SCHOOL NEWS 

Chatham School Notes 

Chatham Elementary School

            Third graders will end their school year with tours of the Cape Cod Canal Visitors Center and a two-hour cruise along the waterway. Army Corp of Engineers park rangers will facilitate hands-on activities for students.  Then the students are off to Onset to board the ship for the canal cruise.  The two-hour boat ride includes a narrative history of the canal and the building of the bridges.  This field trip, sponsored in part by the Chatham PTA, concludes students’ year-long study of Cape Cod and Massachusetts.  Third grader students have also benefited from their association with the Atwood House Museum.  Docent Richard Curcio wrote a comprehensive curriculum on the history of Chatham sea captains specifically for third graders.  Included in this curriculum was a walking tour to several Chatham monuments.  Students were met at each monument by a docent from the Atwood House who provided a wonderful overview of the significance of the monument.  Throughout the year, these lessons and activities have ncreased students’ knowledge about the town and state in which they live. 

Chatham Middle School

            Chatham was well represented by five teams at the Invention Project Convention at Bridgewater State College on Friday, June 6.  Mrs. Roy’s class won honorable mention for most marketable invention, the “Kid’s Gym in a Box.” The invention is a moveable gym full of kid friendly exercise equipment that is maneuvered by a pogo stick!  It won honorable mention for “Most Likely to Become Marketed.”  Congratulations to Mrs. Roy’s team and to all the other Chatham teams that presented fabulous inventions. Other inventions presented by Chatham students were the 21st Carrier Pigeon, Solar Pencil Sharpener, Picc Line 2 bag and the Amazing Therapeutic Sick Chair. Twenty-seven teams presented their inventions.  Students enjoyed complimentary breakfast of muffins and juices and a luncheon of pizza and sandwiches.  It was a great day for learning by all.

            Chatham Middle School’s NEED Club was among three Cape school programs recognized at a special ceremony Wednesday, June 4.  The groups focus their efforts to better their communities by educating others about energy and the environment. The state NEED awards ceremony was held at the Massachusetts State House in Boston and hosted by State Representative Sarah Peake and Eileen McHugh of the state Department of Energy Resources. NEED is the National Energy Education Development Project based in Washington, DC with state programs delivered throughout the country, including locally through the Cape Light Compact. The mission of NEED is to help mold an energy-literate society through curriculum and support to educators and their students.  Along with Chatham, which received the state Rookie of the Year award, other school programs recognized were the Eastham Energy Savers from the Eastham Elementary School (state Elementary School of the Year) and the Bourne Energy Savers, Bourne Middle School (National Finalist, Junior School of the Year, State Middle School of the Year).  State Senator Robert O'Leary presented the Chatham NEED Club and Eastham fifth grade Energy Savers with certificates and congratulated them for a job well done.   Outstanding projects included the Chatham NEED Club's workshop last April for teachers on how to teach the forms of energy to students, Bourne Energy Savers all-school birthday party for the school's PV (solar) panel, and the Eastham Energy Savers’ all-school Energy Carnival. 

Chatham High School

            About 125 students and guests packed the Chatham High School Media Center on May 28 for the ninth annual end of the year Community Internship reception.   The 31 interns exhibited their final projects and papers for their mentors, parents and school officials.  There was an eclectic mix of projects representing the diverse nature of the internships, which included medicine, education, business, media, retail, sports, government and non-profit organizations.  Students showcased brochures they created for their internships, PowerPoint presentations they made at their work places, websites they designed, stories they wrote for local newspapers, photo portfolios they had created and more.  One student, Chelsea Edgar, dressed a mannequin to show her sense of fashion that she developed working at Sundance Clothing Company, and intern Libby Buck created a traveling exhibit about oceans for the Cape Cod National Seashore.   In the formal part of the program, two of the interns discussed their experiences.  Maggie Cole talked about what she learned interning with the Chatham A’s baseball team and explained that her internship helped to reinforce her career goal to work in sports and business.   Jessse Hoffman-Klaucke, who interned with the Davenport Companies, also said that his internship piqued his interest in a business career.  Dallas Heller presented a film about the program that highlighted students working at their internships.  Students and their mentors were also given certificates of appreciation and participation.

            On June 2, Jessica Aschettino Watkins, a 1998 alum, spoke with four different classes about her experiences since leaving Chatham High School.  Speaking to this year’s internship class and students who have signed up for next year’s class, Aschettino Watkins talked about the importance of internships.  She discussed her college internship during her junior year when she worked in Mexico as a dolphin trainer at Parque Nizuc. She said that this internship helped her to get her first job out of college working in Bermuda at Dolphin Quest, an interactive educational facility founded by two marine mammal veterinarians.  After working at Dolphin Quest Bermuda for nearly three years, Aschettino Watkins transferred to Dolphin Quest Oahu in Hawaii, where she worked for another two and a half years both as a trainer and internship coordinator.  It was her job to select and mentor interns, she explained.  Aschettino Watkins also made a different presentation to the marine science and photography classes.  She focused on her current work as a graduate student and the research she is doing with melon-headed whales and monk seals.  Aschettino Watkins, who has recently started her own photography business, also shared some of her photos with students.          

            The class of 2009 would like to thank everyone who donated cell phones this year for our fundraiser. The recipients of the reconditioned phones are appreciative as well. We are still collecting and will continue this fundraiser next year. Have a wonderful summer.

            Students in the junior honors English class completed their study of “The Great Gatsby” by creating original scripts and skits based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel about the Roaring Twenties and the decay of the American Dream.  First, students wrote and researched essays that included professional literary criticism, and then developed their skits.  Students were divided into two groups and took on various roles including actor, director, prop manager and make-up artist.  One skit was a clever spoof on the novel and involved a TV-style reunion of the main characters.  The second production dramatized a volatile meeting among the “rags to riches” hero Jay Gatsby, his paramour, the beautiful but shallow Daisy Buchanan, Daisy’s brutish husband Tom, and the naïve, morally upright Nick Carraway.  Students added an entirely new and interesting twist to the plot.  After the performances, students assessed their work by using the Chatham High School creative expression rubric.

6/26/08