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Friday notes is a weekly update from Superintendent Gary E. Maestas on the happenings within the Plymouth Public Schools.
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Plymouth Public Schools School Committee Meetings:
The next regular meeting of the Plymouth School Committee will be Monday, January 9th, 2012. School Committee meetings are held at Plymouth Community Intermediate School in the Little Theatre. Meetings begin at 7:00 p.m.
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Weekly Quote:
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
-Maya Angelou
Happy Holidays!
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News from the Elementary Library Media Specialists:
Looking for the perfect book for that special person on your gift list?
The Amazon site:
http://www.amazon.com/best-books-2011/b?ie=UTF8&node=3321372011
has lists of 2011 best sellers for all ages.
The American Library Association has recommended titles including a list for ages newborn through 14. See the following site:
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb.
Many Plymouth students in grades 4-6 are currently participating in the Massachusetts Children's Book Award(MCBA)reading incentive program.
The Acton Public Library has an annotated list of the current MCBA titles.
See the following site for titles and information:
http://www.actonmemoriallibrary.org/MCBA-2011-12.pdf.
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Guidance Department News
Massachusetts Maritime Academy is offering a spring High School Dual Enrollment program for high school students focusing on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. The Dual Enrollment program provides the opportunity for qualified high school students to take a transferable introductory college course at no cost (excluding books-financial assistance available). For more information and to register for the spring 2012 dual enrollment program, please go to:
http://www.maritime.edu/index.cfm?pg=681
Sophomore Planning Night has been rescheduled for Wednesday, January 11, 2012 from 6-7:30 in the PSHS Cafetorium. Plymouth North and Plymouth South High Schools' Guidance Departments welcome all parents and guardians to attend (students may also attend). Topics for the evening will include: The High School Transcript, Graduation/College Requirements, Career/College Planning, Maximizing Your Potential, Early Financial Planning for College. We look forward to your participation!
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West Elementary School News
In October Mrs. Haynes' Second Graders each wrote a letter of thanks to A.O. John Shea, US Navy, and husband of West Elementary's Mrs. Shea. Last Monday, they were very excited to find a package, awaiting their arrival, from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba! The package contained several large pieces of coral for their classroom, collected by A.O Shea, from "Pebble Beach" which is on the Guantanamo Bay Base. Each student was also given their own, smaller piece of coral along with a thank you note to each student, answering all of their questions! The class was ecstatic! We also received a Certificate Of Appreciation for "our efforts to enhance the morale of JTF GTMO Troopers". We were so happy to learn that A.O Shea is returning to Plymouth, December 22, 2011 after being away since December 26, 2010. We owe him a debt of gratitude for serving our country and for taking the time to answer all of our letters. We are all hoping to meet him someday! 
Holiday Centers The students in Miss Learning's third grade classroom have been learning about different holiday cultures and customs that have been brought to the United States over time. Students completed four activities in the classroom to celebrate all of their learning and hard work. 
Students playing Dreidel. 
An Italian tradition, students wrote letters to Le Befana, promising to be good for the upcoming year. 
Students created Nutcrackers which originated in Germany. 
Students answered questions to create gingerbread men glyphs. Seasons Greetings On behalf of the West Elementary School faculty and staff, we wish everyone a very cheerful holiday season and enjoyable winter recess! We are very thankful for all of the support and dedication of our families and friends who make West Elementary a wonderful place for children to learn. May you have a bright and prosperous New Year! Thank you!!! |
Manomet Elementary School News
Mrs. Galop's second grade class is working on a community service project. Their class has been collecting gloves, hats and scarves for the Taskforce Plymouth Homeless Prevention Council. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Pamela Gould came to this homeroom and read Extraordinary Deeds and The Gift of Nothing. |
Federal Furnace School News
Federal Furnace Bucket Fillers!
At this very festive time of year, the students at Federal Furnace have been learning about "Bucket-Filling" and giving back to each other, the school and the community. All students will participate (or have already) in an assembly aimed at strengthening relationships and keeping Federal Furnace a safe place to learn by being "Bucket-Fillers" and by recognizing, refusing and reporting bullying. This is a part of our general curriculum, and the Random Acts of Kindness initiative started by the PTA. Many students have participated actively in doing kind things for their classmates, teachers, and the community and almost everyone joined in showing support for our Random Acts of Kindness by participating in Pajama Day on Friday, December 9th.
As a part of Pajama Day, we teamed up with Scholastic and ran a pajama drive! For every new pair of pajamas a child in our community will receive a new book (and a set of pajamas).
In November, we ran a used clothing drive that earned money to be given back to the community, and we are in the midst of a can drive. Donations from both efforts will be given to the Salvation Army; they will provide food for needy families in our community this Holiday Season.
