I know for some of you the April break felt like an eternity, while for others, it probably felt too quick...but I have to tell you that I was VERY HAPPY to see our students returning to school this week even if in a big of a "staggered" type of format. I met many a GHS student in the hallways on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week that seemed very happy to be back to school after two weeks of remote learning and then a break. A few event old me they were happy to be back in school, but shhhhh, I'm sure they'd like to remain anonymous since that may not be considered "cool"! ☺.
Yesterday was the big day for our K-8 students, all of whom returned back to school at the same time for the first time all year! I can't even begin to describe the positive energy that was in each of our K-8 buildings yesterday! I suppose it can best be described as a high energy buzzing sensation. You simply had to walk through the hallways to literally HEAR the excitement and learning! Pictures surely do speak 1,000 words, but even the pictures below don't adequately share that feeling...it was most definitely great to have our students back!
Things certainly went well for our 2nd "First Day of School" this year. There are still a few bugs to work out, but we'll do that work today and be ready for 4 full days of exciting instruction next week across our K-8 schools!
Before I move on to the informational part of this blog - I just want to give a quick shout out of THANKS to our K-8 staff and our K-8 parents! What a team! Its going to be a great six weeks of school between now and June 10! GO RAMS!
A FEW COVID RELATED UPDATES/REMINDERS AND ONE NEW GREAT RESOURCE...
Just a few quick updates/reminders in bulleted form for brevity!
* Reminder - Parents no longer need to click SUBMIT on their daily health screeners UNLESS there is an identified symptom. We still would ask parents to review symptoms daily with each child, but if there are no issues...there is no need to submit the form. If a symptom is detected, please hit submit, Keep your child home and we will know to follow up.
* Gov. Mills recent announcements regarding masks have created some questions regarding mask wearing. To simplify things, the most recent rule changes have really brought us full circle back to the same rules we followed this past fall. Masks must be work indoors at ALL TIMES (unless eating). If outside, and 6ft of physical distance can be assured, masks may be taken off (example: planned mask breaks supervised by teachers/school staff). Because we can't guarantee 6 ft of distance at all times during recess due to the nature of play that we believe is very important for our children, we will ask children to keep their masks on during recess. However, we will create a space on each playground where children know that they can go to be six feet apart and remove masks if they'd like to do so.
* WE NEED EVERYONE'S HELP to keep our schools open! I know I repeat this often, but it's because it is the truth. We really do need everyone's help to keep our school's open. Just one positive case in an elementary classroom can now have much larger implications for required quarantines for other students. Please do your best to assist and make sure to follow the 3 key safety protocols of: (1) properly wearing face coverings, (2) frequently washing/sanitizing hands, and (3) keeping appropriate physical distances. Finally, please make sure that if your child is experiencing symptoms of COVID 19 - play it safe - keep them home, get them tested and help our schools stay open. THANK YOU!
* Children and adults ages 16+ are eligible to become vaccinated. Many local clinics are now opening up to walk in vaccinations. Please check out the CDC's vaccination site for more information or contact your PCP to see what might be available in the area!
That's it for the quick updates/reminders regarding COVID 19... now to share a cool new resource!
Some of our neighbors in the nursing program at USM have worked over the course of the past several weeks to create a list of extra resources for students and caregivers to reference and put them all in one place for everyone to have access to. Thank you to professor Breanne Sanderson and to the nursing students at USM for sharing this great resource with our families! We do LOVE OUR HUSKIE PARTNERS!
Please check it out - Here's the Link:
UPDATED FAQ SHEET ON J&J VACCINATION
I just thought that the recent "pause" and then "unpause" of the J&J vaccination might have caused some folks to be a little nervous about vaccinations in general. First, to be clear - it was ONLY the J&J vaccination that was paused by the CDC and this was only done out of an extreme abundance of caution. Pfizer and Moderna have had no such issues and the J&J vaccination is now back out there and available for use.
