars of female black bears. While they tranquilize the mother bear, the others in the group have to take the cubs and cuddle them to keep them warm until they are all returned to their den. Mr. Joseph took questions from students and teachers and was very interesting to have in and speak with us. We are thankful to him for coming in and to Mrs. Pullen for reaching out to him and inviting him to our community homeroom. It was very interesting and the students were very attentive.
In other news at the high school, the Lawrence Marching Band competed over this past weekend in Sanford at the Marching Band Directors’ Association (MBDA) State Finals and earned an overall Silver Medal rating. Excellent for a band with over half new members this year. Sophomore Brock Merrill received a Gold Medal rating in the Drum Major category. Great job to all Marching Band Members!
In the spring Albion students in grades 2 - 6 entered the Maine Association of School Libraries Bookmark contest. Two of our Albion students were recognized. Joe in 6th grade was an Honorable mention and Colton in 4th grade was the Winner! MASL had their entries made into bookmarks to share with students.
On the evening of Monday, October 23 Benton Elementary Reading Recovery/Title I Literacy team hosted a family literacy night for many of our first and second-grade Title I students. Adults learned about the roles of teachers, parents, and students receiving Reading Recovery and Title I lessons. There was an emphasis on the home-school partnership to accelerate literacy learning for students. During this time, the children went with a couple of teachers to enjoy several read-alouds. Smiles and laughter filled the cafeteria when families came back together for engaging literacy activities, including building an interactive Pigeon bulletin board near our main office. Each family went home with a 20th-anniversary edition copy of Mo Willems' Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, which included a game in the back.
