Popsicles with the Principal - By Lorraine Glowczak

The 9^th Annual Popsicles with the Principal, occurring last Thursday at the Windham Primary School was an enormous success with 300 to 400 students and families picking out their favorite flavored popsicles and reconnecting after the long summer months.

Dr. Karl Rhodes, principal for Windham Primary, initiated this event when he was the new incoming principal nine years ago as a way to meet and form relationships with families. Rhodes stated, “It was so well received that I have enjoyed doing it every year.”  Rhodes also stated that he is often asked if he will continue this event. He said that what was initially a one-time occurrence has become an anticipated yearly occasion to welcome back familiar faces as well as the new and a way to “have a fun school community event to kick off the school year that all families can participate in. Also, it is a chance for families to reconnect and possibly make new relationships.”

Kindergarten teachers Laura Record and Jennifer Key joined Principal Rhodes passing out the popsicles while reuniting with last year’s students and welcoming the new ones. One such student was Mason who will be in the second grade this year and is transferring from Raymond Elementary School. His sister Emily will be in kindergarten. Mason, Emily, and their parents not only got to meet Record, Key and Rhodes but enjoyed the opportunity to have many of their questions answered. Mason, his sister and parents are excited to begin their new adventure at Windham Primary School.

Returning students were also enthusiastic to be a part of this yearly experience – reuniting with their friends for the first time since June. After ordering their blue and green popsicles, Alivia, Ann and Molly happily discussed their summer time activities. They chatted about the various happenings such as swimming in the lake, shopping for school, and visits to Funtown/Splashtown in Saco. They all had an eventful summer and are looking forward to the beginning of the 2016-17 school year.

 

As the school year begins, Principal Rhodes said that he and his staff are committed to the success for all students. “We strive to provide an education that is authentic and personally relevant to each individual learner.” Rhodes stated. This is a commitment that is important to Rhodes as he himself needed a modified educational plan. “I needed a very personalized and individual plan and the support of a few, deeply caring educators to graduate high school. It drives my beliefs about how we need to educate our learners at Windham Primary,” he said. Rhodes also stated that his passion is to better the situation and the lives of anyone in which he interacts. As a result, being a principal puts him in the perfect position to help improve the lives of the young people he gets to work with every day.

As for the teachers and staff of Windham Primary, Rhodes stated he is “blessed to work in a setting where there are extremely dedicated people.” He continued, “Even though our school was under construction, office, custodial and teaching staff members where here throughout the summer except for a few days when it was unsafe to enter. They all work hard to get school ready for students.”

Rhodes also speaks praises of the parents within the community and their dedication and involvement with their children’s education. What he especially enjoys is the increased participation of the students themselves in their own educational pursuits. Rhodes mentioned, “In the last few years I have witnessed students expressing a stronger voice in what they like about our school and what they wish our school had. For example, one student had an idea for an afterschool writing club and now, there is a such club. All because of one student’s idea.”

Imaginative and supportive learning at Windham Primary School began for the 2016-17 school year when the fall classes commenced on August 30^th for first through third grades and September 1^st for kindergarteners. 

As for the 10^th Annual Popsicles with the Principal event, it appears as of today everyone is already looking forward to next August. Based upon this year’s most popular popsicle flavor, next year’s occasion will most likely include blue, blue, and more blue to keep up with demand.

New Windham Middle School proposal gains momentum - By Stephen Signor

In May of this year the Facilities Committee of the RSU14 School Board made the following recommendation: To build a new Windham Middle School, keeping the original core, which contains the gym-upper and lower, cafeteria, food service area, the administrative offices, STEM, art rooms and music rooms/office of the school. The inclusion of a design feature for expansion to accommodate future enrollment needs and the expansion into Fields 4 and 5 will accommodate the construction site. At that time no cost numbers were discussed, but became availableon June 15th at a RSU14 Facilities Committee meeting. To this end, further recommendations were brought forth, revisiting discussions that were placed on hold from July 2014. 

While no decisions have been put into stone, progress has been made in gathering details. On top of the list was the cost sharing of the project. This entails Windham absorbing the $42,496,975 price tag for a new school through a municipal bond. In a preliminary and tentative tax implications scenario, owners of a $250,000 house would incur a $426 a year increase in taxes with this amount decreasing slightly over a period of 20 years. Raymond on the other hand would not incur any construction cost and only be liable for operational costs of the new school. 

