Weekly Update: 6/11/21

Friday, June 11, 2021

Dear RSU 71 Students, Families, Staff, School Board and Community Partners, 

It has been a time of celebration and recognition of our RSU 71 students, whose last day of school was yesterday.  Following this week's pandemic update, there are snippets of good news from various parts of our RSU 71 school system; many other events and recognitions can be viewed by going to the individual school websites on the RSU 71 website https://www.rsu71.org/. The final event of the year will be the BAHS Graduation on Sunday at 1:00 pm.

• Pandemic Update - This week, there have been no new positive cases associated with our schools and sites! Here is information from the Maine Department of Education about summer school and the 2021 - 2022 school year. In summary, all the safety protocols will still be in place during summer school. In the fall, the requirement for social distancing will be lifted, even when students are eating in cafeterias for brief periods. Thus, all our students may return to in-person instruction this fall. Wearing masks will likely continue to be a requirement, especially in schools that house students too young to be vaccinated. As the state of Maine continues to make progress in stemming the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is adapting public health requirements and recommendations for public settings, including schools: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jma-BrUNoPNPd-luS6GJWC3GYY8wodTkFCsQUcmERys/edit.

2. Good News - Here are snippets of different kinds of good news and student achievement celebrated in our schools in the last few days of the 2021-2022 school year.

RSU 71 Budget for 2021 - 2022 - Our school budget passed at the polls. Thanks to everyone who came out to vote!

BAHS Valedictorian - There is a nice article about this year's valedictorian, Ashley Blais:

https://waldo.villagesoup.com/p/bahs-valedictorian-to-chase-dream-of-creating-music/1890785

East Belfast - Check out the virtual museum of animals created by first and second graders in teacher Rhonda Bishop Wood's class! It was used as this year's Celebration of Learning and shared with students' families. Students wrote reports, created dioramas, and presented their findings on SPARK videos. The link is here.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UVSQyvBoVwg8KbLBDEmx-eQ-2aMAs8PB/view?usp=sharing

BAHS Students at WCTC - Congratulations to the following BAHS students recognized at last week's Recognition and Awards Night at Waldo County Technical Center!

Auto Collision/Composites Automotive Technology CNA

Dodge Armstrong Lucas Rhodes Sierra-Jade Davis

Savana Blood Riley Waterbury Hailey Libby

Madison Chiaramonte Anna Metcalf

Antonio Golgano Building Construction Ruth-Anne Pease

Leah Marriner Isaac Talgo Chloe Staples

Maggie Morse Oliver Tarbox Helena Staples

Gabriel Perito Michael Tripp Tisha Stoltz

Reid Ryan

Calvin Sheldon Culinary Arts Diesel Technology

Kamry Black Colby Benjamin

Computer Careers Eric Blake Griffin Hurd

Asher Blodgett-Tracy Daisy Bradney Hunter Simmons

Zechariah Curtis Gabriel Bruns

Michael Farrington Gianna Crane Electrical Trades

Bethany Leach Jordan Drinkwater Stephen Boyle

Allison Hamm Zachary Bryant

Graphic Design Alyssah Hastings Alexander Martz

Tallulah Desrochers Holden Nichols Kirk Stillman

Rachel Dorr Mason Paul Grant Wilmore

Ethan Dyer Kaydee Pearse Levi Woods

Hope Gainer

Chase Harriman Small Engines Welding Technology

Owen Tripp Patrick Bailey Kyle Domenichelli

Dahson Walton Tanner Brewer Christopher Fournier

Tobyas Jones Joshua Gerry

Outdoor Leadership Lucas Walker Ryan Peavey

Orianna Cort

Employability Skills Prep

Joseph Davis

CASS - Huge thanks to The CASS BRRR Club and their club sponsors Tish Manning and Kathie Gass, along with BAHS science teacher Dave Thomas and his young marine scientists, for organizing and hosting a sensational educational day at the Belfast Harbor to study and raise awareness of our fragile marine ecosystem and what we can do to preserve it.

