As I sit here writing this article in the middle of March, I surely did not anticipate the view out my office window would be simply snow. By snow I mean the snow is up over half of my window! Let’s hope with the arrival of spring this week, at least according to the calendar, it will have some impact on how Mother Nature feels about the weather patterns. There is plenty to report from the halls of Houlton Middle/High School.
Our senior English classes participated in a Shakespeare workshop with actors from Penobscot Theater last week. The Arts Council sponsored their visit, which included a free evening performance of Shakespeare shorts. The students learned stage presence, stage combat, and how to speak lines. The interactive Shakespeare experience was a fun time for the seniors to perform on stage and participate.
Katie Wright and Melissa Goodwin took 20 middle school girls to a one day conference called Expanding Your Horizons at the University of Maine last week. The conference focused on opportunities to connect young women with underrepresented career fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The girls had the privilege of listening to two keynote speakers from the University and heard how STEM played a key role in their career paths. The girls were then guided by a STEM student to three workshops that involved mathematics or science career options, as well as a session that involved discussions on gender equity.
Speaking of STEM, Houlton High School students in grades 9-12 participated in our annual STEM fair last week. Seventy-six projects in all were judged by a variety of people from the STEM field. I want to extend my sincere thanks to the students, staff, and judges who devoted their time to make our STEM fair a success.
We have also celebrated “Arts in our Schools” month with a concert by the University Singers, an evening community presentation by student artists, and a presentation to our middle school students on the importance of Arts and Aesthetics on mastering 21st Century Skills. These events, which occurred last week, were very well received by the community, students, and faculty.
I am happy to report we are taking about sending 30 seventh- and eighth-grade students to the MainePSP Student Summit at the University of Maine on April 11. At this summit our students will be working with groups of students from other schools to solve a problem using teamwork, creativity and ingenuity.
Finally, in my last article I closed by wishing our girls basketball team good luck in their upcoming state championship. We are very proud the girls did win that game, however, my purpose for mentioning it again here is to thank the community for all of their support.
Mr. Hodgins and I have had numerous people from other schools and towns say positive things about what they witnessed in Bangor. They marveled at our teams, bands, cheerleaders, and fans. It is a tribute to everyone, and I want to make sure it does not go unrecognized. Thank you to all and let’s hope for some warm weather soon!