That being said, I received through our friends at the Gorham Fire Department an updated Fact Sheet on the J&J vaccination that answers many questions folks may have regarding the reasons for the pause and the fact that the J&J vaccination has been determined to be safe to continue to use. I figured I'd share the resource for those that are interested as it really is a great ONE AND DONE COVID 19 vaccination option.
Here's the Link to the Fact Sheet:
LOOKING AHEAD - A FEW QUICK PIECES OF INFORMATION FOR 2021-22
First, a quick reminder that you can find the 2021-22 School Calendar on our website. I've LINKED IT HERE for your convenience!
I also wanted to re-emphasize to all of you that (barring a significant change that I do not anticipate occurring at this time) WE WILL BE OPENING ALL SCHOOLS TO FULL DAY, 5 DAY PER WEEK INSTRUCTION THIS FALL. I am currently working with the Pandemic Advisory Committee, the District Leadership Team, and others to re-draft our Pandemic Operations Plan with the goal of sharing this information sometime before school lets out this year so that parents know what to expect for the coming year.
I've also had several parents ask about remote learning options for the 2021-22 School Year. We WILL be offering remote learning options for students across grades K-12 next year, but we will be limiting student participation in our fully remote learning options to only those who go through a referral process. The referral process will start with a parent request, but then will go through a process either via Special Ed., 504, or RTI to determine whether approval of a fully remote program is in the educational best interest of the student. Details of how this will work will be coming out over the course of the next few weeks...so please stay tuned!
REMINDER! NEXT WEEK (May 3 -7) IS TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK!
It has been a difficult year for everyone...no question there...but I can tell you from watching and supporting the work of our teachers day in and day out over the past year that they have all given 150% of themselves to make sure our Gorham students are engaged and successfully learning. I would encourage you to think of ways to celebrate our teachers and to show them just how much we care. It can be something small like an email or a thank you note or it could be something big like a paid vacation to Hawaii ...WAIT ...NO...JUST KIDDING ON THAT ONE...but certainly public thank you messages or just a pat on the back (from a distance) and a smile when you see them at Hannaford, etc. Teacher Appreciation Week is always a great time to show our appreciation for teachers. This year more than any other, they really kind of NEED IT! What a BOOST it would be to help get us all positively through to the end of the 2020-21 school year on a strong and successful note! GO RAMS!
CONGRATULATIONS TO TWO GMS TEACHERS RECENTLY HONORED
I recently received the following TWO messages honoring TWO of our incredibly talented teachers at GMS with an award...just sharing their well deserved accolades below:
Message #1:
It is my pleasure to inform you that Terri Dawson has been selected for the Philip Marcoux Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to teaching and learning science. Each year the Maine Science Teachers Association selects a non-formal science education professional, from our list of nominees, who exemplifies leadership in science education.
The Philip Marcoux Award is designed to recognize non-formal science education professionals who work outside the formal classroom setting and who:
makes continuous and enduring contributions to science education;
demonstrates a capacity for creating and implementing successful science education-related activities;
shows creative approaches to improving student achievement in science;
makes a permanent contribution to the Maine Science Teachers Association by integrating with national initiatives, promoting the science education profession, or providing training and resources to other science education professionals.
Sincerely,
Tonya Prentice
The Philip Marcoux Award is designed to recognize non-formal science education professionals who work outside the formal classroom setting and who:
makes continuous and enduring contributions to science education;
demonstrates a capacity for creating and implementing successful science education-related activities;
shows creative approaches to improving student achievement in science;
makes a permanent contribution to the Maine Science Teachers Association by integrating with national initiatives, promoting the science education profession, or providing training and resources to other science education professionals.
Sincerely,
Tonya Prentice
Message #2:
It is my pleasure to inform you that Angela Gospodarek has been selected for the Louis P. Lambert Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to teaching and learning science. Each year the Maine Science Teachers Association selects a teacher, from our list of nominees, who exemplifies leadership in science education.
