RSU 14 kindergarten students adjusting to learning in hybrid and remote models

Kiely Treschitta, a kindergarten teacher for
RSU 14, works remotely leading a small group
of students in a reading lesson. Treschitta
teaches remote kindergarten every morning
with a class of 30 students from Windham
Primary School and Raymond Elementary
School.  PHOTO BY ED PIERCE  
Add caption

By Elizabeth Richards

Whether hybrid or full remote learning, kindergarten looks a lot different this year. RSU 14 administrators and teachers have worked hard to adapt to a new way of doing things while providing a developmentally appropriate experience for students.

“We’ve all come together to keep it child-focused and child-centered,” said Laura Record, a kindergarten teacher at Windham Primary School.

Overall, children are adapting well, school staff said.  

“Our kindergarten learners have done amazing with the start of school and the CDC requirements for safety,” said Dr. Kyle Rhoads, principal at WPS.

Beth Peavey, the principal at Raymond Elementary School said, “I’ve been amazed at all of our students, especially our little, little ones coming in wearing their masks and following the routines that are new for our school.”

It has not been easy.

“One of the hardest things for kindergarten is the distancing, both with each other and for me with the children,” said Lindsey Pettus, a kindergarten teacher at WPS.  It can be especially challenging when children need help with physical tasks like learning scissor skills, pencil grips, or opening food items.  

She handles this challenge by talking children through problems as best she can, she said. If a child is really struggling, teachers follow strict protocols to assist.

“It’s like scrubbing in for surgery to help a kid hold their scissors the right way,” Pettus said.

Throughout the district, technology hasn’t yet been sent home with kindergarteners in the hybrid model.  On remote days, children are working on packets that reinforce in-person learning, reading
logs, and/or are participating in choice activities, depending on the teacher.

Teachers understand that every family has different circumstances and don’t want remote work to be overwhelming.  “We’re really working as a team and giving clear and explicit instructions to parents so they know what their children should be doing and how they should be doing each assignment,” said Jennifer Smith, a kindergarten teacher at RES.

“Our expectation for that is do what you can, do what works for your family. We understand that everyone’s situation is different,” said RES kindergarten teacher Erin Simoneau.

Teachers across the district are using an app called SeeSaw to connect with families.  When technology is sent home with students, the app will change what is possible for remote days, such as recording a short lesson and providing an accompanying activity, Record said.  

“We wanted the families and kids to be familiar so if we did need to go remote, SeeSaw wasn’t a surprise,” Simoneau said.

One benefit of the hybrid model, teachers said, is the small class sizes.  “I’ve gotten to know the kids pretty quick, and what their needs are,” Pettus said. 

Simoneau said with smaller groups, they are able to sit on the rug and be safely distanced.  “It’s a big deal to move from desks to the rug, even if it’s just for a story,” she said.

On the flip side, Pettus said, it’s the end of September and her students have only had six in-person school days. That means classroom routines may not be as smooth as expected for this time of year. 

Certain elements of instruction, such as the phonics work that is so important in kindergarten, is also difficult when students and teachers are masked.

“I tend to put myself in a corner and then take my mask off when I’m far enough away to show them,” Simoneau said. Teachers also have masks with clear panels around the mouth.

“This age tends to have a lot of speech delays. That’s a big part of kindergarten - addressing those issues and trying to correct those delays,” RES kindergarten teacher Stephen Seymour said.  Speaking through a mask can make children even more difficult to understand, he said.

Keeping up with curriculum when there are only two in-person days and keeping both groups of students in the same place can also be a challenge, Pettus said. “I’m really trying to be as consistent as possible between the two days so they’re getting the same experience at school,” she said. 

They have been able to move quickly through the phonics curriculum, she said, because they’ve doubled up lessons on days that students are in person.  “We’re keeping pace with that which has been really nice,” she said. 

Ensuring an appropriate learning environment for kindergarten students took collaboration, creativity and teamwork.  One of the challenges they worked out before students arrived was how to allow children to play, Record said.

The district has found ways to follow CDC guidelines but also offer children opportunities that some other schools in the area aren’t, such as using equipment on the playground. Students are also able to check books out of the library. At WPS, kindergarteners choose a personal tub of toys to use for a week.  

“It took a lot of brainstorming and back and forth to make sure we were following all the CDC guidelines. It’s just so critical for kindergarteners to be able to play and be hands on and talk while they’re playing,” Record said.

