May 8, 2020

Dear HMS Families,

 We hope this finds you all staying healthy and well, and that you have been able to get outside to enjoy some fresh air and slowly warming Maine sunshine. 

We miss you all very much and are always wondering how students and families are spending time outside of work and school (we are hoping that you do have just a bit of downtime to spend on leisure activities!). 

I always spend time listening to music and thought this would be a great opportunity to expand my knowledge of musicians and artists beyond the narrow time frame of music from the 1970s, which I tend to listen to almost exclusively. I want to invite all of you - parents, students, and staff - to reach out with recommendations of your favorite artists and albums (I’m aging myself again here by mentioning albums : ). For the students, the challenge is that you have to send me songs with school appropriate lyrics! I am excited to see what you come up with, and I will keep you posted on what I learn (I had hoped to send you this idea by way of video but my phone is telling me that I have run out of space to do so! I’ll work on fixing that and will reach out by video next time). 

A message to teachers (attached) - Thank you for the kind and encouraging communications you sent to the staff this week - they mean so much to all of us. We want to share one of our messages to HMS educators in recognition of their extraordinary efforts on behalf of our students and our community. 

We are beyond  grateful for your continuous support. Best wishes for a wonderful weekend and a Happy Mother’s Day! 

Joan Adler and Tom McDowell

HMS Administrative Team

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We are proud to share the following Distance Learning Updates 

Celebrations: 

National History Day- We are delighted to announce that 8th grader Will McDowell is one of two state finalists in the Junior Academic Paper Division! His scholarly examination of the Shackleton Expedition will move on to the National Competition. Eighth grader Sebastien Martinez's exhibit on Navajo Code Talkers won the Maritime History Award! Congratulations and best wishes to Will, Sebastien, and all of the students who participated in NHD.

 

An Exciting Message from Ms. Agell about Legenda (the beauteous HMS Literary Magazine) - The Legenda Staff is pleased to announce the winners of this year's cover contest. The theme is CELESTIAL. Drumroll, please....Quincy Schnee's art will be on the front cover. Ava Fox's art will grace the back. Congratulations and thanks to Ava and Quincy for sharing their talent with us! Legenda, issue 24, will be released in PDF form via our school site, by early June. It's full of amazing writing and art! 

Learning Experiences: 

HMS educators are developing learning experiences with an eye towards supporting students to get outside! We are pleased to share several of these projects with you, which showcase staff and student creativity. 

The 5th grade teachers issued an If You Build It challenge to their students. They asked them to construct a colonial homestead that would keep them and their families warm and safe, and/or a village that would serve the same purpose. Ian Hallee’s amazing creation:

Lexi Wiles’ innovative design:

 

The 8th grade science teachers had their students develop recipes that distinguish between mixtures and compounds. We hope you enjoy (and try out!) some of these delicious learning experiences brought to you by our 8th grade scientists: 8th Grade Mixtures/Compounds Padlet 

We are so proud of Lily and Ethan Tyau’s focus on inspiring good works during this time of social distancing. This is part of Ethan’s 10% project. Please check out this link - Keep Your Latchstring Out - to learn about what they’ve been up to. 

Rod Corey invited his STEAM students to get outside and build a “fort, house, castle, or shelter (for a fairy, frog, dog, duck, goat, human, dragon or any other critter of your choice)!” Rod knew we would be excited to share Abigail Grunewald’s imaginative, creative submission with you! We know that you will enjoy her video (attached). 

Morgan Cuthbert shared this interesting and engaging update on all things Seaweed: Check out the fall celebration of the seaweed harvest featuring some of our HMS students at Seaweed Week is Here! and  Aquaculture ME - Seaweed Contest 

A reminder of the presentation by Dr. John Duffy on Wednesday, May 13, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Dr. Duffy will share insights from his new book, Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety.  You can access this brief video featuring Dr. Duffy for more information about his presentation. You can join the presentation by Zoom, via  this link. Use password 7zx6NF 

Bob Gross shared this beautiful Rangeley sunset - a reminder that nature is out there waiting for us:

A photo from one of my recent family excursions:

A message to teachers
Abigail Grunewald's video