WHITTIER WIRE 1457 Maine Street, Poland, ME 04274 P (207) 998-3462 F (207) 998-3481 Physical Education When students have PE, they must bring a change of clothes and wear a pair of sneakers. Monday (11/5): Ms. Moore s ELA classes Ms. Swenson s SS classes Tuesday (11/6): Ms. Karaffa s SS classes Ms. Adams Learning Lab Wednesday (11/7): Mr. Landry s SS classes Ms. Caron s Learning Lab Coming Events Nov. 7: Conferences Nov. 9, 12: No school Nov. 21-23: Thanksgiving Cross-Country Events Cross Country Banquet, Tuesday, November 6 at 6pm in the Cafe Cross Country Rake Day, Saturday, November 10th at 9:00: Please meet at school. Tri-Town Family 5K 2018 Thank you for the strong support and attendance at the Tri-Town Family 5K on Sunday morning. Over 230 participants crossed the finish line after a 3.1 mile run (or walk) through the beautiful Minot trails. Many volunteers arrived early to set up registration, put out signs, and organize supplies for the event. Sean Galipeau-Eldridge was out on the trails earliest, arriving to set up the course. Most participants and families started to show between 9:00 and 9:30. It was a bit chilly when the wind picked up, but the sunshine was great to see. RSU 16 bus driver Al Connolly shuttled participants from the parking area at Minot Consolidated School to the start of the course with a mini-bus. DJ Alex Sirois kept the crowd warm with music. McDonalds in Poland provided hot coffee. At 9:30, middle school students led a group of young children in a Fun Run around the baseball and softball fields. www.rsu16.org/wms/wms.html 2018-19, Volume 10 1
At 9:55, the Mitchell brothers, Eddie and Alex, played the National Anthem on trumpets. This was Eddie s seventh year playing the anthem; he started as a seventh grader and is now in his first year of college. The race started at 10:00, when the Knight sounded the horn, and everyone was off! Volunteers on the course helped point runners in the right direction. Kindness Club spread positive messages to all our students! News from the Nurse Dental services will now be provided by Tooth Protectors. Permission forms are going out to the student's Roundtables and if you would like your student to receive dental care, please return the completed form as soon as possible. The fastest male Whittier finisher was 8th grader Nolan Garey and the top female runner was 8th grader LiSha Powell. Both received gift cards donated by Integrity Services of Maine. Many people stuck around after the event to cheer on others, wait for raffle results, and enjoy snacks and water. Gathering Winds Farm & Orchard donated apples and Hannaford sent a team with granola bars and fruit. This is an event that we are proud of at Whittier Middle School, and we couldn t do it without the leadership of teachers, parents, and local businesses. Thank you to volunteers for setting up, monitoring the course, selling t-shirts, working the snack table, monitoring parking, registering runners, distributing bibs, and cleaning up; you are appreciated! Can t wait for next year! Time again for flu clinics! We'll be having one here on November 7th, at our student-led conferences, in collaboration with Hannaford Pharmacy! They'll be here from 3:30 to 5:30 in the nursing office. Just bring a copy of your insurance card and we can immunize as many members of your family as we possibly can. Hope to see you there! It s Conference Week! Is your child s conference scheduled? Scholastic Book Fair in the Library! The library will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair during Student Led Conferences! The book fair will be open Monday, November www.rsu16.org/wms/wms.html 2018-19, Volume 10 2
5th through Tuesday, November 13th. There will be lots of late afternoon hours, and it will be open until 8:00pm on Wednesday, November 7th! There will be lots of great books as well as tons of other fun items! From October 31st - November 13th, you can also shop our book fair online! Visit the following link, and click on "Shop Online". With the online link, you can enjoy a larger selection of books, and you can order books for all ages and grades! Link to Online Book Fair: http://www.scholastic.com/bf/polandregionalhighschool1 Please note that the book fair will NOT be open on Friday, November 9th or Monday, November 12th since there is no school on those days! Please contact Julie Purdy in the library at 998-5400, ext. 210 or by email at jpurdy@rsu16.org for more information! Hope to see you at the book fair! Food Drive The Whittier Middle School Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive has begun. Roundtables are collecting non perishable items to donate to the Poland Food Pantry. The following items are most useful: 3 cans of vegetables Peanut butter Canned pumpkin Gravy mix 2 cranberry