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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, May 7, 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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District news and information for all k-12 teachers, administrators, and parents from the Elementary Library Media Specialists.
Take a look at the ALTEC website if you have not already done so. ALTEC is committed to taking hold of the promise of technology to empower learners of all types and ages. They focus on instructional Web-based resources, professional development, program support, scaleable online assessment, and assistance for special needs. Go to altec.org for more information and while you are there be sure to browse the ALTEC Star Tools and the ALTEC Network. Have you heard about Facing History and Ourselves' project: Spotlight on Student Voices? Facing History and WNYC Team Up to Produce Teen Journalists: This year sixteen New York City public high school students embarked on a pilot project with Facing History and Ourselves and New York Public Radio's 'Radio Rookies' program to tell their own stories and the stories of their communities - on the air, as reporters, and in their own voices. Read one of the stories, "I am Trayvon Martin," on the WNYC websiteand in the Huffington Post.
Learn about our upcoming event for teachers: How to Bring Tough Conversations Into the Classroom. |
Weekly Quote:
"We are all eternal students-and this may be one of the keys to success."
-Stella Violano
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Indian Brook Elementary News
On Wednesday April 25th the students in Mrs. McGinnis' second grade class watched an inspirational video called "Caine's Arcade". The video was followed by a spirited discussion about the possibilities of creating their own arcades! After tweeting a picture of her children watching the video Mrs. McGinnis was contacted by both the filmmaker and song writer. Just imagine how excited the the class was!
Read the blog by clicking here!
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Indian Brook Fourth Grade's Titanic Celebration
For a week in April, students in Mrs. Frank's, Mrs. Pagnotti's and Mrs. Riordan's classes celebrated the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Each student in these fourth grade classes was assigned a passenger who survived the ill-fated voyage. Students researched where the passenger embarked, why they were traveling and what their destination was.
Math homework included word problems based on the timeline of the Titanic's voyage, sinking and rescue. The highlight of the week came on April 12th as students dressed as first class passengers in their fanciest clothes. Classrooms were transformed into a billiards room, a movie screening room and a dining room. Students feasted on some historically accurate foods that were served on the Titanic such as lamb and raw oysters, as well as less traditional foods like meringue icebergs, éclairs and sparkling grape juice. This memorable feast and the entire week made history come alive!
Titanic Dinner
Indian Brook's First Grade Celebrates the Earth
Last week the first grade classes performed a show in celebration of the Earth. Each class took turns singing songs advocating the 3R's (reduce, reuse, recycle) and caring for the world we all share, as well as reading aloud from The Lorax. The teachers really worked as a team to help the students prepare for the production. They also filmed an educational movie - starring the students - that was premiered at the show to teach the audience more about the world, the regions of the US and the habitats within them.
Fourth Grade Student Honored at Fenway Opening Day
Opening Day at Fenway Park was a special day for many, but especially for Colin Clancy, a fourth grader at Indian Brook. Colin was chosen by Children's Hospital, Jason Varitek's number one charity, to bring the baseball out to Jason for the first pitch. Colin was a recipient of Children's Hospital's great care when he was younger and his family is still actively involved in fundraising events for the hospital. To make this day even more memorable Colin was surpised at Fenway by his teacher, Nancy Franks, who had taken a personal day to attend! Congratulations to Colin for such an amazing opportunity!
Colin at Fenway
 Colin with Mrs. Franks
 Varitek and Colin |
Manomet Elementary News
Manomet Elementary School held its second annual Talent Show the night just prior to spring vacation week. Anyone could enter the show after auditioning for Principal Patrick Fraine. There were quite a variety of acts, some of which were: singing, dancing, cheerleading, drawing, playing musical instruments, and performing magic tricks. Student council members helped Dr. Fraine host the show. A special thanks goes out to David Yaeger for helping out with the sound system for the night.
 David Yaeger and his son Ben running the sound system.
Ryan Fraine performs "The Rainbow Connection."
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Cold Spring Elementary School News
By the end of the school year every grade level at Cold Spring Elementary School will have shared a Respect Assembly for their peers. Mrs. Terranova and Mrs. Smith's second grade students' skit was exciting to watch! Students not only wrote and said their lines, pertaining to respect, but danced to choreographed songs such as; "Walking on Sunshine".
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West Elementary School News
West welcomes 19 new friends! On April 9th & 10th, Mrs. Haynes' and Miss Reids' classes witnessed the hatching of 19 chickens. The students studied the life cycle of Oviparous animals. This unit of study encompassed many components of our curriculum. The students read literature, made predictions, collected data and wrote of their observations in "Chick Journals." The children were able to candle the eggs with a homemade candler, created by Mr. Haynes, which allowed them to see the growth from embryo to chick. The entire school helped to make the chicks feel welcome, as they visited throughout the week. On Thursday, we said our goodbyes, as the chicks embarked on their journey to a farm in Pembroke. 
Second graders celebrated the new arrivals. 
Students check the incubators.  Adorable!
breaking out!  Look at them grow!