The Louis P. Lambert Award is designed to recognize a public or private school teacher who:
inspires student achievement in science in a caring, compassionate manner;
shows creative approaches in linking student learning to the Science Content Standards of the Maine State Learning Results and Maine’s Curriculum Framework for Mathematics and Science
makes continuous and enduring contributions to science education by integrating with local and state initiatives, promoting science education, and providing training or resources to other science teachers.
The Louis P. Lambert Award is designed to recognize a public or private school teacher who:
inspires student achievement in science in a caring, compassionate manner;
shows creative approaches in linking student learning to the Science Content Standards of the Maine State Learning Results and Maine’s Curriculum Framework for Mathematics and Science
makes continuous and enduring contributions to science education by integrating with local and state initiatives, promoting science education, and providing training or resources to other science teachers.
Sincerely,
Tonya Prentice
Tonya Prentice
CONGRATULATIONS to both of these incredible teachers on receiving these well deserved honors!
"VOICES OF HOPE" AIRING THIS SATURDAY ON CHANNEL 13 AT 7:00 P.M. PLEASE TUNE IN!
I am thrilled to invite you to watch this 12 part documentary beginning on Saturday. Some GHS students, staff, and Assistant Superintendent Record have been involved in a regional non-profit called SEED (Students Empowered to End Dependency), which is an effort by students and adults in five area school systems to develop methods to elevate messaging about chemical dependency. The five participating systems are Gorham, Bath, Scarborough, Windham, and Yarmouth. The efforts of this group have led to the creation of a 12 part documentary series called Voices of Hope...The Rugged Road to Recovery. I have included a flyer below with more information and here also is the website https://
In particular I want to highlight the contributions of the following people:
Emily Duncan, Senior, Special Effects Opening Sequence
Katy Morin, Senior, Production Support & Transcription
Adam Parvanta, Technology Support
Ryan Chicione, JMG Specialist
Katy Morin, Senior, Production Support & Transcription
Adam Parvanta, Technology Support
Ryan Chicione, JMG Specialist
Here's the link to the full informational flyer and Here's the image:
WELLNESS TIP - THE SERENITY OF GARDENING!
I was just recently breezing through some wellness information sent out to us by the Maine Department of Education and noticed this information on gardening. I thought others might be interested as well...Maine is such a perfect setting for gardening and it can be a great family activity for sure! Check out the information below and maybe try planting a little this spring! Its good for the environment, and it is good for the soul! Here's the info:
The days are much longer, the temperatures are warming, trees are budding, the birds are singing and flowers are starting to bloom. All these signs of spring most of us look forward to after a long winter in Maine. Now people are taking to the outdoors to enjoy the benefits of sunlight, nature and spring activities including gardening. First thoughts when we hear gardening, are growing flowers to enjoy and fruits and vegetables to consume. However, there are so many more health and wellness benefits to gardening that people of all ages and in any location can enjoy. Read about the 10 Surprising Ways Gardening Is One of the Healthiest Things You Can Do at www.TheHealthy.com.
Gardening is one activity that sprouted, bloomed and grew into an even more popular individual, family and school venture last year amid the pandemic. It doesn’t matter where a person lives, it is possible to enjoy the health and wellness benefits of gardening. What kind of garden to grow? Some enjoy vegetable, fruit and/or herbs, while others might prefer flowers, shrubs and landscaping or “yardscaping”. Regardless, it is beneficial to all aspects of one’s health. If you’ve never tasted garden-fresh food, you will be amazed by the sweet, juicy, robust flavors and vibrant textures. There’s absolutely nothing quite like fresh from the garden foods, especially if you grow them yourself—which you can do! Read more from The Almanac...
There are volumes of information available on the internet, in bookstores and libraries on all types of gardening. We have shared just a few resources to get you started or enhance your existing and growing prowess.
Looking for more information and/or resources? Visit these websites...
That's it for this week! In closing...I once again wanted to THANK EVERYONE for their continued patience and flexibility as we have worked to implement our new 4 day per week model for students in grades K-8. We are looking forward to a strong and positive end of the 2020-21 school year across grades K-12. We have much to do, and much to celebrate together! GO RAMS!
