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April 2009
Four Rivers Currents What do we mean when we talk about DIVERSITY at Four Rivers?
A small group of parents have started talking with us about diversity at Four Rivers and how we want our school to grow in understanding and appreciating diversity. Our Board has also begun a similar discussion. I’d like to share some of those discussions and invite more of you to join us the next time we talk.
First, a definition. Diversity for us goes well beyond just discussions of race, though race must be part of the picture. Diversity “means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual dif-ferences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.” (University of Oregon homepage) From our discussion, we added in learning differences and emotional capabilities, and there might be others.
Our goals for Four Rivers include creating a safe community where every individual feels comfortable being themselves, and building cultural competence so every Four Rivers graduate is prepared to thrive in a di-verse world. One article we looked at described such competence as:
An ability to increase one’s awareness about personal biases, assumptions, attitudes and worldviews,
A repertoire of skills that allow one to effectively intervene in personal and professional domains, and
Specific knowledge of cultures, history, worldviews, languages, and diverse experiences.
This list at least gives us some starting points if we are thinking about how we should prepare our students.
From these initial conversations, some important themes have begun to emerge. First is that understand-ing and appreciating diversity is important for our students, both now and for their futures. Second is the need to ensure that Four Rivers is safe, inclusive, welcoming, and respectful for every single member – or potential member – of our community. Adolescence can be a painful experience, but it is especially so when differences are used as put downs or to exclude. Survey data over several years affirms that the school cre-ates a positive social and emotional environment for most, but we need to keep improving. A strong and safe community revels in differences; curiosity and interest in learning about other people and other cul-tures creates a spirit of mutual respect. So the third theme emerging is that Four Rivers seems ready to reflect and grow as a community in its commitment to diversity and to deepening our own and our students’ cultural competence.
There’s more, but we’ll take this step by step. Let Peter Garbus know if you’d like to be involved in those next steps and we will set a meeting late this spring or early in the fall.
~ Peter Garbus, Principal ~ Ed Blatchford, Executive Director ~
Charter State House Day, April 29th – We Need Your Help! Charter school parents and supporters from all over the state are coming to the State House in Bos-ton on Wednesday, April 29th to advocate for their schools, and we want a strong contingent from Four Rivers. The Governor has proposed changes in the funding of charters and unprecedented regulations impacting the creation of new charters in underperforming districts. As we have done successfully in past years, we will be driving a group of parents to Boston on the 29th to meet with our legislators. Join us and speak up for Four Rivers! We need your voice! (See the yellow insert) Call or email Ed Blatchford for more details.
7th Grade News
March Madness! by Sophia Buchanan
Can you believe that March is already over? There has been so much going on in the seventh grade! We are still working on the question, “Are we really what we eat?” and we have come to the conclusion that yes, we really are what we eat. It’s much more complicated than that, though. There’s been a lot of yummy food to go along with this expedition, too. We made yogurt and learned about the bacteria in yogurt (don’t worry, it’s good bacteria that your body needs) and why people are lactose intolerant. We are making cookbooks of our favorite foods that have memo-ries. Our example recipe in the beginning of the project was Ms. Ritchie’s Mud Bars, and man, were they delicious! We ate them during a surprise party for Ms. Locke in crew last Tuesday, March 24. Happy birthday Ms. Locke! As the trimester ended, we finished our technology and music classes. Thank you Mr. Lederer and Mr. D for a great trimester!
Clay Pinch Pots - by Riley Phelps
Pinch, pinch, pinch. In art class, we are making clay pots—not just any kind of clay pots, though. They are pinch pots! You get a ball of clay and stick your finger in it. You then pinch it into a bowl by squeezing the edges. Once you have done that, you put a spot in the edge for you to drink out of. Then you etch your initials into the bot-tom. Finally, you fire the pot in a kiln. We completed our first pinch pots this week.
Frisbee Has Started! by Taylor Chapin and Kennedy Strakose-Hagen
“Up!” yells the coach as you are halfway up the field. You run full speed, and then suddenly, you make a quick cut left. You reach out and make the catch. Adrenaline pulses through your body as you run to the end of the line. Frisbee has started. The fields are clear, and the weather is starting to warm up. Many students are now at school from 8am to about 5pm! This is because most students are now playing Frisbee for school teams.
The Best Month of the Year - By Sullivan Fraser Snow poured down outside the window as I awoke, and I looked at my clock. It was eight thirty, so I knew it was a snow day. March began with the best thing imaginable: a snow day. In math, we started a unit on probabil-ity. What is the experimental probability that this month would start with a snow day? 1/31=3.22%. Pretty cool, huh? In English class, we are beginning to learn how to write persuasive essays. We were debating whether the seventh grade should be able to use iPods in ASC, and we were writing essays to persuade each other either to have them or the opposite. In science we studied all the digestive organs. We then made a power point presentation, radio broad-cast, or piece of writing about what we learned. This month has been, from the first day, the best month of the year.