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PSMS News
5th Grade Students Robotics Rally The following 5th graders participated in the district wide robotics rally from PSMS: Cameron Foley, Jacob Gates, Scott McLoud, Ian Harrington, Tristan Gordon, Trevor Sullivan, Peter Rivera-Concannon, Cameron Akeley, Michael Tocci, Emily Kunkle, Kendra McIntosh, Ryan Nicholson, Joshua Cribben, Mathew Cahalin, and Sean Walsh. Students were challenged to create a robot that could navigate an S curve while pulling a float that exemplified the word "Imagine" to them. The 5th graders had multiple tasks to accomplish in order to participate in the rally including learning to work as a team, being creative in their "Imagine" float, and building and programming a Lego NXT robot. Congratulations to Mathew Cahalin and Sean Walsh for winning two awards at the rally including Best Use of Materials and Best Representation of Documentation. Their robot and float included a paper machet soccer ball, gummy aliens, clay, wood, and paint. Congratulations also to Cameron Foley and Jake Gates for Best Interpretation of Imagine, who built a futuristic representation of the World Trade Center with the hopes it will be rebuilt in the future. Congratulations to all the students from Plymouth South Middle School who worked so hard to successfully compete in the Robotics Rally.    Poetry Alive Celebration As a celebration of literacy on our seventh grade second floor team, we participated in a Poetry Alive Celebration. The whole seventh grade second floor team gathered in the cafeteria for a half day celebration of reading, writing, publishing and sharing. At this event, every student and teacher on the seventh grade second floor team presented a poem that they were most proud of writing. Everyone had the pleasure of listening to each other's poems, memories, interests; everyone had the pleasure of experiencing the pride in each other's works. 
PSMS Student Council Fundraisers Pasta for Pennies The recent "Pennies for Pasta" fundraiser raised $2,380.61 in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The competition among homerooms generated a healthy rivalry. The winning homeroom earned a pasta lunch from the Olive Garden. Mrs. Adelmann's Grade 6 homeroom raised the most money ($305.85) and will have their lunch later this spring. Mrs. Cardin's Grade 6 homeroom came in second place ($209.25) and Mrs. Balzarini's Grade 5 homeroom came in third place ($175.40). Overall, seven homerooms raised over $100.00 each and received a small token for their efforts on behalf of this worthy cause. Thank you to everyone for their generosity and support. Rally for Joey On Friday, April 13th, PSMS students and staff wore Red Sox apparel or red, white and blue in honor of the Red Sox Opening Day and in support of Joey Dupuis, one of our 7th graders who has been stricken with leukemia. The Student Council typically uses this day to support the Jimmy Fund but wanted to help Joey's family during this difficult time. Over $500 was raised. On behalf of the Dupuis Family we thank you! (Pictured below: PSMS art students working on posters for the Rally for Joey Fundraiser)  
 
Stop & Shop A+ Program Plymouth South Middle School recently learned that $1,814.38 was generated through the Stop & Shop A+ Program, which ran from November to March. This amount was the highest amount earned in the district. Thank you to all the parents and staff who provided their Stop & Shop card numbers and supported this program in support of the PTA. Again, our PTA uses all funds to subsidize field trips and other school programs. Their hard work and support is truly appreciated.
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PCIS News
Eighth grade Falcon Pride Co-presidents Lianne Ureneck and Brandon Valery as well as Apollo House officers Emma-Cate Rapose, Rachel Pereira, and Clarissa Gusman had many fun activities planned for their school vacation week. Nevertheless, that didn't stop them from giving up the better part of a beautiful day to come back to PCIS and volunteer their time to help organize a shoes and clothing drive for the PCIS community to benefit the Salvation Army. Under the supervision of Falcon Pride co-advisor Judy Maccaferri, over 1,000 bags were folded and rolled inside of flyers to be ready for students and staff when they returned to school on Monday. This clothing drive is running for two weeks, from April 23rd through May 3rd, with the pick-up date being May 4th. Bags and informational flyers were distributed through homerooms and staff mailboxes; donated items may be brought to the four house commons in these bags through next Friday morning. We thank Rachel Pereira, one of PCIS's recipients of this year's JFK Make a Difference Award, for spearheading this particular service project and responding to the Salvation Army's plea for assistance. We anticipate this clothing drive to be a HUGE success if it measures up to everything else Falcon Pride has undertaken this year! Other projects Falcon Pride members are working on at this time are planning another visit to area nursing homes for May 3rd, completing a beautification project on the grounds of PCIS, and organizing a team for the American Cancer Society's 2012 Greater Plymouth Relay for Life which will be held at PSHS on June 22nd -23rd. |
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Plymouth North High School News
Good Luck to our DECA students traveling to Utah this weekend for the international, and our Allied Health students traveling to Marlborough, Massachusetts for the SKILLS USA competition.
