By Theron Larkins
Staff Writer
Students, teachers and parents in the Union 122 gathered at the New Sweden School on March 26, for a fun-filled night of activities during their annual Education Night. The two-hour event provided an opportunity for parents to join in the excitement the school system uniquely incorporates with learning. Union 122, which also includes the Woodland Consolidated School and students from the towns of Westmanland and Stockholm is well-known for their variety of enjoyable school events, keeping the community engaged in the all-important education process.
“All who attended education night put forth a great effort to attend. It is difficult to come to school in the evening when you want to stay home after a long day,” said New Sweden Principal, Laurie Spooner. “We appreciated all who were able to come out and support the education of the students in Union 122.”
The night was centered around the school’s yearly Book Fair, where book lovers of all ages crowded into the school’s library to share in the literary experience. In an age of society when technology and culture are changing so rapidly, it would appear that the art of reading has for the most part been reduced to include functions like email and social media. While there are certainly still many who love to read it is an art form inversely declining with the rise of what has become known as the “information age.”
Despite the saddening theory that literature has failed to evolve in the last half-century and the undeniable fact that actual books are gradually being replaced by technology, it’s a refreshing sight to see young scholars, like those at Education Night, becoming excited about the prospect of reading, as it plays such a vital role in the education of young students.
While the Book Fair may have been the most popular part of Education Night it was certainly not the only attraction. Teachers stationed themselves in their classrooms with a number of different activities students could display to their parents, while showing off some of the skills they have learned throughout the current school year.
“Parent involvement in education is important. Students and parents are given the opportunity to share in the educational experience at events such as education night,” said Spooner. “When parents are as excited as the students are, the students have more support in meeting their educational goals.”
In Mr. Easter’s classroom students were dilligently working on schematics for what were basically robotic cars. The projects resembled a typical remote-controlled car, however, the young fourth-and fifth-grade students were learning to build and program the cars to not only drive without any assistance, but to operate with a level of cutting-edge artificial intelligence.
“At first, we were having competitions with the cars, as students tried to drive them up a vertical wall and hold them at roughly a 70 degree angle without flipping the car over,” said Easter. “Later, we progressed to programming the cars to be able to manuever by themselves, while being able to sense any obstructions set up on our obstacle course.”
Easter explained that sensors were put into the cars, enabling them to avoid striking obstacles. The cars would drive up to the obstacle, sense it was in its path, and reverse its direction in search of a new route. The credit was not simply owed to the sensors, however, as Easter pointed out a complex formula written on the marker board. The young engineers had to correctly plug these formulas into their laptops before the cars would function properly.
One impressed parent pointed out the amazing advanced technology the young students were dealing with, and how unfathomable such things were in the not so distant past. It displayed an important contrast for Education Night — one room offering the nostalgia and magic brought on by literature and another reminding everyone of the extraordinary power of modern technology.
By 6:30 p.m. it was time for the finale of Education Night, as the Union 122 Show Choir took to the stage to give a sneak-peek at their performance of “Annie.” Community members from Stockholm to Woodland piled into the New Sweden gymnasium to watch the group’s rendition of the classic Broadway musical. The performance would act as a warm-up for the show choir, as they would take their act on the road later in the week, while competing in the State Show Choir and Jazz Music Festival. The festival was held on March 28-29, in Ellsworth.
Aroostook Republican photo/Theron Larkins
New Sweden student Anastacia Hearn takes a seat inside the school’s library during this year’s Book Fair. The large crowd of people swarming the bookshelves were unable to distract Hearn, as she intently focused on what clearly was a good read.
Aroostook Republican photo/Theron Larkins
New Sweden student Reid Margeson works on the schematics for a robotic car the fourth- and fifth-grade students have been working on with teacher Ernie Easter. The cars are equipped with sensors, allowing them to navigate and maneuver without any remote-control assistance. In the above photo, the young engineer works on fine-tuning his car, while Easter plugs formulas into the computer to help program the artificially intelligent machine.
