Old Town Elementary News....Work Hard and Be Kind!

Celebrate Drug Free Week at OTES

2007-10-23T08:05:00.000-04:00

Students at OTES were excited to participate in the Drug Free Week activities. Today, students wore their shirts backwards in their quest for A DRUG FREE ENVIRONMENT.

Name That Dog

2007-10-19T13:32:00.000-04:00

Noella Milligan, our lunch worker, asked our students at OTES to help her name her new golden retriever puppy. The students came up with some creative and fun names for Noella and her husband to choose from. The winners of the contest were Johnna and Katelyn with the winning name "Maddie."

We're Back!!

2007-10-15T10:08:00.000-04:00

The First Day

2007-08-29T18:51:00.000-04:00

The first day is an exciting day for our students and staff. Everyone is anxious about the new year, the first day can be a new beginning for everyone.
WE appreciated that parents were understanding and helpful in the confusion of the changes with dismissal procedures. The walkers will be dismissed last, after the bus students. If we could ask walker parents to hold off on arriving at the school until after the buses are dismissed. Arrival for pick up should be between 2:20 pm and 2:25ish.

If you have questions about procedures, please don't hesitate to ask! Our school prides itself on attending to our students and their families.

Summer Reading at OTES

2007-06-15T09:17:00.000-04:00

"Summer Reading at OTES" is an at-home incentive program. Students who are in grades K-5 this year will be challenged to read a total of 700 minutes during summer vacation. What this amounts to is 20 minutes of reading (each day) 5 days/week, for 7 weeks. Students who meet this goal will be invited to participate in an end of summer party.

The Old Town Elementary School Library will be open this summer!! That's right, come on in and borrow books, sit down and read, or enjoy special guest readers: Dr. Tuell, Mr. Cyr, Mrs. Wilcox, Mrs. Clark, Mr. Thurston, and more.

This program will start June 25 and run through August 9. The OTES Library will be open Monday-Thursday from 7:30-11:30 under the leadership of Amy Peabody. The Library will be closed the weeks of July 2-July 5; and July 30-August 2. Please look at our school web calendar as well for these dates.

Parents are encouraged to visit the library with their children. There will be themes for each week: Week 1: Plangs and Flowers Week 2: Bugs and Insects Week 3: The Beach Week 4: Bubbles Week 5: Balloons

Come join in the summer reading fun. For questions, e-mail Amy Peabody at acsp65@msn.com

A New SISTER

2007-06-12T16:25:00.000-04:00

Emily Nicole was born on June 7, 2007----She's the little sister of Tyler and Josh. Nicole made her first OTES appearance on June 12th---We were able to give her OTES bid "WORK HARD AND BE KIND"

BIA Trip Supports Learning and our Troops!

2007-06-06T08:24:00.000-04:00

Second Graders from Old Town Elementary School recently had the pleasure of greeting troops and seeing them off overseas.
Learning Community #1 took a field trip to Bangor International Airport to culminate their year long studies of the seven continents. While there, they were pleasantly surprised, by getting an invitation to join a group of dedicated folks and veterans who kindly meet incoming and outbound flights of soldiers. Second graders stepped right up and were proud to shake hands, give high fives, and say “thank you” to 229 men and women on their way to Iraq. Following the meet and greet session, the tour continued on as planned. The original goal for the day, learning about world travel was accomplished. But somehow, the adults and children involved in this experience came away with some even more important lessons about how we can all do our part. This was a trip worth taking!

OTES Learning Garden

2007-05-23T10:17:00.000-04:00

The OTES staff recently spent part of an afternoon working together to help beautify our Learning Garden located near the smaller playground equipment. We did some weeding and planting. Maintenance of this garden is an ongoing project, and OTES is open to any and all support with this....including volunteer help and donations of flowers/shrubs for our garden. Stop by one afternoon and check it out!!

Spring Gotcha Party!!

