March is "National Reading Awareness Month"

March can be a long month! It feels like winter should be over and spring should kick in but March typically makes fools of us all. We get our hopes up when we have one day with temps over 50 degrees only to be right down in the single digits the next day. We need to find things to keep our spirits up while we wait for the transition to spring! March is "National Reading Awareness Month" I can't think of a better month to take the time out to read and enjoy a good book. When kids see the adults in their lives reading they will be more likely to pick up a book as well. Share what you are reading with your children, carve out an hour when you all sit down and just read together, go to the book store and read there. We all need to take time out to read and relax!!

AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Ms. Tully's AP Environmental Science classes just completed a project where they designed and built a model of their own "Ecotopia" city.  The models focus on a particular type of renewable energy and principles of Smart Growth. The models are on display in the library and frankly are some of the most creative and colorful projects we have had displayed here. They are amazing!

 

 

 

 

SOPHOMORE ENGLISH

Sophomores' have hit the library once again for their third term research paper. The research lesson we focused on is how to search Google effectively. We went over how Google creates it's search results and how to formulate a good search query.

 

 

 

 

 

BLOG BOOK OF THE WEEK: Orphan Train / Kristina Baker Cline

Summary: Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by luck and chance. This is the story of one such child. As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are reminders of a turbulent past. Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past. Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota,
Orphan Train is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is a moving tortured tale of two females, one who's story began in the 1930's and the other, a foster child trying to stay afloat in today's world. Their lives connect as Molly helps Vivian clean out her attic as part of a community service program she must do to avoid juvenile hall. From page one I was hooked, I could feel the anguish and raw sadness both characters experienced and the hard exterior they needed to survive. This is a gripping tale all should read.