SOLON & BEYOND: Pine Tree 4-Hers meet in September

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

The Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club met on Saturday, September 11, at the Solon Fire Station. In attendance were Kaitlin Delarma, Jillian & Desmond, Robinson, Katelyn & Devyn DeLeonardis, Isabella Atwood. There wasn’t any craft project during this meeting. Members re-tagged their projects to exhibit in the New Portland Fair.

Members received their fair money from Dover and Skowhegan fairs.

At the Skowhegan State Fair, the club received a blue ribbon on their Educational Exhibit and four members received Best of Show with their projects. The club also received the People’s Choice Award at the Skowhegan Fair. The October meeting starts a new year of 4-H. Children nine years old and older are welcome to join at the next meeting to sign-up.

Next meeting will be Saturday, October 9, at 9:30 a.m., at the Solon Fire Station. My many thanks go out to Hailey Dellarma for sending the above news about the club.

And I also received a very welcome letter from the Solon Elementary School: The Principal’s Message: Welcome back to school to students who have been with us and those who are new to our school. We hope it will be a great year! We continue to follow the Maine CDC recommendations regarding physical distancing (three feet), hand washing, and symptom screening. Parents have the option of whether they want their child to wear a mask, although masks must be worn, by law, on school buses. Our goal is to keep our students and staff healthy and safe and to keep our school open.”

The principal can be found at Solon Elementary School on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons and Tuesday and Thursday mornings. At other times you can find him at his other school, Garret Schenck Elementary School, in North Anson. Secretary Mrs. McFadyen will be happy to help you get in touch.

Mrs. LaChance is our lead teacher again this year so she will help with a number of things including planning activities and handling discipline. We appreciate your support of your children’s education. Let us know how we can help you.

SCHOOL SUPPLY DONATIONS:

We want to thank people and organizations who have donated school supplies to our school this fall. Mrs. Ann Jackson, New Hope Women’s Shelter Madison Health Center United Way of Mid-Maine, thanks for your support!

We have several new staff members who joined our team this fall. We hired a new first grade teacher, Ms. Rachel Layman, to replace Mrs. Carol Campbell, who retired last spring. Ms.Layman, a Solon native and Carrabec High School graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Maine at Farmington. Last year she worked at our school in the pre-school program.

MS.LAYMAN: In Tittle I we have a new staff member. Ms. Samantha Taylor grew up in Anson and graduated from Carrabec as well as the University of Maine at Farmington with two bachelors of fine arts degrees, one in visual arts and one in music. She will work with Mrs. Rogers to support students in their learning. We also have a new physical education teacher, Mr. Paul Caplan. Mr. Kaplan graduated from Carrabec High School and the University of Maine at Presque Isle. He will teach P.E. at Solon, Garret Schenck, and CCS to students in grades K.-5.

STAFF MEMBER IN NEW POSSION: Mrs. Amanda DeLeonardis has moved from her position as a Title I ed tech to a teaching position as a learning interventionist at our school. This new position, funded by coronavirus relief funds, provides us with more support for students needing intervention in literacy and math to help them to be successful.

I will finish that one up next week.

Now for a quick word from Percy: “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”