Good News From Sanford Schools: November 4, 2021
Compiled from reports by staff members and Facebook posts.
Sanford Middle School
Books Are Flying Off the Shelves! The beginning of the school year has been great for readers. For the first time, Sanford Middle School has all 5th – 8th graders here and the students are eager to get their hands on books. In September we checked out over 3000 books. The previous record was 1,766. In October we also broke a record with a little over 2,600 books. The previous record was 1,100. September always tends to be higher as students return and check out books. The fact that October was also high is a great sign that reading continues to be a priority among students and staff.
The SMS Fall Carnival was held and provided an opportunity to enjoy some fun and games (and fruit!) in the sunshine.
Sanford Regional Technical Center
Students from the AM session of Landscaping and Horticulture are preparing to sell their next batch of apple cider, produced from apples they harvested. Our cider was pressed locally by Giles Farm.
SRTC celebrated Halloween with many costumes and seasonal activities. In the Academy of Business, students participated in a little spook-a-tition working in teams on marketing a Halloween event. Students created menus, coupons, merchandise, and more relating to their chosen theme. Digital Design students wrapped up their horror movie poster competition with some chilling scenes. Students from throughout the school had the opportunity to vote on the scariest, most creative, and the movie they most wanted to watch. Wailing Woman, pictured above, was the winner.
Sanford High School
The Sanford High School Marching Band led by drum major Mason Nguyen competed in the MBDA Finals at Alumni Stadium last week and earned a Silver Medal. Congratulations to SHS Band Director Hailey Francoeur and all her students and staff on all their hard work this season! We also need to thank the Sanford Music Boosters for all their time to set up, run and tear down of the Finals.
Carl J. Lamb School
CJL’s top-notch librarian, Mrs. Miliano, has CJL’s students participating in a fantastic Global Read Aloud event. The premise? “The project was created in 2010 with a simple goal in mind; one book to connect the world. From its humble beginnings, the GRA has grown to make a truly global connection with millions of students having participated.”
In this photo, Mrs. Miliano shares the first “Global Read Aloud” book with Mrs. Gillis’s second graders. This first book is titled Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin and was written by Duncan Tonatiuh. Before hearing the story, students enjoyed learning a bit about the author’s background and schooling. For more information, visit https://theglobalreadaloud.com/
The CJL PTA’s Trick-or-Treat event was a huge success with great participation and turnout.
Margaret Chase Smith School
Halloween Walk Thru Trick or Treat: MCS had the pleasure of hosting the first in-person PTA sponsored event Thursday evening along our Fire Road. We had over 500 members attend from both Pride and MCS elementary schools as families visited various tables collecting candy and connecting with staff members. Thank you to all of the families who donated over 150 bags of candy to make this a spooktacular evening for all!
Masked Reader: Throughout the month of October, various staff dressed up in masks sharing their love of literacy to promote an increase in visits to our library. Each morning during announcements, students had the opportunity to read three hints as a new staff photo was revealed.
Sanford Pride Elementary School
Congratulations to Alexandra Smye, our health teacher at Pride, who recently received the Maine Environmental Education Association’s 2021-2022 Mini-Grant for Outdoor Learning for the amount of $750.00.
Ms. Smye applied for this grant with the intention to supply the greenhouse with the necessary equipment, seeds, and soil to be able to have a vegetable garden come the springtime. With the funds from the grant, Ms. Smye also plans to begin a composting system at the school, which will subsequently give us soil for more gardening in the future, as well as teach the students about the benefits of composting for the Earth.
Pride Elementary 4th Grade Juggling Club: Every Wednesday morning from 10:30am to 11:00am, a small group of dedicated fourth grade students give up their recess time in order to pursue learning how to juggle! Students who joined the juggling club meet on our stage, located in the school cafeteria, on Wednesday’s at 10:30am and learn and practice juggling. With music playing in the background, juggling balls are being tossed in the air for 30 minutes of fun!
Juggling is not magic, it is a skill that has to be taught and then practiced- over and over again. Juggling is a lot like learning how to read or solve math problems, you learn the basic steps and then you practice by repeating them!
No, juggling is not easy at first, but with practice, determination, perseverance and patience anyone can learn to juggle. The first step is to have a positive attitude or “mindset” that “You can do it!”
These Pride Elementary students are proof that “You Can if You Think You Can!”
St. Thomas School
St. Thomas School had a “Fabulous Friday” on October 29 with costumes, treats, and a Saints & Angels Celebration. Pictured below is the St. Zita’s Sweeping Race event.
