Chatham Elementary School

            Third grade students will again benefit from the knowledge and expertise of Richard Curcio from the Chatham Historical Society and the Atwood House Museum.  Mr. Curcio has created a fabulous curriculum on Chatham Sea Captains.  He will be helping to facilitate this program for the next several weeks.  The curriculum is aligned with the Massachusetts Social Studies Frameworks and provides opportunities for students to explore history through various mediums.  The partnership with the Atwood House continues through next fall when students begin studies of the history of Chatham Light in conjunction with its 200^th anniversary.

            Students in grade five traveled to Old Sturbridge Village on March 28.  In the village, students journeyed back to the New England of 1790 to 1840, when Americans worked hard to build a new nation. Fifth graders explored shops, homes, farms, mills, meetinghouses, and a district school.  All students in grade five will write an expository essay about their exciting day in Sturbridge.

            Kindergarten students love to learn by celebrating!  During the month of February students recognized Groundhog Day by making groundhog hats, singing songs, reciting poems and tuning into the national news to learn if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.  Children crafted their own groundhog puppets and experimented with light, producing shadow.  On the 100^th day, of school the hallways were decorated with displays of student-constructed models and posters.  Each display held 100 objects creatively arranged and grouped.  One of the many Valentine’s Day activities that children enjoyed was sorting and graphing conversation hearts by color.  The results of the graph were discussed using the math vocabulary of more than, less than, and equal to.

            During the month of March kindergarteners joined all grades at Chatham Elementary School by participating in the Read Across America program.  Simultaneously, kindergarteners celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday by inviting guest readers to each classroom.  Chatham Police Chief Mark Pawlina, a frequent visitor at the elementary school and beloved guest of kindergarteners, visited Ms. Turco’s kindergarten class and read “One Fish, Two Fish.”  While visiting, Chief Pawlina graciously took the time to answer all the questions children had about his uniform, his job, and the role of police officers in Chatham.

            Adults and children walked with caution in kindergarten classes on St. Patrick’s Day.  Student created leprechaun traps were carefully set all around the classrooms in the hope that at least one leprechaun might be caught this year.  Kindergarteners eagerly returned to school the next day.  Although no leprechauns had been caught, children were delighted to see the glitter, mishaps and treats left behind.

            Amy Ferreira from the Massachusetts Audubon Society at Wellfleet Bay came in to teach the first grade classes about earthworms. She read a book called “Diary of a Worm” which taught the children that worms need soil, air, water, and space to survive. Students then created a habitat for the earthworms by adding dark, moist soil and water. They observed how the earthworms move through the soil, eating it and producing castings, which are important for soil health. As an experiment, the children placed the earthworms in a container that contained dark, moist soil and the sandy Cape Cod soil. The earthworms moved into the dark soil proving that they prefer that kind of environment.  The lesson concluded with a game about all the other animals in the web of life living in the soil such as mole, whose favorite food is worms. The lesson is an introduction to the World Underfoot: Exploring What’s Underground: Soil Tunnel program from the Cape Cod Conservation District.

Chatham Middle School

            Chatham Middle School students are exchanging ideas and questions in new meaningful ways with other students across the globe.  Ann Morgan, the technology integration teacher at the middle school, has made arrangements for students to share with peers in other cities, states, or countries.  Students have been teamed up with grade-level peers in Canada, Massachusetts, Florida, New York, Brazil and the Netherlands.  Students are using webcam technology to see and hear their cyber friends during scheduled computer lab sessions.  Classes have shared local customs, attractions, as well as class projects.  One sixth grade science class in New York shared a tornado experiment with the sixth grade CMS students.  Students watched a tornado grow to over six feet via webcam technology.  Lots of questions were generated and answered during this exciting exchange.

            Eighth graders are emailing students in Netherlands through a secure password-protected class Wiki set up by Mrs. Morgan and a teacher of English in the Netherlands.  These e-pals are English language learners and are taking an optional extra English lesson for one year to earn a Cambridge Certificate. They range in age from 12 to 14, and live about 40 minutes south of Amsterdam.  Both teachers collaborated on setting up the e-pal Wiki by providing maps, pictures, resource links and videos of their communities.  Students are able to go online and converse with their e-pal effortlessly while being monitored by their teachers.  The goal for the Netherlands teacher is to give additional meaningful practice for her students to read and write English, while Mrs. Morgan’s goal is to help students improve their technology communication skills as well as to learn about a different school community and culture. 

            These online experiences have empowered and inspired students, as well as their teachers. Down the block or around the globe, this cyber e-pal project is generating great excitement about learning and builds 21st century digital literacy and learning skills for the students at the Chatham Middle School.

            Chuck Bartlett, representing the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center, recently visited three fifth grade classrooms.  He delivered an interesting overview of what radio waves are, and students watched a quick clip of text messengers v. Morse code telegraphers.  Mr. Bartlett also shared a working model of a telegraph.  Guess who won the contest of delivery speed of message via radio waves?  The Morse code telegraphers! 
            Todd Kelley, naturalist from Kelley Trailblazer, gave fifth graders a grand tour of Samuel Hawes Park in Chatham.  The park boasts four ponds, Bearses, Black, Blue, and White, and a vernal pool.  Students pondered the question of why is it important for the town of Chatham to provide conservation land for all people to enjoy.  Students learned many interesting facts about the flora and fauna that fill this beautiful setting.

