Preschool students came together to create a magical evening with an original play. Each student took part in the brainstorming process as they chose what to perform. It was a unique and special evening allowed each family to take in the magic of the Preschool Forest Play.

Kindergarteners welcomed their families to a forest portfolio share in the last week of school. It was a wonderful way to share the progression of their work. Robin, Kindergarten assistant, took Polaroid photos of students on their first day and last day to accompany their work. "It was amazing to see my child's artwork and writing from the beginning of Kindergarten to now!" shared a parent. The afternoon was complete with marshmallow roasting and meeting one another's families--a small sense of normalcy for an end-of-the-year celebration!

Pictured above and right: Families viewing their child's work together.

Students in Sally and Megan's 1-2 class used their poet eyes to see ordinary things in new ways. Wendy Ewald's book, The Best Part of Me ,provided an example to begin their work with. Students chose their favorite body part and then described its significance for the reader.

Each student then took a photograph, which was mounted with their words. Students took time together to practice reading aloud and presenting their work to one another.

Third and fourth-grade students explored simple machines this spring. Students watched a TED Talk by artist and engineer, Simone Giertz. In the video, she talks about how she experiences "joy and humility" when she creates these machines. She does it because it makes her happy, and she embraces mistakes as a part of the process. Students experimented with levers and pulleys and even shared this fun with their Kindergarten and preschool buddy classes.

Each student created a video demonstration of their own Rube Goldberg machine. There were at least a few families who might have been afraid to touch doorknobs in their own homes, not knowing what kind of contraption might be linked to the turning of the knob!

This endeavor to create their own machines was met with conversations around making mistakes and learning from them. Each class talked a lot about the definition of humility and how it applies to our everyday lives, and to science.

A social studies unit for the 5-6 grades drew inspiration from the Atlantic Black Box project’s focus on unveiling the often-hidden history of New England’s role in the Atlantic slave trade and on the important contributions that Black enslaved and free Mainers have made to our state’s history. 

Much of the research came from the Atlantic Black Box and through Linda Ashe-Ford's suggestion, the book Maine's Visible Black History by Gerald E. Talbot and Harriet H. Price. Lastly, the podcast Teaching Hard History, which is a production of the Southern Poverty Law Center, has been an excellent resource.

Seventh and eighth-grade students completed a culminating social justice project this year. Each student chose a topic and created an essay, an art piece, and an action step. Here are a few words from each seventh and eighth-grader describing what they chose.

Students recorded their presentations and set up a display during the last week of school to share their work with our entire community. Below you will find a link to two project recordings.