MSAD 58 – Last month, twelve students from Strong Elementary School qualified for competition in the National History Day (NHD) in Maine State Contest. Because of the unique circumstances surrounding this year’s event, these young historians were not able to showcase their work in person at the University of Maine at Orono as in years past. However, this did not prevent them from giving their best efforts to the projects which they submitted virtually.

Wendy Morrill, Strong’s 5th grade teacher who also teaches writing to students through grade 7, commented, “The twelve Strong students who qualified for the NHD State competition which took place virtually on May 2, did really great work, representing our district very well… Some really important topics were explored, such as the underground railroad in Maine, a famous female NASA engineer, and a man who fought for equality in marriage rights as far back as the 1970s…”

And then there was the team of Kalley Starbird, Riley Monahan, and Nadia Davis, whose entry in the Jr. Group Website Team category earned second place in the state contest and now awaits judging at the national level. Their presentation, titled “Breaking Through Alcatraz”, took this year’s state history contest theme, “Breaking Barriers in History”, quite literally. As their subtitle explains, it told the story of “1962: The year common thieves masterminded the most notorious escape in history, (when) the three men broke “The Rock” and redefined maximum security in the United States”.

Principal Dwiggins pointed out that these researchers were even able to secure a telephone interview with a woman who had been raised on Alcatraz! She had written a book, which prompted the young ladies to locate her and learn her personal insights.

“This really speaks VOLUMES to their love of learning!” Ms. Dwiggins declared.

The National Contest will also be held virtually. It is scheduled for June 14 – 20. Kalley, Riley, and Nadia will get together to present their discoveries to judges via Zoom at a designated time during that week.

The other nine competitors from Strong Elementary were Rita Baker, Aidyn Legere, and Eric St. Pierre, Jr Division, Group Exhibit (Harvey Milk: The Man Who Sought Equality); Kaylie Estabrook, Jr Division, Individual Exhibit (Katherine Johnson, The Human Calculator); Adrianna Stinchfield, Kahlyn Wilkinson, and Alyssa Sniadecki, Sr/Jr Division; Individual/Group Exhibit (Ruby Bridges: The Girl Who Changed William Frantz Elementary); and Martha Morrill and Isabelle Danala (A Treacherous Journey: Maine’s Role in the Underground Railroad).

National History Day in Maine is a history education program for students in grades 6 – 12. According to the official website, it is “a co-curricular academic program that fosters in-depth research and critical analysis skills…” Students choose their own topics related to a national theme, then use primary and secondary sources as they research their subject. Their findings may be presented as a traditional research paper, a museum-style exhibition, a 10-minute video or live performance, or a web-based collection of interactive pages.

The competition includes classroom evaluations, regional and state competitions, and then the national event. There are two levels of competition: Junior for students in grades 6 – 8 and Senior for high school students. Projects are evaluated on historical quality, relation to theme, and clarity of presentation. It is a year-long program organized by the University of Maine and the Margaret Chase Smith Library.

Crystal Polk, social studies teacher at Strong Elementary, provided some history about National History Day at her school: “Wendy Morrill and I coordinate the National History Day instruction and events at Strong School. This is our second year participating. We had a group participate at the National level last year as well. That was the Little Rock Nine group: Natasha Nichols, Emily Pillsbury, Savannah Davis, Isabella Norster, and Veda Clement.

“At Strong School, Wendy Morrill is the driving force behind teaching students engaging and effective research skills. I teach social studies and reading classes, and we integrate the history content into our language arts classes. Candace Dunham, who teaches 8th grade writing, also supports our efforts with this project in her classroom.

“I think that the project engages students because they chose their topic and their partners. We support their ability to deeply research their topics. The group that is headed to the National Competition was extremely intrinsically motivated. Through their research they found a book written by someone who had grown up on Alcatraz. They tracked down the author, and did an amazing phone interview with her. To create their website they also had to work together, use their creativity, and problem solve along the way.

