It is amazing that we are already entering the last week of school. This school year has gone really fast, much like a snowball rolling down a great big hill. When I look back at the year I'm proud of all we have accomplished together, and how much everyone has grown! 

Some important things this week:  

Monday morning is Step Up/Step down Day, students will be visiting their second grade teacher's classroom and the second grade will come up to check out the upstairs and visit all the third grade classrooms! 

Tuesday, June 13th our class will be going on the final leg of the tour of Old Town.  We will load the buses at 8:05, so please make sure to be on time so no one misses the bus and the trip. We will travel to the Forestry Department, Airport and the Old Town Museum. We will return to school in time for lunch.

Wednesday, June 14 our amazing PTC is holding a fundraiser in conjunction with Margarita’s restaurant in Orono. This fundraiser is from 11 am to 11 pm. Stop in with your friends and family, have a meal, and 20% of your dinner bill will be donated to our school!! A great way to enjoy an evening out and help our school at the same time! I hope to see you there!

Thursday, June 15 is our last day of school! It is a half day, students will be dismissed at 11:00.

I have been taking a load of pictures of our activities and special events in our room, here is a sample!

We had a large clutch of frog eggs to observe, from the day they were laid to when they were released back where they came from as baby frogs!

Some calming yoga during guidance with Mrs. Wilcox

 Learning about elapsed time was a challenge, but we persevered!

learning about elapsed time!

 Measurement in kilograms, grams, and milligrams

Geometry, shapes and their attributes!  

Our trip to Leonard's Mills in Bradley

A horse and Buggy ride

A horse and Buggy ride

 It was a very fun day, but all the learning walking and sunshine was super tiring!  This cute picture was posted with this student's permission. :)

Phase 1 of the Tour of Old Town 

Old Town Public Library tour

 This picture was taken in the Town Council Chambers.  These are the "elected officials" and we held a mock council meeting where they had to hear proposals from townspeople and make some decisions about how to budget and spend the town's monies to best serve the people.

Counselor Aiden

Counselor Lily

Counselor Isaac

 Counselor Ben

Counselor Zach

These students were in K-Kids all year, working on service projects that benefit the school and the community!  Nice Job girls! 

Field Day 2017

A class picture from Field Day!

A favorite tradition here is the parade of graduating seniors!  In only 9 short years, this class will come back and parade here too!  We were able to make signs of encouragement and congratulations for the hardworking graduates, and Griffen's brother was in the parade!  Congratulations! 

We ended our study of fossils with a knowledgeable guest speaker, he brought an amazing collection of fossils. We were even able to take a couple of  shark teeth fossils home, along with a shark tooth necklaces!  Thank you Mr. Thurston for your time, and for your generous sharing of your fossils with us.  

We still have many baby guppies available, if your student would like to take some home! They're not big fish as adults, and they like the company of other fish.  4-6 is the recommended school size if you have no others in the tank,  Let me know and we can make arrangements to get them to their new home!

Learners Are Leaders criteria this month is "Finishing Strong."  I have seen a lot of students take this seriously, and try extra hard to finish the year listening and learning right up to the last day. Even though it is already June, we are still going strong with our learning - and expectations for behavior, homework and effort have not changed!  We have a lot of learning left to do!

On Friday of last week we had a fabulous guest in our classroom.  Bri Lolar came up from Kindergarten and taught us about the Penobscot Indian history, culture and customs. We got to listen to music sung in  the Penobscot language, learned some of the Penobscot words and we also heard about their celebrations, and her experience with drum making. She also shared some information about traditional basket making as well. We continue our Native American studies this week!

As we get down to the final stretch of the school year, we have some special days coming up!  

Field Day is June 6 - THIS TUESDAY!! 

I sent home Field Day permission slips in backpacks last week, and I have not received all of them back yet! Please check your child's backpack for them so they can get signed and returned.
Please have your student come to school already wearing sunscreen and bug spray!  We will be outside all morning at the High School, returning to OTES at noon.

Also, we will be going on part 2 of the Old Town Tour on June 13. We will be going to the Forestry Department, Airport, and the Old Town Museum.  If you have not signed and returned the permission form, please do so!  We will be leaving at 8:05, and returning to school at 11:00, in time for lunch.

Have a great week!

As we get closer to the end of the year, there are a number of permission forms for field trips that need signing.

 Please check backpacks and get them sent back as soon as possible!!

The field trip yesterday to Leonard's Mills was fabulous!  It was pretty buggy, but the kids were troopers and didn't let it take away from the fun.  Some of the highlights were the fish ladder, where the kids were catching and releasing alewives in big nets, sometimes they caught 5 at a time! There were "old-timey"games, crafts and a lot of learning more about Maine logging history, especially the the Lombard Log Hauler.  As one student put it, " I guess people were pretty smart back then."  I guess she was right.





Many thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers, the trip was so much more fun and interactive with all of you there to support our class.

I hope you all have been able to spend more time outside than inside this weekend!  Spring is a very busy time in and out of school, so there are a lot of things coming up.


Wednesday, May 24 - Day long Field Trip to Leonard's Mills
       If you have not returned the permission slip yet for this trip, please do so as as soon as possible!!  I am still missing a few. Some important notes for this trip - we will be gone the whole school day, and will be outside for about 6 hours.  We will be going no matter what the weather is, so if it looks like rain, send their rain gear as well.  Right now, the forecast is calling for a chance of showers, but keep your fingers crossed for a pleasant day.

Please send your student to school this Wednesday with sunscreen on, and already sprayed with bug spray, wearing sneakers.    Because it has been so wet, it is likely to be very buggy there, and this is also a bad year for ticks.

Wednesday, May 31 -  Tour of Old Town Field Trip
Permission slips and more information are coming home this week. Please sign the permission form and get them back ASAP!

Wednesday, May 31 - The OTES Annual Pancake Breakfast is coming up!  The breakfast is open to all families and is FREE!  Please come on May 31st from 7:00-8:30am and enjoy bacon, eggs, fruit, juice, and coffee.  This wonderful breakfast is sponsored by our OTES PTC

Tuesday, June 13 - Old Town Airport/Forestry/OT Museum Field Trip
details and permission slip to come.


Last Friday was World of Work Day at OTES, and the Third Grade had a busy morning learning about the Arts from the Next Generation Theater. We also learned what it takes to be a chef, a TV reporter, a TV cameraman, a Hair Stylist, and a Wildlife Management professional.  Many thanks to our presenters, and to Mrs.Wilcox for organizing this eye-opening day!

     Please be aware that my email has changed.  It will be susanne.white@rsu34.org.  I am not sure if this is a permanent change, but for now, if you need to contact me via email please send it to this address. 
     If you have any urgent dismissal changes during the school day, please call the office and speak to Kathy Rivers and she will get the message to me.