Region In Review

Read Across America is the nation’s largest celebration of reading, which each of our elementary schools participate in annually. The initiative aims to motivate students to participate in daily reading activities, school-wide reading events, and partnerships in reading with local community members and families.

At Booth Free School First Selectman, Patrick Roy and State Representative, Cindy Harrison made guest appearances and read to all of our students and staff during a whole school morning meeting. In addition, our students have been participating in weekly events like buddy reading with peers in other grades, and creating decorative banners representing our students’ favorite books read this month. In addition, we have been “catching readers” by collecting photographs of our students and staff reading. We are hoping to fill our bulletin board with these photographs by the end of the month! In addition, our fifth graders and the PTO have been raising funds for their Aloha by selling books for our students to read during the month of March.

At Burnham School we kicked off the event with a surprise guest appearance from our mascot, Burnie! The students and our favorite mascot, initiated the Read-A-Thon celebration with a whole school morning meeting. Students came in with lots of energy, enthusiasm for reading! Each week there’s a fun activity planned like Pajama Day, Buddy Reading, reading outside, and raffles throughout the month for those who complete their reading goals each week.

At Washington Primary School, author Caroline Nastro visited students and shared the writing process and the many transformations text and illustrations take from ideation to publication. Fourth and fifth grade students were also treated to a read aloud from Judge Robert D’Andrea of “I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark” by Debbie Levy. In addition, each class did a special book study highlighting diversity and displayed their new learnings through writing and illustrations. Students participated in a “gallery walk” viewing the thoughtful work and sharing noticings and wonderings for further discussion. To celebrate reading together, students participated in a shared school-wide reading with a blanket, special stuffed animal and of course a favorite book!

Reading is a wonderful way to gain a wealth of knowledge, take a reader on an adventure or simply serve as entertainment! We are proud of our students and their eagerness to grow as readers.

On Thursday, March 7th, Shepaug Valley Partnership attended a program to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Arts in Education Program at the Ridgefield Playhouse. The students enjoyed a show presented by the "Shanghai Acrobats: The New Shanghai Circus".

What an amazing opportunity for our students to experience and learn about another culture. The acrobats athleticism and timing was vital to their performance and they captivated the entire audience with their skills.The playhouse stated it perfectly, "The youthful and graceful company enthralls audiences with a range of demanding performances, most of them typifying Chinese circus and constituting a refreshing alternative to the Western tradition.

Seventh grade students use the engineering design process to develop educational games about alternative energy. Students work on collaborative teams as they go through the steps of brainstorming, developing ideas, testing, receiving peer feedback, and revising games to create engaging games that teach students about different types of alternative energy.

Robotics students work on teams to follow multi-step tutorials to build VEX Clawbots that are able to pick up objects with an end effector arm and move those objects to different places, When problems arise, students work through them by isolating variables one at a time to be able to troubleshoot issues. Once students wire their robots and earn their driving licenses via remote control by going through a student designed obstacle course, they learn how to program their robots autonomously with C++. The training leads to students gaining the skills necessary to design and build original automated machines that solve real world problems.

CAD, 3D Modeling and Animation students learn the art of technical animation as they learn about the Adobe Animate software. Students delve into the principles of animation, create a series of short studies, and then work through creating original animations with different scenes by going through the storytelling principles and the design process, conducting peer reviews and editing final projects for the most effect. Learning how to use a layer based program is valuable in teaching students how to critically and strategically think about assets and their properties within a program and how those objects behave. The skills learned can easily be transferred to other layer-based industry standard programs like Photoshop and After Effects.

A new edition of Spartan Scope is now available to be viewed. News anchors Miles Wilson, Liam Pacific, and Fin Konik present another batch of news packages produced by my students in TV Production and DMC. Hannah Rich and Lexi Thomas have a report about Shepaug athletes and the injuries they may have sustained. Peyton Ongley and Jaeden Query have a story about a popular club here at Shepaug, Simply Smiles. Caleb Seamans and Noah Schramm wanted to know how stress affects students' lives. Ms. Gambino's middle school students present the weather for the end of February, and the beginning of March.

Shepaug agriscience students engage in maple syrup production, learning the entire process from tapping trees to tasting the syrup. They begin by tapping maple trees in the sugar bush, collecting sap in buckets.

Next, they move the sap to the boiling station, where they carefully monitor temperature and other factors. This hands-on experience teaches them about evaporation, sugar concentration, and flavor development. Finally, they will be able to taste the freshly made syrup, appreciating the fruits of their labor and the knowledge gained about sustainable agriculture. Through this process, students become stewards of tradition and gain valuable skills in maple syrup production.

Burnham School's Invention Convention was a showcase of incredible ingenuity as elementary students from both Booth Free School and The Burnham School presented their innovative projects to a panel of esteemed judges.

Among them were Superintendent Dr. Lorrie Rodrigue, First Selectman Curtis Read, Principal Emily Rhew, and School Resource Officer Mike Epps. These young inventors exhibited a remarkable ability to identify everyday problems and devise creative solutions.

Students engaged both the public and the judges, explaining their projects, detailing encountered challenges, and outlining plans for future iterations. Best of luck to all the students!

Contact Gabrielle Neunzig at neunzigg2024@region-12.org by March 24

Mar. 22 - Talent Show, SVS, 6:30pm

Mar. 23 - Planetarium Show, SVS, 7pm

Mar. 25 - BOE Curriculum & Educational Programming Committee Meeting, SVS, 6pm

Mar. 25 - Board of Education Meeting, SVS, 7pm

Mar. 29 - Good Friday - No School

April 3 - BFS PTO Meeting, 3:30pm

April 5 - 6th/7th Grade Social, SVS, 2:30pm

April 5-6 - High School Musical - Matilda, SVS, 7pm

April 7 - High School Musical - Matilda, SVS, 1pm

April 8 - BOE Finance/Operations Committee Meeting, CO, 4pm

April 8 - SVS PTO Meeting, SVS, 6:30pm

April 8 - Board of Education Meeting, SVS, 7pm

April 9 - WPS PTO Meeting, WPS, 6:30pm

April 10 - Burnham School PTO Meeting, Zoom, 7pm

April 15-19 - Spring Recess - No School

The Region 12 community educates, challenges, and inspires all learners to become compassionate, creative, and courageous individuals who are empowered by the knowledge, character, and perseverance to achieve their greatest potential within the global society.

Email: rir@region-12.org
Website: www.region-12.org
Location: 11A School Street, PO Box 386 Washington Depot, CT 06794
Phone: 860-868-6100
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