HSS Robotics students excel
On May 16, our fourth- and fifth-grade Southside Robotics students attended the 13th annual Robotics Track Meet in Ellsworth. Students designed and programmed Lego robotics to overcome a variety of missions or challenges competing with approximately 10 other schools and 70 students. Receiving top awards were: Hope Chernesky, first-place Delivery Mission; Amanda Thorne and Robert Pelton, second-place Bridge Build; and Gavin Deprey, second-place Slope Climber.
Houlton Southside Team 1 – “The Crazy Magic Machines” (Chernesky, Pelton, Trevor and Laci Cummings and Thorne) tied for third place for Overall Best Team.
Meeting gold standards for the competition were: Kara Prosser and Alex Philbrook in the Fastest Robot event; Caden Foster and DaKoda Boyce in the Strongest Robot event; John Cumming in the Steeple Chase event; Chernesky in the Delivery Mission; and Gavin Deprey in the Steeple Chase and Slope Climber events.
Robert Pelton also received third-place in the Slope Climber.
If you drive on South Street on Wednesday mornings, I am sure you have noticed many children happily walking to school! Walking Wednesdays has been revived by Houlton Southside Student Council and has been whole-heartedly supported by staff and student volunteers. Not only is the Golden Sneaker awarded each Wednesday to the classes with the highest participation, but each child is involved with a taste of a life-long physical activity. About 90 students participate on average and many, many volunteers give of their time including the Houlton Police Department.
Mr. Chernesky’s classes have just finished up their mystery unit. Working in pairs who read the same book students became “Detectives” in order to solve the mystery.
During their reading of the book students kept took notes to keep track of clues, suspects, and “red herrings” as they gathered evidence to complete a “case file” and solve the case.
Our last read aloud book for the year is “The Search for Delicious” by Natalie Babbitt. This fantasy novel’s plot interweaves a quest to find out which food the kingdom’s inhabitants truly believe to be the most delicious, along with an evil brother-in-law’s desire to dethrone the king, a magic whistle, a mermaid, dwarfs and a “woldweller”. Students are enjoying the reading as they try to predict how the story will end.
