Date reminders
Tuesday, Nov. 8: 5th grade music field trip to USM “Living Voices: The New American”
Thursday and Friday, Nov. 10 and 11: No school — Veterans Day
Tuesday, Nov. 15: November PIE meeting
Wednesday-Friday, Nov. 23-25: No school — Thanksgiving break
The principal’s column
Mock election: Educating students on how to be responsible citizens is an essential part of our job. So, fourth-grade students will be running a mock presidential election this year to learn about the democratic process and to actively engage in civics.
We will be holding this mock election on Monday, Nov. 7 and are inviting all school staff to come out and vote. Voting booths will be set up in the hall outside the office and polls will be open from 8:20-10:20 a.m. and 12:20-2:20 p.m. Staff may come and vote at any point during these hours.
We encourage every class to come vote. We know this will be a valuable learning experience for all students. Check back next week to see our results!
Summer reading challenge
Four second-graders celebrated their efforts over the summer completing teacher Tracy Stover’s annual summer reading and math challenge. They each read for at least 20 minutes and practiced math skills for at least 10 minutes four times a week all summer!
They went on a scavenger hunt to find clues leading them to a walking adventure to Sarah’s Pizza and back to the awesome new Wiscasset Elementary School playground for ice cream. They each received a certificate of recognition and a gift card to Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop. Well done, Delaney, Alex, Sierra, and Eva!
Music dates to note
At 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3, the annual Wiscasset Christmas-tree lighting will take place on the town common. Wiscasset fifth- through twelfth-grade choruses are invited to lead music for the event.
On Thursday, Dec. 8, the Wiscasset Middle High School Winter Gallery of the Arts art show will take place at 5:30 p.m., followed by a concert at 6:30pm.
At 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 13, the fifth- and sixth-grade holiday concert at Wiscasset Elementary School will take place. The fifth-and-sixth-grade chorus will perform and possibly some sixth-grade instrumentalists from the band will perform.
Boxtops for Education
Last week, Lynn Morissette’s fourth-graders counted the boxtops that had accumulated from the summer months and the month of September. It is amazing — all those little 10-cent boxtops accumulated to $80 for our school! Thank you so much to everyone who sent them in.
We are ready for another boxtop count — and we have very few boxtops to count. Last year, we averaged $80-$100 per month; we are currently way below our usual count. Please remember to clip and send in the 10-cent boxtops. We really appreciate the help!
Pumpkins and the globe
Sixth-graders, who are studying world geography and making world maps, made globes out of pumpkins recently. We were fortunate enough to have Debbie Gray, a retired Wiscasset Elementary School teacher, teach students how to draw the continents and generally assist with the project. The seven continents and the five oceans were drawn on the pumpkins, then painted and labeled. Students then met with Charles Leitzell, the school’s math coach, to weigh their pumpkin, measure the circumference, and find the diameter. Soon, students will analyze and graph their results. The pumpkin globes are gifts to younger classes, the library, the art room, and for all to enjoy.
Kindergarten news
Kindergarten students have been busy with pumpkins. They read pumpkin stories, practiced pointing under words for our “Five Little Pumpkins” chant, making pumpkin faces, and putting pumpkin numbers in order. The students also selected their second story to publish. We will celebrate our second stories soon!