hull

Hull Elementary School Students Participate in Battle of the Books Competition

⋅ Client News, School News ⋅ , , , , ⋅ 0 Comments

Hull Public Schools
Michael F. Devine, Superintendent
180 Harborview Road
Hull, MA 02045

For Immediate Release

Monday, March 18, 2019

Contact: Jessica Sacco
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Hull Elementary School Students Participate in Battle of the Books Competition

Hull fifth grade students participated in a Battle of the Books competition modeled after the popular TV show, Jeopardy. (Courtesy Photo Hull Public Schools)

HULL — Fifth grade students at Lillian M. Jacobs Elementary School participated in a Jeopardy style Battle of the Books competition.

Beginning at the end of January, students started working in teams to read and discuss 12 assigned books. (Not every student read every book, but collectively the teams read all books).

Books included classics, like “The Trumpet of the Swan” by E. B. White, as well as new graphic novels, like “Fish Girl” by David Wiesner and Donna Jo Napoli.

Students’ work culminated last week, when teams battled against each other, answering questions about characters, events and settings. The game was projected on a smart board, with questions worth varying amounts of points (100-500) based on difficulty. 

“We were so pleased to see how excited and engaged students were throughout this project,” Principal Christine Cappadona said. “The Jeopardy style game provided a hands on way for students to take ownership and pride in their work, while testing their knowledge on material they’ve read throughout the winter.”

From March 12-13, the three fifth grade classes — each of which had four teams of students with varying reading levels — competed against one another. The three winning teams from each class then battled each other for the final grade champion. 

The three class champions won a pizza party with Peel Pizza in Hingham on March 14. During the final round of the game, the students who were not competing, sat with their teams and participated in a behind the scene version of the activity, silently answering the questions while teachers checked their answers. The winner of the silent competition received free ice cream vouchers from Nona’s in Hingham.

Ultimate champs –Teddy Hennessey, Jeffrey Reede, Maya Thomas, Allison Leary, Joseph DelGallo and Christopher Resnick — earned a bag of books donated by Buttonwood Books and Toys in Cohasset.

###

 

Jacobs Elementary School Read-A-Thon Raises More Than $9,000

⋅ Client News, School News ⋅ , , , , , , , , , , ⋅ 0 Comments

Hull Public Schools
Michael F. Devine, Superintendent
180 Harborview Road
Hull, MA 02045

For Immediate Release

Friday, March 1, 2019

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

Jacobs Elementary School Read-A-Thon Raises More Than $9,000

HULL –Students at Lillian M. Jacobs Elementary School simply couldn’t put their books down this winter during the school’s annual Read-a-Thon.

Students read for a total of 203,408 minutes during the reading initiative and raised $9,069 for the school’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). The school began the Read-a-Thon with a goal of reaching 200,000 reading minutes, which students far exceeded.

“Each year, students are so excited to read during the Read-a-Thon,” Principal Christine Cappadona said. “It’s wonderful to see kids in every grade get so invested in reading and have fun doing it.”

The 16th annual Jacobs School Read-a-Thon officially began on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 8 a.m. and ended on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. Students were given reading logs and a PTO fundraising log at a Friday, Jan. 25 kickoff assembly led by Assistant Principal Kyle Shaw.

During the Read-a-Thon, the “Reading Pirate” paid a visit to every classroom in hopes of catching students reading. The Reading Pirate’s visit was captured on video and shown to students during the Read-a-Thon wrap up assembly on Feb. 15.

As an incentive for students to read and participate, staff at the school volunteered their names to the “Read-a-Thon Wheel.” If students met a reading goal during the Read-a-Thon, at least one of the staff members would be silly stringed from head to toe at the wrap up assembly.

Adjustment Counselor Maureen Rosenplanter and School Physiologist Lauren Snowdale, were the lucky two chosen through spins of the wheel, and were promptly covered in silly string.

“I love reading,” said Molly McCarthy, a kindergarten student. “I read new books and read to my little brother. The Read-a-Thon was really fun and I liked watching the silly string.”

During the assembly, individual, classroom and raffle awards were announced and prizes presented. The assembly ended with students giving the PTO representatives, Mel Harper and Elizabeth Naylor, who worked to put on the Read-a-Thon a “Pirate Cheer.”

“I love reading and I got to read Harry Potter books one through four in two weeks,” said Patrick Lancaster, the third grade student who read 3,049 minutes — the most of any student in his grade. “I knew I worked really hard, but I wasn’t sure I’d be the winner for third grade. It’s going to be hard to beat my record next year. I hope that I can beat the Best in the School record by the time I’m in fifth grade.”

