Oaxacan Wood Carvers

The Middle Schools were pleased to welcome, once again, the Margarita’s Education Outreach Program. Wood carvers from Oaxaca (pronounced wa-hah-ke), Mexico came to both BMS and JMS. They spent the day talking with the Spanishes classes and demonstrating their wood carving skills. Epifanio Fuentes and his wife Laurencia Santiago work together with their children and grandchildren to carve and paint these beautiful sculptures. They spent the day carving an armadillo for the school and talking about their folk art and way of life. They will be at Margarita’s in Framingham Wednesday October 30 from 4pm-9pm. More videos can be found on Señorita Loughlin’s JMS webpage.

Oaxacan Wood Carvers 2013 - slideshow

Emily Loughlin

BMS Wins 2nd Place at Invention Convention

Bird Middle School’s Project Invention Convention team, coached by Mr. Kujawski, took home second place in this year’s Project Invention Convention by creating the Rain Catcher 9000. As participants in Bridgewater State University’s Project Invention Convention for the past five year, Bird Middle School students have been imagining and creating ingenious inventions that solve everyday problems. This year’s team comprised of eighth graders Jake Witherell, Dan Mullen, Gabby Eisenberg, Ryan Merrikin, Tommy Wilbur and seventh grader Aiden Murphy created two inventions: The Food Safe Dispenser and The Rain Catcher 9000. The Food Safe Dispenser was created to curb the rising numbers in childhood obesity. It enables parents to lock junk food and other unhealthy snacks and regulate how much their child receives. Unfortunately, this invention did not place, but it was a great idea nonetheless. The Rain Catcher 9000—a device that consists of a head umbrella with a gutter system around the edges, which is then attached to a backpack with a water collection reservoir—allows people in developing countries to collect clean drinking water, especially during monsoon seasons. The judges found this device to be worthy of a second place award. Congratulations to the 2013 Invention Convention participants—we are so proud of you.

WHS Film Festival Wraps Up

After a week of film showings the WHS Film Festival concluded with another fabulous red carpet awards night. The film "Alby" was the big winner overall snagging 5 of the possible 9 awards including the award for best film. Jackie Gately who wrote, directed and starred in the film, took home the award for best actor and Caleb Cofsky won for best supporting actor in the film. The coveted "Best Faculty Performance" was awarded to Mr. O'Malley for his portrayal in the superhero movie, "The Wombat."

The goal of the Film Festival is to give the students of Walpole High the artistic avenue of film as an outlet for them to enhance their talents in screenwriting, film production, film directing, film editing, on-screen acting, music composition, and art direction. The Film Festival gives these students a forum to showcase these talents before the student body and community. - www.whsfilfmestival.com

Some of the initial funding for the WHS Film Festival was provided by a grant from the Walpole Technology and Innovation Foundation. Over the past decade, support has come from generous donations from families as well as sponsorships from local businesses in the community.

Artist from Mexico Visits JMS

On Monday May 6, 2013 Mexican artist Cilau Valadez came to JMS to share some culture with the students in Spanish classes. Margarita's Restaurant Education Outreach Program sponsors artists and brings them to schools all over New England to talk about the art, history, and cultures of Mexico. This year the artist was Cilau Valadez and he is a yarn painter. Cilau and his people, the Huichol (wee-chol) Indians, are from Nayarit on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The symbols of their art work have many meanings and the art he created for JMS represents the doorway of knowledge that our students enter into when they attend school each day. The video below describes how he makes the yarn paintings and offers an up close look at the painting he created for JMS. More videos can be found on Señorita Loughlin's website. Thank you to Margarita's restaurant and JMS PAC for making this opportunity possible for our students.

Emily Loughlin

Spanish Teacher

Boys track retains Herget title

From the Walpole Times online:

Walpole 74, Norwood 62: Boys track retains Herget title

District Art Show on display at the Library!

There will be a District Art Show beginning on Wednesday, May 8th at the Walpole Public Library.

