About Kelsey Bode

Kelsey Bode is a JGPR copywriter.

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Rockland School Committee Recognizes Student for Participation in Project 351

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Rockland Public Schools
Superintendent Dr. Alan Cron
34 MacKinlay Way,
Rockland, MA 02370

For Immediate Release

Friday, Feb. 15, 2019

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Rockland School Committee Recognizes Student for Participation in Project 351

Eighth grade John W. Rogers Middle School student Charlie Kelleher, left, stands with Superintendent Dr. Alan Cron after being recognized by the Rockland School Committee on Monday, Feb. 11 for her participation in the statewide Project 351 program this January. (Courtesy Photo Rockland Public Schools)

ROCKLAND — Superintendent Dr. Alan Cron is pleased to share that eighth grade student Charlie Kelleher was recently recognized by the Rockland School Committee for her participation in the statewide Project 351 program.

Kelleher, a student at John W. Rogers Middle School, was selected earlier this year to take part in the statewide Project 351 program, which annually kicks off in Boston on or near Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January. The event typically includes speeches from local legislators and acts of service.

This year’s kickoff to the program took place on Saturday, Jan. 19.

Project 351, a nonprofit youth leadership organization, brings eighth grade students from all 351 Massachusetts municipalities together in January for the start of a yearlong youth service and leadership program which centers on Martin Luther King Jr.’s service based values. For 12 months, students participating in Project 351 will participate in various service experiences and attend leadership training. The year long program also introduces students to various role models.

“During project 351 I had the opportunity to enter Faneuil Hall and hear speeches by Governor Baker and many powerful women,” Kelleher said. “Then I had to opportunity to go to Cradles to Crayons as my service site. I sorted clothes for children who are less fortunate and will be receiving a care package put together by my fellow ambassadors. Then I went back to Faneuil Hall and shared stories with the other service groups.”

As part of her participation in Project 351, Kelleher also plans to coordinate a clothing drive at her school in the near future.

Kelleher is a standout student. She is a member of the National Junior Honor Society and Rogers Middle School Student Government. She plays junior varsity basketball at Rockland High School and Rockland travel basketball. In grades six and seven, Kelleher achieved High Honor Roll, and she has also been named to the High Honor Roll in the first and second terms of her eighth grade year.

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Northeast Metro Tech Van Sideswiped in Revere, Other Driver Arrested

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Northeast Metro Tech
Superintendent David DiBarri
100 Hemlock Road
Wakefield, MA 01880

For Immediate Release

Friday, Feb. 15, 2019

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Northeast Metro Tech Van Sideswiped in Revere, Other Driver Arrested

WAKEFIELD — Superintendent David DiBarri reports a van owned and operated by Northeast Metro Tech was sideswiped in Revere this afternoon.

At approximately 1 p.m., a passenger van returning from a vocational work site in Winthrop was sideswiped when another motorist, traveling in the same direction, drifted into the van’s lane on Elliot Circle. The crash resulted in minor, repairable damage to the van.

Two students were evaluated by emergency medical personnel and transported to the hospital as a precaution, but no life-threatening injuries were reported. A total of 10 students and one instructor were on board the van at the time, with the instructor driving the van.

The other motorist, a 45-year-old Revere woman, was arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol, according to police. Superintendent David DiBarri and Northeast Metro Tech officials have been in contact with the families of the students as well as the Massachusetts State Police, which is investigating the crash.

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Simonds Elementary Kindergarten Students Spark Plastic Utensil Ban

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Kearsarge Regional School District
Superintendent Winfried Feneberg
114 Cougar Court
New London, NH 03257

For Immediate Release

Friday, Feb. 15, 2019

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Simonds Elementary Kindergarten Students Spark Plastic Utensil Ban

Simonds Elementary kindergarten students Phoebe Esenwine, left, and William Collins, joined their classmates in collecting plastic eating utensils at their school cafeteria this January to record how much plastic was being thrown away. After presenting their findings to their school, administrators transitioned to using reusable utensils in February. (Courtesy Photo/Kearsarge Regional School District)

WARNER — Principal Timothy Stokes is pleased to announce that, thanks to the research and initiative of one kindergarten class, Simonds Elementary School has stopped using plastic utensils as of this month.

In January, a class of 11 kindergarten students and their teacher, Danielle Cormier, started collecting the plastic utensils that were being thrown away in the school cafeteria. The class collected utensils for two weeks in a plastic tote,  washed them, and counted approximately 500 plastic utensils that would have been thrown away.