“Strong School initially became involved because Wendy Morrill wanted to use National History Day to teach research skills. I volunteered to support her efforts in my classes. The local Strong Historical Society has always been supportive of anything that we have needed local history wise. Normally our 7th graders visit the Historical Society each spring. Members have been wonderful about answering the students’ questions via email or phone. The Strong community as a whole has been wonderfully supportive of National History Day,” she concluded.

In other news from Strong, teachers and staff will celebrate their graduating 8th graders with a parade which will begin at 9 a.m., on Friday, June 12. Students will be receiving their awards and recognitions via Zoom the day before, but will get their certificates from Ms. Dwiggins during the parade.

Following is the latest update, from MSAD58 Superintendent Todd Sanders:

“Good Afternoon M.S.A.D. #58 Students, Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Community Members,
I hope this correspondence finds you and your family in good health, both physically and emotionally. The guidelines regarding everything from shopping for food to the number of people we can interact with is something new to us all and can prove to be very stressful. The past several weeks have certainly proved to be challenging for everyone. I want to once again thank the M.S.A.D. #58 staff who have worked so very hard to provide ongoing remote learning and school lunches to the children within our communities since the decision was made to transition to learning of this nature on March 13th.

I am writing to you as a follow-up to the press conference that Governor Mills held last week, April 28th, in which she extended her “Stay Safer at Home” order until May 31st. While we were holding out a slight bit of hope that we might be able to have our students back with us for at least a portion of this school year, that is obviously no longer possible. As a follow-up to the Governor’s message, Education Commissioner Makin shared additional guidance which read in part, “Today’s announcement (from Governor Mills) applies to businesses, and not to school programs; it is important to note that our recommendations, provided April 7, to continue remote learning plans for the remainder of the school year still stands.”

M.S.A.D. #58 will follow the recommendations of Governor Mills and Commissioner Makin and continue to provide remote learning for the remainder of the school year.
The focus now must turn to what the remainder of the school year will look like in M.S.A.D. #58. The Administrative Team is meeting several times a week to determine the best course of action for our students and staff. This is increasingly difficult as the guidance that we receive often changes in a very short period of time.

Taking all the factors we know as of today, this will be the course of action we will take. We will continue to work to provide the highest quality remote learning for our students until June 12th. Knowing that students are often less engaged as the summer months draw near the challenge will be to craft creative and engaging activities for the two weeks in June. I know that many staff and administrators are already crafting ideas for what this might look like. We will continue to deliver meals through our food service and
transportation department until June 12 as well.
The following week will allow staff several days to follow-up with students who may be in need of additional supports, collect all electronic devices (a collection schedule will be created and shared), begin planning for what the start of the 2020-2021 school year will look like, allow teachers access to classrooms to prep them for the summer months, and provide educational technicians with support and training regarding their evaluation model.

The district will transition to our Summer Meal program on June 15th as well. We are still awaiting guidance on what that will look like, so more details will be made available in the near future. The fact that we have not altered our school calendar during this situation indicates teachers would have a workshop day scheduled for June 18. In light of all the additional hours that have gone into planning for remote learning and the fact staff will be in the schools at various times, outside of normal work hours, to complete the room closure process, June 18 will be a comp day for teachers. Should teachers prefer to wait and clean up their rooms on June 18, that would also be an option.

June 17 will be the last day of the school year for all staff in the district. Also, the status of extended school year services for identified students with IEPs remains unclear, but will be communicated to those impacted as soon as additional information becomes available.
We will continue to keep you informed as to any new guidance or information we receive regarding the end of this school year and the start of next. One “hot topic” of discussion is what graduation for our seniors looks like. The high school administration has been working hard to come up with a couple scenarios that would allow those students to get the recognition they deserve. The Commissioner of Education has convened a panel, which is meeting today, to help create guidance regarding all of these. As we receive guidance from that group we will move forward with our planning.
As always, our primary goal is to be as supportive as possible during these stressful and challenging times. We are fully aware that the circumstances and situations people are dealing with vary, often to significant degrees, in each home. When it comes to remote learning we simply ask that students give their best effort. We will be working hard to create a variety of supports for our students who have struggled with remote learning, so when they do return to us we are ready to best meet their needs.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s Principal or myself. I wish nothing but the best of health for you and those around you”

Todd Sanders, Superintendent of Schools (posted May 6 at www.msad58.org/covid-19).

