Friday, December 3, 2021
Dear RSU 71 Students, Families, Staff, School Board, and Community Partners,
I hope that you enjoyed a happy Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Eve, while cooking, listening to music, and dancing around the kitchen, an old song came on the radio: "Come on, people now/ Smile on your brother/ Everybody get together and love one another right now." I thought I'd share that as we head into the holiday season with Hannukah and Advent, both of which started on Sunday. Loving our neighbor is a fundamental precept in the Judeo-Christian tradition and all world religions. It is also a fundamental value in the United States where we balance our storied and well-loved individualism with care for our neighbors.
Pandemic Data and Information about the new Immunization Requirements
Data - Here's the data for this week:
Vaccination Clinic - A reminder: the second covid-19 vaccination clinic will be held at THMS on Friday, December 10, 2021, from 12:30 - 3:30. Individuals may receive their first dose, second dose, or booster. Please bring your completed consent with you; these may be found on the district website www.rsu71.org.
REMINDER: If you haven't already done so, please bring your vaccination card to show the school nurse proof of vaccination status—many thanks.
Immunization Law that Went into Effect on September 1, 2021 - Families who have not provided evidence of a plan to immunize students within the 90-day grace period will be receiving this letter in the mail soon. The letter will be followed up with a phone call. If you have any questions about this law and its requirements, please feel free to contact your child's school nurse; contact information is at the end of the letter. Immunization Letter Here (below) are the numbers of students in each school who are not yet fully immunized per state law.
BAHS/BCOPE - 14
THMS - 16
CASS - 10
East Belfast - 0
Kermit Nickerson - 6
Ames - 4
Gladys Weymouth - 5
Data in Waldo County - Since March 2020, Waldo County has recorded 2,887 cases, 73 hospitalizations, and 36 deaths. This data includes an increase of 30 new cases since yesterday.
Webinar on COVID-19 - "Vaccines for School-Aged Children: What Parents and Families Should Know"
Please join the U.S. Department of Education and the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement for an informational webinar following the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech age 5-11 vaccine on Thursday, December 9, 2021, at 8:00 p.m.
This is such a special time of year, and this year, we all have one more thing to be grateful for: Kids ages 5 to 11 are now eligible to get vaccinated. The vaccine is safe and effective, specifically formulated for young kids. And getting your child vaccinated is the best way to keep them safe from COVID, including the Delta variant. This is great news for parents and families. During the webinar, esteemed panelists, including United States Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten, along with representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, will address common concerns and worries among parents and families about the COVID-19 vaccine for their children ages 5-11.
Parents are invited to submit questions about the vaccine on the registration form. The pre-submitted questions will help plan the content of the session. Time will also be reserved for live questions and answers at the end of the event. Register in advance for this meeting here! After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. For further information, please contact cdchealthyschools@cdc.gov or visit https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/.
Good News and Information
Student Safety RSU #71 is now partnership with school safety company Gaggle to launch a new SpeakUp for Safety tipline that will allow students to easily and confidentially report threats of violence, bullying, peers in crisis, and other imminent concerns that affect students' well-being and security.
The Gaggle SpeakUp for Safety tipline integrates directly with Google Workspace for Education, which students already access daily. There's no need for students to download a mobile app or remember a phone number—the SpeakUp for Safety instant replies include a phone number that students can use for text messages or phone calls. Click the following link for more informationRSU71 GagglePR SpeakUp.
Mathematicians in RSU 71! Students Shine at The Regional Middle School Math Meet
On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, sixteen students from Troy Howard Middle School and the Captain Albert Stevens School competed in the regional Math Meet held at the China Lake Conference Center. In the past, students from 6 other middle schools participated; however, due to many schools rebuilding teams from the pandemic pause, only three communities were participating at this first meet: Belfast, Winslow, and Searsport. The competition is divided into three grade-level sections: 6th, 7th, and 8th. As younger students can play up a grade level, students from the CASS 4th and 5th grades Extended Learning Program joined the THMS team to fill empty slots.
