From the halls of Houlton Junior & Senior High School

The start of school has gone very smoothly and staff and students are looking forward to a very rewarding year. We have already had school pictures taken and soccer games and golf matches have started. The athletic teams have certainly appreciated the great weather.
    We have welcomed Mrs. Dawn Matthews as assistant principal and Mrs. Susan Pierce as our new guidance counselor. Other new staff members are: Ms. Lilly Haggerty, assistant librarian and Mrs. Lisa Carmichael, seventh grade educational technician.
Parents are already meeting to plan Project Graduation for the Class of 2010 and sophomores will be ordering class rings on Thursday, Sept. 10. There will be an open house for grades 7–12 on Wednesday, Sept. 16, starting at 5:30. Parents and guardians are invited to attend and visit with their children’s teachers. We will be having an early release day on Wednesday, Sept. 23, followed by two days of teacher workshops, Thursday and Friday, Sept. 24 and 25.
Students may stay out to work in the harvest during the week of Sept. 28, if they have notes from the farmer they are working for or the person they are babysitting for and a permission slip from their parents/guardians. Students must also be passing all subjects to be excused for harvest during this week. Students may get out earlier to work and have their absences excused if all of the above conditions are met. Students who are allowed to work will be required to be in class on rain days. Harvest vacation is the week of Oct. 5.
Music department news
Houlton High School is getting ready to put on the production of “Damn Yankees.” This exciting musical set in the 1950s is about Joe, who is an avid fan of the Washington Senators, a baseball team that just can’t seem to win a game. While Joe begins as a middle-aged real estate agent, he is turned into a 22-year-old baseball star – just what the Senators need. Hopefully, now they can beat the Yankees. The musical will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 20-22 at the high school.
The HHS auditorium will never be the same! Even with the start of school, construction continues in the auditorium with a lot of major building progress being made through the start of September. We encourage you to visit www.houltonarts.org to see the changes and transformations of the cafeteria and auditorium. Everything is on track to make the fall musical a grand opening event in November.
English department news
Mrs. Sullivan’s tenth grade English students are studying mythology. They are making a children’s book about one character and a mythological story, which will be sent to Mrs. Kinens’ third grade class to read. Mrs. Sullivan’s junior English class is reading The Scarlet Letter. They enjoyed seeing pictures of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s house and Concord, Mass. The students are working hard to figure out Hawthorne’s style, vocabulary, and symbolism.
Yearbook news
The 2009 yearbooks are in. If you have prepaid for one, please stop by the HHS office to pick it up. Orders for the 2010 yearbook will start at the open house on Wednesday, Sept. 16. The price is $50.
Social studies department news
The Social Studies Department received a much-needed makeover during the summer break. The rooms are spacious and very much to the liking of the staff and students.
Art department news
It’s back to school and the art classes are in full swing. Art students are already being introduced to the elements and principles of design, the concept of “Bell Work,” and drawing. Photography classes are patiently awaiting the laptops so they can get to work at the online basic photography site and in the meantime, learning about their cameras with their camera manuals.
Junior high art students are doing a profile portrait called self-portrait. Parents, please help them gather visuals for their projects. Also, would parents please be sure to sign the parent letters and have their child return the bottom portion to Mrs. Tidd. I am looking forward to a fun and productive year with all the students. Please feel free to call for a visit if you would like.
Junior High news
With the opening of Houlton Junior High School, grade seven students will be involved in the interdisciplinary unit SAD29 community project. Throughout the next several weeks, the students will be creating a booklet about our community that will include: history, geography, industries, famous sons and daughters, interviews, landmarks and recreational sites. Investigation and research will underscore all requirements. We would encourage parents and community members to become involved as we look forward to exciting days exploring our SAD29 community. Please contact the Houlton Junior High grade seven social studies department for more information.
Resource Room news
A new year, means using our skills we learned last year. This last week, Mrs. Cowperthwaite’s classes have been working on study skills. Basically we need to set aside a place and time to study and do it every day using our planner to take down assignments. Use the help, the book gives you, vocabulary, summaries, study questions and review these daily. Reading something once, does not mean you know it. We have been finding this out when we review words that were supposedly learned. Use guided reading techniques; read the comprehension questions before starting to read, so when an answer appears, hopefully we will re-read or write down the answer or note, where the answer was in the text. Use flash cards for vocabulary and learning a language. Write the definition on one side and the word studies on the other and review daily.