Lawrence High School

The High School just had Picture Day on Wednesday; a sure sign that the school year is underway. To access pictures, please visit the LifeTouch website. The school is accepting nominations for Class Representatives and Class Officers and we will have speeches and voting next week. The following week is Homecoming and next week the classes will be busy with preparation and planning. We are off to a great start to the new school year. Students should be back in the swing of things as far as classwork and homework go. The first year of high school is usually an adjustment period for the freshmen and in the first quarter, grades may take a dip. It is important to check in with your students as to how their classes are going and check into their grades on Infinite Campus, through the Parent Portal. Many teachers also use Google Classroom to post homework and upcoming assignments. Your student can show you their Google Classroom webpages for their classes. Teachers and School Counselors are accessible and available by phone and email, as are administrators. Please reach out if you have any questions or are unsure of your student’s progress in their classes. Attendance is also equally important for the success of any student in school. If your child is sick, please contact the high school and call them out sick. If they have an appointment, in order for them to be excused, we ask that they bring back a note from the appointment: whether it is medical, dental, or vision, etc. If there is a planned absence for a trip, etc., we have Planned Absence Forms outside the Main Office window for the student to bring home to get signed and to take around to their teachers before the trip so plans can be made for any upcoming classwork they will miss or work to be completed upon return. If you have any questions or concerns with regard to your child, please feel free to reach out to any one of us at the high school. Have a great week!

The high school had a good opening day with the Freshmen (Class of 2028!) on Wednesday and a smooth opening with all the students back last Thursday. This week during Advisory block Administrators met with the individual classes, as we always have to set the stage for the upcoming year. We have some new staff members at the high school this year and they are: Mr. Cyr - Assistant Principal Mrs. Davis - Social Studies teacher Mr. Kandiko - Science teacher Mr. Richards - School Counselor, returning to us after a couple years away. Monica Towne - Guidance Secretary Becky Anderson - Librarian, coming over from the Jr. High Luke Quirion - Social Studies teacher, coming from the Jr. High Derik Saucier - Student Support Services, coming from the Jr. High Picture day for the high school will be on Wednesday, September 11th. Follow the link to the LifeTouch web page web page for Lawrence High School. Open House will be on Wednesday, September 4 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM. All are welcome to come in and tour the school and check in on your student’s classrooms, etc. Mr. Cyr and I will be manning a table in the main entrance area and will have a series of dates for Coffee House days we would like to set up and hold once a month for parents as a way to keep folks informed. A Senior Parent Meeting is also in the process of getting set up to help keeping folks informed in their student’s final year of high school and to meet with the Class Advisors, Mr. Holt and Ms. Vanhout. Date tba. Fall Play auditions for Mama Mia will be held on Tuesday, September 10th and Wednesday, September 11th from 2:30 - 4:30 PM in the Williamson Center. Call backs will be on Thursday, September 12th. The Marching Band will be hosting a competition on Saturday, September 28th, capping off Homecoming Week (Sept. 23 - 27th). The Homecoming Dance will be held the following Saturday, Oct. 5th from 7-10:00PM. We’re off to a great start and hope to see folks at our Open House, or any one of our Coffee House dates and games.

Lawrence celebrated the underclassmen academic achievement awards on Wednesday evening in the Williamson Performing Arts Center. Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors were awarded certificates for High Honors and Honors, as well as for Growth and Achievement in the various classes they’ve held this year. Juniors were among those selected for the Junior Book Awards which include scholarships in some of them, should the student choose to go to that college or university. Junior Book Award recipients were Nadia Morrison, Michael Hamlin, Addison Battis, Paige Goodwin, Taylor Pellerin, Lilly Gray, Alyssa Welch, Kiera Allstrom, Madisyn Niles, Wyatt DeMott, Abigail Taylor, Elizabeth Holden, and Natalee Gordon. Receiving the "ShineOnCass" award for character, volunteerism, and service was Taylor Pellerin. Taylor received a monetary gift from the ShineOnCass Foundation to be used at her discretion to extend kindness and service. This award has been in existence for ten years and was created in the name of Cassidy Jean Charette, then a Junior at Messalonskee High School, who died in a hayride accident. The award was created to reflect the qualities that Cassidy possessed to recognize a Junior student in each of the surrounding schools of Lawrence, Messalonskee, Waterville, and Winslow. Congratulations to Taylor Pellerin on being named this year’s recipient for Lawrence High School. Thank you to the Vocal Vibe members, under the direction of Renae Misner, for performing for the audience before the start of the Evening of Excellence. A reminder that Graduation is on Thursday, June 6th, at 6:00 PM and is outside, weather permitting.