To even the playing field, the agenda of this meeting included discussion of the alternative option. This would involve major renovations of the Windham Middle School core. As a renovation, under statutes, the cost of this would be borne by both Raymond and Windham. However the cost for renovations would total $37,739,057. After an intense review between September 2015 and June 2016 it was felt that the difference of $4,757,918, although substantial, represents the difference between renovating a poorly constructed and inadequate school versus building a new one. 

During the session many valid points were made and agreed upon, leaning members toward the new building. For instance, it was presented that “the cycle of a new building is 40 plus years as compared to 20 to 25 of a renovated building.” It was also concluded that “a new building would address 21st Century educational programs that benefit students and community in the long run, while avoiding the inherent risk/cost of renovations”, as one member put it. As another put it, “The Windham Middle School is teaching 21st Century classes in a seventies building environment. Science teachers have no lab, running water or the proper equipment, if any, to conduct experiments.” 

To further examine the issue of new versus renovation was the contents of a letter from Lyndon Keck, PDT Architects review of the WMS condition that was conducted in May of this year. As no stranger with new school construction and renovation Keck’s letter revealed a laundry list of faults with the school. In summary it was reiterated the school was built in 1977 making it 40 years old and at the end of its cycle. Reference was also made that interior walls were made from lumber, not steel with no air space between inner and outer exterior walls to allow for proper insulation. The windows are residential grade as are the roof shingles.

 

The end result was that after further review, in a board meeting on June 22, the following week, the RSU14 Board of Directors approved the Facilities Committee recommendation to go forward with the proposal. On September 7th there will be a board update with a communication plan to be finalized.

WMS Principal Drew Patin found the decision encouraging. Patin is no stranger to the logistics that now face Windham Middle School. He was involved with a similar situation as assistant principal of Sanford School Department. 

“While at Sanford the concerns, logistics and goals were the same. The only difference was that project was state funded,” Patin explained. 

When asked what his primary goal was Patin replied, “Our goal right now is to inform students and the community as a whole about the importance of how a building can influence the level of education. For instance the science labs in the present school are not equipped with running water making experiments difficult to perform. Students have to excuse themselves to retrieve water from the bathrooms or water fountains.” There are also safety concerns. As Patin put it, “there is no sprinkler system because the code was grandfathered.  

Additionally, there is a matter of the distance students have to go between the main building and Field Allen. The walk may seem short but in the winter months or other seasonal storms the trek can be hazardous. With a new school that concern would be eliminated. On top of that, “currently the school is not ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant.”

“It is imperative that the proposal being presented reaches the ears of everyone. In order to help facilitate this, a survey is being planned and other means of communication such as a media campaign, face to face conversations, presenting material at polling places, community events and forums, and digital methods such as Twitter, Facebook and mass email. It is challenging to reach out because everyone has their own take on this proposal,” said Patin. “At least we are at a point now which can be considered full steam ahead. It is no longer a case of being one step forward and two steps back.”

On September 21st there will be a meeting held in the Superintendent’s Conference room from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The public is welcome. Patin expressed hope that there will be interested generated by attendants. Until then, more information and updates will become available, as it becomes available.

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Pleasant River Bridge undergoes load test - By Stephen Signor

It was just a few days ago drivers in Windham were being encouraged to avoid the bridge over the Pleasant River on Windham Center Road for the purpose of load testing the span. As Scott, a second year research engineer with the University of Maine explained, “This is part of ongoing research being conducted as a result of a multi-year contract with the University of Maine system and the MDOT for the purpose of establishing a bridge’s efficiency.”

The University’s participation stems from its Advanced Structures and Composites Center which provides research, education and economic development encompassing material sciences, manufacturing and engineering of composites and structures. And while a successful test is the obvious goal, the results at this point in the test are not conclusive. “Further analysis of the data takes about a year”, Scott said.

To accomplish this load test, “a full day is needed to carefully and precisely set up sensors that will be located in key point locations underneath the bridge”, said Josh Simpson, E.I.T., a 3-year assistant engineer and bridge inspector for MDOT. What happens next is that on the following day “two fully loaded dump trucks, containing a standard load of sand and gravel and provided by the MDOT, are then parked on predetermined marked locations. These two trucks will then move just inches back and forth in the proximity of where sensors are located the bridge, their wheels stopping periodically on the markers. As a static load this will provide valuable information on structural integrity,” explained Simpson. 

Using a laptop this information is uploaded for immediate review. “If the numbers are within a
certain range, then four trucks will be used to complete the test. If the numbers should not fall within the required results this sends up a red flag,” Simpson continued. He also brought home the point that, “Codes are established initially as conservative for safety reasons. Tests like this one then gives the department a real number to justify the conservative numbers.”

