Sunday, October 29, 2017

Morgan Cuthbert and YHS Students Receive Exemplary Practice Award

Morgan and the Shellfish Nursery Staff with ROWE students
 Congratulations to Morgan Cuthbert, 7th grade science and math teacher, and the Shellfish Nursery staff, YHS juniors, Clementine Blaschke, Duncan Birkbeck, Grady Welsh, Ben Cox-Faxon and Connor Senger, on receiving the Exemplary Practice Award from the Maine Association for Middle Level Educators. Morgan and these students attended the MAMLE conference on Friday, October 20th to present their work and receive this honor.  

Thanks to Morgan for sharing this write up about the Shellfish Nursery work and this award!

Exemplary Practice Awards are rooted in MAMLE Core Beliefs:
An exemplary middle grade school must…
1. meet the developmental needs of young adolescents.
2. promote local professional development.
3. promote a healthy work environment for both students & teachers.
4. exemplify high standards based on research.
5. invite active participation by students, parents and/or community.

These students and I started our work on the soft shell clam project four years ago when this group was in 7th grade.  Since then this project has morphed into a collaborative learning study with the Town of Yarmouth and the Yarmouth School District.  The students’ goal is to research and pose possible solutions regarding the dwindling numbers of soft shell clams in the Yarmouth flats. We’re grateful to the Yarmouth community for their support. Hancock Lumber, Scott Dugas, and Bob Miles and Sons have all helped with this project. The Yarmouth Educational Foundation donated an upweller through the YEF grant process, which has enabled us to grow clam seed at a faster pace and in a protected environment that allows us to control for different variables.

In the past four years the students have connected with and presented to the an amazing list of local institutions. Highlights of these presentations include: Rowe School K-1, Colby College STEM Summit, University of New England Department of Education, Thomas College CIE, ECET2, MAMLE Annual Teaching Conference, The Gulf of Maine Research Institute Annual Conference, Sierra Club Earth Day Talk, and The Perloff Foundation Ecology Summit at USM.

The Yarmouth Shellfish Nursery has also been an integral part of the 7th grade ecology program at HMS. Students learn about many topics including classification of organisms, life cycles, competition, predator/prey relationships, trophic levels, and human impact on the environment.

This has been an amazing learning experience that gives the students a connection to their community and authentic learning experiences.  Students have become involved in scientific research and solving problems in their own community.

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