Throughout the year, artwork was selected from each grade and each assignment to showcase the breadth of studio experience, range of visual expression, and depth of learning in the art room.

With drawings, paintings, collage, prints, weaving, digital images, and sculpture, students communicate their ideas about who they are, where they live and how they feel. The artwork will be on display for the entire month of May during library hours.

We hope you will stop by and enjoy the hard work of our students!

2013 Academic WorldQuest National Competition

Last Saturday morning, in a large conference room on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington DC, four Walpole High School seniors participated in the 2013 Academic WorldQuest National Competition.  This is the second year in a row that Jake Kelsey, Ross Bubly, Jungbin Lim, and Kevin Delaney won the Massachusetts state competition and earned a trip to DC.  Working as a team, the foursome answered a total of 100 questions in 10 different categories ranging from U.S. Economic Competitiveness to Geography to the Middle East.

With forty schools in attendance from all over the country, the competition was fierce.  Although Walpole did not earn a spot in the top three, the students and their teacher-chaperone, Mr. Jeffrey Szymanski, are pleased with their accomplishments.  “These kids are real self-starters”, Szymanski said.  “They formed this team on their own in their junior year, strategically divided up their preparation, and sought out a faculty member to advise them.” 

Szymanski noted it was his department chair in social studies, Mr. Tom Morris, who advised the team for two years and attended the state competitions in Boston this year and last as well as the 2012 national competition.  “I was a pinch hitter, vowing to gladly accompany the team to DC in 2013 if they won the state championship”, Szymanski stated.  “Jake sent me a one-liner e-mail after the team won in Boston on April 6^th that simply read, ‘see you in DC.’ ”

The four saw very little of DC in 2012 other than two embassies and the Georgetown campus.  WorldBoston paid for transportation and hotel costs for one night in DC.  This year, Walpole’s American Legion generously donated $600 so the students could spend two nights in the city to see some of the city’s attractions.

All flew in to DC early Friday morning.  After a quick photo in front of the White House, the group walked to the Capitol and received a tour from an intern in Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office.  They then watched from the House gallery as their U.S Representatives debated the now infamous “sequester” to stop the furloughing of air traffic controllers.  Mr. Szymanski was pretty amazed at their excitement.  “These kids are real political junkies, and they knew the names of many of the reps on the House floor.” 

After Saturday’s competition, the students had plenty of free time to visit the Smithsonian museums and the monuments.  It was an early flight home Sunday morning before returning to school Monday, having made their parents and community extremely proud of their success.

BMS Raises $500 for The One Fund

The Student Council at Bird Middle School sponsored a Boston Pride Day on Friday, April 26.  Students and staff were asked for $1.00 donations for The One Fund Boston.    In the matter of ten minutes, during the student morning entrance, over $500.00 was collected!  BMS thanks all staff and students for their support.

WHS Music Students Visit Philadelphia

A group of WHS music students made a road trip to Philadelphia over April vacation and had some fun in "The City of Brotherly Love." Students from the concert band, concert choir, orchestra and jazz choir took part in music clinics with instructors from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music. The clinics were hosted at Radnor High School where students performed for Curtis Institute instructors in the school’s state of the art auditorium. The instructors worked with each group independently during the half day sessions, and provided valuable feedback to the student performers. The trip was not all business however as students visited the Philadelphia Zoo, Franklin Institute, Hard Rock Café, Six Flags and the Adventure Aquarium. This bi-annual trip is a tradition in the WHS Music department and students look forward to participating. Not only did the students have a great time, but they were outstanding ambassadors who represented their school and their town proudly. You can check out the WHS performances here: WHS Music Trip 2013
Photo credit-Jim Holmes

BMS Students "Off to See the Wizard"

The Wizard of Oz was the 31st annual BMS Spring Musical performance. Over 150 of the middle schoolers at Bird participated in the performance, which was the culmination of 10 weeks of daily rehearsals. Bird double-casts nearly all of the lead roles in the spring musical in order to maximize the opportunity for student participation.