Cormier said her class had become concerned by the amount of plastic they saw being thrown into the trash, and that her students were already aware about the impact plastic has on the environment.

The students asked administrators if the school could transition to using reusable forks and spoons, and Cormier discovered that the district had already been considering making the switch. Cormier met with a cafeteria employee, and found that the cafeteria already had enough stainless steel utensils to make the transition at no cost. As a result, Simonds Elementary has become the first school in Kearsarge Regional School District to stop using plastic eating utensils.

“This group of students is very empowered. They feel they can do anything they put their minds to,” Cormier said. “The students definitely know they made a change, and the rest of the students and community has been so respectful and excited about the change as well.”

Principal Stokes also acknowledged the work of Cormier, who encourages and nurtures the students’ inquisitive minds.

The kindergarten students are being assisted by their fifth grade “reading buddies” who have volunteered to wash the stainless steel utensils after lunch, to assist the cafeteria staff and prevent the transition from adding to their workload.

After counting how much plastic the school was throwing away, Cormier’s students made a video explaining their findings, the impact of plastic on the environment, the importance of transitioning to reusable utensils, and how students should take care of the new forks and spoons during lunch.

To watch the video visit, vimeo.com/manage/317489686/general. 

Their video was shown to all students and staff at Simonds Elementary at an all-school meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 6, and the school began using reusable silverware Thursday, Feb. 7.

“The transition has been going really well,” Cormier said. “Teachers are monitoring at lunch, and the students have been really great and very responsible with it.”

“I do think my students feel super empowered, being the smallest ones in the school and seeing such a big change,” she added. “Other teachers have been congratulating them and telling them what a great job they’ve done. I’m really proud of them.”

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Kearsarge High Educator Creates Quilt Using Student Pictures Designed by Mathematical Equations 

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Kearsarge Regional School District
Superintendent Winfried Feneberg
114 Cougar Court
New London, NH 03257

For Immediate Release

Friday, Feb. 15, 2019

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Kearsarge High Educator Creates Quilt Using Student Pictures Designed by Mathematical Equations 

A class of 22 Kearsarge Regional High School Honors Algebra II students created pictures using equations this winter. Math teacher Sally Lyford, with help from several other Kearsarge educators, created a quilt using their images. (Courtesy Photo Kearsarge Regional School District)

NEW LONDON – Visitors to Kearsarge Regional High School math teacher Sally Lyford’s classroom may notice a large quilt that depicts various pictures of people, animals, and nature.

Lyford, with the help of Kearsarge High french teacher Kristen Allen, business teacher Jesse Fenn, and technology teacher Chris Spooner, put together and hung a quilt this winter that showcases pictures made by her Honors Algebra II students using mathematical equations.

It’s the first year Lyford has made a quilt to display the images her students made by using a graphing calculator on desmos.com. She began assigning students a project to create images using equations during the 2014 to 2015 school year.

At the time, Lyford was looking for a way to test her Honors Algebra II students’ knowledge without giving them a traditional “pen and paper” test. After learning about desmos.com, she was inspired to create a project that would combine what her students knew about transformations of functions with their sense of creativity. Since then, Lyford has had her students complete an annual project where they create pictures of their choice.

“There has been a push in education to have students show what they know through a performance based assessment,” Lyford said. “This definitely fits that description, and it gives students a more creative outlet as well. They also have a chance to see how these equations can be used in more of a real life application.”

Each student spends between three and 10 hours on their picture, depending on how intricate they decide they’d like their design to be. This year, 22 students participated in the project. Most of the students are sophomores, and a few are freshmen.

Many students, inspired by the New Hampshire landscape, chose to make pictures of mountains this year. Lyford said the project sometimes pushes students to learn more complex equations as well, for example to create a circle.

“Whatever comes to their mind, what they are interested in, prompts them as they come up with a picture of their choice, and sometimes they ask me for equations beyond those we’ve learned so far,” Lyford said.

Lyford said her students have enjoyed locating the pictures they created on the quilt, and that the overall project allowed them to explore what various equations can generate on a graph.

“They’re pretty excited about it because they get to see what they’ve been learning about, the transformations of functions, and what it will appear as on the graph,” Lyford said. “And how it makes the picture. They enjoy the fact that on desmos.com they can play around with equations and there’s no penalty. They can make what they want to happen appear right before their eyes.”

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