In the planning of the load test motorist considerations were also taken into account. Something as simple as a spray paint was used. Scott indicated, “Using spray paint, marks are made on the road service to indicate the placement of the dump trucks wheels. Since there are several marks for accurate test results doing it this way is time saving as opposed to using a tape measure for each individual mark before moving on to the next spot. 

According to the Maine Department of Transportation website this bridge was built in 1950. The bridge was last inspected in December of 2012, at which time it received a Federal Sufficiency Rating of 66.7 out of a possible 100. Those results were posted in a report dated 07/17/2013.

In the coming months similar tests will be performed statewide to insure that Maine’s infrastructure is maintained to provide safe and worry free traveling.

Fresh, local food high priority for RSU14 school nutrition program - By Elizabeth Richards

The school year hasn’t yet begun, but RSU14 Chef and School Nutrition & Wellness Coordinator Samantha Cowens-Gasbarro, along with other members of the school nutrition team, are already hard at work preparing for a year of healthy lunches. 

As the district moves towards using local products, and cooking from scratch as much as possible, the work behind the scenes increases. On a recent summer morning, Gasbarro-Cowens was busy roasting, pureeing and freezing 500 pounds of tomatoes from Hancock Family Farm, an organic produce farm in Casco.

Cowens-Gasbarro said they are trying to bring more local produce into the schools. Not only does this mean better flavor and higher nutrition, but forming relationships with local farmers can also help the bottom line.

The produce available from local distributors is higher quality as well – in the 500 pounds of tomatoes received from Hancock Family Farms, only around eight of those tomatoes were unusable said Cowens-Gasbarro.

“Eating local and in season is so important because when you freeze these vegetables at the peak of their ripeness all the nutrients are there,” she said. “Often in the winter it’s better to eat a frozen vegetable than to eat one that came from Guatemala.” 

It’s not just the tomatoes that are sourced locally. The district is committed to getting a lot of their food from local sources, including meat from Maine Family Farms and Maine-ly Chicken. They have also purchased produce from Chipman Farms as well as Hancock Family Farm.

The school gardens are also being used to supplement meals. At Jordan-Small Middle School, for instance, everything was planted late in the season so they could use the produce during the upcoming school year. Cowens-Gasbarro has already processed kale from its gardens, and will use the garden to bridge the gap with the students. “If they feel it, touch it, taste it and cook with it, they are way more likely to eat it on the flip side,” she said.

Cowens-Gasbarro exposes kids to new foods through cooking club and taste testing, and can teach them the value of local ingredients when she visits their classrooms. A great way to illustrate the difference between local and food from far away is apples, Cowens-Gasbarro said. Children have gone to an orchard and picked an apple fresh from the tree. “They all know how great that tastes, and they all know how unsatisfactory an apple in June tastes – They get that,” she said.

Another major consideration in preparing healthier meals is paying attention to sodium. Canned foods – especially tomatoes, chicken broth, and beans, add high amounts of sodium to the meal. “If at the same cost we could get canned tomatoes we can buy these local, fresh delicious tomatoes and freeze them ourselves – economically it works out and makes sense for us,” said Cowens-Gasbarro. 

“This year I’m on a mission to make life a little easier for everyone in the district. When they go to season food or a recipe doesn’t taste as great, salt is a little frowned upon but it’s only because of the processed foods.” Taking out the “sodium heavy hitters,” she said, allows for the use of the right kind of salt to get the desired flavor. 

In addition to the tomatoes, Cowens-Gasbarro will be making and freezing chicken broth from scratch, shredding and freezing the chicken meat. Dried beans will be cooked and frozen to reduce the use of canned beans throughout the year.

 “What we’re trying to do is just give the kids better nutritional value in their food, make our bottom line better, lower the sodium . Our mission here is real whole foods, and that’s a transition for everyone,” said Cowens-Gasbarro. 

Education for both children and families is essential, Cowens-Gasbarro said. “If we’re going to make a dent in the food culture of our country and really change the way our children eat and what they prioritize buying as they grow up, school lunch is the place to do it,” she added. 

There are many false impressions as well, perpetuated by videos on social media that suggest that other countries are doing school lunch better. This simply isn’t true, she said. “Just like here in North America, some schools are hitting home runs and some schools are struggling to figure out how to do that. Instead of bashing those schools, ask how you can help.”

In RSU14, it’s all about finding ways to continue improving the quality of food.  Recently, a homemade herb roasted potato recipe won a contest, bringing in $2,000 which will be used to help buy equipment for the kitchens to further that goal.