Students were also awarded a school-wide movie in the cafeteria in the afternoon in appreciation of their hard work.

###

Memorial Middle School to Host Opioid Awareness and Prevention Event

⋅ Client News, School News ⋅ , , , , , , , , , ⋅ 0 Comments

Hull Public Schools
Michael F. Devine, Superintendent
180 Harborview Road
Hull, MA 02045

For Immediate Release

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019

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

Memorial Middle School to Host Opioid Awareness and Prevention Event

HULL — Superintendent Michael Devine is pleased to announce that Memorial Middle School will host an opioid awareness and prevention program in March.

WHEN:

Monday, March 4 at 7 p.m.

WHERE:

Memorial Middle School, 81 Central Ave., in the auditorium.

WHAT:

Students in grades six through 12, as well as parents, caregivers and community members, are invited to attend a free opioid awareness and prevention program on March 4 at Memorial Middle School. The program will feature a performance by the Improbable Players, followed by a question and answer session with the actors.

The Improbable Players is an organization that gives 25 to 45 minute performances pertaining to the opioid epidemic, alcoholism, and addiction at schools, conferences, treatment centers and community events. The performances are based off of true stories and are performed by individuals in recovery. The event is intended for students in grade six and up.

During the March 4 event, the Improbable Players will give a performance titled “End of the Line,” which focuses on the opioid epidemic and follows the story of four people with substance use disorder. Each of the four central characters in the short play becomes addicted to opioids by different circumstances, illustrating to viewers how young people can be introduced to opioids in various ways.

“Addiction to opioids has affected virtually every city and town across the country,” said Memorial Middle School Principal Anthony Hrivnak. “Primarily, we want to give parents an opening to start a conversation about these topics with their family. We also want to reduce any stigma that might be associated with this issue.”

Memorial Middle School students will have the opportunity to see another performance by the Improbable Players during the school day on March 4 as well. The skit is titled “Running on E,” which examines the various pressures all teens face, how substance abuse begins, and how young people can resist getting involved with drugs and alcohol.

Refreshments will be available for purchase at the March 4 evening event.

The March 4 program was made possible by a $20,000 grant that was awarded this winter to Hull Public Schools and the Hull Police Department by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). The grant was awarded to fund an opioid abuse and prevention program at Memorial Middle School.

To learn more about the Improbable Players, visit their website at improbableplayers.org.

###

Hull Elementary School Works with iRobot as Part of STEM Learning

⋅ Client News, School News ⋅ , , , , , ⋅ 0 Comments

Hull Public Schools
Michael F. Devine, Superintendent
180 Harborview Road
Hull, MA 02045

For Immediate Release

Monday, Jan. 14, 2019

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

Hull Elementary School Works with iRobot as Part of STEM Learning

HULL — To kick off the month of January and reignite students’ passion for learning following their holiday break, Jacobs Elementary School brought in a member of iRobot for a series of demonstrations and activities.

On Jan. 4, students gathered for a school-wide assembly, organized by technology teacher Kerrie Ryan and led by iRobot engineer Andy String.

Based out of Bedford, iRobot has been in business for nearly 30 years, selling more than 20 million robots and developing technology that has saved lives, helped the environment and even inspired NASA.

During his presentation, String spoke to students for nearly an hour, sharing videos and engaging them in demonstrations with the Roomba vacuum. He asked students questions like “what is a robot?” and shared information about the PackBot robot, which is used by U.S. troops overseas.

“Students were highly engaged during the presentation, with the majority of students volunteering to ask and answer questions at appropriate times during the assembly,” Principal Christine Cappadona said. “Their curiosity remained strong throughout the day as students and staff could be heard talking about robotics in the halls, at recess and during lunch. It truly was an enriching experience for all.”

As an advocate for iRobot’s STEM outreach program, String travels around the state to visit students and share how each machine encompasses various aspects of science, technology, engineering and math.

Following his presentation, String held 30-minute workshops for every first and second grade homeroom, where students sat in a circle and watched as he ran two different robots and talked about why they behave differently to solve the same problem.

Students then gathered around a table where they had the opportunity to take robots apart, pass around various pieces, and discuss how the pieces function and the differences between a navigating robot and a non-navigating robot.

“My favorite part of the workshop was seeing the machine that squirted water,” said first grade student Delaney McAuliffe. “Touching the parts was cool too!”

“I like seeing all the stuff inside in the robot,” added first grade student Christian Silva. “I also liked when it bumped into us!”

###

 

1 2 3 4 5 >»