The News From MGWS

The fourth graders were treated this week to a visit by Phil Averill of Ocean Adventures. Mr. Averill spoke about the Gulf of Maine and the importance of Georges Bank, which is a large elevated area of the sea floor which separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean and is situated between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia. He explained that the presence of Georges Bank enables special conditions in our coastal waters.  These conditions, like the algae bloom in the spring, have greatly enhanced the fishing industry in the coastal New England states. 

Students also learned about waves and tides, and heard harrowing stories of how quickly the tides rise in New Brunswick (up to 50 foot high tides!), and why that phenomenon takes place.

Our great art teacher (Ms.Turner ) at Great Works School is retiring, and we asked the following questions to get more information about her retirement.

Q:  Why are you retiring?

A:  I have been teaching for 33 years and it’s about time to do other things.

Q:  How long have you been teaching in this school district?

A:  I have been teaching for 28 years at this school district and before that I taught 5 years in Portsmouth.

Q:  What are you going to do when you retire?

A:  I’m going to ski more and visit my kids and grand-kids. But I’m still going to continue making art

Q:  Do you have an all time favorite project?

A:  My all time favorite was the 5th grade masks.

Q:  What will you miss the most?

A:  I will miss the the students and staff the most.

Q:  Do you have a funny story that happened during your teaching years?

A:  I would be sitting down in my art class when a teacher would walk by the door and ask the students “where is your teacher?” even though I was sitting right there. They wouldask that because I am a little short.

We hope you have learned a little bit more about Ms. Turner’s retirement.

by:MS & GLM

Congratulations to Hayden E. Fitt, a fifth grade student here at MGWS!
She has qualified to represent MGWS and participate in the state level of the National Geographic Bee.  The state bee will be held Friday, April 3, 2009 at the University of Southern Maine.  One winner from each state bee will advance to the national competition, which will be held May 19 & 20th at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington DC.  The National bee will air on the National Geographic Channel on May 20th.

While one might expect the halls to go quiet after dismissal time, at MGWS that is NOT the case!  Once classes end for the day then the after school activities begin.  

This afternoon nearly 150 students stayed after school to participate in a wide variety of activities:

~Play Practice (4th and 5th graders are preparing to perform Treasure Island)

~Team Handball (exercise – what a great way to end the day!)

~Hawk Challenge (here “tribes” are assigned the task of building a paper airplane)

~Math Club (a chance to work on math skills with Mrs. Conte)

~Newspaper (here students and teachers are making plans for the third edition)

~Learning Lab (an opportunity to get a head start on the night’s homework)

~World Ambassadors (seen here building schema for the book they are reading, Three Cups of Tea – a book about a man building peace in Pakistan through education)

MGWS is hopping with energy and opportunities!