PAGE 2 FOUR RIVERS CURRENTS
Buy a BJ’s Membership and Earn $$ for
Four Rivers
Thanks to a deal worked out by the Family Council, for a limited time you can sign up for a BJ’s Membership (or renew) for a reduced fee AND $5 will be donated to Four Rivers.
See insert for full page application.
Right: An eager audi-ence of 7th graders waits for their class-mates to perform dramatic plays they wrote them-selves.
8th Grade News
Math and Science:
In math, we just wrapped-up "Keeping It Balanced: The Teeter-Totter Problem," in which we experimented with balance to find the relationship between weight and dis-tance on a teeter-totter and to write an equation that would allow us to predict bal-anced situations with a variety of weights. We then put our mathematical model to the test by creating a giant teeter-totter of our own and calculating ways to balance two, three, four, five or more of us at once. Next, we'll look at the mathematical pat-terns we have explored over the last three problems—linear, exponential, and inverse —and delve deeper into their properties. In science, we've launched into our trimester 3 work: exploring issues of energy use and sustainability. Based on a survey of 8th graders' interests, we'll focus our investi-gations on building our background knowledge (what Earth Systems Scientists know about our planet today and why that data might matter to us), wind power, solar power, exploring various ways to create electricity, and pursuing independent projects on these issues. Students are enthusiastic about building model wind turbines and once again building solar cars to participate in the regional solar car race known as the Junior Solar Sprint. They're also asking tons of great questions that we will ex-plore, such as: Can we extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? Why doesn't Four Rivers have solar panels? And, how much would it cost to run Four Rivers on solar panels? The 8th grade will help co-host the first ever Green Expo at Four Rivers at the end of this year to showcase ways in which we can make energy choices that sustain ourselves and our communities. Lots of exciting things happening! Please check-in with an 8th grader to find out more.
PAGE 3 FOUR RIVERS CURRENTS
Below L—R: Connor Duffy, Morghan Jolly and Paul Bellino and the model wind turbine they are building.
Above: Morghan Jolly catches a little breeze
English 9 and 10 The 9th grade has just begun the “I-Search project!” Students are required to complete at least two interviews on their topics, which are listed below. If you have know of anyone who could be interviewed for the I-Search, please email [email protected] and I will pass the information along to the appropriate student. Thank you for your support! Shakespearean Acting * Responses to Conflict in Pakistan: Violence/Education * Graffiti * LSD * Veterinarians * War Veterans * Hockey Coaching * Photography * Immigration from Communist Countries * Fashion Design * Radio DJing * FBI *Schizophrenia * Teen Pregnancy (male perspective) * Suicide (ethics) * Hip-hop * Psychology of Relig-ion * Body Piercing * Tattoos/Tattoo Artists * Bike racing * Ethics * Becoming Enlightened * Sword Fighting * Ado-lescent Psychology * Psychotherapy * Marijuana (is it addictive?) * Psychology of Music * Psychedelic Music * Ani-mation * Police Officers * Play Writing * Media's Influence on Social Behavior * Car Mechanics * Standardized Edu-cation * TV Broadcasting The 10th grade is exploring Witch Hunts. We just finished a spirited reading of The Crucible and will be spending Friday, April 3, in Danvers and Salem, MA at the Rebecca Nurse House and the Peabody Essex Museum, where they have several of the original court documents from the Salem Witch Trials on display. We will then explore the con-cept of witch hunts from a community-based perspective. The question we are focusing our work around is: Are witch hunts human nature?
PAGE 4 FOUR RIVERS CURRENTS
9th Grade Environmental Science: Students are working on some big projects during the final trimester of Environ-mental Science. They have launched into their study of watersheds and aquatic ecosystems. During this study they will be investigating the water quality of several local streams. The students will be collaborating with the Spring-field Renaissance School and sharing their water quality data at a student run symposium in June. They are also col-laborating with the students in Division III and 8th grade to organize a Green Expo at Four Rivers at the end of May.
10th Grade Biology For the last several weeks the 10th grade biology class has been led by a student teacher, Dan Weiser. He launched them into an investigation about genes and patterns of inheritance. Students have just begun researching the Human Genome Project, an effort dedicated to mapping the entire human genome, understanding how all of the genes func-tion, and enhancing our ability to manipulate the genes of organisms. In the coming weeks each student will be fo-cusing on a particular field of study to develop their own genetic research proposal to apply this technology in some novel way. These proposals will be shared in class with their colleagues. They recently had the opportunity to hear from, and consult with an expert in genetic research, Sara Barnes, to help develop their ideas.
