From the halls of Houlton Junior & Senior High School

Intramural volleyball and indoor soccer are taking place and we are planning our science fair for March 17 and the winter carnival for the week of March 23. Teacher workshops are being held on March 19 and 20, so there will be no school for students on those days. The music department has been busy with the District Vocal Jazz Festival, which was held on March 9. The State Jazz Festival will be held in South Portland the weekend of March 13 and 14. The junior high musical will be held on March 18 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.
Junior High news
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the seventh grade students are beginning preparations for the 8th annual Women in History Pageant. Each group is working collaboratively to create a variety of projects to represent their historical figure.  The women being researched include: Cleopatra, Grandma Moses, Carry Nation, Carolyn Keene, Rachel Carson, Julia Child, Billie Holiday, Queen Elizabeth II, Jeannie Brett, Jane Goodall, Wilma Rudolph, Susan Collins, Ann Meyers, Mae Jemison, and Tracy Austin.  The culmination of this month long cross-curricular project will be the pageant, which will be held on Friday, April 10, in the school’s auditorium.  During the pageant each group will take the stage in front of a panel of judges to perform an interview portion and present an original poem, song, or skit depicting their amazing women in history.
On Friday, March 13, the seventh and eighth grade students will take part in a Read-A-Thon. What is a Read-A-Thon? It’s a full day of literacy activities that promotes both literacy and acts as a fund-raiser.  During the Read-A-Thon students will be engaged in various activities such as reader’s theatre, silent sustained reading, reading aloud to others from favorite children’s books, playing word games such as Scrabble or crossword puzzles, listening to scary stories being read aloud to them, shared reading by guest readers and more. There will also be an opportunity to donate and take books at a “book swap” table.  Besides the obvious benefit of having students engaged in a daylong fun literacy event, the Read-A-Thon is also the junior high’s only fund raiser for this school year. The money raised from this event will be used to take a field trip later this spring.  Plans are to travel by bus to Bangor to see a production of Sherlock Holmes at the Penobscot Playhouse.  The goal is to raise $3,000 dollars. There is nothing to buy. Every penny that we raise stays with us for the trip. Just make a donation to show your support for the time and energy students will spend in this celebration of literacy. Thank you in advance for your support.
Science class news:
We would like to congratulate the Academic Decathletes at the competition in Portland on February 28.  Next year the topic is the French Revolution and the novel is “A Tale of Two Cities”. The Science Fair is March 17 at 3 p.m. in the large gym at the school.  Please come and see the projects and give support to the science community. This is a mandatory portion of the science requirement at Houlton High School and the students have written a research paper and know more than most people about their particular topic.
Spanish class news:
Each student in Ms. Snell’s Spanish classes has made an ojo de dios  (God’s Eye).  The diamond pattern, made with yarn, symbolizes the eye of God. The bands of color around the central diamond are said to symbolize the wisdom and light coming from the eye.
Freshman class news:
The freshman class will be having a spaghetti dinner in the HHS cafeteria on Tuesday, March 24, from 5-6:30 p.m.  Please come out and support the class of 2012.
Senior class news:
Parents of seniors are currently working on raising money for Project Graduation.  Letters have been sent out to local businesses and we are beginning to receive some response. We are asking parents to bring in Easter/spring candy and pastel ribbons for a fund raiser that we are currently working on. Letters will be sent out in the near future asking for parental/family support in the way of money and/or items for give-aways. We would like to have every parent/guardian involved.  This is a very worthwhile cause that ensures our kids a safe environment to celebrate their accomplishments one last time as a class. Please contact the guidance department if you have any ideas or comments.
Art class news:
Art students are working diligently on their art works. Projects include paintings, drawings, wood burnings, clay, paper, and scratch art.  Junior high students are working on stained glass representations of works from the “masters.” The room is buzzing with activity these days with much hands-on visual designing. The photography class will be donning their cameras as the weather warms and engaging in the opportunity to improve their skills with outdoor photography.
English class news:
Mrs. Sullivan’s 10th grade English classes are reading Julius Caesar. They are studying Shakespeare and Julius Caesar, along with acting out some scenes from the play. When acting out scenes, they transport the setting from Roman times into another time period such as World War II or the mafia gangs of the 1920’s.
Senior high student council news:
Winter Carnival is fast approaching and is scheduled for the week of March 23-27. Students will compete in games such as balloon tag, obstacle course, volleyball, crab soccer, egg toss, and other games each day to achieve points for their class. Students will collect food for the food pantry, items for the pregnancy care center, animal shelter, and our men and women overseas in the military. We will also be collecting dollars for a classmate suffering from cancer. Students will wear the featured attire for the day, be it pajama day, hat day, sports day, military day or HHS colors day. Friday will feature a battle of the bands the last block of the day. Friday evening will feature the crowning of the Winter Carnival king and queen for 2009.  Good luck to all classes.