5th Grade DI Team wins First Place at State Tournament

Members of Solution Seven

Mr. Raymond shared this exciting information about the 5th grade Destination Imagination team, "Solution Seven".  Team members include Evie King, Stuart Baybutt, John Raymond, Jonny Cody, Truman Peters, Emily Waaler, and Nate Hagedorn. Mr. Raymond and Mr. Waaler coach this remarkable group of students: 

This team of seven 5th grade students from HMS competed at UMO in the State Tournament for Destination Imagination. They competed in the “Pace of Change” challenge, designing a vehicle that could carry a team member repeatedly across a 14-foot span over 8 minutes using alternating propulsion and movements systems. Coupled with this vehicle was a theatrical performance in which they described a character’s physical and emotional change when coming to the U.S. during the Irish potato famine. 

The team did all the work themselves, including generating ideas, costumes, writing scripts, designing and building the vehicle, and building props. They met every weekend (and many weeknights) from late October 2015 until last weekend, with the exception of one weekend. They performed amazingly and won first place in a crowded field! They are currently deciding whether to fund raise and go to Tennessee for Globals.

Congratulations to the Solution Seven team, Mr. Raymond and Mr. Waaler, and many thanks for sharing this information!

Solution Seven at work

Dr. Thornton, a nephrologist who specializes in kidneys and kidney function, presented to our 7th grade students on April 11th. The fascinating information he shared supported the 7th science students' study of cell transport an how kidneys work.

Dr. Thorton

 

Yarmouth Education Foundation spreads joy and learning

We glimpsed the first true sign of the joy that spring brings when the YEF Grants Parade came to HMS on April 12th! The Yarmouth Education Foundation continues to enrich our students' and teachers' learning experiences at HMS and throughout our district. We're grateful for their on-going efforts!

Congratulations to the following YEF grant recipients:

Merry Stuhr, Tracy Weinrich, and Mike Arsenault: The 4C Studio at HMS will provide a library space for students to work on projects involving the 4Cs:

• collaboration
• creativity
• communication
• critical thinking

Mike Arsenault and Merry Stuhr-The 4C Studio

Bob Gross: Arduino is an open source hardware and software system that will be used to teach students about circuit function, programming and problem solving.  The starter kits contain circuit boards to which students can add components like resistors and sensors.  The students can then develop computer programs to respond to a wide variety of input sources. 

Bob Gross-Arudino

Morgan Cuthbert and Jay Harrington: The Shellfish Nursery will create a floating learning lab for our students.  Currently across Maine and the North East the Invasive Green Crab, Carcinus maenas, is causing havoc to the third most lucrative fishery, and a hallmark of our town, clamming. 
The project will be an embedded part of our 7th grade curriculum for all students.  Students will play an active role in farming clams to a size big enough to withstand green crab attacks.  We will run field trips to the shellfish nursery throughout the year and then participate in the seeding of the clams into Yarmouth's mud flats.

Morgan Cuthbert and Jay Harrington-Shellfish Nursery

Molly Kilpatrick and Meghan Haugevik present on reading strategies

Molly Kilpatrick, Language Arts Lead Teacher, and Meghan Haugevik, 6th grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher, presented essential, engaging information on, "Reaching the Middle School Reluctant Reader" at the 8th Annual Literacy Connections Conference, sponsored by the Barbara Bush Foundation.

Important resources to support our students with reading include, Someday lists, "Shelfies", and Book Talks. Congratulations to Molly and Meghan; please contact them if you would like to learn more about engaging developing readers.

Meghan Haugevik and Molly Kilpatrick

6th Graders win HMS Lunch Contest

Congratulations to our 6th grade students for winning the exciting lunch contest developed by Blair Currier, Director of Yarmouth's School Nutrition Program, and supported by Kathy Latham, Head of HMS Nutrition, and our wonderful school nutrition team!

Our 6th grade students took the lead increasing their participation in our school lunch program after a month of exciting opportunities for taste tests and creative input on our menus. They received tickets to an upcoming Sea Dogs game, along with a lunchtime visit from Slugger, which was a huge hit! Students will also have the opportunity to join in a parade with Slugger at the game.

Our thanks to Blair for creating this exciting experience for all of our students!

HMS students participate in fundraising

                                                                                 

The HMS Student Leadership Team, and their advisor, Nini Emmons, presented a check for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Maine to Jared Conant, Muscular Dystrophy Ambassador for our state. This donation was the result of HMS fundraising efforts during spirit week. Thanks to our students and school community for contributing to this important cause.

Evan Lucca participates in the National Beographic Bee

Marsha Newick shared this exciting news about Evan Lucca's participation in the 2016 Maine National Geographic Bee. Thanks to Marsha for her expert mentorship and guidance as Evan prepared for this competition!

The 2016 Maine National Geographic Bee was hosted by the University of Maine Farmington and sponsored by the National Geographic Society on April 1, 2016.  One hundred Maine students who won their school bee and passed a qualifying test participated in the competition.  

Evan Lucca, a seventh grader, represented HMS at this event.  He was the top student in his preliminary round and became one of the ten finalists in the final competition. Evan is to be congratulated for his outstanding performance.  Thousands of schools around the United States and in the five U.S. territories participated in the 28th annual National Geographic Bee this year. Congratulations, Evan!                                                     

Evan Lucca