SOLON & BEYOND: Second quarter honors at Solon Elementary

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

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

The Second Quarter Honor Roll at Solon Elementary School is as follows: All A’s, Katelyn DeLeonardis, Kaitlin Dellarma, David Dixon, Lydia Dixon, Lane Frost, Charlotte Hamilton, and Jillian Robinson.

All A’s & B’s Isabella Atwood, Maxx Caplin, Amelia Cooper, Veronica Hoffman, Allyssa Hutchins, Alex Jerkins, Joseph McLaughlin, Riley Pelkey, Hunter Pouliot, Aiden Powell, Ben Powell, Spencer Rogers, and Haylee Towers.

The first snow day of the year, November 12 caught them all by surprise. They weren’t ready for the annual “Guess the First Snow Day” contest. So they decided to hold a “Guess the Second Snow Day” contest! The winners, who came the closest to choosing January 16 as the second snow day, were preschooler Maelah Wellman and fourth grader Isabella Atwood.

Preschool Applications Available: If you have a child who will be four years old by October 15, 2020, stop by to pick up an application for the preschool program for the 2020-21 school year. Please call the school at 643-2491 for more information about this program.

Again this year, Solon Elementary School scheduled some fun activities to celebrate Valentine’s Day. They held their annual Secret Cupid activity in which each decorated a heart with some kind words for another person in the school. The hearts are displayed on the bulletin board in the lobby. The annual Heart’s game was played on February 13. Students also exchanged Valentine cards with their classmates and friends.

Superintendent Teaches First Grade: On January 28, the first graders had a very special substitute teacher. Superintendent Mike Tracy spent the day teaching reading, math, and all the other parts of the first grade curriculum at the Solon Elementary School.

Why did Mr. Tracy teach first grade? Well, he is teaching a five-part series of after-school workshops on working with children who are affected by trauma for district staff members. At each workshop, he does a drawing from the names of the staff members in attendance. The person whose name gets chosen gets a day when Mr. Tracy will fill in for him/her on his/her job. Mr. Tracy worked in the CCS kitchen in December after he picked the name of one of the cooks there. In January, Mrs. Campbell’s name was chosen so that’s why Mr. Tracy came to Solon to teach first grade. In February he will be teaching Special Education at the Garret Schenck School, in North Anson.

The first graders enjoyed working with their special teacher for a day!

Grades 3-5 students are getting ready to take the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA), which will start the week of March 16 and go until April 10. Students in all three grades will take tests in reading / ELA and math. After April vacation, the fifth graders will take a test, in science. Please encourage your child to do his/her very best on this important test, which helps the school to assess each child’s achievement level as well as the progress of the school.

Ms. Rich organized an activity for students to complete a calendar of healthy alternatives to screen time that they engaged in during the Christmas break. Each student received a certificate and a water bottle.

Students completing this challenge were Katelyn DeLeonardis, Derek Dixon, David Dixon, Emma Pooler, Hunter Ingersoll, Olive MacDonald, Jayden McKenny, Sophie Duquette, Lane Frost, Kyliee McNear, and Nevaeh Beaulieu.

Students will have a chance to take the 5-2-1-0 vacation challenge again during the February vacation week.

And now for Percy’s memoir entitled, The Wind’s Not Always at Our Back: The wind’s not always at our back; the sky’s not always blue. Sometimes we crave the things we lack and don’t know what to do. Sometimes life’s an up hill ride with mountains we must climb. At times the river ‘s deep and wide and crossing takes some time. No one said that life is easy — there are no guarantees, so trust the Lord continually on calm or stormy seas. The challenges we face today prepare us for tomorrow, for faith takes our fears away and peace replaces sorrow. (words by Clay Harrison)

And now a few words of wisdom from my little book: “If you Always tell the Truth you Never Have To Remember What you Said.” Now isn’t that good advice?