sauce 2 stuffing Other useful items: Canned potatoes ~ Canned yams ~ Rolled oats ~ Applesauce ~ Dried beans ~ Pudding mix ~ Evaporated milk ~ Stuffing ~ Cake mix ~ Canned tuna ~ Crackers ~ Pasta ~ Popcorn kernels ~ Rice ~ Pasta sauce ~Chicken, beef, vegetable stock The Food Drive runs until Tuesday, November 13th. Guitar Club With fervent enthusiasm, calluses were earned by all at Thursday's guitar club. The high school mentors have been putting in a huge shift teaching our middle school students. Every week I'm impressed by their can do attitude, as they guide our newest guitar players through the learning process. We will not be meeting next Thursday due to student led conferences. www.rsu16.org/wms/wms.html 2018-19, Volume 10 3
Next meeting will be Thursday, the 15th of November from 2:10-3:20. Thank you, Chief Bosse On Wednesday, Fire Chief Mark Bosse retired after more than 20 years of service. He was instrumental in the development and implementation of the MidKnight Fire Slayer program. During the last 8 years, over 120 Whittier Middle School students have participated in the program which has focused not only on fire safety and prevention, but also emergency medical response, including CPR and first aid training. We are grateful for Chief Bosse's service and dedication to our community, particularly his dedication to the students at Whittier Middle School. We also wish to congratulate Captain Tom Printup as he begins his new role as Fire Chief. Grade 7 Social Studies Students in Mr. Landry's Social Studies classes have been learning about the Judicial branch of government. As part of this study, the students participated in a Mock Trial. They looked at a real case from 1995 where MGM Studios sued Honda Motor Company for creating a commercial for their Del Sol Convertible that used many of the traits of the James Bond character. Students took on roles as witnesses, lawyers, bailiff, court reporter, court clerk, and the judge. They conducted the trial and then all of the students became the jury. They had to look at the evidence and follow a protocol to determine whether Honda was guilty of violating copyright law. After the students determined their verdict, Mr. Landry shared the results of the real case. The students learned about the court process and had a lot of fun doing it. Basketball Starts Monday Monday we begin our WMS Basketball Season. All participants must be registered on FamilyID.com (organization is RSU16) and have an updated physical on file here at school. The practice times are posted below. We do have limited space on each team. Tryouts will take place during the practice slot listed and will be two or three practices depending on the time each coach feels is needed. Please understand that an oversized team is a real challenge. Basketball shoes and gym clothes are needed for Monday. Please do not send your child with basketballs, we have plenty. Please note the Wednesday practice times changed due to conferences. www.rsu16.org/wms/wms.html 2018-19, Volume 10 4
Students should go home and come back for practice if their practice starts after 3:45. Please consider carpooling with other families. 2018-19 Coaches: 7th grade Boys' Jeff Tetreault 8th grade Boys' Spencer Emerson 7th grade Girls' Jordan Walker 8th grade Girls' Shannon Briner Pre-order Yearbook It is now time to pre-order yearbooks! The early bird price is $17 (for a soft cover yearbook) until December break. The price will raise to $20 after that. If you would like to pre-order a yearbook for your child please visit, ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter our school code, 12966519. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Landry at llandry@rsu16.org. Fundraiser Delivery The orders from our fundraiser will be arriving on Thursday, November 8th. Students will need to bring home their items on Thursday as there is no school on Friday. If the order is too large for students to bring home on the bus, please make arrangements to pick up your child's order. (Some items are frozen cookie dough and this needs to go home Thursday as we have no way to freeze them.) Co-Curricular Opportunities Math Club will be meeting on Monday from 2:15 to 3:15. Whittier will be hosting the first math meet of the year on Thursday, November 29 from 4 pm to 6 pm. We need Mathletes for this competition! See Mrs. Goss if you are interested in practicing and participating. Yearbook will meet on Monday from 2:20-3:00 in Mr. Landry s classroom. Green Team is meeting Tuesday at lunch in Ms. Henderson's room. www.rsu16.org/wms/wms.html 2018-19, Volume 10 5
Kindness Club meets Monday during lunch. Civil Rights Team meets Tuesday during Roundtable. STEM workshop will meet Wednesday during lunch. www.rsu16.org/wms/wms.html 2018-19, Volume 10 6