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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