Upcoming events:
Field Trips:
DECA International Competition, Utah - 4/27 through 5/3
SKILLS USA Competition, Marlborough, MA 4/47 through 4/28
Mass Bay Music Festival, Woburn, MA 5/1
Massasoit Community College, Canton, MA 5/1
In-House Cardiovascular Event, PNHS 5/1
Boston University, Boston, MA 5/4
Events:
EPP Testing, 5/1
Book Awards, 5/2
All Town Concert: 5/2 Memorial Hall Plymouth 7:00 P.M.
Mr. PNHS Show: 5/10 PNHS Auditorium 7:00 P.M
Fundraisers:
Hunger Games Food Drive - Donations dropped off in front of café.
Monday, 4/30, the League of Women Voters will be available at all lunches to register for voting, any student 18 years old or older. Students should be prepared to show your driver's license or know the last 4 digit's of your social security number.
Prom tickets will be on sale before school. Read the bulletin or the sign posted on room 207 for information about when you can purchase tickets next week. Be sure to settle all obligations first. You may purchase prom tickets through Monday, May 7th.
The Senior Athlete banquet is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22nd. This banquet is for any Senior who played a sport this year and their family.
North in the News
UPDATE: PLYMOUTH NORTH HIGH SCHOOL: school opens doors for farewell tour - May 19th-20th
Plymouth North Girls Lacrosse Finding Ways to Win
Claire O'Donnell Sets Two New Plymouth North Records
Plymouth North Boys Track Runs to a Win
Plymouth North Boys Tennis Improves to 6-1
Plymouth North Girls Tennis Holds Off Plymouth South
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Plymouth South High School NewsPSHS STUDENTS AMONG TOP 6% IN NATIONAL ESSAY CONTEST
PHOTO: Left to right Marissa Trunfio, Sara Schlecht, Melissa Connolly with Erik Walker in the background
Students from Plymouth South High School recently competed in the national writing contest John Stossel in the Classroom "Politicians' Promises Gone Wrong." Three of the students, part of Mr. Walker's 11th grade AP English Language & Composition class, have won awards and were among the top 6% of more than 4,000 essays submitted nationally.
Melissa Connolly and Sara Schlecht were semi-finalists and each won a $100 cash prize. Melissa wrote about the USA's Education Policy, and Sara wrote about the bailout of mortgages in the United States by our government.
Marissa Trunfio received an honorable mention and $50 cash prize. Her essay was about the reason why the United States should not get involved in a war with Iran.
"These students did a fabulous job of considering their audience and writing powerful, persuasive essays." Walker said. "I am so happy that they received national attention and that three winners were chosen from our class. It shows how much our students know about issues that are impacting the nation and world."
 Micaela Fornaciari, a senior graphic design and visual communications student at PSHS, was recognized at the 2012 Massachusetts Outstanding Vocational Technical Student Awards Banquet along with 50 other students from across the state at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. Micaela ranks 7th in her class and maintains a 4.2 GPA and is a very gifted graphics student. She is a tremendous asset to the school community through her involvement in athletics, student council, and National Honor Society. In addition, Micaela is a member of Panther TV, which has been awarded back to back Scholastic Press "Best TV News Program" in 2010 and 2011. Micaela plans to attend Salem State University in the fall.
 The art students of PSHS: Sheamus Crowley, Shelby Rexroad, Tyler Scagliarini, Hayley Pike, David Zienko, Maureen Riordan, Olivia Silverman, Jessica Buckley, Thomas Nigrelli, Christian Young, Arianna Griffin, Joseph Kearney and Zekory Coon, along with the art students and the drama students of PNHS traveled to New York on a field trip that exposed them to multiple art forms. Our students visited the MoMA (Modern Museum of Art) in the photo above, to view the diverse collection of impressionistic and contemporary art work, from Van Gogh's original Starry Night and Monet's Water Lilies that filled the entire room, to the work of many current Printmakers.
The students were able to recognize the way the artist uses scale, texture hue, and saturation defines the elements and principals of design. The students visited the industrial design gallery of MoMA, where the art of design meets function, from life rafts to shelters and chair design. Students also experienced Interactive art works based on technology, reflecting current events.
In the heart of Times Square, our students had dinner at Johnny's Pizzeria, a once old cathedral that was renovated as a restaurant, keeping the architectural integrity of the original building. We then ventured only a block to take in the Broadway Production of "Once", a musical drama, with a great deal of humor about a musician and a young, immigrating mother, that inspires him to follow his musical passion.
Students and teachers were inspired by the diverse, artistic culture of New York, experienced through- out the day, in all forms of art to include murals , graffiti, both commissioned and not, architecture and street artist.
As teachers we feel that this one day art immersion experience by our students has offered a lifelong connection to the Arts.
Ms. Quinn and Mrs. White
Please enjoy the following photos taken in New York.
Plymouth South High School custodian Keith Malaguti and head custodian Mike Harrington show their PSHS spirit as they hang "Spirit Banners" in the student parking lot at the school. The total of 16 banners were a gift from the Class of 2011 and will be hung in the student parking lot, staff parking lot, and at the entryway to the school.
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Gary E. Maestas, Ed.D Superintendent
Plymouth Public Schools
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