Learning to manage the required routines, such as waiting for all children to have their food before taking off masks to eat, helps build valuable skills like patience, determination and grit, Peavy said.

“I think that it will transfer over into their academics.  It really is amazing to see the level of patience that they have,” she said.

Kiely Treschitta is one of two teachers for kindergartners who are participating in full remote learning from both RES and WPS. 

“Remote learning has been going well for kindergarteners. Students do well with the consistency of the schedule,” Treschitta said.

Students begin their day at 8:30 am on Zoom and are logged in until 11:15, though they are not expected to engage for the entire time and turn their cameras off to work independently.

Problems with technology, such as students being logged off, computers freezing, and websites that don’t work, can be a big challenge for remote learning.  Another challenge, Treschitta said, is that students have a hard time sitting for a long time. “That’s why we do fifteen-minute live sessions and then they have time to move around during independent time.”

Treschitta said she’s been surprised at how quickly students have learned to navigate Zoom and other apps. 

“It’s amazing when students are able to teach their parents and other adults how to use apps,” she said. “These students surprise us every day.” <

Raymond Elementary School adds new outdoor classrooms

Volunteers spent more than 154 hours this summercreating three new outdoors classrooms for students
along Raymond Elementary School's popular Frog
Pond Trail. PHOTO BY BRIANA BIZIER

By Briana Bizier

Going back to school looks different this fall across the entire country. For Raymond Elementary School students, this year’s “back to school” means adjusting to a hybrid schedule of attending school two days a week, wearing face coverings, and utilizing three new outdoor classrooms.

In an email to parents in late August, Raymond Elementary School Principal Beth Peavey announced the creation of three beautiful outdoor classrooms along the school’s popular Frog Pond trail.

Set along the banks of Frog Pond, these new outdoor classrooms feature semicircles of socially distanced wooden benches made from large tree stumps interspersed with maple saplings and granite boulders.

“It’s such a beautiful spot, and I’m such a firm believer that kids should be learning from experience and being outdoors,” said Raymond parent Kaitlin LaCasse, who spearheaded the movement toward creating an outdoor classroom at the school.

Well before COVID-19 entered our vocabulary, LaCasse attended a lecture by Richard Louv, journalist and author of the national bestseller Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Louv is now leading a national charge to get students back outdoors.

“It’s so important for our whole wellbeing to be outside more,” LaCasse said. “And you can’t assume
just because we’re in a rural area that kids are getting outside.”

Scientific research supports the importance of outdoor instruction. “When children learn outside, they retain that information longer because they’re using all their senses,” Peavey said.

LaCasse approached Raymond Elementary School in the fall of 2019 to ask about the possibility of constructing an outdoor classroom. As part of her research, LaCasse visited several outdoor classrooms across the state, sent a survey to the RES staff asking what teachers would like to see in an outdoor space, and met with the school board.

When the project was approved, local scout Brogan Danzig volunteered to build a free-standing outdoor classroom with a roof, floor, and benches as his Eagle Scout Project.

Then COVID-19 hit.

Because building a free-standing structure would require working closely with other people, Danzig was forced to abandon his original plans.

“But the idea of an outdoor classroom became even more urgent with COVID-19 as we realized how important it is to get kids outside,” LaCasse said.

So, Danzig adjusted his original plans to create an outdoor classroom without a roof that could be built while observing social distancing.

The second version of his Eagle Scout project, Danzig explained in an email, “involved clearing a 50'x25' area in the woods by the frog pond and building 8 (6 foot) benches. Then project #2 evolved even more to include putting down pea stone for a floor to help with drainage and bench stability and also installing log borders around the perimeter of the classroom area to help with erosion and to make it look nice.”

The first outdoor classroom Danzig constructed, Peavey said, was “amazing.”

However, as she and RES groundskeeper Tom Gumble toured the new space, Peavey wondered aloud if it would be possible to build more than one outdoor classroom. She and Gumble identified a few areas along the Frog Pond trail that could turn into outdoor classrooms without taking down any trees.

“The next thing I know,” Peavey said, “Tom had put down pea stone, and he’d told me all the lumber had arrived.”

Over the next few weekends, volunteers descended on Frog Pond trail to build two additional outdoor classrooms.

As Danzig explained, the project expanded “from one 50'x25' classroom area with 8 benches to three classroom areas (one 50'x25', one 52'x27', & one 38' x16') with a total of 20 (6 foot) benches.”
In addition, the scouts cleared debris from a crumbling rock wall bordering one of the classrooms and then rebuilt the wall.

