Whittier Wire
April 28, 2024
Upcoming Events:
- April 30: State testing begins at Whittier
- May 3: Trimester 3 Progress Report
- May 10: School Dance 6:30-8:30
- May 14-16: Grade 8 State Science Test
- May 24: Wellness Day
- June 3: Grade 8 Step-Up Day
- June 12: Grade 8 Field Trip
- June 12: Grade 7 Community Day
- June 13: Grade 8 Promotion Ceremony 6:00pm
- June 14: Last Day
National History Day in Maine
On Saturday morning around 6:45am, a group of Whittier students, staff, and parents started the trek north for National History Day in Maine at the University of Maine Orono. About 30 students represented our school in a variety of categories. Social studies teachers Sean Galipeau-Eldridge and Chris Frazier and English Language Arts teacher Angela Gilbert chaperoned the trip.
Results were announced late in the afternoon, and Whittier Middle School was well represented on the podium.
- Ali Starbird won first place in the websites category. She qualified for National History Day in Washington, D.C. this June.
- Scarlett Quimi finished in second place in the exhibits category. She also qualified for National History Day.
- Isabella Lizotte finished third in the papers category.
- Ava Banaitis and Meghan Komanetsky received a special award for their project's connection to science.
We are very proud of all of the students who chose to take this extra step and participate in this special day. Congratulations to all! More photos are available on our Facebook site.
Campus Clean Up
Mr. Clayton Jones and the Green Team facilitated Earth Week at Whittier last week. The Green Team offered contests and trivia throughout the week and closed it out with Campus Clean Up on Friday. All students were invited to participate in picking up trash across the school grounds. The weather was very cooperative and so were the students! We have beautiful facilities in RSU 16, and it's great to have students pitch in to take care of this place.
Ms. Fanus: Meridian Stories Challenge Program
Plagiarizing Nature: In this online challenge program, 7th Grade GaTE students studied Biomimicry, then worked on teams to develop products that imitate nature to solve sustainability problems. Afterwards, they pitched their ideas to investors in a 3 to 4 minute video.
- Zachary Bartlett, Lyric Orlando, Ian Rioux and Liam Whitney developed and presented the sustainable light source made from bioluminescent plankton, The Lava Lamp.
- Simon Rice designed Coral Housing, a type of sustainable architecture made of sea coral which would withstand rising tides and beach erosion.
The Game’s Afoot: In this challenge, 8th Grade GaTE students, Connor Bishopp, Fiona Connolly, Zinnia Cyr, Hudson Freund, and Sawyer Rice worked as a team to combine game design elements with select mathematical concepts to create a new, math-based board game called DERC (Division, Equations, Radius and Chance). The game was presented in a 4-minute video and included the creation of the board, the lore/story of Derc, 11 Game pieces, over 30 Chance Cards with mathematical problems and a ‘frog’ stock market.
Poetry Contest
Whittier students entered their original poetry in The America Library of Poetry National Contest this week.
- 7th grade students included Deja Cummings, Anna Claire Desjardins, Annabella D’Auteil, Megan Gagnon, Eleanor Nye and Liam Whitney.
- 8th grade students included Payton Campbell, Luciana Carter, Molly Grenier, Xavier Letellier, and Annabella Miles.
Good luck poets!
Mrs. Shanning: MidKnight FireSlayers Update
Mr. Galipeau-Eldridge: Grade 7 ELA
Mr. Galipeau's E.L.A. class recently completed a unit focusing on the rhetorical appeals: logos, ethos, and pathos. As a culminating project, students created original commercials using these tools of persuasion. A viewing was held in class and students assessed their fellow classmates' work. By the will of the students, these were the winners: Best Use of Logos: Vivian Colon/Allura Dumont; Best Use of Ethos: Reese Allen/Lucy Bissonnette; Best Use of Pathos: Luke Lombardi; Best Use of a Literary Device: Zoey Burhoe/Prudence Crouse; Most Convincing: Brody Dailey; Most Likely to Be Watched Again: Laine Purington; Best Blooper Reel: Deja Cummings/Logan Whittier; Funniest and the You're Hired Awards: Ethan Sewell.
Mrs. Yorkey: Grade 8 Wellness Class
If you have concerns about your child and possible substance use, please feel free to contact Erin Hamlin at ehamlin@rsu16.org.
Southern Maine Math Meet
Mrs. Lachapelle: Student Council
Student Council will meet May 2nd and May 16th. These will be our last two meetings of the year!
Mr. King: Whittier Athletics
Remember, we have a No Pet policy here at Whittier and Poland Regional. It is not just for the poop scooping. We have also had dogs go after each other in the past. Please respect this and that many of our competitors have this policy as well.
Monday
7th Softball Practice 2:30-4:00
8th Softball Practice 3:15-4:45. This is a change.
8th Baseball 2:30-4:00
7th Baseball 4:00-5:30
Outdoor Track 2:30-4:00
Tuesday
7th Baseball & Softball Home vs Mt Ararat 3:45
8th Baseball & Softball @ Mt Ararat 3:45 Depart 2:00
Outdoor Track Practice 2:30-4:00
Wednesday
Outdoor Track- no practice
7th Softball Practice 1:30-3:00
8th Softball Practice 2:15-3:45. This is a change.
8th Baseball 1:30-3:00
7th Baseball 3:00-4:30
Thursday
8th Baseball & Softball Home vs Tripp 3:45
7th Baseball & Softball @ Tripp 3:45 Depart 2:20
Whittier Track Home 3:30
Friday
8th Softball @ Harrison MS (Yarmouth) 3:30 depart 2:10
7th Softball Practice 2:30-4:00
8th Baseball 2:30-4:00
7th Baseball 4:00-5:30
Outdoor Track 2:30-4:00
Join Team Whittier at the Triple Crown 5K Series
Looking for a great way to get active this summer? Join the Whittier Middle School team at the Greater L-A Triple Crown 5K Series. The first event is June 2nd at Festival Plaza in Auburn. Students 14 and under receive FREE registration! All are welcome on Team Whittier.
Visit the Triple Crown 5K website for more information about the series.
Bruce M. Whittier Middle School
Email: svincent@rsu16.org
Website: https://www.rsu16.org/bwms
Location: 1457 Maine Street, Poland, ME, USA
Phone: (207) 998-3462
Facebook: facebook.com/WhittierMidknights