Finally, from Mt. Abram Regional High School Principal Michelle Tranten, here are the plans for graduation (posted June 1, 2020 at https://www.msad58.org/home):

Dear Class of 2020 and their Parents/Guardians, Congratulations Class of 2020!

You have accomplished so much and we are very excited to celebrate your graduation! Although we could have never imagined that we would not be able to hold one graduation ceremony with the entire class, administration, along with the Class of 2020, have developed multiple graduation ceremonies to celebrate. Please see below for some very important information about graduation. As you know, there are additional safety guidelines that have to be followed due to COVID 19.

Graduation Details:

*Graduation is June 13, 2020 at the Mt. Abram High School Gymnasium.

*There are 13 graduation ceremonies this day. Seniors have signed up for groups of 4. *Each group of 4 has been assigned an arrival time and a graduation ceremony time. It is imperative that seniors arrive at their assigned group arrival time. Seniors have received their groups arrival time and ceremony time via their school email. Guests do not and should not arrive at this time. Guests should arrive no sooner than 20 minutes of their young adults’ ceremony time. Guests will be directed where they need to go upon arrival by MTA faculty at the main entrance.

*There will be MTA faculty throughout the school on graduation day providing direction and guidance, please follow their directives for the safety of all.

*Seniors will be given 8 guest tickets. A guest will not be admitted into the building without a ticket. This is so we can stay in compliance with the Governors guidance of 50 or less people for gatherings.

*Seniors will be given a “Fear the Mountain” mask for graduation. When on school premises and during the ceremony practice social distancing by maintaining 6 feet apart from others. When 6 feet cannot be maintained, the mask must be worn. If you do not feel well, please do not attend the graduation ceremony.

*There will be a tent set up on the front lawn with a “Fear the Mountain” backdrop for photos. There will be MTA faculty there to assist seniors and their families to take photos. This is not a professional photographer but a time for you to take photos as a family.

*Photos may be taken during the ceremony. Please maintain the 6 feet social distancing guidelines. We will also have Mr. Moretto taking photos during the ceremony. Live Stream & Recording of Ceremonies

*We are developing a plan for the 13 ceremonies to be shared via Live Stream. Additional information for this will be shared with Seniors via email. It will also be shared on www.msad58.org, and the district Facebook page.

*Each ceremony will be recorded. All recordings will be compiled into one video and a link for this video will be shared with Seniors. They may share this with those that they wish.

*June 9 (10 – noon and 4 – 6 pm) and June 10 are Senior Pick Up and Drop Off days. On June 10 from 10 – noon Seniors need to return their laptops, charging blocks, cords, cases, textbooks, library books, uniforms, and any other MTA property. Seniors will pick up their caps and gowns on June 9 and 10. The cost is $17. Cash or a check made out to MTA will be accepted for payment. If a Senior has earned a graduation cord, it will be distributed at this time. NHS members will receive their sashes. Foster Tech cords are being hand delivered by some FT teachers and the rest will be mailed to MTA. These will also be available for pick up June 9 and 10. *Seniors may decorate their caps. It needs to be school appropriate and approved by administration. Feel free to email a photo to administration.

*Guests may not go into the gym until they are directed to do so. They will be directed in for their young adults ceremony only. Don’t forget your guest ticket! You won’t be admitted into the building without it!

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Shelley Tranten with any questions regarding graduation. I may be reached via email at mtranten@msad58.org. I look forward to celebrating with our Class of 2020 on June 13th! I am so proud of each of you!

Be well, Michelle S. Tranten, Principal