Rise and Run

On the ninth of October the eighth grade algebra class took a little outing to do some hands on work. The students measured the length and the height of five steps off of stairwells all around the building. This exercise was looked at whether or not the stairs followed the most recent carpenter safety laws. Although the stairs didn't follow the most recent laws, 101 years ago they probably were up to date. The educational purpose was to take hold of a concrete understanding of scale. This was a fun accommodating activity.

Food bank speakers

Two people from the Vermont food bank visited team Sirius recently. Alison Levin,who came on Monday, September 22, talked about gleaning.  Gleaning is going out and harvesting the extra produce that farmers cannot sell.  She told us that even though they cannot sell it does not mean that it is not okay to eat.  She explained how many people volunteered to glean and donate to the food bank. You may not believe it but a lot of food can be donated to the food bank because there is usually plenty of extra food in the fields.  Maybe sometime team Sirius could help glean for the food bank.  Joe Dauscher, who came on Monday, September, 29, represented the multiple food banks of VT. He told us that about 153,000 get food from the food bank per year.  That is a lot of people the food bank is helping, plus all of the food is free even pet food.  The food bank also has a food deliver system too, for people that cannot travel to pick up the food themselves.  Also Joe talked about how grocery stores and farmers markets have systems that connect to the food bank that have discounts for people.

Marble Roller Coasters in Science

 In science class, we are making marble roller coasters. This is because we are trying to answer a question, do larger marbles take longer thrill rides? We are testing this question by rolling different size marbles down our tracks and timing them. We started building these roller coasters last week and we are going to finish this project by Friday. During this unit we are also learning about how friction affects the marble and to how to support the foam we are using as the tracks. Most people thought that this was a fun activity.
   

A TA Lends a Hand

         On September 25th,  Ms. Zurowski's TA went to Bear Pond Books to add to their collection of non-perishable items for the food bank. They brought in about 35 items all together, and helped raise hunger awareness within the school. They did this not only to help the community, but also to celebrate Hunger Awareness Month.

Robin Hood Play

After we picked apples on Thursday we went to a Robin Hood play put on by the Stowe Preforming Arts Center. The play was unique because only two people played all the roles. The props consisted of cardboard boxes, chips, plywood, and a shopping cart. So it wasn't typical production of Robin Hood.

http://www.flynncenter.org/education/student-matinees/details.html?perf_no=10988&prefix=SSD15A1

Road trip brochures

For several weeks the Team Sirius students have been working in groups of four and five on road trip brochures for both Language Arts and Social Studies. In Social Studies each person has chosen a state and an outdoor location in that state to write about in their brochure, with pictures from online sources such as Wikipedia and Wikimedia. In Language Arts each person selected an author from their state to write about as well. Now, on October eighth, the groups have finally presented their final drafts of their brochures in Language Arts.

Team Sirius Apple Picking

         Team Sirius went on a field trip to Burtt's Apple Orchard Thursday the second. We contributed to the Pick for your Neighbor fundraiser. Team Sirius raised money by selling popcorn, collecting donations through a request letter, and collecting money for a teacher challenge in the library. We raised exactly $420.00 with all of our fundraisers combined. Team Sirius picked 408 pounds of apples, and Burtt's gave us another 12 pounds to round it out at 420 pounds. They then doubled the amount of apples, giving us 840 pounds of apples to give to the Foodbank.

Popcorn Fund Raiser

         On Thursday, September 25 and Wednesday, October 1, team Sirius sold popcorn. We raised about about $115 from just the popcorn. The popcorn sellers went through twelve batches of popcorn and sold them all but about three. Two blue poker chips were hidden in two bags of popcorn. The two lucky finders, Mrs. Thompson and Mary-Ann both received two free bags of popcorn in return. Many people helped contribute to the popcorn fund raiser.

Field Trip

Team Sirius has an upcoming field trip on October 2nd. This trip will include helping our community through picking apples at an orchard through a program to give apples to the Food Shelf. This field trip will also include an afternoon viewing of a Scottish Theatre production of "Robin Hood". However, in order to pick apples, we need to raise about $400 dollars. In Science class, fundraising suggestions included a car wash, a cider stand, and numerous requests for bank robbery (which were ousted by Mr. Rosenberg). Everyone on Team Sirius is very excited for this trip! 

Crafters Edge: Weekly Report

As a student run business for Main Street Middle School, Crafters Edge is dedicated to constructing products to fit your needs and/or wants, organizing student run events such as our Annual Craft Fair and school dances, and to essentially satisfy the public and community with our excellent services. This year, we have focused mainly on organizing and formulating ideas for products that will meet your expectations. In the art department we have evaluated what our products will cost, how much they will sell for, and are starting to construct them.

In the Family Consumer Science (F.C.S.) department, pies are starting to be made, and a new assortment of baked goods are being sold. You can now buy: dozens of cookies (Oatmeal Raisin, Sugar, Chocolate Chip, and Snicker-doodle), a mixed berry, a Smore's, a Lemon Meringue, and a cherry pie. As an addition, we are also now selling Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough made by our lovely chefs in the F.C.S. Department.

These past few weeks, the Tech. Ed. Department has been going over safety in the wood shop, and have begun drafting what their products will look like, the dimensions of the products, and how to be safe when working with powerful tools.

Stay innovative and responsible Crafters Edge Students!