The Competition is divided into three rounds:
Round 1: Individual Round (no calculators - 25 minutes)
Round 2: Individual Round (calculators permitted - 15 minutes)
Round 3: Team Round (4 students work together with calculators - 25 minutes)
Awards are given to the top-scoring students and teams at each grade level.
All RSU#71 teams went home with team ribbons, and eight students placed top 4 at their grade level.
6th Grade Team Blue: 1st Place
Miles Fleming (THMS - 6th) 1st Place Individual - tie
Silas Ociepka (THMS - 6th) 1st Place Individual - tie
Doug Richards (THMS - 6th)
Alex Miller (THMS - 6th)
6th Grade Team Green: 2nd Place
Glenn Bitely (CASS - 5th) 2nd Place Individual
Lucy Engstrom (THMS - 6th) 4th Place Individual
Emilia Moitoso (THMS - 6th)
Lucas Canning (CASS - 5th)
Pierson Dietz (CASS - 5th)
7th Grade Team - 1st Place
Bella Foley (THMS - 7th) 1st Place Individual
Maxton Sinagra (CASS - 4th) 2nd Place Individual
Ibis Bird (THMS - 7th) 4th Place Individual
Avery Adams (CASS - 5th)
8th Grade Team - 2nd Place
Lydia Butler (THMS - 8th) 2nd Place Individual
Nick Hicock (THMS - 8th)
Misaki Kranendonk (THMS - 8th)
Math Team Coaches: Nicholas Hills (THMS) and Jacquie Gage (ELP)
Congratulations to all our RSU#71 Mathletes for a job well done! Special thanks go to our parent volunteers who helped the organizers with scoring: Jake Fleming, Susan Adams, and Chris Bitely.
RSU#71 Middle School Math Team: First row: Nick Hicock, Lucas Canning, Glenn Bitely, Pierson Dietz, Avery Adams, Maxton Sinagru, Emelia Moitosa. Back row: Misaki Kranendonk, Lydia Butler, Bela Foley, Ibis Bird, Silas Oceipka, Alex Miller, Miles Fleming, Doug Richards, Lucy Engstrom.
Team Round Collaboration
THMS - Seventh-grade students volunteered at the Waldo County YMCA on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Jan McIntyre, Sandi Roman, Amanda Cunningham, and Russell Werkman led activities. Students decked the YMCA halls for the holidays and helped stow away outdoor items for the winter season. It was a great team-building opportunity for students during advisory. They are looking forward to more collaboration in the future. We so value our partnership with the Waldo Y!
Transportation and Food Service - Bus Drivers Mel Muriel and Jerry Mehuren single-handedly pick up, transport, and deliver over 2,000 pounds of produce and dry goods every month to our schools. Here they are unloading with snowflakes in the air and smiles. What a gift they are! Ames School Nurse Shannon Robbins coordinates the program. Many thanks to them all!
OLYMPIA SNOWE LEADERSHIP WATCH PARTY The Olympia Snowe Leaders from the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades got together right after lunch on Wednesday, November 17th, for a virtual luncheon event with the Olympia Snowe Women's Leadership Institute. We had fancy cookies and seltzers and listened to women business leaders discuss what they are looking for in job applicants, job skills, and the current labor market. We also heard from three former Olympia's leaders who are currently in college and are preparing to enter the labor force in the near future.
Olympia Leaders are:
12th grade:
Reagan Seekins, Kendra Wood, Sarah Cournoyer, Hailey Black, Ada Potter
11th grade:
Mia Winslow, Trinity Haber, Savannah Springer, Hunter Alderson, Audra Faulkingham
10th grade:
Eliot Andrews, Danielle Hicock, Sophia Taylor, Nevyn Harvey, Alex Robishaw
That's it for this week. This morning, we'll send this update to staff and the school board and Robo-email it to all families this afternoon. As always, please feel to be in touch with our staff and me.
Sincerely,
- Mary Alice