“Not only did we expand the scope and still get it done within the three- week timeframe so it would be done by Sept. 1 before the kids came back to school,” Danzig wrote, “but we did an amazing job.”
A total of 31 volunteers worked 154.75 hours to complete the three outdoor classrooms, including scouts from Troop 800 and Troop 851 in Raymond, scouts from Troop 805 in Windham, scouts from Westbrook/Gorham, and an Eagle Scout from Connecticut.

Hancock Lumber donated all the materials, and Ryan Crowell of Crowell Construction helped to manage the construction of the benches.

“It was truly a community effort,” LaCasse said. “It just goes to show, if a community really wants something done, they can roll up their sleeves, work together and get it done.”

Raymond Elementary School students and teachers are eagerly awaiting their chance to use the outdoor classrooms.

Martha Stone, RES’s school counselor, led teachers on a mindfulness walk through the outdoor classrooms during their week of preparation for what will be a very unusual start to the school year.
“Wearing a mask will be stressful,” Peavey said, “so we need to help students to find other ways to regulate themselves and feel calmer.” The outdoor classrooms, Peavey said, are a natural part of that effort. “Being outside in nature is very calming, which is part of our social emotional learning as well,” she said. “When you’re stressed, if you go outside and take a walk in the woods, you feel calmer. And anyone in a calmer state will be a better learner.”

Many of the teachers at RES are already developing plans to use these outdoor spaces with their students.

“Due to the restrictions we face inside because of COVID-19, I plan to take as many lessons as possible outside,” said Olivia Hamilton, a first-grade teacher at RES. “Math and writing lessons can be done outside and we can actually pull from nature by using stones or leaves as manipulative for counting, and nature can be inspiration for a wonderful small moment story.”

Peavey said she truly believes that COVID-19, as negative as it is, did push schools forward in terms of outdoor classrooms.

“For us, it’s really added to our school,” she said. “Now, we’ll always have an opportunity for teachers to take their students outside.”

LaCasse echoes that sentiment.

“These outdoor classrooms will be used by generations of students,” she said.<

Raymond Elementary School dedicates new playground

Ribbon Cutting ceremony on the first day of school

By Briana Bizier

The first day of school is always exciting, but last week students at Raymond Elementary School and Jordan Small Middle School had an especially memorable event to mark the beginning of their academic year. As the bright September sun glittered off Panther Pond and Sebago Lake in the distance, students left their classrooms and walked to a new fenced field behind Raymond Elementary School.

Randy Crockett, the principal of Raymond Elementary School, welcomed students from both the

elementary and the middle school. After offering his heartfelt thanks to the community, parents, and local businesses whose generous donations helped with fundraising events such as last summer’s ice cream social and the annual holiday pie sale, Crockett described the elementary school’s new playground and play field.

“We’ve installed a new balance apparatus,” he told the assembled crowd of teachers, students, parents, and community members, “as well as a climbing Webscape and two new sandboxes.”

That towering blue Webscape, which immediately drew the interest of many of the children walking past the new playground, has an especially touching story. The entire structure was made possible by a generous gift from Raymond Elementary School kindergarten teacher Stephen Seymour, his wife Karen, and their family. This journalist can confirm that both the balance apparatus and the climbing Webscape appear to be much more fun than anything found on school playgrounds when I was
growing up.

The elementary school’s new sandboxes were built as an Eagle Scout project by Alex Brooks, who was once a student of Raymond Elementary School and now attends Windham High School. A second Eagle Scout project is planned to replace the playground’s storage shed that holds jump ropes, sporting equipment, and sleds.

Principal Crockett also took time to generously thank the Maine National Guard. Members of the 262nd Engineer Company (Horizontal), which is based in Westbrook, did the original earth work to clear the new play field, hauled in over 500 loads of gravel, and turned what had previously been a steep, forested slope into a grassy, level field.

“It’s always great to give back to the community that supports us,” Major Kerry Boese of the Maine National Guard said at the opening ceremony.

Alissa Messer, a parent volunteer who was instrumental in overseeing the playground’s construction, emphasized gratitude as she spoke to the students. “This playground is a labor of love,” she said. “Today, we are grateful for what we’ve been given.”

