Hawk’s Eye

By Karen Sattler
Hodgdon Mill Pond School
    Those of us at Mill Pond School who traveled to the Bangor tournaments to cheer on our high school teams didn’t really relax during our week off. What exciting games to watch! From all of us at the “Pond,” congratulations to both the boys’ and girls’ teams for a strong show in Bangor. Your displays of hard work and determination mixed with integrity and composure made all of us very proud! After all that excitement, students and staff have made the adjustment back to school as usual.
    Our third grade classes have been reading some interesting stories lately. Mrs. Tina Burrill and Mrs. Cindy Floyd, both third grade teachers, organized a very special rice and tea party as a culminating activity following a week of Japanese cultural study. The students read a story titled “How My Parents Learned to Eat” in language arts class.
YUM — Dylan Tidd samples Japanese food during Hodgdon Mill Pond School’s Japanese cultural study.
    In this story, a Japanese schoolgirl and an American sailor fall in love and then realize they have never shared a meal together. The challenges of eating with chopsticks or a fork and knife create the problem in the story. The students also wrote a kind of poem called a cinquain; a five lined poem with special patterns.  They shared their poems with their classmates.
    While studying parts of a nonfiction text, the students learned many surprising facts about life in Japan. The practice of using chopsticks was much more fun when combined with a game of Kung Fu Chopsticks! Students discovered that learning about other cultures is not just informative, but can be very entertaining! Hopefully, the interest sparked in these students will cause them to learn about other cultures on their own!
    Mrs. Floyd was kind enough to share some personal information to be included in the Hawk’s Eye. Cindy Floyd is a third grade teacher and has been working at Mill Pond School for 35 years. She shares her home with her husband, Wayne, and their little dog, Sweetie Pie Floyd. She doesn’t spend much time dreaming of special vacations, but prays for a happy, healthy family. When asked, “Would you do it all over again the same way, or is there something you would change,” her answer showed her comical side. Mrs. Floyd’s response was, “What?!  It’s over? What did I miss here??”
    The usual question of telling one unusual thing about her prompted another funny response. “Do you really think that I would share information that could be used against me at a retirement party?”
Contributed photo
RAISING AWARENESS — The middle school Civil Rights team is raising student awareness about the damaging emotional impact that name-calling makes on others. They made t-shirts to hang in the middle school that symbolize the damage done to others when they get labeled or name-called. Participating in this activity are, from left, Leigha Jurson, Jason Mulvey, Shelbey Sanders, Madisyn Merritt and Sidney Crane.
    Her proudest moments always involve her family. She is very proud of her parents, brothers, nieces, and nephews. Cindy considers herself a very lucky person to have such a wonderful family and so many great friends.
    As the temperatures begin to rise and the crocuses begin their shoot upward and outward, we are reminded that, yes, spring really does come to Aroostook County. Soon, the snow blowers in the garages will be replaced with lawn mowers and mud season will be in full swing! Until then, let’s all enjoy the beauty of the snow, the smell and speed of a sledding run, and those quiet, reflective moments of peace and quiet while snowshoeing. Until next time.