Eli Anderson is named as the Steingart Award Recipient

Mrs. Grover and Mr. C. were excited to share the letter below to Eli Anderson, who is this year's recipient of the Steingart Music Education Fund. We were pleased to have Carol Steingart join us for this presentation!                                                                               

Eli Anderson

                                                                                
Dear Eli,

Congratulations on all that you have accomplished and continue to achieve with your bassoon and your music. Because of the excellence and dedication that you demonstrate, the Yarmouth Music Department is proud to recognize you as the this year’s recipient of the Steingart Music Education Fund.

The Steingart family lived in Yarmouth for many years. Emily, their daughter, started playing saxophone and then switched to bassoon in middle school. Emily is a dedicated and excellent musician who played in the Portland Youth Wind Ensemble as well as the (Boston based) Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. She even toured to China playing the bassoon! 

Playing the bassoon drastically changed Emilyʼs life for the better. It is part of what has
made her who she is today.

Emilyʼs parents were grateful to the Yarmouth Music Department for exposing her to the bassoon and all that it has brought to her life as a result.

Neil Steingart battled cancer; after many years, it became evident that Neil would lose his fight. The Steingarts decided to establish “The Steingart Music Education Fund” by donating money to the Yarmouth Music Department. The family specified that these funds are to be used to pay for private lessons for students who show promise and passion for music.

The Yarmouth music department is proud to name you as this year’s recipient of the Steingart Music Education Fund. You will be awarded the sum of $500.00 for the use private lessons on your instrument.

Congratulations on your passion and achievements that you have accomplished and demonstrate with your bassoon and music.


Sincerely,
 
Brad Ciechomski              
Director of Bands 

 Kim Grover
Director of Choirs                                                                          

                                                                                 

Kim Grover, Scott Anderson, Eli Anderson, Helen Anderson, Carol Steingart, Brad Ciechomski

Congratulations to HMS Destination Imagination Teams!

HMS Destination Imagination Participants  Our thanks to Heidi Miller for sharing this exciting information about our students' participation in Destination Imagination: 18 HMS students competed in the state Destination Imagination competition Saturday at the University of Maine. Both 6th grade teams earned 1st place and an invitation to the global competition in Tennessee. Congratulations on this outstanding achievement! 5th Grade Team "Huggle Monsters" Hillary Connor Camden Hayes Tessa Martin Ella Maxwell Allie McClafferty Elena Miller Hannelore Sanokklis Team Managers: Andrea Connor & Heidi Miller DI Project Challenge, Feary Tales- These girls wrote an original script about the fear of hugs. They included original songs, dance, artwork, scenery, and technology to create an illusion. 6th Grade Team "G.P.Y.L." Sadie Gallant Puja Patel Sandy Yale Winnie Leahy Team Manager: Katherine Gallant DI Project Challenge, Brand Aid –  This challenge was about discovering a community need and helping to raise awareness. Team GPYL created a brand they named "Cocoa 4 a Cause." They sold cocoa at the skating pond to raise money for the Yarmouth Community Food Pantry. They developed a logo, jingle, puzzle and presentation that showcased their hard work. They also created a Flipagram that showed them selling cocoa, purchasing groceries and touring the food pantry.  6th Grade Team "Da Y-Town Junkies"  Eli Gallant Michael Krah Jack Martin Camden Olson Wes Pratt  GW Ruth Kate Siegel Team Manager: Carrie Martin DI Structural Challenge, Lose to Win - This challenge was about designing and building the lightest structure possible not to exceed 75 grams out of wood, playing cards, glue and/or tape that would hold up a 10 lb pressure board while parts of the structure were removed with a team built removal device.  This team built a structure that weighed 74.5 grams out of balsa wood, playing cards and glue and they were successful in removing 35.3 grams before the pressure board collapsed the remaining structure.  This challenge also entailed a simultaneous performance of a story with a prop about how something is transformed and revealed to be something completely different.  The team members wrote a story and put on a performance with team-built props about a hungry farmer needing food for his family and they transformed a Belted Galloway cow into a T-bone steak.

6th, 7th, and 8th Grade Students Attend Large Group Festival

Congratulations to our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who participated in the Large Group Festival in Scarborough this week. We're impressed and inspired by your musicianship!

Grade 7/8 band earned a Gold rating
Grade 6 Band earned a Silver raiting

Nancy Jones, HMS Speech-Language Pathologist, shared the information below about our 6th grade musicians. Enjoy!

