Election Day results in Massachusetts included the passage of ballot question 2, which removed the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) as a high school graduation requirement. Follow up communication from the Secretary of the Commonwealth offers clarification that the earliest that this ruling would take effect is December 5, 2024.

Between now and December 5, the MCAS retests in English Language Arts and Mathematics scheduled for November 2024 will go ahead as planned. Since these tests will be administered before the new law goes into effect, any student who earns a qualifying score on the retest will satisfy the competency determination (CD) requirements for that subject area.

At Mohawk Trail Regional, we will comply with the guidance offered above and expect MTRS students to honor their commitment to the MCAS retests this month.

As further guidance becomes clear, we will share those updates and respond accordingly.

Across the nation schools have historically served as Election Day polling places because they are central and easily accessible locations for voters. Though our district towns do not hold elections in our schools, we follow the tradition of closing school for Election Day. However, instead of serving as polling locations, we take advantage of the space and time to hold professional development for our teachers and staff.

More than 300 district students participated in the highly anticipated STEAM Fair at Mohawk Trail Regional. Fifth and sixth grade students traveled from Buckland Shelburne Elementary, Colrain Central, Hawlemont Regional, Sanderson Academy and Rowe Elementary to learn and grow with middle school students as they were entertained by STEM magician Peter Boie, worked on a community weaving project, participated in a hands-on sessions, and learned about solar energy.

Individual STEAM sessions included shark dissection, dramatic expression, bugs and disease in trees, canine therapy, the science of cheesemaking, and more. The energy in the auditorium and gyms was palpable. And in smaller groups, students were curious, brave, and respectful.

We offer our thanks to the middle school, food service and custodial teams; other teachers and staff including those from the elementary schools; high school student volunteers; and helpers from the community, who really made it all come together.

The BERK12 folks are churning out reports left and right based on feedback collected from district families, town government officials, and other community members. Visiting their website, one may access and read all that they have produced.

In the last number of weeks, BERK12 staffer Jake Eberwein presented a virtual progress update in October and an in-person/virtual progress update in November. Between the two sessions, about 100 individuals participated. Related slides may be accessed here.

With lots of chatter about related expenses and responsibilities, Jake asked the group to consider “thinking like a region” instead of as individual towns, especially where town-based tax structures complicate a district wide decision. He went on to admit that “everyone will have to concede and gain something at the same time.”

BERK12 has come up with 5 models to present to the community for consideration. Before that happens, the team is working out the financial and logistic details of each. Townspeople will ultimately consider the models and be asked to vote on a model that aims to make education more sustainable in our area. It is important for townspeople to engage with this work so that each of us is making the most informed decision affecting the future of our schools.

As we move into the winter, community engagement sessions will follow. Watch for your opportunity to be part of the conversation. Until then, please read and participate to keep in step. See the October update attached below and visit www.2districts8towns.org to access resources, reports, presentations and more. A recording of the November progress update will be made available on the 2District8Towns.org website in the near future.

We want to offer our thanks to the Mary Lyon Foundation for bringing the Resource Fair to our building and community once again. Local support organizations offered information about their services and programs. MA State Representative Natalie Blais attended and made the observation that the event demonstrated the strong spirit of support we have locally across our county.

Our facilities staff deserve a round of applause for their role in preparing for and breaking down the event. Thanks are also due to Jay Mankita and his wife Susan who led the Playful Engineers chain reactions session, and to district literacy coach Val Vasti who ran a glow-in-the-dark literacy event and facilitated the book giveaway from the Mary Lyon Foundation.

What an effort! Again, thanks to the Mary Lyon Foundation for all that you do!

Across the district, students are working with a new EL curriculum. Kindergarten students have read Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon, a story about building things from reused and natural materials. We caught up with students engaged in the lab portion of the lesson which had them building toys out of recycled items like paper towel rolls and cardboard boxes, plus pipe cleaners and LOTS OF TAPE. Students have let their imaginations run wild building ships, trucks, musical instruments, dolls, and more.

In Mrs. Tomlinson's class at Buckland Shelburne Elementary, students were inspired by the main character, Molly Lou Melon and were following in her creative footsteps. It was amazing to see what they made possible using items from the recycle bin and their imagination.

In Ms. Forbes' class at Sanderson Academy, students did an exercise in which they considered a classmate's creation and practiced offering words of encouragement and suggestions. They modeled, "What if you try...?" and "Have you thought about...?" as ways to introduce ideas to enhance the toy made by their peer. This work on collaboration and approach are lessons to last them a lifetime.