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!

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 that 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!

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!

The high school is rapidly accelerating to the end of the year. Baseball, Softball, Girls’ and Boys’ Lacrosse, and Track teams are approaching midseason. State-mandated through-year assessments will be held within the next two weeks for all ELA and Math sophomores and juniors in Science—next week AP Exams start. Seniors are eyeing the end of their senior year with graduation just over a month away. And, the weather will only get better. Please come by to check out one of the games!

For the High School, we have some pertinent information to make you aware of: Seniors will be receiving forms in Homeroom on Monday, April 29, 2024, regarding their plans for next year. Any Senior interested in being considered for scholarships that are awarded by the Scholarship Committee should fill this form out. Forms will also be available in Guidance. These forms are due back into Guidance by May 2nd. A reminder to Senior Parents that we will host a Senior Parent Meeting on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in the Williamson Auditorium at 6:30 PM. This meeting will cover the Project Graduation trip, as well as end-of-year activities for the graduating seniors. It should be over in an hour. Seniors are welcome to attend, as well. We will also post the information that gets disseminated at the meeting if you can’t attend. Extended Day Credit Recovery for any student with a course failure of a 55-69 will start on Tuesday, May 7th from 2:15 - 3:45 PM and will run weekly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, until May 30th. Students will receive a permission form to bring home to have a Parent/Guardian sign. On that form, you can indicate if bus transportation home is needed. Students taking part report until they have recovered the credit. It may take all four weeks or a student may complete it in the first week. It’s up to the student. If they don’t finish during this time, we will be holding Summer School Credit Recovery. AP Exams will start the week of May 6, 2024. AP students can be excused after their AP exams. If they have an afternoon one, they may come into school to report for that exam and be excused from their morning classes. We just ask that parents call or email the Attendance Office, Deb Poli or Jan Rossignol, so we have your permission for your student to do so on their AP Exam day(s). Maine Through Year Assessments for Sophomores will take place on Wednesday, May 8th during Block 1 and Advisory for English and on Thursday, May 9th from Advisory through Block 2 for Math. These are important statewide assessments for our Sophomore students. Our Sophomore students will report by Homeroom to their testing room on those days. The other students will hold their regular classes and follow their regular schedule. The Science Augmentation test for Juniors will be held on Tuesday, May 14th during Blocks 3, 4, and 5. As on the Sophomore test dates, all other students will follow their regular schedule while the Juniors will report by Homeroom to their testing room. All of these assessments are used by the State in comparison to other schools across Maine for the ELA and Math and nationally for the Science Augmentation test. They are important for that reason. Internally, the results are looked at to guide instruction and curriculum. We appreciate the students’ and parents’ cooperation in coming to school with a positive attitude on those test days and in getting your child to school for those assessments. Have a great week!

☀️As seen in one of the pictures below, LEAP students traveled to the path of totality to witness the eclipse on Monday.🌔 🎵 Vocal Vibe and Jazz Band - weekend accolades - All State Vocal Jazz and Show Choir competition took place in Ellsworth on Saturday, April 6, 2024. Vocal Vibe received a silver rating. Students receiving top scores for their solo performances were Hallie Firmage, Jena Lawe, Lena Paige, and Harrison Bartley. Harrison also received one of eight outstanding musicianship awards. Congratulations to all on a great showing.🎵 🎉Please congratulate Abigail Taylor as the NHS state secretary and Elizabeth Holden as the NHS regional representative.🎉 🎶Saturday Night, 7 PM in the Williamson Auditorium, the US Army Field Band and Soldiers Chorus will be performing a free concert. For tickets you can email Loren Fields at lfields@msad49.org or go to any of the following sites to register for the concert. You won’t be turned away! An overflow room will be available. - Concert Band & Soldiers’ Chorus - Free Concert - The US Army Field Band & Soldiers’ Chorus 🎶 🏆 Mr. Bowers and Hallie Firmage attended the Maine Principals Association Honor’s Luncheon on Saturday where Hallie was formally presented with a plaque for being Lawrence High School’s recipient for the 2024 Principal’s Award. 🏆 🛥️ On Wednesday the 7 Lakes Alliance, out of Belgrade, spoke to the students during our Community Homeroom. They explained their courtesy boat inspection program and work opportunities for this summer, as well as their involvement with the Youth Conservation Corp program. 🛥️ A reminder that there is no school on Friday and that we’ll see students back on Monday, April 22nd, after April break. Have a great week and vacation week.