Mr. C. conducting 6th grade students

As part of the Scarborough Band Boosters, I volunteered to work at the Maine Band Directors Concert Band Festival held last evening at Scarborough High School.  I was fortunate to be there during the HMS Grade 6 Band performance. Under Mr. C.'s direction, the band members performed with poise and professionalism. Their interpretation of "Pulse Pounding", "Rites of Tamburo" and "Afterburn" left me knowing that HMS has very talented musicians who are able to entertain their audience!  Job well done! Nancy

Books are Blooming at HMS

The 5th grade students and teachers welcomed spring by exploring new book titles for their someday lists in their Reader's Notebooks. They also enjoyed visiting room to room to talk about books and new book suggestions. A wonderful time was had by all, and many book ideas were exchanged!

Allie McClafferty, Poppy Edwards, Juliet Meas

Student Art Showcased in Yarmouth

Elaine Fletcher shared the following piece with us:

For the past several weeks, three eighth grade students in Mrs. Fletcher's Digital Photography class have had a show of some of their work at Coffee Roasters in Yarmouth.

Ben Cox-Faxon, Sam Marjerison, and Michael Guertler have photographs displayed; the work is for sale to benefit the Yarmouth Food Pantry.

Congratulations to these young photographers! Please enjoy their inspiring work below:

By Ben Cox-Faxon

By Michael Guertler

By Sam Marjerison

Kim Grover named Yarmouth Educator of the Year!

Congratulations and all best wishes to Kim Grover who was named as Yarmouth's Educator of the year! We will celebrate Kim at our district banquet in May.                                                                     

Kim Grover

Rick Biskup, president of the Yarmouth Education Association, joined the HMS staff on Monday, 3.23, to honor Kim. We've shared Rick's speech below:

 

Dear Colleagues,

     As president of the Yarmouth Education Association it is my distinct honor to announce that the 2014-15 Educator of the Year Award will go to a member of the Frank Harrison Middle School faculty. 

     Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to make these announcements and, not only is it an honor, it is a distinct joy for me to do so.  I am fortunate to work with a wealth of gifted colleagues in this district, any number of whom would be an apt standard bearer for the excellence that this award represents.  This year’s recipient certainly qualifies as such a person.

     There was once a poster hanging in the guidance office that depicted birds singing in a tree with a caption that said, “Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best.”  This metaphor always struck me because, as I’ve oft noted to my students, there must have been a time just before our birth, when an announcement was made.  The proclamation was something to the effect that, “Whomever would like some talent (singing, dancing, sculpture etc.) come forth and receive thy gift.”  I’m quite certain that I must have remained seated and quipped, “No, thanks, I’m good!”  So, now when I go to a school play or concert, or attend an art exhibition, or witness the myriad of talent manifested in our students, I really regret the decision not to get me some of that too.

     One day during a class when I was lamenting my total lack of artistic acumen and how I didn’t even know the difference between a g clef and a middle-C, a student asked, “Biskup, did you ever try to understand the difference?”  The height of irony was evidenced when another student chided, “Maybe you just need a good teacher.” 

     This actually caused me to think about my colleagues whose work with students is made visible via a public performance.  From the point of view of someone who’s never had his students take an AP Physics exam in front of hundreds of onlookers, the notion of an audience seems a very scary proposition indeed.

     Today’s recipient produces work that is on constant public display.  This educator has the opportunity to impact and inspire virtually every student at HMS and does so with the aplomb and skill of a consummate professional.  Students who walk into this teacher’s classroom may do so with a certain degree of trepidation, but leave with a joy and confidence that is borne from achieving something previously thought to be impossible.  How one transforms a cacophony of sound into a melodic symphony is a question that certainly escapes my ability to ascertain.  Just as we have a myriad of visual art on display throughout this district, we have the performing arts in the air.  Each and every student who interacts with this educator is imbued with the passion for the arts, her enthusiasm is infectious and her love of teaching and her students is palpable. 

     Allow me to close with a quote from Maya Angelou, “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song”.  Who better to bring that song to fruition than this year’s awardee?

     It is with great delight that I announce the 2014-15 Educator of the Year.  This year’s recipient is Kimberly Grover.                                                         

                                                                        

   

   

   

HMS Blood Drive

The 7th grade science classes held their annual HMS blood drive on Thursday, March 12th. The students collected 80 usable pints of blood. Each pint of blood can help three people, enabling our students to impact 240 lives given their work at this community event. The students also managed to bring in 30 new donors! 

In addition to running the drive the students created amazing visuals, which demonstrated their knowledge about blood, blood typing and the genetics of blood. The American Red Cross asked us to bring these visuals to their Portland headquarters so they can display them for the public. 

Congratulations to the 7th Grade Team!

Connor Tull and Lucy Shamel

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