2007-05-21T09:03:00.000-04:00

This past Friday, OTES celebrated our 3rd Gotcha Party!! Over 200 students in grades K-5 stayed after school for a wide variety of activities ranging from Dancing the Cha-Cha-Slide, to the Limbo!! There was also face painting for the younger students, and ice cream sandwiches for all!! Thanks to all parents and high school students for volunteering your time to make this event a success. Also, thanks to the River Coalition for providing the awesome sound system and funding for the ice cream!! (by the way, that's Mrs. Keane doing the limbo!!!)

NWEA Testing in 5th Grade

2007-05-07T10:18:00.000-04:00

5th Grade students at OTES are taking their spring NWEA tests in the areas of Mathematics, Reading, and Language Arts. If you recall, we took these tests in the fall. Since the first time around, students and teachers have dedicated a lot of thought and time into the development of learning goals. Within the next few weeks, we will have results of both tests--along with comparisons of the data indicating areas of growth. Students and teachers will be able to use this data to measure their individual progress, as well as monitor how well students are meeting goals. NWEA testing has quickly proven to be a valuable teaching & learning tool. Starting in the fall, OTES will be using the program in grades 3-5. Leonard Middle School also uses NWEA in grades 6-8; and, Old Town High School uses NWEA with 9th grade students. These efforts have been taken to improve transitions between grade levels and schools.

Mrs. Baldacci Visits OTES

2007-05-02T07:02:00.000-04:00

We were excited to have Mrs. Baldacci visit Mrs. Lonko's 5th grade class and teach a lesson about the dangers of drugs and alcohol use. This visit coincides with our guidance curriculum that talks directly about the dangers of underage drinking. The students were very attentive, polite, and engaged in the lesson.

Turn Off the TV Week Events!!

2007-04-26T08:48:00.000-04:00

School Spirit Day!!

2007-04-13T12:49:00.001-04:00

The entire school gathered today to celebrate OTES School Spirit. Students and staff were wearing school clothing and community colors (red, blue, green, & yellow).

The LMS White Jazz Band (Defending State Champions for the last 14 years!!!) performed for us. All students should be commended for their great behavior.

In addition to the great performance by the middle school jazz band, students and teachers were entertained by musical chairs and limbo. Mrs. Nahra also told the amazing story of how Dr. Tuell was saved from the spell by the students and teachers of LMS. This was a great way to send students off to April Vacation. See you all in a week!!

Technology at OTES

2007-04-03T15:22:00.000-04:00

As a school, we have the great responsibility of preparing children for the future. It’s scary to think that most jobs and careers they will choose do not yet exist. The role of technology as a teaching and learning tool has become more and more prevalent, thus sparking a new integrative approach where the technology is part of regular class curriculum, instead of a separate entity (or computer class as “we” learned).

It is no great mystery that technology will continue to advance and we can no longer choose not to use technology as it already exists in virtually every walk of life.

Please pay attention to the technology your child uses. Ask questions...it's o.k. to look over their shoulder. And it is certainly o.k. to admit that your child knows more than you do!! Just the other day, second grade students were teaching Dr. Tuell and I how to use a techno gadget.

Programs such as Tux Paint, and websites such as Netsmartz.org are great examples of useful Internet tools for students and parents.

The future is now....

-Mr. Cyr

P.E. Teachers of the Future at OTES

2007-04-03T15:12:00.000-04:00

Future Physical Education teachers from the University of Maine spent the afternoon with Mr. Thurston's P.E. classes today. OTES is very fortunate to have such a valuable resource in our own backyard (literally). The UMaine instructor had the same to say about having our wonderful school available to them!!

OTES Volunteer Bookfair in Library

2007-04-03T10:47:00.000-04:00

The OTES Library is hosting it's annual Volunteer Book Fair. All week long, students will be touring the fair with their classrooms. This Thursday evening, from 6-8 p.m., there will be a Book Fair Desert Night.... All are welcome!!! Come and support OTES!!