Finally, staff and Federal Furnace Treble Chorus members donated toys for the 'March of the Toys' drive at the Plymouth Philharmonic Holiday Concert held on Saturday, December 10th and Sunday, December 11th.
photo courtesy of Denise Maccaferri
Treble Chorus Members: Cydney Adams, Madalyn Barrows, Amber Bates, Grace Bevilacqua, Abigail Browne, Sophia Bruffee, Sarah Burt, Jamie Butler, Samantha Campanale, Tai Coburn, Marguerite Driscoll, Kaylin Fehan, Gianca Fernando-Negrini, Caroline Gillis, Erin Goonan, Gianna Harootunian, Samantha Holton, Mya Iacobucci, Matthew Jenkins, Mia Jordan, Emilie Kelly Madison Maiorano, Meredith McLaughlin, Skyla Meack, Jaime Mersereau, Michael Mitchell, Rachel Motyka, Robert Murray, Jerianne Newton, Brooke Petersen, Rachel Peterson, Abigail Petty, John Post, Jessie Power, Taybor Rich, Grace Ruprecht, Emily Salwak, Maialma Sanchez, Matthew Scharf, Andrea Sweeney, Lily ten Berg, Riley Terbush, McKenzie Tiemann
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Indian Brook Elementary School News
The Cape Cod Safety Training team visited Indian Brook this week to educate the students on the very real dangers of ice. Students learned that a skating rink is the only place where being on the ice is safe. You can't judge the strength of ice just by its appearance, thickness, temperature, or whether or not the ice is covered with snow.
The Dangers of Ice program uses role-playing to demonstrate what steps to take should someone fall through the ice. Students were instructed what to do if they fall through the ice or if a companion falls through the ice; how to get help right away, remembering to "Mark your spot, Run-run-run, Go get help, call 911", and how to safely attempt a rescue.
The Training Team kept the students engaged while they delivered this very relevant and valuable information. We hope everyone will remember what they learned this week and will stay safe over the winter school break!
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South Elementary School NewsRetired Teachers Read Holiday Stories at Polar Express Reading Celebration First grade students enjoyed a special Polar Express Reading Celebration on December 20th. South Elementary School retired teachers were special guest readers of stories about Christmas, Hanukkah and winter. First graders who wore pajamas and brought in their favorite stuffed animals started with a ticket and listened to a story in their own classroom. Each group then moved to another classroom, hearing a total of six stories read by retired teachers: Kathy Carloni, Pat Churchill, Rosa Cook, Colleen Maloney, Denise Welcker, Donna Honkonen and Maggi Tavares. "Following the stories, children answered questions or talked about a favorite part," notes first grade teacher, Mrs. Hannon. "When students returned to their class, they drew a picture of their favorite part from one of the stories they heard, and then shared it with us." Among the favorites: when the llama in the book Llama, Llama, Holiday Drama was laying on the floor because he was overwhelmed by the crazy holiday season and needed to learn from his mother that, "Gifts are nice, but there's another: The true gift is, we have each other." Another popular part - from the book Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Power of Sharing - was when Howard B. Wigglebottom, who didn't like to share, learned that giving was just as fun as receiving. The snowmen having a party during the night was a favorite event in Snowmen at Christmas. "The students had a great time and were super listeners," says Mrs. Hannon. "The retired teachers loved to be back in the classrooms to read. It was a really special event." 
Student Raffle Winners Cash In On Special Prize On December 15th, Mrs. Caldwell and Mrs. Trombly hosted a special afterschool celebration for six students who won a raffle at the South Elementary School Fall Harvest Festival. The fun included crafts (making holiday ornaments), games and pizza. 
Students Create Gingerbread Houses The preschoolers were among many students at South Elementary who made gingerbread houses to celebrate the holidays. This was a creative way to teach geometric concepts to students while helping them enjoy the spirit of the holiday season.
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Cold Spring Elementary News
Last week, Cold Spring's Fourth Graders put on a Respect Assembly for the rest of the school highlighting the six qualities of good character. The students wrote skits emphasizing the importance of cooperation, perseverance, courtesy, respect, honesty, and responsibility. The skits were accompanied by back up singers singing Aretha Franklin's song "Respect". At the end of the performance the fourth graders quizzed the audience to see if they could name all six character traits.