9th graders
in Ms. Stamas’ class
make observations
and collect data
at Arms Brook
IMP-3 and IMP-4
Students whose career plans don't include science, engineering, or technology sometimes ask why they should bother studying advanced math such as the IMP curriculum. A recent online discussion among IMP teachers provided several possible reasons:
• Training the mind to analyze patterns, follow complex logic, and think systematically and abstractly. These abilities are essential to most professions, as well as to personal and civic tasks such as select-ing a mortgage or making sound judgments about politics and the economy.
• Succeeding on MCAS and college admissions exams.
• Esthetics. Some eyes might roll about this one, but mathematical relations can be beautiful and in-spiring, just like tapestries or concertos.
Just a few thoughts to take us into the final trimester. Remember that SATs are around the corner for Juniors, and studying makes all the difference.
PSYCHOLOGY
This trimester we are focusing on social psychology, which seeks to understand how social factors influ-ence the thoughts and behaviors of individuals. In our first two weeks we have focused on prejudice. We role played scenarios in which individuals made prejudiced remarks and explored ways of responding that might reduce future prejudice. We are beginning to investigate methods that social psychologists use to understand and intervene around phenomena such as self-fulfilling prophecies and subtle forms of dis-crimination. As the trimester progresses, students will engage in their own psychological research and intervention, gaining a better sense of what it means to be a social psychologist.
PAGE 5 FOUR RIVERS CURRENTS
DIV III ENGLISH
In Character Study, students have begun looking at character virtues as they appear in literature and in real life. They’ve been reading The Kite Runner to examine the way virtues develop over time. After this, they will be choosing a biography to read, allowing them to examine how virtues influence a person’s life. The more we discuss character virtues, the more we’ve been coming to realize how difficult it can be to define them, and how closely interrelated they all are.
After an introduction to close reading poetry skills in Poetry of Social Change, students are now begin-ning to study the revolutionary poets of history and today. They are selecting individual poets to research and present, after which we will begin a study of their poetry. Students will soon begin writing their own poems of social awareness and taking feedback from local mentor poets to improve their work. We look forward to an open mic presentation at the end of May; stay tuned for more information!
Congratulations to the Four Rivers Drama Club
for their successful rendition of I Bet Your Life on March 27th and 28th. Cast included Owen Harrington-Woodard, Austen Higgins-Cassidy, Miaya Glabach, Amy Graham, Nate Deschaine, Rachael Cattel, Candace Bellville, Nicole Graham and Robin Luck. We look for-ward to another season next year!
Physics Trimester three in Physics focuses on the study of electricity and magnetism. We begin our investi-gation with electrostatics. Students were amazed that one could charge a plastic brush by running it through clean dry hair enough to significantly bend the flow of water. Our first laboratory activity has students using their analytical training and past laboratory experiences to independently con-struct a complete experiment from a set of "demo" instructions. Students will conduct the experi-ment according to their developed procedure and evaluate their ability to write clear and systematic instructions. Next month we will start exploring electrical circuits. Environmental Science Greening Greenfield is an established campaign that is a collaborative effort of the citizen Greening Greenfield Energy Committee (GGEC) and the town of Greenfield. Their mission is to build a sus-tainable Greenfield so that current and future generations can sustain and enjoy life in this beautiful and abundant valley. This trimester we are focusing on what sustainability means as well as how it may be achieved in our community. We will be involved in a cooperative partnership with Greening Greenfield, using them as a resource as well as a framework onto which we can build. Combined with the theme of environmental activism, we are investigating the question "How Can Four Rivers Help Make Greenfield Green?” Students have already personalized the meaning of activ-ism and are delving into how they plan to participate in a multi-divisional school event focused on reducing Greenfield's carbon footprint.
Four Rivers Basketball ‘08-‘09 by Chris Crowell
This has been the best Four Rivers basketball team our school has ever had. The team showed great effort and outstanding perseverance. We ended our season with 12 wins 5 losses, which is the best record we have ever had. At the end of the season we took the Eagle Hill tourna-ment championship going 5 wins and 0 losses. These drastic changes of skill level have resulted from the teams’ new coach, Robb Fluet. Robb has a background with the UMASS Women’s team and taught us many new things about the game. Thanks to the team and new coach our basketball program received a much-needed boost and we all had a great time playing this year.
(The Eagle Hill Trophy from the Tournament is in the office)
08-‘09 roster:
Robert Fluet, Coach
Cody Ross, Point Guard, Small Forward * Jackson Reeves-Henning, Shooting Guard * Jon Carow, Power forward, Andrew Schick, Center, Power Forward * Dil-lon Molloy, Shooting Guard, Small Forward * Riley Phelps, Center* Chris Crowell, Small Forward, Shooting Guard, Power Forward * Jandall Russell, Power For-ward, Small Forward and Jeremy Stevens, Shooting Guard.