            The middle school NEED Club presented energy experiments at the Cape Light Compact Energy Conference in Hyannis on Wednesday, April 9.  Each member of the club demonstrated his or her understanding of the different forms of energy (thermal, kinetic, mechanical, and electrical, etc.) to teachers from schools all over the state.  Teachers will be able to borrow the experiments in kits provided by the Cape Light Compact and conduct the experiments back in their classrooms.  After the conference, the students participated in an energy fair at Cape Cod Community College and attended a Tom Chapin concert at the Tilden Arts Center.

            Students in Mrs. Roy’s fifth grade class presented their “Treasure Chest Book Reports” last week.  Taking out items one by one from their self-made “treasure chests,” students describe the main events and characters in their chosen books.  It’s a great way to share new titles for our grade level, and students themselves make excellent recommendations to peers for their next book report! 

            Christie Macomber and Amanda Malone, students in the eighth grade, will have their poem “8 Ways to Look at Pleasant Bay from the Point of View of a Blade of Grass” published this spring.  Their poem won third place in the Cooperative Poems category in the Massachusetts Science Poetry contest. The students will receive certificates and ribbons later this month, and the upcoming collection will be printed by Boston College, sponsor of the contest, by early June.  Students in both seventh and eighth grades participated in the contest and visited Pleasant Bay prior to writing their poems.  Poems were judged based on both scientific knowledge and literary merit.

            Last week the fifth and sixth grades held their eighth annual reading marathon.  During the marathon a student was heard reading aloud in the upstairs lobby of the middle school from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.  The students came with an extraordinary variety of reading materials, which an adult "listener" enjoyed.  In addition to honing reading skills, the marathon teaches responsibility to fellow students:  although replacement readers were scheduled every 15 minutes, when one forgets his or her appointment, the current reader continued reading until relieved by another student reader.  The marathon has been an enjoyable conclusion to the annual reading challenge.  Students who meet their challenge of reading 12 extra hours (15 for seventh and eighth graders) in the last four weeks will be given a gift certificate to Where the Sidewalk Ends bookstore.

Chatham High School

            Matthew and Sue Flynn visited Dr. Joan Aucoin’s culinary arts class to speak on how CHS students can actively support the troops currently serving in Afghanistan.  Their son, Jesse Flynn, has recently been deployed there.  Jesse is completing almost four years serving in the Marine Corps since he graduated from Chatham High School.  His younger brother Jeremy will also enlist in the Marines upon his graduation from CHS this June.  The student chefs will be baking some brownies and adding items suggested by the Flynns, including Chapstick, Cape Cod newspapers, the school newspaper the Devil’s Advocate, and Red Sox clippings, and a special request: chocolate covered espresso beans.  Other school or community groups can contact Sue Flynn at   www.wwjd259@hotmail.com.

            The Chatham High School band, chorus and drama Club put on a show this past weekend, “An Evening Inspired by Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables.’”  We greatly appreciate those students, faculty and staff who came to offer support for our show as well as the parents and community members who encourage their children and family members to do the same.  Our CHS media club under the direction of Robert Bourke will be airing the show on local access as soon as the tape is ready.  Again, thank you for your support!

            The Chatham High School Community Internship Class of 2008 is enjoying a diverse range of experiences this year.  The 31 students, who work in business, education, health care, and government, report overall satisfaction with their internships and say they are enjoying some unique experiences.  They also say they are making connections between what they have learned at school and what they are doing at their internships.

            The eclectic range of experiences this year has made students particularly enthusiastic about their internships.  Some highlights: Dallas Heller, interning at Mooncusser Films in South Chatham, is learning about still-life photography, as well as videography.  As a result of his internship, some of his still life photos have been published in local newspapers.  Maggie Cole, working for the Chatham Athletics, has just designed a new T shirt that will be available for fans this season. Katrina Thistle, interning at the Chatham office of Dr. Hamilton Sporborg, has observed several oral surgeries and implants. Libby Buck, interning at the Salt Pond Visitor’s Center at the Cape Cod National Seashore, is creating a traveling exhibit about the ocean and environmental influences affecting the ocean.  Tyler Holmes, working at Chatham Glass Company, is learning the intricacies of glass blowing.

            Jared Bennett is happy about his internship at Matt’s Automotive in South Chatham.  Matt Ripa, owner of the shop and Bennett’s mentor, is teaching Bennett about automobile care and maintenance.  Bennett is learning how to do basic jobs such as oil change and filters and working his way up to more complex jobs such as brake and engine work.  “It’s really hands on. . . I am enjoying it everyday.  I can’t wait to go,” Bennett said.

            Allie Noyes, who is interning at Stony Brook Elementary School in Brewster, said, “The Audubon Society came today (into her second grade classroom) and taught the kids about sea life and squid.  Even though I had already dissected squid before, this helped me teach the kids more, as well.  This came as a surprise to me since I didn’t think marine biology would ever be useful to me.  The kids thought it was so cool that I knew so much, and Mrs. Sutton (my mentor) was impressed, as well.”

            Sophia Phillips was accepted into the Art All State Program, a significant achievement as the program interviews juniors from all over the state who have applied and submitted work for consideration. They have many applicants and because of this they are very selective. Congratulations to Sophia!

4/24/06