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PSMS News
6th Grade Ancient Egypt Museum
Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011 was Ancient Egypt Museum Day for the first floor sixth graders. To culminate their unit of study on Ancient Egypt, the sixth graders on the first floor produced a FABULOUS museum. Mrs. Borsari, Mrs. Adelmann, and Mrs. Duff's classes were in the cafeteria, and Mrs. Browne and Mrs. Brandt's classes were in the IMC. The displays were magnificent and depicted everything from King Tut to The Valley of The Kings and from mummification to the Nile River! If it was in Ancient Egypt, it was here in our school today. Parents and families attended as well as other 5th and 6th grade classes. Many that attended remarked at how well behaved the students were, and also how knowledgeable they were on their topics. We are so proud of the hard work done by our students.
 Alex Munoz  Julian Cenac  Kim Perry  Sara Russo, Jason Schlosser, and Maddie Skinner
Zachary Webster demonstrated the building of an Egyptian Temple. 
R. J. DeBoer researched how the Ancient Egyptians used the Nile River to transport materials used to construct the pyramids. 
Melissa McCarthy displayed the many different roles and activities of Ancient Egyptians.
Whiz Kid: Isaiah Offutt
Age: 12
School: Plymouth South Middle School
Accomplishment: Isaiah was nominated to represent Massachusetts as a member of the National Pop Warner All-Star Football Team for his performance during league play. Isaiah is a member of the Plymouth Pop Warner B Team Hockomock League Champions and the Plymouth Pop Warner B Team Super Bowl Champions.
Key to Success: Although football is a positive part of his life, Isaiah has also performed well this year in school and his goals include attending college and playing football at the collegiate and professional level.
PSMS Music Department on Tour On December 21st students from the PSMS Jazz Band and 7th and 8th Grade Chorus performed at the Newfield House and Plymouth Council on Aging. At both venues students performed holiday music for seniors. In addition to performing, the students were able to spend some time with the audience visiting and bringing holiday cheer. The day was a wonderful way for the PSMS students to share their musical gifts. 
PSMS Drama Club The PSMS drama club begins on January 3rd. Our musical this year is called "Honk Jr.," and it is a musical retelling of the Ugly Duckling story. With its themes of open-hearted acceptance and finding a sense of self, it is a story about discovering who you want to be in the world, and connecting with the people out there who will love you for exactly who you are. This cast will even become a traveling troupe, bringing this show and its message to some of the Plymouth elementary schools. All interested students are welcome to participate in this production. Performance dates are Thursday-Friday, May 24-25th. Please email Kelly Browne with any questions.
PLYMOUTH PHIL VISITS PSMS Five members from the brass section of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra conducted a demonstration for grade 5 students on Thursday, December 22nd. The presentation is part of the Grade 5 Music Immersion Program, which educates students about the history and sounds of various orchestral instruments. The brass presentation featured the bugle, trumpet, French horn, trombone and tuba. The students were able to interact closely with the musicians and experience the sounds in a very intimate setting. Earlier this fall, the students were treated to the string quartet and in February the woodwinds will visit PSMS, followed by the percussionists. Thank you to all the members of the Plymouth Philharmonic who donate their time and efforts to make this program a very successful educational experience.
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Plymouth North High School News
Attention seniors and parents of seniors: please check the North website for updated information regarding yearbooks.
Thursday Night is Plymouth North Night at Dominos Pizza on 5 Main St. Mention Plymouth North after placing your order and Dominos will donate $2.00 to North. Call 508-747-7500 to order.
North Wrestling is asking you to Recycle and Turn Your Trash into Cash. Support the North Wrestling program by bringing your used inkjet/laser cartridges, used cell phones and small electronics to the North Main Office for recycling.
Giving Tree Fun
The library hosted a holiday fundraiser for those in need. This event turned into quite the competition within the hallways of North. Mr. Perlow started out by issuing a challenge, stating his classes had raised a certain amount of money. It is apparent now that other staff members were not going to allow Mr. Perlow those bragging rights. Mr. Harding's "Helicopter Inc." team decided their Advisory Ceramics sale would benefit the library fundraiser; Mr. Bastoni couldn't miss out on the opportunity to use the T-shirt Cannon and created a contest to help raise funds. Mrs. Madden's advisory made a "shout out" challenge which created donation traffic to the library. However, it must be noted that the ultimate sacrifice was Mr. Hales forming an alliance with Mr. Perlow to top Helicopeter Inc. This alliance would be the equivalent of the Red Sox's joining with the Yankees! The spirit of giving created a lot of fun and excitement, which led to the Library having the ability to help four North families this holiday season. Thank you everyone!
An Ugly Day at North
Thursday, December 22, 2011 was officially "Ugly Sweater Day" at North.
Check out the North School News for more photo's North School News
The Plymouth North Administrative Team
Wish everyonea safe and restful holiday season.