Next week on Thursday, April 11th, the high school will run an extended Community Homeroom to hear a presentation by Students Empowering to End Dependence (SEEDs). This program consists of 2 peer presenters - ages 19 and 17 yrs old and an adult collaborator. The presentation will consist of a short PowerPoint slide, a video, and a question-and-answer session dealing with dependency. SEEDs currently has a series on PBS called Voices of Hope for anyone interested in checking it out. We will have the presentation from 8:30 - 9:30 AM on the 11th in the auditorium for our students. This past week we did have a group of students sign up and go to a Job Fair put on by Maine General in Augusta. It consisted of all the opportunities that are available in the hospital setting and looking at what the requirements for them are: be they a high school diploma, technical school training, or college. The students who attended and the staff who went said it was very worthwhile. This was spearheaded by our Guidance department and JMG. 3rd Quarter Report Cards will be issued on Friday, but if Thursday’s storm interrupts that we’ll have them on Monday. Shortly after grades are out we will be getting word on our Senior Classes Top Ten. I hope to be able to report on who they are next week, without revealing the order, but will list them alphabetically. This is really the first of the spring accolades for the graduating class. We will host a Senior Parent Night on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in the Williamson Auditorium from 6:30 - 7:30 PM to go over the end-of-year ceremonies pertaining to Scholarship Awards, and Senior Last Assembly and Graduation, as well as the Project Graduation plans. Mr. Bowers and Mr. Van Tuinen will host the informational meeting. We will be able to answer questions you may have, as well. Parents of graduating seniors, as well as Seniors, are invited to attend. We will post the information for those who can’t attend. Have a great week.

The high school is in the final week of the third quarter and we’ll start Quarter 4 on Monday, April 1, no fooling. Spring sports have started with tryouts this week. Games won’t start until April vacation week. Jocelyn Matos did an all day training for Early Childhood development on March 26th with the rest of her MMTC Child Care program. The following MMTC Automotive students attended an all day on-site work experience at Ray Haskell Ford on the 26th. Those students are: Trafton Cole, Jake Giles, Aidan Meader, Russell Newell, and Liam Poulin. Our KVCC Welding students participated in a Job Fair that was held on Wednesday, March 27th. Our EMPOWER students presented their assembly for the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders on Tuesday of this week, focusing on decision-making in different scenarios: one on not vaping, and another on good social media use. End of year festivities will soon be upon us. I will be reaching out to Senior Parents to hold an informational meeting on May 1, 2024 to talk about Graduation and the planned Project Graduation trip. Enjoy the week.

The Lawrence Chapter of the National Honor Society attended the NHS state convention on Thursday, March 14. At the conference, our juniors and seniors were given the opportunity to meet and network with various other young leaders from around the state, to build on various leadership skills through a myriad of workshops, and to gain new service ideas to bring back to our own community. During this event, we had two juniors run for the State's NHS Executive Committee Board. It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Abigail Taylor, our new Maine State Secretary, and Elizabeth Holden, our new Central Maine Representative. Last Friday the Unified Basketball Team played before the student body against Messalonskee’s Unified Team. It was a great experience for our students; both players and those supporting from the stands. During our Community Homeroom on Wednesday we had a video showing the addictive effects of cell phone use. It comes from the apps and constant updates and how satisfaction of checking your posts for likes releases dopamines creating a stronger craving for that feeling with neural pathways being affected leading to detachment, sadness, and melancholy affect when faced with other natural stimuli. If at all possible it would be beneficial to create non-cell phone use time for your kids at night and when they’re doing homework. It is suggested that cell phones be in a different location at night than their bedroom so they don’t check them and can get a good night’s sleep. We have one week left in the quarter. Report Cards will be ready on April 5th. Spring Sports start next week. Please make sure that your student-athlete has signed up on Family ID on the high school webpage. Thanks and have a great week!

