Staff Writer
CASWELL — The Dawn F. Barnes Elementary School was a comfortable place to be on May 20, when students and community members gathered for dinner and educational entertainment during Math and Literacy Night.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Five-year-old Isaiah Theriault dressed for the ‘midnight story’ theme of the literacy portion of the event, attended Math and Literacy Night with his mom, Tanya.
“We usually do not combine Literacy Night and Math Night,” explained William Dobbins, Superintendent of Caswell, SAD 14, CSD 12, and Vanceboro. “Usually Math Night is held on a different evening because it’s a different activity, but tonight we held them together because we had an open meal for the community. The literacy portion decided to do their part in their pajamas because their theme tonight was midnight stories,” he added.
Math and Literacy Nights tend to receive community support; out of just under 40 students, the activity evenings usually draw 20 to 25 students, Dobbins said.
“We’re very grateful for the community’s support the school by participating in these activities,” Dobbins said. “Caswell students tend to be very successful at Limestone High School, partially because of these evenings but also because there is great community involvement with the school. Parents get involved with the school at a very young age,” he explained. “We have a very strong school board here, they emphasize the education part of it. We’ve had excellent teachers over the years, and good leadership which really makes well rounded students ready for high school,” Dobbins added.
Though superintendent of four schools, Dobbins teaches every Math Night.
“We hold Math Night once a month for about an hour and a half,” he said. “We have a math activity that enlightens the students as well as parents to what children and parents can do at night when they get home; if it’s an activity, we try to use everyday math and use things that are common around the house where people really don’t realize that they’re using mathematical skills,” Dobbins explained.
“[These evenings] give extra tools to the parents to help their children learn, and in the folder I send home with the parents is usually a good educational article that’s good for the parents to look at,” he added. “A typical evening usually starts out with some introduction to our math theme; a year ago we did family games, such as Yahtzee, and introduced how mathematics actually plays into those kinds of games. This year, we’re used playing cards as our theme and we introduced them to different ways to use playing cards to reinforce counting, multiples, numbers, and things like that,” Dobbins described.
“The second part of the evening is a little fun activity such as a craft, such as building Pinewood Derbie Cars to race, building green houses to grow something, or making collages. Third part is the drawing of door prizes, and that’s what we usually do during a typical Math Night,” Dobbins concluded. On the 20th, it was arranged so that every student received a door prize.
The Math and Literacy Nights are open to all Caswell residents
“We try to have something for the younger kids, there are preschool activities for the parents who have smaller ones, like number-coordinated coloring activities,” Dobbins explained. Geared to be mentally stimulating all who attended, even the youth who attended the event in an infant car seat seemed to be pondering Einstein’s Theory of Relativity as they left the building.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Two-year-old Lucas Willette attended Math and Literacy Night with his mother, Carrie, and father, Merle.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Five-year-old Haley McLaughin receives a door prize from Superintendednt William Dobbins, who taught the Math program during the Math/Literacy Night at the dawn F. Barnes Elementary School on May 20. The program was arranged so that every student received a fabulous door prize.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
The students were well prepared for the midnight story theme, clad in pajamas and accessorized with slippers and stuffed animals.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Students, community members, and favorite stuffed animals were invited to attend the Math/Literacy Night held at the Dawn F. Barnes Elementary School in Caswell .