As the crowd applauded enthusiastically, the speakers held out their scissors and cut a wide, red ribbon, officially opening Raymond Elementary School’s new playground. The air filled with cheers as the students followed their teachers for tours of the playground equipment.

If you’d like to view Raymond Elementary School’s new playground and play field for yourself, it is open to the public after school hours and on weekends.

Reading challenge opens up a new world to students at Raymond Elementary School

By Lorraine Glowczak

Fun and imaginative reading challenges are nothing new at Raymond Elementary School. Every year, the teaching staff organizes exciting ways to spark the love of reading among their students. But what makes this year’s reading challenge different from past contests is that it is the first time, as a whole group, that the challenge has been combined with a service project.

“We have been doing two or sometimes three reading challenges a year for many years at Raymond Elementary School, but this is the first time we have participated in the Heifer International Read to Feed challenge as a school,” explained Patricia Gordan, RSU14 music teacher and organizer of the event. “We often offer theme reading challenges with current events, for example, reading our way through the Iditarod at so many pages per mile. When they met the goal, we had a real musher come to school and demonstrate the use of his dog and sled. Last year we had them earn Olympic medals during the 2018 Winter Olympics. Sometimes the challenges are just silly fun as when they had to read to earn baby pictures of staff members; then they tried to guess the identities of the staff members. But this year, we decided to combine the challenge with a service project.”

Front Row L to R: Isaak Ronfeldt, Tatianna Lanning, Elyse Silvia, Christian Ladd Allie LeBourdais, Emma Horowitz, Maevelyn Armstrong Back Row L to R: Brooklynn Wing, Anna Bowie, Taliah Worthing-Shriver, Anica Messer, Quinn Atchinson. Missing: Summer Bush (was also a top reader)

In the Read To Feed program, students read to earn money. From the money raised, animals can be purchased through Heifer International for farmers in developing countries. According to the Heifer International Read To Feed website, “Children (individually or as a group) get sponsors for each book they read during a time frame set by their Read to Feed leader. At the end of the program, the group pools its funds and donates them to Heifer International to help Heifer assist millions of families around the world feed their families and reach self-reliance.”

The reading challenge ran from November 5 until December 14 and the students received sponsorships and pledges from families, friends and area community organizations and businesses. The students from each homeroom who had read the most pages or minutes formed a group to decide which animals to purchase.

The students who met the challenge and read the most pages or minutes included: Isaak Ronfeldt, Tatianna Lanning, Elyse Silvia, Christian Ladd, Allie LeBourdais, Emma Horowitz, Maevelyn Armstrong, Brooklynn Wing, Anna Bowie, Taliah Worthing-Shriver, Anica Messer, Quinn Atchinson and Summer Bush.

They raised over $800 and the animals purchased were: a water buffalo, a llama, a pig, a trio of rabbits, a hive of bees and a flock of chicks.

But that is not all they purchased. There’s more to the story.

Although it is true that reading develops vital language skills and deepens the understanding of the written word, reading also opens new worlds and enriches the lives of children. According to children’s librarian, teacher and author Barbara Freedman-De Vito, “Through books, children can also learn about people and places from other parts of the world, improving their understanding of and concern for all of humanity. This, in turn, contributes towards our sense that we truly live in a "global village" and may help us bring about a more peaceful future for everyone.”

This is exactly what occurred and was the unexpected learning outcome with the students at Raymond Elementary School.

“I met with the group of top readers when it was time for them to choose what to buy from Heifer,” Gordan began. “I assumed they would be most interested in choosing animals and was very touched by their passion to send a girl to school. In fact, they were distressed to learn that there are places in the world where children, and especially girls, do not have the opportunity to go to school. They were also very interested in buying a biogas stove and were shocked to learn that some people in the world have open cooking fires in their houses.”

From this reading challenge, not only did farmers receive animals that help to provide income, food and self-sufficiency, but one girl gets to go to school and one family gets to cook on a stove instead of an open fire. Simply as a result of reading.

The written word is alive and well and the love of reading changes lives in so many ways.

Big kudos to the students at Raymond Elementary School and the following organizations that contributed financially to the challenge:

Raymond Lions Club

Raymond Village Church

Sebago Storage

Camp Pinehurst

Flynn Land Surveying

Camp Nashoba North

Wohelo Camps

Krainin Real Estate

Ultimate Hair Salon

Raymond Elementary Class wins second place in national contest by Briana Bizier

Dr. Bizier helping the second-graders set up their crystals

A second-grade class at Raymond Elementary School started the new year with some exciting news.