Please see the source news stories below. However, if you do not have online access to the Greenfield Recorder, you may read the articles on the Mohawk Trail websites. For MTRS news, visit this news archive. For district wide or specific reporting on elementary schools, visit the district news archive. (Please note, sometimes the news shared is included in a "round up" or other compilation article, and it may not be clear that the story includes coverage of district news by the displayed title or photo.)

Though the wind was strong and sunshine was intermittent, students in the Climate Resilience class put the power of the sun to the test. They built solar ovens out of pizza boxes to cook up s’mores. Two students proudly showed off a little melt on their chocolate bar despite the suboptimal conditions. Then it was off to the races! Solar cars made out of a cardboard base, two axles with 4 wheels, a motor, a solar panel and a couple of wires were encouraged to perform on a downward slope. Following each run, students discussed what may be slowing or sending their car off course. Bounce, friction, and whether a part was level or straight were among the issues to fix for better performance in the future.

Thank you to students, caregivers and staff for participating in the SLC on October 30th. The feedback below in the hyperlinks was shared at the most recent LEC and school committee meeting.

As a reminder, SLCS are a vital part of our shift towards Standards Based Teaching and Learning as they provide students an opportunity to reflect on the content concepts and skills they have developed and applied so far at MTRS.

This round of SLC was also an opportunity for students to share their goals and next steps for the rest of the academic year and beyond with caregivers and teachers. In April, the second round of SLC will be a chance for students in 8-12 to look back at their year and how they have grown and developed since October. It is also an opportunity for students to make specific action plans on how to best use the rest of the school year and the summer break too!

For Grade 7, the April SLC is an opportunity for students to reflect on their first year at MTRS and start to make plans for Grade 8 and beyond in order to become leaders of their own learning.

For advanced planning purposes, we will run April 2nd as an 11:30 dismissal for all students. There will not be any athletic practices or events scheduled for April 2nd, so all students should plan to take the bus home at 11:30. Students and caregivers should plan to either return to school at their SLC time or attend remotely via google meet. More details will be shared at the start of semester 2 in 2025!

Student feedback

Caregiver feedback

Teacher feedback

Congrats to the MTRS Dungeons and Dragons Club, which received a $200 grant from the Sly Flourish After-School TTRPG Grant Program. Founded by author Mike Shea and his wife Michelle, the program awards after-school roleplaying game programs with funds they can use for the club.

The D&D club used this money to buy dice! Every time a new student joins the club they are given a set of dice for D&D that are theirs to keep. This grant let the club load up for the next year or two of new adventurers.

Coach Sherri Lannon and her volleyball squad wrapped up their regular season with a 13-1 record, going undefeated in league play to clinch their first outright league title in over 30 years! After winning the first WMass Volleyball Championship in MTRS history, our Warriors had three of their players earn All-League honors. Senior Palmer King, Junior Emma Canaday, and Freshman Abby Moffat were all recognized for their individual excellence on the court!

In addition to qualifying for the MIAA State Golf Tournament (and finishing 10th), first year coach Sean Doyle had four of his players earn All-League honors. Seniors Phineas Tuttman, Logan Moore, and Douglas Wilcox were joined by 8th grader Conor Bergeron in receiving these individual accolades.

After wrapping up their regular season on a strong note with a victory and a tie against Mahar and Hampshire, the Mohawk Trail Field Hockey team officially qualified for the Western Mass tournament. Seniors Sofiya Slocik-Gritzner and Avery Johnston were awarded All-League honors to cap off their final fall campaigns.

Rounding out the All-League awards are soccer players Addie Loomis and Zephyr Jetzon for their outstanding seasons on the Greenfield Varsity Girls Soccer team with which MTRS has a coop arrangement.

The Mohawk Trail Boys and Girls Cross Country teams took to the course in Westfield for the PVIAC WMass Championships and earned countless personal records (PRs) en route to 8th place and 7th place finishes, respectively. On the girls’ side, sophomore Virginia Krezmien continued her great season by finishing 4th overall out of 140 racers. Not far behind, Junior Anya Read finished 10th and sophomore Natalie Lanoue finished 22nd. On the boys side, the Warriors were paced by Junior Peter Healy with a 12th place finish, followed by freshman Rex Kuoppala (31st) and freshman Aymeric Loucka (55th).

Athletic schedules can be found HERE, and please get your student-athletes registered for Winter Sports (basketball, wrestling, indoor track, Nordic skiing, and alpine skiing) ASAP! Go Warriors!

