Defying Gravity

The Jordan-Small Middle School Drama Club is excited to announce a very different type of dramatic production than their traditional spring musical. This year, students will be presenting “Defying Gravity, An Evening of Song and Story,” which will be comprised of three musical numbers incorporating both singing and choreography, telling three stories in a theatrical version of Reader’s Theater, and performing a series of monologues. Defying Gravity will be held on Friday, March 30, and Saturday, March 31, at 7 p.m. at JSMS. Tickets are $5 and available at the door. Treat yourself to a fun evening and come watch our stars shine.

Orff Festival of Music

Seven students from Raymond Elementary School recently participated in the 19th Annual Orff Festival of Music by joining other children in the district for a day of musical fun. Directed by music teachers from Raymond and Windham schools, the festival is limited to a few third- and fourth-grade students from each school. The aspiring musicians participated in music workshops, learned new songs and dances, and played instruments such as slide whistles, xylophones, and glockenspiels.

Carl Orff was a multi-faceted musician and prolific composer who wrote in many styles and is known as the world’s authority on children’s music education. He dedicated himself to making musical performance accessible to children and under his guidance, an entire orchestra of special “Orff instruments” was designed, enabling children to play music without formal training.

The day-long festival ended with the children performing songs and dances for their families. An honor to attend, students had to be nominated by their music teachers. These nominations were based on not only musical talents, but positive behavior and a desire for learning. Raymond students who participated and enjoyed the festival were Mya Bolk, Ben Childs, Liam Connor-Schaefer, Lindsey MacDonald, Caitlyn Nassa, Riley Silvia, and Leah Walker.

A New Trail

Spring, or was it summer, definitely sprung last week and it felt so great to get out and exercise. I am excited that we now have another trail in town, and all members of the community are encouraged to use this new trail. We have been fortunate to have the trail behind the middle school but now we have a second trail easily accessible across the street at the Raymond Elementary School. The new trail was recently named Frog Pond Trail, a name created by two students and selected through a contest. To access the trail, simply park at the top of the RES parking lot directly across from a kiosk located at the trailhead.

This trail is a result of a grant the school received last fall which was funded through the Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant to purchase enhancements for the trail including a trailhead kiosk and gravel for groundwork. A set of cedar kiosks from a Maine Post and Beam grant to create a storywalk were also received. Storywalks allow you to post information and pages to books along a path which can be a fun way to incorporate literacy and physical activity.

Additional grants are being sought to further enhance and extend the trail to a larger loop in the wooded area behind RES. In the meantime, volunteers are currently needed to help clear the trail of trees and branches. If you are interested in working on the trail, please contact John Keller at jkeller@rsu14.org.

World Community Arts Day

Raymond Elementary School recently held its second annual World Community Arts Day which was a wonderful way for the students to interact with each other as well as adults to learn new creative skills. Students learned how to finger-knit, carve soap, compose a song, and make fleece scarves, masks, and jewelry. They hula-hooped, juggled, danced and did Zumba and had an excellent time. This event would not have been possible without the many people who volunteered their time. From RES teachers and staff to parents and community artisans, the students were treated to a day of creative enrichment. A special thank-you goes out to Susan Crockett for organizing the entire event.

A Special Tea Party

Princes, princesses and children of all ages are invited to a tea party extravaganza that will include games, crafts, tea and treats, shows, live princesses and even a unicorn. This very special fundraiser will be held on April 1 from 12-4 p.m. at Windham High School. Tickets are $10 for children, free for their accompanying adults, and available by calling Windham Primary School at 892-1840.

This event is a fundraiser by the RSU 14 community and Windham Center Stage Theater for two of our edu-cators’ young children who are battling cancer: Nineteen-month-old Delilah was diagnosed with Leukemia in February. She is being treated at the Barbara Bush Center in Portland where she has been undergo-ing chemotherapy and bi-weekly bone marrow monitoring in her fight to beat leukemia.

In November, three-year-old Alice went to the doctor with what was suspected to be pneumonia but left with the diagnosis of stage IV neuroblastoma. With treat-ment in both Portland and Boston, Alice has undergone six rounds of chemo-therapy and two surgeries to remove the cancer. She next faces at least one stem cell transplant followed by radiation therapy.

This tea party is an opportunity for our children to have fun while we as a community help our neighbors in need. If you cannot attend but would like to make a donation to this great cause, please call 583-4445.

Harlem Superstars Fight MS

Here’s another fun activity your entire family can enjoy while you support a good cause. “Clowning Around for MS” is a spoof of a basketball game held with the Harlem Superstars, a team with Globetrotter-type skills, and includes plenty of audience participation and a halftime show including 30 kids from the crowd. This fun game will be held on Friday, April 6, at 7 p.m. at Windham High School and will definitely sell out so buy your tickets in advance. Tickets are only $7 and can be purchased by contacting Diane Leavitt at 776-0113 or dleavitt@rsu14.org. All proceeds will go to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Making Honors

Jordan-Small Middle School has released the honor roll for the second trimester. Congratulations to the following students for achieving honors:

Grade 5 High Honors: Colby Dionne, Haley Froisland, Hannah Gagne, Sophie Sangster, and Devon Young. Grade 5 Honors: Hannah Bernier, Magdalene Bradford, Courtney Brown, Blake Colby, Stratos Demakis, Kaitlyn Gedicks, Devon Griffeth, Elissibeth Jackson, Benjamin Kisel, Clara Mulvihill, Caelen Pardue, Alexis Peet, Grace Schmader, Wade Stedt, and Alianah Timmons. Grade 5 Honorable Effort:

Madison McCune, Stearns Wallingford, Sarah Hall, Richard Plummer, and Riley Gardner.

Grade 6 High Honors: Danielle Meader, Jessica Meyer, and Alex Wilkins. Grade 6 Honors: Walter Backman, Hunter Dionne, Ian Emery-Shaw, Robert Murray, Maggie Nunn, Holly Rose, Nicholas Rose, Kieran Rowe, Hannah Stogsdill, Katelyn Troiano, Maegan Vierra, Natalie Walker. Grade 6 Honorable Effort: Jack Bisson, Lauren Clark, Caitlyn Dyke, Ben Folsom, Corey Fowler, Nora Laprise, Alaina Lewis, Tabitha Newquist, and Carleigh Steele.

Grade 7 Honors: Taylor Bernier, Hannah Brackett, Paige Pandora, Connor Pittman, Danielle Tardiff, Ellie Van Winkle, Kristina Wunderlich, and David Young. Grade 7 Honorable Effort: Orion Beers, Kaleb Felix-Waterman, MacKenzie Fish, Louis Geller, John Gresh, Jaret Korzeniowski, Arthur Lewis, Cameron Peavey, Devon Plummer, Derrike Richards, Taylor Rickett, and Maia Tangen.

Grade 8 Honors: Tayla Johnson, Anna Laprise, Greg Meader, Ryan Plummer, Jeffrey Pollard, and Alexis Walker. Grade 8 Honorable Effort: Mary Brackett, Isabella Davis, Megan Knights, Maelah Nadeau, Bailey Nassa, and Evan Taylor.

Students from RSU 14 spend the day enjoying music and dance by participating in the 19th annual Orff Festival. (Courtesy of Patricia Gordan)