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
