Last Friday, fourth graders at Benton Elementary gathered to launch a giant balloon that carried their experiments into the skies above our school. Dr. Rick Eason - Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and head of the University of Maine's High Altitude Balloon Program - helped students load their experiments into specialized boxes attached to the balloon. Students had selected 25 different items to send into the air, including grapes, water & vegetable oil, milk, soda, eggs (both chicken and duck), fresh cut grass, Skittles, gummies, and marshmallows. Control items were placed in test tubes and kept in classrooms for comparison when the high-flying items were returned. The balloon reached a peak height of 116,250 feet during its three hour flight! Dr. Eason and his team retrieved it from a bog about 15 minutes away, and returned all 25 items to our school. Some notable observations: the marshmallow shriveled up and tasted stale, the milk was still cold, the grass was covered in condensation, and the eggs were scrambled. Benton Elementary has partnered with UMO’s High Altitude Balloon program since 2018.
Clinton's Grades K-2 attended the Northeast Livestock exhibition held at the Windsor Fairgrounds last Friday.
The children took part in discovery activities and visited animals and exhibits including; a visit to the Maple Syrup Sugarhouse, Tasting Wyman's Blueberries, A Maine Grains Pizza exhibit, Making butter, The Wild Seed Projects' Native Plant Habitats, The Kennebec Bee Association hives, Chickens, Baby Piglets, Draft Horses, Boer goats, Katahdin Sheep, Oxen, Aquaculture touch tanks, Lambing, Forestry, Wool Science, Pineland Cheese & cheesemaking, Smokey the Bear and more! There was so much to see and do!
The Freemasons of China donated bikes to Albion Elementary School! After a month of tracking their reading, students entered a drawing, with two bike winners per classroom and t-shirts for the top five readers. This incredible program promotes literacy and community engagement!
In some MMTC news: On Friday, May 24th there will be no MMTC classes held as they are having an in-service day for their staff. Our MMTC students will just need to attend their Lawrence classes on Friday. Also upcoming we have a Step Up Day for MMTC students on June 4, 2024. Underclassmen enrolled in MMTC courses next year will be visiting in their programs on the 4th.
Lawrence High School students released salmon fry into the Sandy River in Farmington on Monday. Here is a link to the article in the paper.
https://www.sunjournal.com/2024/05/20/lawrence-high-school-students-release-salmon-fry-into-the-sandy-river-in-farmington/
https://www.centralmaine.com/2024/05/20/lawrence-high-school-students-release-salmon-fry-into-the-sandy-river-in-farmington/
Band and Choral concerts were held this week on Monday night. Wednesday evening the Jazz Band and Vocal Vibe will perform.
Olympia Snowe’s Women Leadership Institute met with the new reps and new members on Tuesday morning. The mission of the Institute is to raise the confidence and aspirations of high school girls by helping them develop the skills required to be leaders in their lives, families, careers, and communities.
Carly Perry, one of our Science Teachers who works with the LEAP students reports that Lawrence will be the site for the 100th tree orchard planted with a grant from ReTreeUS. Richard Hodges came and taught the students how to space out fruit trees and the science behind testing soils for nutrients. The students built boxes to surround the trees and contain compost to ready the ground. The trees will be planted in the fall, with a variety of apple, pear, and peaches. LHS was able to get compost donated from one of the local Albion farms. Tobey Simpson and his son, Tobey, brought the compost to the garden.
Also, LEAP students started to build the greenhouse they bought, which will provide learning opportunities for the students of LHS. This will help with teaching plant sciences, and will provide a place to grow starters for the garden to grow food to be used in our cafeteria.
A couple of reminders - Evening of Excellence is on Wednesday, May 29th at 7:00 PM in the Williamson Performing Arts Center. On Monday, June 3rd at 7:00 PM, we will be holding the Senior Scholarship night. Scholarship recipients will be sent an invitation in the mail. The event is open to all. Graduation is June 6th at 6:00 PM, outside, weather permitting.
Have a great week!