The cast of the Wizard of Oz would like to thank the sold out audiences for such wonderful support. The Spring Musical performers would also like to thank the future middle school actors and actresses from the Old Post Road and Boyden Elementary Schools who had the chance to witness the fun in the special matinee performances earlier in the week.

Lastly, BMS is extremely grateful for the tireless efforts of the Team of Directors comprised of administration, teachers and staff who along with vocal coach Kathy Earabino supported Producer Cuzzi day in and day out in this ‘Ozian’ endeavor.

OAXACAN WOODEN ANIMALITAS AT FISHER SCHOOL

 

 

 

 On Tuesday, March 12, the fourth grade students worked in the art room at Fisher School with two artists from South Shore Art Center in Cohasset, MA on a cultural enrichment project entitled "Animalitas". This program was coordinated by Mrs. Hirschfeld and sponsored by the Fisher School PAC to offer an opportunity for students to learn an art form from another culture.   Looking to Mexico, they learned about the centuries old tradition of carving from wood the spiritual figures for churches and temples, masks for festivals and carnivals and most recently, animalitas or alebrijes, "fantasy figures." 

     In the 1960s, Manuel Jimenez, a goat herder from Oaxaca, a small agrarian community in southeastern Mexico, began carving the soft copal wood into fantastical animals, animalitas, which consist of different parts of several animals, joined to make one imaginary, fantastic creature often viewed as possessing magical powers. Other members of Jimenez' family painted them with bright acrylic paints, covering them with intricate decorations of spots, stripes and other fascinating patterns. Animalitas became very popular in the American tourist market in Oaxaca at this time and are now in museum and private collections throughout the world.

     After creating sketches of their imaginary animals, the students worked with brightly colored modeling clay to create the bodies, necks, heads, tails, wings, scales, horns, tails, ears, etc. of their animals.  Using contrasting colored clay and popsicle sticks to create decorations and textures, the students used their imaginations to create their unique animalitas.  Some of the masterpieces they made were named: "Girafacorn;" "Deleagle;"

"Zeusafox;" "Snagon."A.  The students were very proud of their sculptures and look forward to seeing them on display in the Media Center in the near future.

 

Mrs. Hirschfeld

Elementary Art Teacher

 

 

 

 

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Fisher School "Wake Up" Call

The video below, was recently recently submitted by music teacher Mr. Holmes to the Channel 5 morning news for their morning Wake Up Shout Out! Watch for it to air soon!

Fisher Elementary School in Walpole, MA (located midway between Boston and Providence on the route 95 corridor) provides instruction from Kindergarten through Grade Five to almost 450 students.  At Fisher, we sing, dance, play instruments and learn to read and write music as an important part of our school's education, and have FUN while doing it!  Here, Ms. Wadland's Grade Five class is performing a percussion piece and reading a 4-part score.  This is how WE wake up at Fisher School!

Elm Street School's Fifth Grade Living Wax Museum

Every year fifth graders participate in a Biography Project in which they research a famous person and give a presentation about that individual’s life and accomplishments.

This year, Elm Street School’s fifth grade teachers (Mrs. Holcomb, Mrs. Farley, and Ms. Reaney) planned an added feature which was quite motivating for the students.  The students dressed as their character and created a small display, including a “button”.  The students pretended to be wax figurines of their biography subject and stood “frozen” by their display.  Other students and teachers visited.  When the “button” was pushed, the figurine came to life and described the project.  At the close, they once again “froze”.  The presentations were very informative and a good time was had by all!

 

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Boston Globe Scholastic Art Show Winners

Walpole Public Schools had another great showing in the Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards with 41students winning honors.  All Massachusetts art teachers teaching students in one of the art mediums may submit a quota of up to 20 individual art works by students in Grades 7 - 12.  Individual works and portfolios are judged on the state level and 7 Walpole students were selected as Gold Key winners and will continue on to national judging.  Other students received Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions on the state-level.

Exhibit of Gold and Silver Key Award Winning Individual Entries - Monday, February 11 - Friday, April 19, 2013 - State Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza.