 

It was awesome to see so many engaged and enthusiastic students near the shore, with older students teaching younger students about marine robotics and sea life. Thanks to all the classroom teachers who supported this event and got their students involved.

 

Poetry Contest for RSU 71 Students - RSU 71 was well represented among the 176 poetry submissions to this year's Belfast Free Library's Animal Poetry Contest and Exhibit. Winning poems were written by students from Nickerson Elementary, Captain Albert Stevens School, and Troy Howard Middle School. These poems are currently on exhibit at the library's YA room.

 

Kids Poems (Ages 6 - 10)

Top two submissions:

Great Grey Owl by Weston (CASS) 

Moose Blackout Poem by Lydia H (Drinkwater)

  

Honorable Mentions

Coyote by Rose (Nickerson)

Foxes by Breanna (Nickerson)

From the Sea by Avery A (CASS)

An Ode to the Spinner Dolphin by June N (CASS)

Bob by Colton A (Drinkwater)

Also, blackout poems from Drinkwater 4th graders:

Charlotte M, Greta K, & Oak L.

  

YA Poems (Ages 11-17)

Top two submissions:

Untitled by Lucy E (CASS)

Sea Turtles by Riley H (Drinkwater)

 

Honorable Mentions

Different Worlds Same Planet by Ibis B (THMS)

Queen of the Jungle by Evie J (THMS) 

Creatures Big and Small by Theodore F (THMS)

Paddling Whiskers by Dawson Y (THMS)

Champion of the Cold by October P (THMS)

THMS - Congratulations to these Troy Howard Middle School 8th graders who were presented with academic achievement awards before their well attended and fun Promotion Celebration Parade:

 

Troy A. Howard Award - Emerson Hackett

William G. Crosby Award - Maddie Porter

Nellie Marden Award - Nina Potvin

Bonnie Gallagher Positive Outlook Award - Becca Gary

8th Grade Perseverance Award - Matthew Levesque

8th Grade Conscientious Award - Estella Sprague

 

These students were presented with Environmental Leadership Awards:

Francis Rohan Joseph

Piper Sanders

Eva Ociepka

 

Estella Sprague

Emmeline New

Isabel Furko

 

BCOPE Seniors Honored - Congratulations to the following students recognized at the Recognition Night of the Belfast Community Outreach Program (BCOPE), a branch of the high school that offers an alternative approach to rigorous and engaging learning:

 

Daisy Bradney

Devin Bryant

Ethan Dyer

Hope Gainer

Makaylah Gordon

Jasmin Harvey

Sai Heasley

Nola Noble

Deziray-Elizabeth Paige

Madison Stevens

This is the final weekly update of the 2020 - 2021 school year. I will be in touch over the summer as back-to-school plans are developed. So again, I send you warm wishes for a healthy, happy, and fulfilling summer of hard work, time with family and friends, and time spent in reflection, rejuvenation, and the natural beauty of our state of Maine and Waldo County. We are so fortunate to live and work in midcoast Maine!

 

        - Mary Alice

Mary Alice McLean

Superintendent of Schools, RSU 71

(207) 338 - 1960

Weekly Update - Friday, June 4, 2021

Dear RSU 71 Students, Families, Staff, School Board and Community Partners, 

This has been a busy second-to-last week of the 2020 - 2021 school year, with celebrations of learning and traditional ceremonies in our schools. These are necessarily different-looking from our pre-pandemic traditions, which we hope to return to in the 2021 - 2022 school year. This week's update will be shared with staff and the school board at noon today. Families will be Robo-messaged after 2:00 pm today. Please feel free to contact our nurses, administrators, and me with questions, ideas, and feedback.

Pandemic Update:

Maine's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Department of Education (DOE), and Department of Disease Control (CDC) notified us that Waldo County is still GREEN. In fact, the entire state of Maine is back to GREEN; all counties have a COVID-19 positivity rate below 5 percent, and the new case rate per 10,000 people has fallen in nearly all counties.

This week there were NO new positive cases of COVID-19 in all of RSU 71!