A reminder to Seniors and Parents of Seniors looking for scholarships, please follow the link in Infinite Campus to the Jr./Sr. Bulletin page for a list of scholarships and due dates. We need to have Seniors apply for those scholarships that require an application in order for us to award them. Spring deadlines are approaching! Please visit the page or come into the Guidance Office to look through the scholarship offerings. The Lawrence Theatre Company placed first in their regional One Act Play competition over the weekend, advancing to the Maine State Drama Festival Finals in Camden on March 22 and 23rd. Congratulations to the cast and crew! They will be giving a special performance of Where the Sky Meets the Sea for the public on Monday, March 18, 2024, at 7:00 PM in the Williamson Center. They will be accepting donations at the door. Special recognition went to Abaigeal Marks, Autumn Duffy, and Vin Phelps Scholz for being recognized with an All Festival Cast Award for acting. Special commendations were awarded to the following members for their work: Greek Chorus Ensemble: Ronnie Allen, Abaigeal Marks, Autumn Duffy, Marley Peaslee, Bianca Wright, and Natily Reid Costume Design: Bianca Wright, Ronnie Allen, Helena Page Scenic Construction: Matt Menchen, Cast, and Crew Scenic Design: Sophie Rosebush and Vin Phelps Scholz Scenic Painting: Cast and Crew The cast and crew did a marvelous job and we hope you can make it to their public performance on Monday night. Other happenings at the high school this week: On Thursday, the whole school will be supporting the Unified Basketball Team as they host Messalonskee’s Unified team in a game before the student body at 1:00 PM. This is a school-wide activity to support all the participants, so we would appreciate the students staying to support and not getting dismissed early. Parent-teacher conferences are going on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Conferences can be scheduled online at www.myconferencetime.com or by calling the high school. Friday is a teacher in-service day so no students. There are two weeks left in the third quarter. Quarter 4 starts on Monday, April 1, 2024. Have a great week.

On Friday, March 8 there will be a Blood Drive put on by JMG in the high school gymnasium. In order to sign up, you can use this link below to see if there are any slots available: https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/donation-time (Just type in the zip code and it should take you to a link for our drive on 3/8 - Lawrence High School.) Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors are signing up for next year’s classes this week and next. The school counselors have met with the Juniors and Sophomores already and will meet with the Freshmen on Thursday during Advisory. The sign-up portal will be opened on Thursday to allow for students to complete their course sign-ups online. Students will have time in their Advisories on Monday and Tuesday to speak with their Advisors and seek out other teachers if they have questions regarding particular classes in subject areas that they should be taking. Between now and then they can reach out to teachers for help, as well. The due date for sign-ups to be completed is by the end of the day on Thursday, March 14th. TV Channel 5 did a story on the Pep Band during the basketball tournaments over February break. Mr. Fields was interviewed and there is some footage of the pep band shown during the story if you would like to check it out. (Follow the link provided above.) This week the high school is the site for the annual One Act Plays festival put on yearly by the Maine Principals’ Association. It will take place Friday and Saturday in the Williamson Auditorium. Lawrence performs on Saturday night at 8:00 PM. A reminder that next week we have Parent Teacher Conferences on Wednesday and Thursday, March 13 - 14th. Times will be from 3:30 - 7:30 PM with a supper break from 5:30 - 6:00 PM on both days. The schedules are available online at: www.myconferencetime.com/lhs Go to the website and log in or sign-up and you’ll be able to access the teachers and schedule your conference times for your child’s teachers. If you want to schedule an alternative time, just reach out to your child’s teacher through email to set up a different time. A reminder too that there will be no school for students on Friday, March 15, 2024, as it is an In-Service day for the teachers. Have a great week.

Greetings. The Lawrence Northern Maine Champion Football team was invited to the State House in Augusta by Representative Rudnicki on Wednesday to receive a Legislative Sentiment for their successful season completed earlier this year. The students were given a tour of the State House. The week leading up to vacation we had four students visit the Clinton Elementary 4th graders as part of their inspirations project and to share their stories and experiences with growing up and high school. Maureen Ferriter, our school counselor who accompanied them said that they were terrific; showing authenticity, humor and encouragement to the students. The high school students were Ronnie Allen, Hailey Bowley, Harrison Bartley, and Lucas Proctor (pictured below). The University of Maine at Fort Kent visited with interested students in Guidance on Wednesday. The high school regularly hosts visiting college admissions officers who will meet with students to explain their college/university offerings and talk about admissions, etc. Students can inquire within Guidance on any upcoming college or military recruiter visits. They are posted on the Jr./Sr. Bulletin in Infinite Campus and outside the Guidance Office. The Marines will be here on March 8th. They will set up a table outside of the cafe with swag. The Unified Basketball Team has started their schedule and already played a game. They had a game on Wednesday, February 28th, against Skowhegan. These games exhibit very strong sportsmanship and camaraderie between players with fans supporting both teams. Thank you to our Cheerleading Team for cheering at Wednesday’s game. 8th Grade Parent Night was held Wednesday, February 28th for the incoming Class of 2028. This was an opportunity for the parents and students to hear from the High School Administration and Department Chairs, as well as School Counselors the process for signing up for next year’s courses and what the high school experience will look like. The course selection process will take place for this year’s Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors next week. School Counselors will hold a different class meeting during Advisory time to go over the signup process and the signup window will be open until March 14, 2024. A reminder that Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on March 13 and March 14, 2024. Friday, March 15th will be a Teacher In-Service day - no students. Have a great week!