Sixth graders at Benton Elementary have been learning about bridge engineering in preparation for designing and building bridge models of their own. Mark Hume, an engineer for the Maine Department of Transportation, visited with students a few weeks ago to teach them about the various types of bridges, their parts, and design principles. Last week, he joined each of our sixth-grade classes as they toured bridges in Fairfield, Clinton, Norridgewock, Skowhegan, Madison, Anson, and North New Portland. Mr. Hume has supported our teachers with this unit of study since his daughters were students at Benton Elementary, over ten years ago. We are very grateful to have him on our team of educators! Students will use what they’ve learned to design and build toothpick bridges. In June, they’ll be traveling to the Advanced Structures & Composites Lab at the University of Maine to test the strength of their designs.
Exciting day at Albion Elementary as Chewonki visits! 🦉 PreK-1 students explored the world of bugs while grades 2-6 had a close encounter with magnificent owls. 🐛🔍 Bringing hands-on learning experiences like these to our school not only sparks curiosity but also fosters a deeper appreciation for nature and wildlife.
Happy Administrative Professionals' Day! 🌟 At Fairfield Primary Mrs. Oakes' class took the time to express their gratitude with heartfelt thank-you letters to Mrs. Towne. 📝✉️ Recognizing the invaluable support and dedication of administrative professionals like Mrs. Towne highlights the importance of their contributions to our school community.
Last Friday, May 10th, the Clinton Elementary Student Council hosted our first Mother's Day Bazaar.
Students were able to purchase a gift for mom for twenty-five cents to a few dollars. The community donated items for the bazaar including plants and home-made crafts. Volunteers were on hand to help wrap up the surprise gift for Mother's Day! Our Mother's Day Bazaar was modeled like Albion's traditional event. It was such a success, we look forward to continuing it into the future!
⚫The high school has wrapped up Through Year testing in ELA and Math this past week for the Sophomores, as well as Juniors having taken their State Science Test this past Tuesday. Those who missed the tests are making them up within the week. Our goal is to have 95% of the required testers to take them.
⚫On Wednesday and Thursday of this week some students will be taking a field trip to the Colby Art Museum with Mrs. Joler.
⚫This past Wednesday we had a former graduate, Alyssa Bourque - now a Junior at UVM, come back and meet with students interested in Engineering. She related her experiences as an Engineering major talking about engineering options and answered questions from the students during a community homeroom for those interested students. Mr. Brown said that her main message was: “You can do it! Don’t think that just because you are from a small school in rural Maine you can’t go to cool places and do big things!” Thanks to Alyssa and Mr. Brown for coordinating and making this opportunity possible.
⚫On Thursday there is a field trip for a college fair at the Augusta Civic Center. Students have been signing up in the Guidance Office for the past week.
⚫On Thursday and Friday of this week the following students will be attending the All-State Music Honors Choir: Hallie Firmage, Zoe Hutchins, Brock Merrill, and Emma Spaulding. Congratulations to these students on being accepted into the Honors Choir!
⚫On Friday some JMG students will be attending a field trip to KVCC to have a hands-on career event with local employers in four different industries.
⚫Addison Battis, a Junior, will be attending the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts this weekend as our representative for the student session weekend from Friday through Sunday. This is an intensive immersion weekend where she will be learning about a new artistic topic and more about a medium that she is interested in studying. Congratulations to Addison for this opportunity.
⚫A reminder that we have a couple of upcoming concerts next week: Monday, May 16 at 6:30 PM we will have the high school band and choral concert and on Wednesday, May 18, at 6:30 PM, we will have the Jazz Night Concert - featuring the Jazz Band and Vocal Vibe. These will be in the Williamson Performing Arts Center. Please come out to enjoy two evenings of music!
⚫Have a great week!
Last Friday, students at Benton Elementary had an exciting visit from Mr. Drew and many of his exotic animals. From giant turtles, lizards, and snakes to hairy spiders and scary scorpions, students were mesmerized by all the crazy, cool creatures they encountered. Mr. Drew has an educational center in Lewiston, and he also travels around the state educating children about his animal friends and how to interact with them safely. Thank you to our Benton Elementary PTO for organizing and sponsoring these assemblies for all of our students!
Last Wednesday, Clinton held Spring Title One Night!
Students and their families also enjoyed a visit by Dr. Drew and His animals! Everyone had a chance to get close to, handle, and learn all about the species, amphibians/friends in his care. In anticipation of this special Title One Night, Reading Recovery Teacher Deb Delong, crocheted hand-made crowns for the students. Each of the students were crowned readers before they left for the night to go out in the world and READ, READ READ!