No Name Calling Week at Fisher School

Fisher School celebrated "No Name Calling Week" with a variety of activities this week.  All students and staff were reminded about the power of our words.  We can  help others with kind words or "scar" others with hurtful words.  We used the "THINK" acronym before we spoke- Is it true?, Is it helpful?, Is it inspiring?, Is it necessary?, and Is it kind?   

 

Our activities included:

Monday, January 21— Martin Luther King Day- Please reflect on MLK's message of nonviolence to solve problems.

Tuesday, January 22 — "Put a cap on name-calling." Students will be allowed to wear hats to support the fight against name-calling and bullying. Also, in homerooms, students will sign the pledge against name-calling.

Wednesday, January 23 — "Hands are for helping, not harassment," Stop Bullying and Cyber-bullying. Students will use sticky notes to write down a random act of kindness, positive comments or compliments and post it in the showcase in the front hall. 

Thursday, January 24 — "Remember, what you say, you can't take it back." Backwards Day.  Students will wear shirts backwards today.

Friday, January 25 — "Sports Day" – We are all on the same team against name-calling. Students will wear their favorite sports jersey, shirt, etc.

Our goal is that we realize the impact of what we say and that we will think before we speak. We have made some great strides this week towards achieving this goal.

Colleen Duggan

Principal, Fisher School

 

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Geography Bee Finalists at Fisher School

The National Geographic Society developed the National Geography Bee in 1989 in response to

concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. At

Fisher School, fifth graders traditionally participate in this event.

Nine finalists in this year's annual event include: Ebenezer Paul, Jenna MacDonald, Aayush Mathur, Ethan McGuire, Ted Harrington. Daniel Colbert, Sam Jankey, Lily Stevenson, and Lila MacKinnon.  We congratulate all of the finalists and our runner up this year- Lily Stevenson and our 2013 Geography Bee Champion- Ted Harrington!

 

Colleen Duggan

Principal, Fisher School

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Boyden Fourth Graders Cross "the Pond" Using Technology

"Picture a large can. Just before you kick it, your toe pops out of the front of your shoe to "peek" at the can. Can = Kansas. Toe + peek = Topeka. The capital city and state is Topeka, Kansas!" This mnemonic device paired with a hand drawn picture was used to help instruct students in the United Kingdom who were studying the states and capitals of the USA.

Right before the holiday break, Mrs. Carroll's grade 4 classroom connected via Skype with Mrs. Stone's class across "the Pond" just outside London, England (Tasis The American School in England). Each class was placed in three groups. Using 2 iPads and a laptop, the classes were able to connect simultaneously through Skype (through 3 different accounts). Each student in Mrs. Carroll's class shared a state and capital with their overseas counterparts. Visuals that further depicted the statement were displayed. Mrs. Stone's students took notes and asked questions about the state and capital.

This month the learning/sharing will be reversed as the American students in the UK will teach the Boyden students the remaining states & capitals using the same format.

A third connection is planned where the students in the UK will shared geographical information about Great Britain such as borders, climate, bodies of water, resources, landforms, major cities, famous people, attractions and animals found in nature.

Using video conferencing tools in our schools with programs such as Skype or Google Hangouts changes the way our students learn and helps them become Global Learners.

Mrs. Nancy Carroll
Grade 4
Boyden School

Classroom Blog: http://mrscarroll310.blogspot.com Classroom Website: http://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/teachers/home.php?id=69&view=t
My Blog: Teaching is Elementary http://teachingiselementary.blogspot.com

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Middle Schools Students Glogging!

Last spring the two middle schools were awarded a grant from the Walpole Technology and Innovation Foundation that enabled them to purchase a subscription to Glogster EDU.  "Glogster EDU is the leading global education platform for the creative expression of knowledge and skills in the classroom and beyond.  We empower educators and students with the technology to create GLOGS - online multimedia posters - with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, data attachments and more". Students and teachers have enjoyed using this new tool. Still not sure what a glog is?  Below is a glog about Glogster - check it out!