The high school is in the third week of Quarter 3, Semester 2. The Sophomore class heard a presentation from Mid Maine Technical Center (MMTC) in Waterville on their program offerings this past week and will be attending an in-person visit on Monday, February 12, 2024 as part of their school day. One of the new programs that MMTC is offering is in pre-engineering. They have programs for everyone, so it should be a worthwhile experience for the Sophomores. The Program of Studies for next year’s course offerings will become available the week we get back from February break. We have hard copies for the incoming freshmen students and will post an electronic version for the upperclassmen. Signups will start once the school counselors have met with each individual class after break and will be completed by March 14, 2024. Mid Maine Technical Center held their Skills Competition last Thursday night. Lawrence students who placed (medaled) are: Russell Newell - Silver Medal in Automotive Service Technology, Noah Spaulding - Bronze Medal in Criminal Justice, Alexander Johnson - Bronze Medal in Firefighting, and Kayleigh Marchetti - Silver Medal in Mobil Robotics. Also receiving a Bronze Medal in Emergency Medical Technician was Arlo Roman. Congratulations to our medalists!

News from Lawrence High School: On Monday, February 5th, all sophomores will be attending a presentation from Mid-Maine Technical Center during Advisory in the Auditorium. A list of programs will be shared and the students will have the chance to choose ones that they are interested in when they attend the tour the following Monday. On Monday, February 12th, all sophomores will be going to MMTC for a tour of the programs for possible enrollment for next school year. They will leave at noon and return at 1:30. This is an opportunity for students to see what is offered and get a taste of what the hands-on courses are like. We have five students from band and chorus that will represent LHS at the Kennebec Valley Music Educators’ Association (KVMEA) Festival. These students had to audition and were selected from among many students in Central Maine. Congratulations to the selected students: Brock Merrill, Troy Bubar, Hallie Firmage, Marley Peaslee, and Emma Spaulding Our Vocal Vibe and Jazz Combo will compete on February 14th at Messalonskee High School. Our five Sophomore participants in the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute attended a meeting on February 23rd. They presented mini posters of people in the world who are living a core value. The purpose of this presentation was to recognize the more we think about how our values “show up” in life then the greater connection we will have to them Guidance has a representative from Husson College visiting on February 9th. We also have had SGT Collin Woodhead meet with several students regarding a future in the Marines.

The second semester has started this week which means that the Add/Drop period has begun. Students can be added to a class or Drop a class for the first five days of the quarter for quarter classes or the first ten days for semester classes. If a student is added to a new class after the first day of the quarter or semester, they will probably have to do some catch-up work, so it behooves them to make their moves early. Students should schedule times to meet with their School Counselor if they desire a schedule change. With the start of the new semester and coming off a week of midterms and finals, we do not have any pictures of cool happenings. We will look to get some for next week’s report. This past Monday, on our Teacher In-service day, we, along with other teachers in the district, worked on creating teacher clarity when thinking about lesson planning and writing learning targets (what they want the students to learn from the lesson). Identifying what it is we want our students to know and be able to do as a result of our lesson. We want students to be able to answer the question, “What is it that you are learning?” and have them indicate the learning target that the teacher has identified for them. We’ll also be working on identifying what the success criteria are for students to show that they’ve learned the material. What that looks like for the students and the teachers: it may be a test, or it may be a student teaching the content to another student to prove understanding of the content. All things that we do within the profession, whether it’s given a new name or terminology, it’s about teaching and learning and refining our work as educators. It may not be glamorous but it is essential to revisit and reflect on and be deliberate about our practice. On February 8, 2024, we will have some Seniors who have been randomly selected to participate in the NAEP Assessment. NAEP stands for National Assessment of Educational Progress and is a common measure of achievement across the country. It is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics and results will be reported in The Nation’s Report Card, which provides information about student achievement to policymakers, parents, educators, and the public. Our students will not need to study for it; just put forth their best effort should they be one of the selected student participants. A letter will be sent home to the parents/guardians of those randomly selected students. If you have questions regarding your student’s schedule or with a particular class, or activity please reach out to their teacher, coach/advisor, school counselor, or school administrator. Finally, to involve parents and guardians, I have included a link to a short Google survey form for those interested and ask you to please fill it out. Thanks and have a great week. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1McjUisJqv90rhAHP2IrZwfHzCZ1wQ6znSqMESRCeWzs/viewform?edit_requested=true