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Plymouth South High School News 
3rd place (middle): Stylist Liz Embree, Model Jourdyn McFarland
2nd place (right): Stylist Aly Fleck, Model Nicole Reske
1st place(left): Stylist Nicole Pelzer, Model Sara Grande
On Monday, December 12th, the Cosmetology Department participated in the 5th Annual Avant Garde competition: BATTLE OF THE SENIORS. The senior class competed against Southeastern Regional Vocational School in South Easton, MA. For the third year in a row, the Plymouth South High School seniors had a clean sweep. This was a wonderful experience for the students and a great opportunity for the PSHS Cosmetology instructors to show off the outstanding work of their students. Congratulations to all!
On Thursday, December 15th, the Plymouth South High School Culinary Department had the opportunity to travel to the Plymouth Trial Court House to serve a full buffet breakfast to the entire court house staff. Together with the help of their culinary instructor Barry Levy the following students: Emilee Rizzotto, Joseph Cimorelli, Shannon Murphy, Julia Daly, Rachel Rieder, Tony Viella, and Joe MacEachern, put together the full skirted buffet breakfast, while also doing display cooking and making made-to-order omelets. The event was a huge success and was enjoyed by all.
The students from Panthers Cubhouse at Plymouth South High School were excited to have a visit from Mrs. Cardin's and Mrs. Goding's sixth grade classes. The Plymouth South Middle School students read storybooks that they each wrote and illustrated and the children loved listening to all the different stories. The sixth graders put a great deal of work and effort into their books and did a remarkable job reading them. We appreciated that they took the time to visit and share them with us!
The Carpentry and Preschool programs at Plymouth South High School had fun joining forces to create music together. To begin, the students in the carpentry department cut a Kazoo pattern out of wood and delivered the pieces to the child care department. From there, the preschool students took over sanding and painting the Kazoo pieces. To finish the project, both shops worked together to assemble the kazoos so that the children could perform "Jingle Bells." It was a very festive event and a great way to bring the two programs together for some holiday fun!
Mrs. Fry's Spotlight: For the past 12 years, PSHS teacher Erik Walker has also been an Adjunct English Professor at Quincy College in Plymouth. He wrote the following poem for the dedication of the Bella S. Krovitz & Robert W. Krovitz library at the Quincy College/Plymouth campus.
DISCOVERING KNOWLEDGE
Inside these walls
From ancient texts to modern web browsers,
From wise scholars to newfound voices
The poets and performers,
Lawyers and laymen,
Doctors and dreamers,
Teachers and travelers,
Scientists and saints,
Return to us here, resurrected.
External, like
Sages of wisdom, keepers of truth
Old village elders, wise warriors of wisdom
To tell their stories -
To share their sacrifice
To delight and entertain,
To instruct and guide,
To lead us down long, complex pathways of possibilities,
Infinite roads that lead us to one ever-so-common goal.
Inside these walls, if we listen,
We will gain
We will learn
We will grow
And we will discover,
Knowledge of a library that is not constrained by the physical limitations of space
But knowledge that is the beginning, the first page of a never-ending novel,
The first words of a new gospel
The first hues of a new rainbow
The first words of a new language.
We will more fully comprehend humanity.
And we will finally discover
Ourselves.
The photo above is the Plymouth South Varsity and Junior Varsity Hockey Team members holding their toy donations collected for the South Shore Early Education Center and Child Care. The photo below is of the High School Captains Mike Barrett, Joey Colbert and Brendan Sullivan who paid a surprise visit last Friday to deliver the toys to the children.
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Science Department News
The 2012 Plymouth Public Schools High School Science Fair is being held on Tuesday, February 7 at Plymouth North High School. As in the past, this year's science fair will showcase the talent of high school students in science and technology/engineering from both Plymouth North and Plymouth South High Schools.
Volunteers play a critical component in the success of this annual event. If you are interested in volunteering (e.g., judges, hallway assistance) please click here.
If the link does not work, please copy and paste this into a web browser
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHU3Y1RyYS1JUTNlVlNDNmhsdkh6aWc6MA
Please note that most volunteers are needed between the hours of 4:00 pm and 6:30 pm. Volunteers are also invited to the awards celebration following judging.
Thank you for your time in considering this outstanding opportunity to support our district's science program.
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Unified Arts Department News
Visit the Independence Mall and view the artwork on display from Plymouth Public Schools. All artwork will be on display throughout the holidays and into January. If you can't visit the Mall you can see all the artwork on the Independence Mall facebook page!
On January 13th PCIS Chorus will perform the National Anthem at the Providence Bruins. |
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Gary E. Maestas, Ed.D Superintendent
Plymouth Public Schools
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