Update: July 10, 2018
Update on the Center for the Arts
Even though school's out for the summer, the work on the new Greely Center for the Arts continues in earnest. Here are a few highlights:
- All exterior brick work has been completed.
- The roof has been completed.
- All windows are scheduled to be installed soon.
- The concrete interior floor slab has been poured and many of the interior rooms have been drywalled.
- Connecting corridors between the arts center and GHS have been started.
- Exterior site work has begun, including rehabbing a water culvert, installing an access road to the arts center, and creating new parking spaces adjacent to the fence across the street from the arts center.
Brick & Seat Campaign Update
We have officially raised over $25,000 through the Leave Your Legacy Brick & Seat Campaigns for the Greely Center for the Arts. This includes donations from nearly 100 individuals, families and businesses. Thank you to those who have already donated for your generous contributions and support of the Center for the Arts Project.Bricks and Seats are still available for you to Leave A Legacy. You can do so online, in person or mail in the printable form. Additional information can be found online at: www.msad51.org/donate.
Should you have any questions about the campaign or wish to make a larger donation, please contact Ashley Caswell at 207.829.4800 or by email at acaswell@msad51.org.
Please note: Brick orders received PRIOR to August 1st will be place by the time of the opening. Any orders received after August 1st will be placed in the summer of 2019.
National History Day Awards
In April, about a dozen Greely Middle School students competed in the State of Maine National History Day competition. Overall there are 18 categories that students compete in. There are over 650,000 National History Day entries worldwide (contestants at Nationals represent not just all the states in the US, but other places such as South America, Southeast Asia, and China). |
| Don Strawbridge & Matthew Gilbert won 1st prize |
7th Grader, Connor Albert, won one of the national special prizes, the Lee Allen History of Baseball Award for the best entry about the history of baseball, for his Junior Individual Documentary about Jackie Robinson, entitled "To Enrich the Future, Not to Avenge the Past: How Jackie Robinson's Compromise with Branch Rickey in Major League Baseball Let to Robinson Joining the Conflict of the Civil Rights Movement".
6th Grader, Lucie Noonan, won the prize for the Outstanding Entry from the Maine NHD Affiliate, for her Junior Individual Exhibit entitled "Conflict, the Death of Four Little Girls, and Justice Compromised: The 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing".
New Leadership at GHS for 2018-19
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| Chris Hoffman, GHS Interim Principal |
A search committee interviewed six prospective candidates for GHS principal and decided to postpone the search until January in order to increase the applicant pool.
Christopher Hoffman, an English/Social Studies Teacher at GHS, will assume the Interim Principal duties for the year. He was confirmed by the Board on July 9.
Restoration of the Face of the Greely Institute
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| Institute Restoration Meeting: L to R: Carolyn Small, Don Foster, Doten's Construction: Mike Doten, & Tyler Coffin, Hope Foster, District Admin: Jeff Porter & Scott Poulin, Northeast Test Consultants: Stephen Broadhead & Chad Beckwith |
This year marks the 150th year of the Greely Institute. The Institute, which was built in 1868 has been the brand of MSAD #51 since its inception back in the mid 60's.
On Tuesday, July 10, a group of community members, district administration, and construction teams met to discuss the restoration of the face of Greely Institute. Over the years, water has seeped into the wood, rotting much of the wooden face of the structure that is standing today.
Carolyn Small, from the Cumberland Historical Society and Hope Foster, who started teaching for the district back in 1949, we able to show and talk to district administration as well as the construction teams about the look of the Institute "way back when." Many of the photos looked at throughout the meeting will be utilized to help ensure an accurate restoration.
Work will be starting soon. Northeast Test Consultants will be working to remove all of the lead paint. You will see staging and privacy fencing going up in the next few days along with containment areas. They will also be removing some paint from the bricks. As Northeast Test Consultants are finishing up their work, Doten's construction will start working to restore, repaint and revitalize the Institute back to what it was in 1868, keeping the "brand of the district" for many more years to come.
The total restoration is slated to be completed prior to the start of the 2018-19 school year.
District-Wide Check-In Survey Data Results
For the third year, the district as administered Check-In Surveys with our students, parents and staff. The number of stakeholders who complete this survey has continued to increase over the last three years. We appreciate the support we have received as we use this data to follow trends within the district.I presented this information to the Board of Directors on Monday, July 9th. Here is a link to my presentation as well as a link to the cumulative three-year data.
"Kinder-garden"
At the end of the school year, all of the Kindergarten students painted rocks for a border to the newly renovated garden that they have been working on since last fall. Maintenance supervisor Don Foster helped with the project to make this "kinder-garden" one to be proud of, livening up the MIW grounds.
