SOLON & BEYOND, Week of September 21, 2017

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

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

The K-5 students at Solon Elementary School will visit Lakewood Theater on September 21st to attend their fall production of “The Untold Story of Johnny Appleseed and Jane Peach Pitt,” performed by the Lakewood Jesters. This is the 19th year that Lakewood has produced a show specially customized for elementary students.

The play lasts about an hour, and students get to interact with the performers during the show and meet them after the show. We are fortunate to have this historic theater so close to home. Parents are welcome to join them on this trip. Thanks to the PTO for funding the admission for the students.

As the new year begins, we hope to see all of our students set a goal to have a good rate of attendance. It is very important for students to be in school to gain the maximum benefit from their educational experience. Unless students are ill or there is a family emergency, they need to be in school. We ask that parents try to schedule routine doctor or dentist appointments after school hours as often as possible.

Punctuality is also a key to a successful school year. Our buses arrive between 7:20 and 7:40 in the morning. If you bring your child to school, please be sure that he or she arrives by 7:45 in order to be ready when teachers start their classes at 7:50. A student who arrives late misses important learning time.

There are several testing pro-grams scheduled for our students this fall. Students in grades K-1 will be given the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) assessment in September to help us identify students who might need extra help to enable them to reach bench-marks for their grade level in reading by the end of the year. They will be assessed again in January and in May.

All first grade students are given the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) to help us monitor their reading achievement and design pro-grams to increase their reading skills. We also give this test to new students and those who have received Title 1 services in the past.

All students in grades K-5 Took the Measures of Academic Progress from Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) last spring. This test will be given again in reading and math in the spring to assess student’s progress over the course of the school year. Kindergartners, third graders, and new students will take the test this fall, and teachers can choose to test their students in the fall and the winter if they choose to do so to monitor students’ progress.

In the spring, our students in grades 3-5 will participate in the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA), taking tests in reading, writing, and math. Fifth graders will also take a science test.

If you have any questions about any of these assessments, please contact Ms. Butler at 643-2491.

Stewart Public Library in North Anson hours are now Wednesday, 2 – 5 p.m., and Saturday, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m., or by appointment.

Lief and I took our paintings over to North New Portland one day last week to exhibit in their annual fair. I was really proud and impressed with the Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club exhibit, a lot of time and energy went into it. Was glad to see that the Solon Extension had a really nice exhibit also. All of the exhibits were excellent and the North New Portland Fair is still a wonderful family fair.

And now for Percy’s memoir entitled Masterworks: “In Autumn when the leaves turn brown And red and gold, they all fall down To paint a picture, oh so rare! I know that God is there… To mastermind His ebb and flow; To stage His wondrous Autumn show, To brush His skies with molten gold; I watch His art unfold.. No grander sight could I behold: These leaves of brown and red and gold. But Winter bodes its icy chills Upon the snow-clad hills. In time the land, a living scene, Comes bursting forth in savage green; And I con-front the seasons’ thieves That took my Autumn leaves. But soon a softness in the air! God paints a picture, oh so rare Of Autumn leaves that all tun brown And red and gold as they fall down. (words by Henry W. Gurley.)