With Thanks To Our PTO!

Marjie Longshore, our PTO Rep, and her daughter, Louisa Thompson-Longshore, prepare the feast

Heartfelt thanks to Kelly Sawhney, Marjie Longshore, Amie Moore and all of the HMS parents who worked to create the beautiful Teacher Appreciation Holiday Luncheon for our staff! The meal, which was mouthwatering and spectacular, included a wonderful variety of dishes. The sentiments expressed by this kind and generous gift, at this busy time of year, are priceless. We fee so fortunate to work with our PTO and benefit from their dedication to our students and their commitment to our schools!

Rotary Recognition: Congratulations to Kadin Davoren and Sam Lowenstein!

Congratulations and best wishes to Kadin Davoren and Sam Lowenstein, December’s recipients of the HMS/Rotary Student Recognition award! The Unified Arts Team chose Kadin for this recognition and the 6th Grade team chose Sam. This recognition is based on growth mindset and the effort/grit/perseverance demonstrated by HMS students. Kadin and Sam will be honored at the morning rotary meeting on December 18, at the Town Hall Community Room.

The Unified Arts team shared that Kadin is an excellent student and a great role model for her peers. She is always kind to the other students in all settings and she’s very polite to adults. The team appreciates her smile and her positive attitude. Kadin provides outstanding leadership to her classmates during group work and projects-we feel very fortunate to have her with us at HMS! 

Cheryl Lambert, Kadin Davoren and Kimberly Grover

Sam’s teachers note that he is a positive and impactful leader by example in the classroom. He is a courageous learner, taking productive risks during class activities and independent work, and using these assignments as opportunities to grow. Sam even learned to write with his opposite hand after breaking his wrist! Sam is continually happy and rocking a positive attitude. He helps others to do the same!

Meghan Haugevik, Sam Lowenstein and Zach Callahan

   

Our heartfelt thanks to Sarah MacGillivray, past president of the Yarmouth Rotary, Bruce Myers, current president, and all members of the Rotary, for partnering with us to make this program possible!

The HMS Civil Rights Team brings essential learning to our school

 

The HMS Civil Rights Team at work

Our thanks to Laura Mike for providing this update and photos featuring the HMS Civil Rights team! Laura and Charlotte Agell are the team advisors. 

We're grateful to the following students who attended this training and serve on this essential team:
Julia Bailey
Evie King
Krisztian Kovacs
Joshua Leinwand
Bella Malczynski
Emma Sammon

Grace Shi

Finn Snow

Piper York

The HMS Civil Rights Team (CRT) attended the annual student training on November 7th.  The training was held at the Congregation Bet Ha'am in South Portland.  Brandon Baldwin, Project Manager for Maine's Civil Rights Team Project of the Attorney General's Office, facilitated the training. The mission of Civil Rights Teams is to get schools to think and talk about the categories protected under the Maine Civil Rights Law. There are close 200 Civil Rights Teams in schools across the state.

Students learned: 

1.)  that bullying becomes a civil rights issue when it is related to race, skin color, national origin, ancestry, religion, disabilities (physical and mental), gender (including gender identity and expression) and sexual orientation.  

2.)  the importance of asking people what pronouns they go by or using gender neutral terms.

                             

3.)  to be aware of and inclusive of families that may look different.

Activities included: 

1.) Community Circles that were facilitated by Civl Rights Team Advisors and provided students the opportunity to talk openly about these issues.  

                               

2.)  Alike and Different exercises to illustrate what we have in common with others and how we differ from one another.

                               

3.)  brainstorming and talking what all religions have in common.

The HMS CRT left the training energized and filled with ideas for activities to get our school thinking and talking about these issues!

8th Graders Work With Ollies-Thank You PTO!

Thank you to the PTO for funding the purchase of Ollies for the 8th grade!  Ollie is a programmable robot that is controlled by a handheld device such as a smartphone or Ipad.  The Ollies provide a highly engaging, hands-on environment to develop coding skills that involve problem solving, experimentation and collaboration in preparation for jobs of the future. Our students are just beginning to explore all the lessons that Ollies have to teach!

 

5th Grade Students Tend to the Garden

Thanks to our 5th grade students and teachers for helping Amy Haskell, Yarmouth School Garden Coordinator, put the garden to bed for the winter. As Rich Smith said, "Many hands make light work with 110 kids and and six adults working in the garden-AND it was fun!" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YEF Spreads Joy and Learning

 Congratulations to our fall YEF grant recipients!

We're excited for our students to experience the new explorations, creative thinking and problem solving that will occur as a result of these grants. We extend our appreciation and gratitude to YEF for continuing to enrich our students' learning by providing these unique opportunities!

Bob Gross' grant, "Sea Perch" will provide new challenges in robotics for our students

In Bob's grant application for the Sea Perch kits he explained that Sea Perch will enable our students to construct underwater robotics rovers. This expands on the land-based robotic work our students have done in the past.  The more complex, underwater environment provides students with additional challenges not required for land-based robotics.

Tate Gale, Josh Leinwand, Morgan Cuthbert and Janice Medenica accept the award of the Cubelets grant 

Morgan, Tate and Janice shared that Cubelets are pre-programmed robot blocks with nature and a systems model in mind. Each of the 17 types of Cubelets has a special skill. When they’re combined, the robot-building possibilities are endless. The Cubelets grant aligns with our NGSS Standards and Science and Engineering Practices. This project will engage, stretch, and increase the learning experiences of our 7th grade students. Josh appeared in the video presentation for this innovative grant.

Let the new experiences begin!

Cooking and Learning in Cheryl Lambert's classes

Blair Currier, Director of School Nutrition, and Cheryl Lambert, HMS Health Science Teacher, have been busy creating engaging Stir Fry cooking labs for our students!

Students learned knife skills, how to sauté vegetables with rice and even make their own stir fry sauce. Each group competed for the best dish and were rated on presentation, smell, taste and texture, with support from our expert judge, Mr. McDowell!