NURSE’S NOTES Spring has definitely sprung! Here are a few reminders of medical issues that come with the season:
Seasonal Asthma (hay fever) returns. Stu-dents need to carry their inhaler with them. Check the expiration date on the canister. Re-new if necessary.
If your child is taking allergy medication, in-cluding over-the-counter, please notify me.
It is not warm enough for flip flops or tank tops at this time. Student MUST wear sneak-ers for P.E. They need to carry a pair in their backpack or leave a pair in their locker.
Dehydration can occur easily. Every student needs to carry a water bottle daily. Dehydra-tion may cause stomach cramping, headaches, dizziness.
I will be sending letters over the next few weeks to the parents of students who had ab-normal findings during our annual health screening. The recommendation is to follow up with the student’s physician. Jeanne Milton, R.N.
PAGE 7 FOUR RIVERS CURRENTS
NEWS FROM THE COLLEGE COUNSELOR
College and Technical School Acceptances
University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts; Suffolk Univer-sity; Humboldt State University; University of Montana, Missoula; Ithaca College; Hallmark Institute; Alfred University; Michigan Technological University; New England College; Uni-versity of Vermont; Champlain College; Rochester Institute of Technology; University of Mas-sachusetts, Amherst; Northeastern University; Paul Smith’s College; Greenfield Community College; Edison State College; Unity College; The Hartt School – University of Hartford; SUNY Oneonta
Seniors
**Regardless of where you are attending school or training next year, file the FAFSA. This is the only mecha-nism for institutions to distribute state and federal monies. www.fafsa.ed.gov
**Scholarship search at www.fastweb.org
Juniors
**Plan to take the SAT and ACT with Writing at least once during your junior year. If you are applying to highly selective/competitive colleges you will need to take the SAT Subject tests. Check the individual college’s admissions requirements for SAT Subject test information**
ACT with Writing – www.act.org
Test Date Registration Deadline Registration Deadline
REGULAR LATE
June 13, 2009 May 8, 2009 May 9-22, 2009
SAT Reasoning and SAT Subject – www.collegeboard.com
Test Date Registration Deadline Registration Deadline
REGULAR LATE
May 2, 2009 March 31, 2009 April 1 -14, 2009
June 6, 2009 May 5, 2009 May 6-19, 2009
**Search for colleges at www.connectedu.net and www.mefacounselor.org
Students and Families, please inform Ms. Childress about any acceptances and scholarship offers.
NEW DRIVERS ~ RMV PRESENTATION The Family Council has invited Paul Leary, Asst. Man-ager of the Worcester Registry of Motor Vehicles, to give a presentation aimed at students who will be driving soon. Topics include how to obtain a permit and driver’s license, the importance of safe driving, how to utilize Registry ser-vices from home.
Tuesday, April 27th, 2:00 pm ~ Common Rm All freshmen and sophomores are invited
WOLF TREE SUMMER DAY CAMP For those who have enjoyed Mr. Bovaird’s Nature classes, try his summer day camp for ages 7 –14.
Explore! Play Games! Learn Wilderness Skills! Rope making, safe fire making, shelter building, wildlife tracing, flora and fauna ID. Campers learn essential leadership and team building skills, de-velop confidence, and become stewards of the land and local communities. See Mr. Bovaird or
Www.wolftree programs.com
Four River Charter Public School is dedi-cated to educating young people for lives of learning and ser-vice. The school offers a rigorous academic program aligned with the Massachu-setts curriculum frameworks and an emphasis on charac-ter development for moral and social responsibility. Three central themes – na-ture, technology and community – pervade the teaching and learning at the school. Four Rivers works closely with parents and seeks both to serve and learn from the many resources of Franklin County.
Four Rivers Charter Public School
248 Colrain Rd., Greenfield, MA 01301
“This institution is an equal opportunity provider. To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Washington, DC 20294”
Carolyn Wood:
Four Rivers’ new School Secretary Part of the leadership transition planned for July be-gan this past month with Carolyn Wood beginning her new role as School Secretary on a part time ba-sis. In July, Peter Garbus will assume the combined role of Principal and Head of School when Ed Blatchford retires. Leslie Taylor will be moving into the new role of Administrative Coordinator. Carolyn started as a relief School Secretary in May of 2004 and in May of 2006 became our first part time Special Education Secretary, continuing to re-lieve in the school office, until last July. Her knowl-edge of many of the school’s families, the school's staff, our functioning, information systems and op-erations are a great benefit to our team. She will be in the school office approximately two days per week until late June, when she becomes full-time.