Pennies for Peace

2007-03-23T11:02:00.000-04:00

Some of you may have read the book, Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson. In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted and disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he eventually stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health.

While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The
village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school.

Since then he has dedicated his life to promote community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson is also founder of Pennies For Peace www.penniesforpeace.org

Since K-Kids was created to teach students to help others, both locally and afar, they decided that this was a cause they wanted to be a part of.

From Wednesday March 28 to April 4, K-Kids is asking you and your class to collect as many PENNIES as you can. PENNIES ONLY. At the end of that week Hannaford will count our pennies and we will forward the amount to the Pennies for Peace organization.

A collection cup will be placed in your class and emptied throughout the week. We would like this to be an opportunity to educate our students about those less fortunate and help them in the process.

All we ask is you that you tell your class about the collection and what it's for, we'll do the rest. Thank you for your help.

-OTES K-Kids

Old Town's Birthday Party!!

2007-03-19T10:51:00.000-04:00

Ms. Leighton and Mrs. R. St. Peter's 3rd grade classes celebrated the city of Old Town's birthday on Friday. Old Town is now 167 years young!!! Students invited friends and family members to attend the event which was held in LC4.

The celebration included a very comprehensive tour of old town including history of the schools, and industry. Students held a city council meeting earlier, and made a DVD for others to see. There was also several review games for students to check and see how well their guest paid attention to their tour. Students also had a laptop station set up on Google Earth, where they could see their homes in relation to the region.

OTHS Foreign Exchange Students

2007-03-15T14:38:00.000-04:00

Two foreign exchange students currently attending Old Town High School gave presentations on their home countries to the students of LC4.

Anis Apriliawali, of Malong City, Indonesia; and, Thanyaluck Pinyowattanasilp (Mint) of Bangkok, Thailand used DVD clips, photographs, and posters to show their beautiful homelands. They even performed traditional dances, song, and music.

Anis danced and sang a song, while Mint played the "Sow-Douang"-- a two stringed instrument. Afterwards students were able to ask questions. They learned that children of that part of the world also like to hang out with friends, go to the movies, and play video games. What OTES students were shocked find out that students of Thailand and Indonesia attend school 6 days a week, starting at 6:30a.m. and lasting as long as 5:00p.m. Thank you very much Mint and Anis!!

A message from Fireman Dan!!!

2007-03-14T10:29:00.000-04:00

"Hello everyone" Fireman Dan here!! I know that we all hate the junk mail...but this isn't one!! A few of you have asked of what you could do to help out the "FIRE/Life SAFETY" program. Here is our chance to get...I mean "WIN" all kinds of money to help these programs. If any of you know any parents that would like to drop a letter as well that would be a plus. So check out firedog.com/acrossamerica and lets see if we can boost our programs.
Thank you, Dan

http://web.firedog.com/acrossamerica/#

Stress Free!!

2007-02-28T13:48:00.000-05:00

4th Graders have been working with Mrs. Wilcox to create "anti-stress balls" as MEA testing approaches. Balloons, flower, and (ironically) some patience is all that is needed to make your own. MEA tests? No Problem!!

OTES Sculpture

2007-02-18T18:13:00.000-05:00

Dr. Tuell and Mr. Cyr were busy over the February vacation creating an ice sculpture for all the OTES students to enjoy. We had some help from Dr. Tuell's family to complete the sculpture.

K-Kids Thank Their Teachers

2007-02-13T08:25:00.000-05:00

The OTES K-Kids recently made Valentine cards for all staff members. Each card was personalized....thanking teachers for specific things they do for the school. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

100 Days of School!!!

2007-02-08T08:30:00.000-05:00

One Tuesday, February 6, OTES celebrated 100 days of school. Mackenzie can be seen here showing off her Fruit Loop necklace made of (of course) 100 Fruit Loops!!

Holiday Memories

2007-01-31T15:07:00.000-05:00

Rudolph and his crew!!