Vice Principal Joe Moynihan invited area veterans to attend the Buckland-Shelburne Elementary annual Veterans Day Ceremony on Friday, November 8, at 9:30 a.m. Servicemen and women with connections to students or families of those attending BSE, and others, attended the event.

During the ceremony, which featured a reading about the origin of Veterans Day, patriotic singing, and the playing of Taps, veterans introduced themselves and shared short stories about their experience.

Moynihan, a veteran himself, shares that this event is meant to express appreciation and recognize the contributions made by the men, women, and families of those who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Colrain Central students enjoyed a gorgeous hike at the High Ledges.

Mrs. Shearer's fourth grade students recently finished an EL module that ended with each of them taking a turn speaking in front of their peers. Each student wrote a poem and an accompanying passage about why they chose to write their poem about their particular topic. As they read their pieces, listeners got to know the readers a little bit better. Pets and family emerged as the major stars of the written pieces. Ruger the dog, LemonClover the cat, and Sadie the horse were just a few of the beloved pets mentioned. Minecraft, demolition derby cars, and storms were other topics chosen by the budding poets. Knowing public speaking is one of the biggest fears in humans, Mrs. Shearer was particularly encouraging and helpful as the students made their way through their poems and reasoning statements. Well done, Colrain Central 4th graders!

Across the grades at Hawlemont, one can find commitment to the surrounding community in a number of way. Hawlemont fourth graders were engaged in great teamwork making scientific scarecrows for Scarecrow in the Park, an annual Bernardston-based event. Fifth grade students helped stack 2 cords of wood that was delivered to Hawlemont for the Town of Charlemont Wood Bank. A mix of students painted faces at Hagar’s annual Pumpkin Smash to raise funds for 4-H programs. Good job taking care of each other, everyone!

Classes are learning the importance of why we should get our garden beds ready for winter. Some of the reasons students came up with were: soil protection, weed control, disease preventions, nutrient addition, erosion prevention, and improved spring planting. While we were outside we looked for decomposers on or under the leaves and in the soil. Students weeded the gardens, put leaves on top of the beds, and then put a layer of cardboard on top of the leaves tucking everything in for winter.

4H Community Service - Toy Drive:

Hawlemont 4H students had a lunch meeting with Mrs. Sinistore to discuss their community service project. This year students will be organizing a Toy Drive for Good Neighbors. If you would like to donate a new, unwrapped toy, please leave it in the box near Hawlemont’s office by December 17th.

Wreath Making Workshop:

Get crafty and join us for Winter Cheer, at Hawlemont’s first Winter Mini Course of the school year! Saturday, December 7th from 10:00-11:00, Hawlemont Elementary School, 10 School St., Charlemont MA in the HAY room (During the Hobby Horse Craft Fair). This beginners wreath making course is offered to adults, teens, and kids with a limit of 10 participants. The $20.00 fee covers all materials, cookies, and warm drinks. Please contact Jenn Sinistore, jsinistore@mtrsd.org, to reserve a spot.

Other Workshops to look forward to are:

January - TBD, if you’d like to lead one please contact jsinistore@mtrsd.org

February - Jam making with Sherry Hager

March - Native Gardens with an opportunity to receive a $200 certificate to start your own.

EGGS:

The school pullets have been busy laying eggs. If you'd like a dozen small/medium size eggs please reach out to the office. They are $3.00 a dozen

Sanderson students are finding seasonal cues in their work. The entire student body enjoyed the annual Mountain Day hike. Students in preschool are learning about seasonal changes and have harvested the last of the gourds from the school garden. Third grade students have been busy cleaning up the gardens and bringing in the harvest. Recently they brought in a huge basket of apples and enjoyed making and eating applesauce made from those apples. Fourth graders enjoyed a successful STEM project in which they constructed pumpkin candy launchers using craft sticks, straws, pipe cleaners, spoons, 3 oz. cups, and tape.

For the last 5 or 6 years on the day after Halloween, the Sanderson Academy community comes together for a fun run. This year the event took place on the grounds of Sanderson Academy and followed a .8 mile loop. The classes lined up in front of the school with 6th graders at the front of the pack. Staff and parents joined in the fun. Runners were permitted to complete as many loops as long as they returned by 11:15 am. A 6th grade student completed the most laps and amped up the spirit by wearing a chicken hat!

A related initiative is the reignition of the “100 Mile Club.” This program, led by Ms. Sue, aims to make running fun and encourage lifelong commitment to health and wellness.