Learning By Doing: Old Town School Department


2006-07 Projects

Relay For Life

An annual event that the Old Town High School JROTC takes part in is the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life.  The event takes place each year at the high school.  The cadets are actively involved with the preparation and debrief of this event.  By taking part in the Relay For Life, the cadets address a variety of topics in their curriculum; most notably, leadership.  At the KIDS Service-Learning Summit in March of 2007, four cadets presented their work during two different workshops.   

 

The Memory Project

The Memory Project was a service-learning project done by an art class at the high school.  It involved the students working with an international organization and bringing a bit of hope to Ugandan orphans.  Students received pictures of the orphans from Uganda .  They pictures were then painted as portraits for an art assignment.  The portraits were sent to the Memory Project, laminated, and given to the orphans.  For the majority of orphans, this is their only possession.  Three of the students from the art class, and their teacher (Mrs. Rice), went to Augusta in May of 2007 to showcase their project at the Hall of Flags.    

 

Clean Your Desk Campaign-8th Grade and Key Club

At the end of last year, students from the 8th grade at Leonard Middle School and the Old Town High School Key Club collected used and unused school supplies from other students.  These materials were sorted out and shipped to children in Nicaragua .  In Nicaragua , children that do not have their own school supplies (pens, pencils, paper) cannot attend school.  Due to the very low socioeconomics in Nicaragua , this prevents many children from getting an education.  

 

2007-2008 Projects

Cookie Bake for the Old Town Public Library

This was a service-learning project that was done by an Honors Chemistry Class.  The chemistry concepts of heterogeneous vs. homogeneous mixtures, percent composition and percent yield were taught through the baking of cookies.  Students were responsible for determining the chemical breakdown of their cookies.  The cookies were then donated to the annual bake sale at the library.  The bake sale supports the library and its many programs.  

 

SAT Awareness Pamphlet

As part of a SAT Prep class, students made an awareness pamphlet for future Old Town High School SAT test-takers.  The students in the class, who had taken the PSAT the previous year, thought that putting together a few test-taking tips would be very beneficial.  In addition to making the pamphlet, they also hung up test-tip posters throughout the school.      

 

Old Town Movie

In 3rd grade, students brainstormed ideas about how best to study important businesses, landmarks, local government, schools, and historical information in the community.  They decided to make a movie.  Over several months, the students interviewed and filmed local historians, business leaders, the city manager, and school personnel.  The movie will be used to teach future third graders about their community.  In addition to educating third graders, the movie may become part of a welcome package for new students to Old Town .               

 

Animal Awareness Project

7th grade students identified the need to raise awareness and educate others about the issues of animal rights.  This was part of a “Rights and Responsibilities of a Citizen” unit.  They researched the need of local animal shelters and the benefits that shelters provide for the community.  As part of their research students visited the Bangor Humane Society, the Old Town Animal Orphanage, and Sunkhaze Wildlife Refuge.  The students presented their findings to various classes, held a bake sale to benefit the shelters, made brochures for Sunkhaze, and made a podcast about the short-nosed sturgeon.  Incorporating persuasive writing into the project, students wrote letters to state senators about the recent budget cuts to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department.


Project Hunger

Students on the 8th grade McCamp Team planned and organized a “Hunger Banquet”.  The banquet was the end-of-the-year project designed to address world hunger.  Students identified and researched twelve countries in which hunger was a significant problem.  At the Banquet, students gave presentations on the twelve countries and also served attendees a small cup of rice and water to represent the amount of food and water people in poorer countries have for meals.  Donations were collected by the students to be distributed to two local food pantries and two international organizations.

 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

6th grade “Starfish” students worked on a litter and recycling campaign as a way to address human interaction with the environment.  The students identified four projects to address the issues of litter and recycling.  One group created a pledge form and contacted local businesses to pledge money for the bags of litter they collected during the River Clean-Up that the city runs.  Then, that group selected a charity in the community to give the money to.  The second group decorated re-useable bags to replace plastic bags.  They put important facts about recycling on the bags.  The third group designed pamphlets of facts and created coloring books for the elementary school children.  The fourth group created videos about recycling and litter.  The videos were shared with elementary school students in the second and third grade.   

 

Last Update: September 30, 2008 14:00