Dear RSU 71 Students, Families, Staff, School Board, and Community Partners,
I hope that you and yours have had a good week and that you have fun and restful plans for next week's vacation from school.
The U.S. and Maine Centers for Disease Control will soon be issuing an updated SOP (standard operating procedures to prevent COVID-19). It is widely known that the CDC is considering making mask-wearing "optional" rather than "recommended" in schools. As it stands now, if we did not require masking, we would be required to quarantine many more students and staff unless we also discontinue contact tracing. Contact tracing is the process of identifying and notifying individuals (or their families) who have had close contact with someone infected with COVID-19. Some see the value in contact tracing as it may help inform families' decision-making to know if their student has been in close contact with someone with COVID-19. Our students and staff members need to be in school as much as possible and safely. We have tightly adhered to CDC guidance throughout the pandemic, and doing so has kept us safe.
We have information that these changes to the SOP will likely come in the first two weeks of March. (The CDC is said to be waiting to see if there is the usual uptick in the disease as we've seen after every other vacation.) Maine CDC Director Dr. Shah has said that individuals who choose to wear high-quality masks (such as KN 95 and N 95) will continue to be protected from others, even if others are not wearing masks. RSU 71 has ordered a supply of these masks using state funding set aside for this purpose.
The metrics used to determine community safety are also changing -- from tracking positive case counts, which are still very high, to tracking hospitalization and death rates, which have gone way down. We've all seen that the omicron variant has been much more contagious but also much milder than earlier variants; many positive cases are asymptomatic or only mildly sick. Today, only one covid patient is hospitalized at Waldo General Hospital and one at the Pen Bay Medical Center.
We would appreciate knowing your thoughts about masking and contact tracing to help inform our decision-making. Please take a moment to complete this very short survey linked in blue and yellow below by Friday, February 25.
Thank you! We Need Your Input - 2/17/22
Pandemic Update
This Week's Data
Good News, Reminders, Information
Lead Testing - All public schools must test the lead levels in the water. So far, elevated levels have been identified in certain faucets at Troy Howard Middle School and the Ames and East Belfast Elementary Schools. So water has been turned off at those faucets and will stay off until we correct these lead levels. Here is information about schools so far: Lead Testing.
Kindergarten Registration - It's time for Kindergarten registration, an exciting time in the life of every family!
Please see Kindergarten Registration Info.
CASS - From Principal Widmer: CASS is getting outdoors! In her State of the State address last week, Governor Mills mentioned her commitment to creating more outdoor learning opportunities for schools. CASS is already doing a lot in that realm. Each week students are getting outside, even during the winter, with the Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition's outdoor learning coordinator Jenni Judkins. Last week, fifth-grade students working with Tanglewood STEM coordinator Hannah Raymond learned about fire science and then built their fires outdoors (closely supervised and with the fire department's guidance). Some very excited boys ate lunch with me that day who enjoyed recounting their experiences with their fires! FoodCorps service member Danee Voss will be getting the taps out and heading into our woods soon to tap our maple trees.
We hope Danee will return next year as our FoodCorps service member; she hasn't finalized that decision. Otherwise, we will be looking for a new service member. Interested? Let Mr. Widmer know, and he'll help you with the application process.
Ames & Weymouth - On Saturday, February 12, the Tri-Town PTG held the 1st Annual Ice Fishing Derby on Cross Pond. As the mother of two and Weymouth Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ray said, "A lot was the word of the day, a lot of fish, a lot of smiles, a lot of fun and a lot of hot dogs." Prizes were awarded for the heaviest bass and longest pickerel. The joy and wonder waiting for his flag to pop up.
THMS
Girls Basketball -Congratulations to the Girls Basketball Team who are KVAC Champs! THMS Girls Basketball!
Dental Health Month - Students at THMS celebrated Dental Health Month this week. Part of the fun was a flavored water taste test. Students tried two different naturally flavored waters (strawberry lemon and orange pomegranate) and then voted for their favorite- the clear winner was Strawberry Lemon!
TLC - The TLC program has completed its third refurbishing project. They are taking the old and making it new. See them hard at work and their finished project in the pictures below.
BAHS
Booster Club Database - We are building a database of Lion's supporters, and we need your help! This list should pull together all our alumni, fans, parents, and interested transplants into one place. We will use this contact list to
Promote performances, games, and events,
Solicit volunteers and donations
Celebrate student achievement.
Click on the link to fill in the form: Support Our Lions!! Each and every one of you should fill in this form. Also, please pass it along to neighbors, family, and friends. We hope to use this effort to bring our entire community together to celebrate Belfast Area High School.
Ocean Sciences Bowl - Two teams, competed in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl regional competition on Saturday, February 12. The competition was hosted by the University of New England and completed virtually this year, with students in the BAHS library answering marine science-related questions. The Belfast teams finished in 3rd and 5th places and won two field trips to be taken in spring. One is a kayaking trip to the Great Bay Estuarine Research Reserve in Greenland, NH. The other trip is a boating and tour of the bay surrounding the Wells Reserve in Wells, Maine. Students will have opportunities to meet researchers and learn about career options in marine science. Congratulations to all who participated.
Coaches of the Year!
Congratulations to Bob Winslow, Donna Kelley, and Rick Kelley for being voted KVAC Coaches of the Year by their peers. Wrestling finished first in the conference while boys and girls swimming both finished second. Congratulations to our coaches and our athletes on a successful conclusion to the league schedule and good luck at the state championships, which take place this weekend and next week.
Unified BB! The first BAHS Unified Basketball game was held on Tuesday, February 15, vs. Mt. View. It was a great success. Student-athletes and fans on both sides supported and cheered one another on, shared the ball, and made some amazing moves and fabulous shots. The crowd erupted whenever any student from whichever side made the points – very heart-warming. Congratulations to all student-athletes and Coaches Sarah McIntyre and Tina Young and official Marty Messer.
Next week is school vacation week, so the next weekly update will be sent on Friday, March 4.
With warm wishes for rest, fun, and safety next week,
Mary Alice