 Vaccinations:

New Law: A reminder to all families that there is a new law about vaccinations required by the state of Maine that goes into effect beginning September 1. Parents, grandparents, and guardians can help us a lot by taking care of these well before starting the new school year and sending documentation to school nurses. There are still quite a few families that have not yet shared the paperwork; I hope that we are not losing these students in the coming year! Please know that we are not allowed to provide in-school or remote instruction to students whose proof of vaccination has not been received by September 1. A COVID-19 vaccination is not required. It is important to know that exemptions from the other required vaccines based on philosophical or religious grounds are no longer permissible reasons not to immunize students. Only a licensed medical doctor can provide a medical exemption. Please be in touch with our school nurses with questions, and many and abundant thanks to families who can help us keep all our students in RSU 71.

Second Round: All students who received COVID-19 vaccines at THMS and BAHS are scheduled for their final dose next week.

Belfast Adult Education

Congratulations to all students who were recognized in a beautiful ceremony this week.  We are all so very proud of them!

High School Diploma High School Equivalency Test Diploma

Adams, Tiffany Hatch, Sara Adams, Jacob Cook, Bryton

Pacholski-Proctor,   Skylor Fuller, Janie Ingraham, Jacob

Pyle, Michelle Rankin, Amanda Saucier, Zachary Smith, Frederick

Rines, Sabrina Stairs, Courtney Walauski, Riley Watts, Benjamin

Stalter, Katrina Towle, Casey Westover, Drake York, Aidan

Future of Maine College Aspirations Scholarship Evening:

Congratulations to the five CASS fifth graders who were honored at a ceremony at CASS this week, where they received scholarships to support their plans for the future, along with accolades, a t-shirt, and a certificate. Speeches were made by Principal Glen Widmer and Maine College Circle Director Bob Stuart. The ceremony was followed by dinner for students, families, staff, and community partners representing five different fields. The dinner was prepared by both a CASS fifth-grader, whose ambition is to become a chef, with the capable assistance of Barbara Kenney, one of our district's great cooks. Other community partners included Meghan Oathout, an equine trainer, Christa Bahner, farmer and owner of Bahner Farms; Charles Lagerbom, a researcher, writer, and social studies and archeology teacher at BAHS; and Courtney Sanders, a ballerina with the American Ballet Theater. Many thanks to PTG Representative Caryn Coleman, CASS school counselor Cynthia Martell, and library-media specialist Kristen Byrer!

Congratulations to these CASS students!!

Student Field of Interest

Sylas Ociepka Chef

Hope Reynolds Horse Trainer

Luciana Birocco Ballet Dancer

Lucy Engstrom Farmer

Freja Dahlmann-Gothlin Archaeologist

Waldo County Technical Center Awards Night:

There was a fabulous evening honoring the student learning at WCTC this week!! Next week, the names of all the many RSU 71 students honored will be congratulated by name in next week's Friday Update.

Fourth-Grade State Fair Celebration of Learning at Ames:

Congratulations to fourth-graders at Ames, who did a great job presenting their learning!  Here below is a video clip from Mrs. DerBoghosian's class.  Enjoy!! 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mhlY3OMYd9bjo7Mx6Zd8FGSwm1LMLgkI/view?usp=sharing

That's it for this week. While in Massachusetts visiting my father and family on my husband's side -- for the first time in 19 months -- I was reminded that I'd wished everybody in RSU 71 fun and rest over the Memorial Day weekend. The weather was perfect for my husband and me: torrential rain, dark clouds, and fog. Dad, blind, unable to speak, unable to ambulate, unable to eat solid foods, unable to sit up, a veteran of the Korean War who was the sole veteran survivor of the coronavirus on his floor at Soldiers Home, is still in very tough shape. And it was our first time back in Chicopee Falls since the death of both my sister-in-law and mother-in-law this winter. So while it was not a restful, fun weekend, it was deeply meaningful.

With warm wishes for a meaningful last week of school in this supremely challenging year, 

Mary Alice

--

Mary Alice McLean

Superintendent of Schools, RSU 71

(207) 338 - 1960