On December 21, Mrs. Aileen Pelletier’s second-grade class won second place in the United States Crystal Growing Competition! Open to U.S. students of all ages, this competition is a STEM Outreach Program designed to encourage scientific literacy for students in kindergarten through high school. Now in its fourth year, the contest is organized by Dr. Jason Benedict at the University of Buffalo.

Mrs. Pelletier’s class began growing their crystal on October 23, when Dr. Bizier, the Honors and AP chemistry teacher at Windham High School, visited Raymond Elementary to help the second-graders set up their own crystal growing experiment.

Many common household items, like sugar and the cleaning solution Borax, will grow crystals under the right conditions. For the United States Crystal Growing Competition, all competitors are required to grow a crystal using alum, a common pickling salt found in most grocery stores.

To grow their crystal, the second-graders first heated water and dissolved the alum. Then they suspended a tiny “seed crystal” from fishing line, and hung it in the alum and water solution to serve as a nucleation site. If the alum solution is left undisturbed at a consistent temperature, the dissolved alum in the water begins to grow a crystal around the nucleation site.

Crystal making, day one

“Think of crystal growing like stacking Legos,” explained Dr. Bizier. 

If the water is heated too quickly, or the solution is disturbed, the alum will fall out of the solution

like a handful of Legos thrown on the floor. Under ideal conditions, however, the alum molecules dissolved in the water will slowly stack together to form a beautiful crystal.

Leaving a solution undisturbed was a challenge for a class full of second graders. 

Same crystal, 26 days later

The students were very careful as they eagerly tracked the growth of their crystal. Mrs. Pelletier added daily photos to the class website so parents were able to follow the experiment as well.

Despite losing power for three days after the late October wind storm, the crystal continued to grow, especially once the class heated the solution again to re-dissolve the alum.

After 26 days in Mrs. Pelletier’s classroom, the crystal was mailed to Buffalo, New York to be judged against crystals from classrooms across the country. The crystals are evaluated for size and quality by a team of experts who judge factors like intact edges, well-formed faces, and clarity.

Out of 160 entries, Mrs. Pelletier’s class won second place! 

The prize comes with a $100 award and the crystal from Raymond Elementary School will be added to the permanent Winner’s Display at the University of Buffalo. If your travels ever bring you to Buffalo, New York, be sure to stop by the University to view Raymond’s prize-winning crystal.

Third annual color run produced enthusiasm and raised funds for school supplies by Jennifer Davis

It was a warm, fall sunny day on the well-maintained but very colorful soccer field at Raymond Elementary School (RES) on Sunday, September 24 as families and the community gathered together to run the third annual Color Run, a fundraising event to raise money for school supplies.
 

As participants migrated around the soccer field prior to running in the race, they were greeted by staff members of Raymond Elementary and many volunteers to include Kim Weeks, Mindy McKinney, Erin Simoneau, Beth Peavey, Austin Carr and many others.   

There was a silent auction with some amazing items donated by local businesses as part of the event as well.  Susan Brackett, a fourth-grade teacher at Raymond Elementary, was the organizer of this event and has been for the past three years.  “It’s a fun new way to raise money for the school and get students, teachers and the community together,” Brackett states.  “It also promotes wellness.”  

This year's run welcomed an anticipated 200 participants; many of which were students who not only ran and contributed to raise the necessary funds but also brought with them a lot of enthusiasm. “I’m excited about getting squirted,” stated Trevor, a fourth-grade student at RES. “I’m excited about the colors,” stated Leo, a Kindergartner at RES.  

This year’s color run began with the National Anthem, sung by the Raymond Elementary Chorus.  Participants then promptly took their places at 1 p.m.; runners at the front of the line and walkers at the end.  With a count down, the race began.  

Participants followed the perimeter of the soccer field, continuing down Frog Pond Trail where a group of volunteers waited with paint squirters in hand. The run continued around the playground.  

 “This is exciting as this is the first look many will have at the new playground that is currently under construction,” says Brackett.  “An example of what the funds from fundraisers such as this goes towards.” 

The run then wrapped back to the soccer field for the finish line. The top three finishers were; in first place, Garan Laszok, second place, Sean LeBel, and third place, Sydney Brackett.  

Once all participants crossed the finish line, everyone gathered in the middle of the soccer field for the final color throw.  

