Since we are at the midpoint of the school year, I have been discussing needs and necessary adjustments staff believes would make for a smooth second half of the year. One of the topics that came up was parent to child communication during the school day. The overwhelming majority of our students have cell phones, and many carry smartphones. These kids have grown accustomed to immediate contact with family and friends, so the length of a school day is probably the longest stretch students experience without electronic communication to their social network. It is challenging for us to convince kids that life will still exist without Facebook, Gchat, emails, and text messages between 8:00 AM and 2:30 PM. To support the focus on learning at school, we have policies and practices in place to minimize some of the electronic distractions, for instance, students may not use cell phones during the school day, nor may they Gchat on laptops for nonacademic purposes.

We are asking your assistance and support on this topic. Teachers are seeing a sharp increase in the number of parent initiated contacts to students during the school day. It is difficult to hold kids accountable for sending a Gchat during class when we find the student was responding to parent contact. It is also difficult for a student to resist the urge to check the silent alarm for an incoming text when a phone is in a pocket. Please help us create more academic focus during the school day by resisting the urge to electronic message your child between 8:00 and 2:30.

Student Council is happy to announce our first 5th and 6th grade social this year. We will be hosting a movie afternoon in the cafeteria on Wednesday, February 8. We will be watching Dolphin Tale (rated PG)- the movie will begin right after school and should be finished around 4:30. The late bus will be available at 4 to take students home, or they can stay for the end of the movie and get a ride home from a parent/guardian. 7th and 8th graders will be running a snack bar during the movie for kids to purchase treats. There will be no cost to come and watch the movie.

The dates for the Chewonki experience this year are April 30 through May 4. The per student cost is $164. Please submit a check made out to CEMS for that amount by April 11. Please be sure to include your child's name on the memo line of the check. Should you wish to request partial or full hardship, please contact Mrs. Gretchen McCloy in the guidance office.

Here is a synopsis of the rationale for the Chewonki experience.

Each year, the entire sixth grade class travels to Chewonki to discover the true value of collective effort by living, working, and learning together in small groups (10 to 12 students). Chewonki and Cape Elizabeth leaders guide the students through a series of group and individual challenges. These challenges range from cooking meals over an open fire to traversing an inlet while harnessed to a suspended cable.

As sixth graders have been making the trip to Chewonki for over 25 years, this experience has become a rite of passage in the Cape Elizabeth school fabric. Chewonki is the only outdoor experience program of its kind in the U.S. In many ways, the program cannot be duplicated. The students who spend the week at Chewonki learn many things about themselves and the world around them. Every student has the opportunity to shine at some point in time over the course of five days, and this experience invariably leads to a stronger sense of self worth. Our students often grow tremendously as a result of the trip to Wiscasset.

The goals of the Chewonki trip for our students are: to understand the demands and satisfaction of teamwork while developing a respect toward the natural world and to challenge oneself physically and mentally, guided by the principles of play safe, play hard, and play fair. The students who participate have many opportunities to be leaders and productive group members, all the while, learning about Maine’s unique environment. They also learn about themselves and work to challenge their own ideas about what they are capable of.

This project will benefit the students and their families directly. Indirectly, the community as a whole benefits from the lessons learned at Chewonki. Specifically, we are placing students in a challenging environment that will help them grow emotionally, while having fun at the same time. In the long term, we look for the leadership skills learned at Chewonki to emerge in both the school and community settings. We also hope that students will remember how to be a contributing and responsible group member when situations arise in other facets of life.

Each spring, a representative from the Chewonki Foundation comes to CEMS to present information about the program to students and parents.The date of the meetings for this year is April 10.The students will watch a slide show and packing demonstration during the school day. A parent meeting takes place that night at the middle school that includes the slide show and packing demonstration as well as a chance to ask questions about the program. Additionally, if parents have concerns of a medical or private nature, individual meetings with Mr. Carroll (CEMS Chewonki coordinator), Mrs. Andrews (CEMS nurse), and a Chewonki representative will be held on a first come, first serve basis directly after school. The students slide show will be during the last period of school, the individual meetings will be at 2:45, and the parents slide show and question and answer session will be at 6:30.

Here is a link to our school website for Chewonki. This will likely answer most of the questions you have, but feel free to contact Charlie Carroll as needed.