All the snow is certainly getting everyone excited for Christmas. Decorations are being displayed and festivities are being planned. The junior and senior high choral and band concerts were excellent and well-attended. The Junior High Student Council’s food drive was very successful. Mrs. Bouchard’s advisory brought in the most food and enjoyed a treat of doughnuts and juice for winning the contest. Our basketball and hockey teams are right in the middle of a very busy season. The hockey team made headlines in the Bangor Daily News two days in a row for their win over Bangor. The cheerleaders are practicing their routines in anticipation of another exciting and successful year at the games and in competition. If you want to break from TV these winter evenings, come to the high school gymnasium or Millar Arena and enjoy the enthusiasm that our athletes provide.
School will be released to 11 a.m. on Friday Dec. 21. Students will have an opportunity to have lunch from 11:10-11:30. Buses will pick students up at 11:30. School reopens on Wednesday, Jan. 2.
Junior High News
Mrs. Sullivan’s eighth grade class is reading Beowulf. They studied heraldry and made a coat of arms to kick off the unit. More than 20 students met on a Friday night to attend the movie together at the Temple Theater. They are finishing next week by presenting various projects including: a soundtrack for the action in the book, a replica of a Viking ship, a Beowulf board game, just to name a few. Some students enjoy the intensity of the poem, while others appreciate the universal messages of good defeating evil and doing good deeds for the sake of good, not just to get something in return.
Mrs. Wright is informing seventh grade parents of a new learning opportunity. The Challenger Learning Center of Maine, located in Bangor, offers simulated space-exploration that provide students with an authentic, hands-on encounter with science and technology. The science is presented in the context of a realistic space exploration. The technology is used as a tool to communicate with teammates, to solve problems and to make decisions key to each mission. Students are immersed in a realistic Mission Control and Space Station environment: computers, electronic messages, teammates they can only see on video monitors, emergency sounds and flashing lights and hands-on science activities.
The simulation creates a cooperative learning atmosphere underscored by teamwork, communication, problem-solving and decision making. Embedded throughout the simulations are opportunities for students to apply the skills they have learned in the classroom stations. You can learn more about the Challenger Learning Center of Maine and their programs at www.elcofme.org. Our school would like to integrate a mission simulation into our curriculum this year.
Art Class News
Houlton Junior/Senior High School art students have been working very hard on the backdrop scenery for the pediatrics center, in Dr. Maraya’s office at Houlton Regional Hospital. They have created the scenery for The Polar Express. Patients will have a real wooden train to sit and ride on while waiting at Dr. Maraya’s office. The movie “The Polar Express,” will be playing in the waiting room as well. Please drop by the pediatrics center to see the setup. You won’t be sorry! It is our hope that they will win the competition for best Christmas decorated unit at HRH. We will let you know! The backdrop consists of trees, a forest, a wolf, the icy lake, the mountain the train travels to get to the North Pole and the village. All scenes are set on a snowy day. Hopefully, the backdrop will appear in the January art show at HHS. The students did a fantastic job. If your child is taking art this semester, they have worked on it. Ask them about it and please drop by to see it.
Junior Class News
Some Juniors have been making fleece hats. Each hat is embroidered with Houlton Shires on the front. They are selling the hats for $10 and they will be on sale at the ballgames and at school. For more information, contact Penny Richardson at 532-6551 or email at perichardson@houlton.sad29.k12.me.us.