“My favorite part of the run is throwing the color packets,” states Silvia, first grader at Raymond Elementary.  With a countdown the colors flew marking the end of this year’s color run.

Although this year’s race is over, there is still opportunity to make donations to Raymond Elementary School.  Anyone interested in making a donation should contact Raymond Elementary School by phone at 655-8672 or by mail to 434 Webbs Mills Rd. Raymond

Safety and security improvements to be made to Raymond Elementary School Playground by Lorraine Glowczak

The Windham/Raymond Schools, RSU14, have announced the construction of a new playground space in order to improve safety and security at Raymond Elementary School (RES).  Through a long-term application process with the U.S. Department of Defense, RSU #14 and RES are the recipients of the military’s Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) to help with the building of the playground space. The Maine National Guard will begin their two-week training, making many of the necessary improvements beginning in June of 2017.

Adding soil to the playground

From the discovery of the needs of additional playground space to the present has been a six-year process. A preliminary design of a small ball field was developed in 2011 and this remained a concept until the fall of 2014 when a dedicated group of administrators, staff and parents began the process of change for the RES playground space.

Alissa Messer has been an instrumental parent involved in the RES playground space project.  Messer was concerned that the RES playground had many deficiencies. “The school’s playground has a significant sloping hill that creates numerous problems, like falls and injuries during recess time”, Messer explained. “In addition, the playground had no fence to secure the area. Located adjacent to a wooded forest, it’s concerning to have children run after balls into to woods out of clear sight, picking up ticks in the wooded area and securing the area from unwanted visitors such as wildlife and hunters.”

As a parent, Messer could have easily requested that a change be made and put all the work on an already over worked school and district staff.  Messer became the change she wanted to see, working alongside school officials to make the needed safety and security modifications.

With the support of the RSU #14 School Board and Superintendent Sanford Prince, Messer reached out to Eric Tarbox, Scout Executive/CEO of the Pine Tree Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which had recently been the recipient of the military’s IRT. “I asked Eric if he thought the playground improvement project would fit within the scope of the IRT.”  Messer explained that she was grateful for Tarbox's advice and recognized he was of great assistance in the process for the RES playground IRT submission.

Per the website of the Department of Defense: “Innovative Readiness Training builds mutually beneficial civil-military partnerships between US communities and the Department of Defense (DOD) to provide high quality, mission-essential training for Active, Guard, and Reserve support personnel and units, deliver military readiness and partnership capacity to serve when the nation calls, at home or abroad and contribute to American prosperity by meeting public and civil-society needs.” (www.irt.defense.gov/)

Although Messer is a change maker, she calls attention to the fact she did not do this alone. In fact, other parents, teachers, administrators and even the students jumped on board to make the change happen.  It was really important to Messer to have this be a team project. From the  third grade student Oscar Horowitz, who designed the logo for the project with his Grandfather Rudy, to the now sixth grade students who helped in applying for a grant, the “Drive for Education Grant” established by Berlin City Auto. “Together, the students created a ‘Where’s Phil’ video skit highlighting the dangers of the playground and the need for ‘fill’ to even out the soil variations on the play field,” Messer said.

Playground before soil added

The video and grant proposal was submitted in the fall of 2015. The grant proposal was accepted and an award of $1,750 was received on December 8, 2015.

Other funding sources include generous donations from a variety of local businesses.

Community fundraisers have included working with local businesses such as the Good Life Market for holiday pies, ongoing Hannaford gift card sales, as well as continuing support from Pickle Ball Games at the RES. 

A true example and as a result of resilience (RES motto for this year) and being the change one wishes to see in the world, “the playground will become not only a safer environment, but secure as well,” Messer stated. “The project will benefit our students and community by creating a level playing field for the students to enjoy, reducing exposure to ticks, adding security and provide an enhanced learning situation when kids can use the recess time as an outlet and management for energy throughout the day. This play area is not only for school time use, but often community families can be found utilizing the space after hours and throughout the summer.”

The Maine National Guard will begin the first phase of many towards the improvement of the playground and will make the RES their home for two weeks, sleeping in the gymnasiums and utilizing the Jordan-Small Middle School kitchen.  Look for more information on the military drill in future communications.

"I am so excited the Raymond Elementary School Playground Expansion is progressing for the students, staff and community,” Vice Principal Hutchinson stated. “I wish to publicly thank Alissa Messer for her commitment and dedication to this project. We would not have been able to accomplish this without her!"