Kindergarten and 5/6 buddies unite! 🤝 At Albion Elementary Mrs. Bearce's class teams up with Mrs. Quick's 5/6 grade for a unique learning experience. 🎓👫 Sharing laughter, knowledge, and creativity, these buddy classes foster a sense of community and collaboration.
B is for bubbles! 🎈At Fairfield Primary Mrs. Shevenell's class dives into the abc's of Kindergarten with joy and excitement. 📚✨ Exploring the alphabet through interactive and playful activities like bubble blowing not only makes learning fun but also helps children engage their senses, fostering creativity, and curiosity. 🌟
8th-grade art students in Ms. Badamo's classes have been working on decorating the hallways and windows of the junior high with their amazing works of art. They have been studying Notans: a Japanese Paper-cutting technique using positive and negative space and Rose Windows: a mock version of a round stained glass window. They glow just like real stained glass when the sun hits them.
In Mid Maine Technical Center News:
Lawrence firefighting student, Alex Johnson, will be attending an all day training and exam for their certification on Monday, May 6 and Wednesday, May 22. Monday was at the Fairfield Fire Dept & Training Center for Live Burn practical. Wednesday, May 22nd will be at Foster Tech, the Regional Center for the Pro Board Firefighter skills exam. Best of luck Alex!
In other MMTC news, Trey Bard passed his certification exam for automotive services. Congratulations, Trey!
On Tuesday the following JMG students from Mr. Pellerin’s class went to the Jr. High to speak with three 8th-grade homerooms about the JMG program:
Colton Carter
Cole Quirion
Olivia Moore
Kaylee Nutter
Trinity St. Peter
Maine Through Year testing is going on this week for Sophomores. The sophomores are assessed in English Language Arts, which was done on Wednesday, and in Math, which will be done on Thursday. Next week the Juniors will take the Maine Science Assessment. All of these are part of the Maine Comprehensive Assessment System (MECAS) which provides information about the academic progress of our students, schools, the state, and the nation as a whole. Our students have done a good job, thus far, taking these seriously and the students who aren’t testing have been very respectful of the testing areas and being quiet when passing classes.
We are also in the midst of AP Testing which started this week and will continue through next week. For all students testing, it is important that the students get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast. The cafeteria serves breakfast daily, so there’s no excuse!
At the end of the month on Wednesday, May 29th, we will celebrate our Evening of Excellence where we will recognize the academic accomplishments of our underclassmen. That will take place at 7 PM in the Williamson Performing Arts Center. Invitations will be sent out in the mail for underclassmen receiving an award that night.
That is all for now. Have a great week!
Fairfield Primary preK students dive into interactive centers for their final unit on 'Things That Grow.' 🌱📚 Exploring topics like nature, plants, and life cycles at an early age fosters curiosity and lays the groundwork for a lifelong love of learning.
Albion's kindergartners unleash their creativity with pocket puppets in Art class alongside Mrs. Bolduc. 🎨✨ Encouraging imaginative expression from a young age lays the foundation for lifelong artistic exploration and self-confidence.
Members of Benton Elementary's Explorers Club spent Earth Day learning how trash can make its way from land to our oceans. They headed outside for a trash scavenger hunt, cleaning up around our school and playgrounds. Explorers Club is an extra-curricular group that meets every other week to participate in additional, science-related learning. These fourth-grade students are becoming salmon experts as they care for the developing salmon in our specialized fish tank. They will also be tending to our school gardens in the weeks to come. Way to go, Explorers!
🎶 Behind the scenes: Clinton Band students, under the guidance of Mr. Hogland, fine-tune their melodies for the Spring Concert. Don't miss their performance on May 21st at the Williamson Center, Lawrence Jr./Senior High School! 🎺.
Ms. Turlo and Ms. Ward's 8th grade science classes took to the outdoors on Thursday 4/25 to test the paper airplanes they had been working on in class! Students navigated balancing flight forces like thrust, drag, lift, weight, and drift while factoring in the potential variables from the atmosphere like weather and air density. Students used scientific methods to make predictions and modifications to their designs prior to going outside for official flights