The high school is in the middle of Semester 1 Finals. Friday is the last day of the semester and is a makeup day for Finals. Congratulations to our early completers who have successfully finished their graduation requirements and will start moving on with their lives after high school: some are taking classes at a community college or starting work, or in one instance, pursuing their goal of becoming a Farrier and heading, right off, to Montana! Monday, January 22nd, is an In-Service day for Teachers, so no students. The 3rd Quarter and second semester will start on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. Students will receive their schedules in their Homerooms, which we will hold first thing in the morning on Tuesday. Looking ahead, we are preparing our Program of Studies for course sign ups which will be held later next month - we usually look to have current students sign up after February Break. We will be getting notification out to the parents of our incoming Freshmen for our 8th Grade Parent’s Night at which we will go over the high school programming and preview the Program of Studies to help with their course sign ups. This date is still being set but we’re looking to hold it the week before February break. A letter will be sent home informing parents of that meeting. We would encourage you to bring your son or daughter to that evening meeting, even though we will have held an informational meeting with the 8th graders, beforehand. Where we are in the midst of our winter season, storms could potentially impact our days with early releases or late arrivals or cancellations altogether. I’ve included a copy of our bell schedule that includes schedules for anticipated early releases and late arrivals. While there may still be some slight alterations, these have held pretty consistently. Have a good week.

Lawrence High School is back from vacation. Classroom work is picking up again. The combined Jr. High and High School Choral Holiday Concert is on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 at 6:30 PM in the Williamson Performing Arts Center. Work is being done to wrap up the second quarter and prepare for midterms and finals which will occur the week of January 15, 2024. (There is no school on 1/15/24 to celebrate and reflect upon the work of Dr. Martin Luther King.) The schedule for that week are as follows: Midterm/Final EXAM SCHEDULE- January 16, 17, 18, 19 - 2024 All students in grades 9-12 will follow the time schedule listed below for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, January 16 - 18, 2024. The Exam Make-up Day is scheduled for Friday, January 19, 2024. Scheduled exams are mandatory for students. Any student wishing to take any exam(s) at a time other than what is on the regular schedule must have prior approval by Administration and the Teacher. Students with a Study Hall assigned in their schedule do not have to be in school for the Study Hall. If, however, you are in school, the assigned Study Hall will be in the Cafe and Library. Buses will depart from the high school at 10:45 AM. If students are scheduling make-up exams, they must arrange for a ride home after their make-up exam. Students reliant upon bus transportation home after a make-up exam, must wait in the cafeteria or Library until the regular release time at 2:00PM to catch their regular bus home. (Jr. High buses will run at the regular time) Tuesday, January 16, 2024 REGULAR DAY AFTER BLOCK 1 - AM-MMTC Students attend MMTC (regular time) Block 1 Exam 7:35 - 8:41 AM Advisory 8:46 - 9:14 AM Blocks 2, 3, 4, 5 Regular schedule for students (including PM-MMTC students). Wednesday, January 17, 2024 AM-MMTC Students attend MMTC and will return early for lunch. No PM-MMTC Block 2 Exam 7:35 - 8:40 AM BREAK 8:45 - 9:05 AM Block 3 Exam 9:10 - 10:15 AM Lunch 10:15 - 10:40 AM Buses depart at 10:45 AM Make-Up Exam Time: 10:45 - 11:50 AM Thursday, January 18, 2024 No AM-MMTC and No PM-MMTC Block 4 Exam 7:35 - 8:40 AM BREAK 8:45 - 9:05 AM Block 5 Exam 9:10 - 10:15 AM Lunch 10:15 - 10:40 AM Buses depart at 10:45 AM Make-up Exam Time 10:45 - 11:50 AM Friday, January 19, 2024 No MMTC for our students today. *Only students who have to take an exam need to come into school today. Make-up Exam 7:35 - 8:40 AM / Break 8:40 - 9:00 AM Make-up Exam 9:05 - 10:10 AM Lunch 10:15 - 10:40 AM Bus Departure Time 10:45 AM