On March 26th, RMHS Social Studies Teacher Kerry Gallagher participated in a panel discussion, titled, Lessons in Personalization from the Edsurge 50 States Initiative.  This discussion highlighted  the top stories from EdSurge’s recently completed The Fifty States Project, an initiative to showcase educators and their stories of supporting learning by using technology. We celebrate the art, knowledge and best practices shared by educators across urban, suburban, and rural communities, wielding technology to make a real difference for kids. The discussion featured educators from all over the country including:

The links to the 2 Part Video are below.  Congratulations to Kerry on this outstanding opportunity!

Edsurge Panel Discussion

Edsurge Panel Discussion-Part 2

The latest edition of the Pathways Newsletter is now below.  This week’s edition features information and photos from several high school events, including the RMHS State Jazz Band Competition, Winter Color Guard and Percussion Competition, Robotics Tournament, and Science Olympiad Tournament.

Have a great week!

Pathways Newsletter V1N28

A.W. Coolidge Middle School Science Olympiad Team Placed First in the Massachusetts State Science Olympiad Competition.

Reading, MA, March 16, 2015 – The A.W. Coolidge Science Olympiad Team won first place in the Massachusetts Middle School Science Olympiad State Competition at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. This is the 22^nd year they have earned the honor of representing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at the National Science Olympiad Competition, which will take place at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln on May 15-16, 2015.

The Massachusetts Science Olympiad offers middle school students the opportunity to compete with their peers in science and engineering events. This year, 30 middle schools participated in the competition, which consisted of 23 events covering a diverse array of science and engineering content and process skills. Events this year included Elastic Launch Gliders – Construction of a light weight glider propelled by elastic, students launch gliders from floor level and are scored based on consistent timed flight; Meteorology—using scientific process skills to address severe storm topics such as supercell thunderstorms, mesoscale convective complexes, derechos, and dust storms; Anatomy – learning about the integumentary and nervous systems and how aging and specific diseases affect them; and Can’t Judge a Powder – using laboratory chemistry techniques to perform experiments on an unknown powder in preparation for answering questions about the powder.

This year 30 dedicated students comprise the A.W. Coolidge Science Olympiad Team and have united in their love of science. Each team member has contributed to the success of the team and maintained the reputation of hard work and sportsmanship for which the team has become known. Congratulations go out to eighth graders Kieran DeLacy, Lacey Douglass, Yolanda Jarrin, Matthew O’Halloran, Helly Patel, Jahnavi Patel, William Qiu, Barry Richter, Justin Wang, and Kelly Ward; seventh graders Nick Brown, Youngwon Choi, Tyler Gonick, Nick Luikey, Amogh Morje, Sarah Murphy, Jeffrey Pan, Jeremy Rosh, Ben Rotstein, Somil Singh, and Matthew Smith; sixth graders Henry Bresnahan, Katherine Growney, Will Merry, Tara Parsons, Gavin Pu, Michael Rogers, Ava Serrano, Kevin Upton, Brendan Wilcox.  Both the regular and alternate teams won their respective divisions.  Collectively the regular team, made up of eighth and seventh graders, placed in 20 out of 22 events with nine gold medals, four silver, five bronze, and three 5th place finishes in the Massachusetts Olympiad.  The alternate team, made up of seventh and sixth graders, won with thirteen 1st place ribbons, four 2nd place ribbons, and four 3rd place ribbons.

This year’s team is led by Head Coach Karawan Meade, a former team member, with the support of Coolidge science teachers John McCarthy and Jerald Coyne, and a team of volunteer coaches who are parents, teachers, community members, and high school student team alumni.

The Coolidge Science Olympiad Team relies on a variety of events throughout the year as well as donations (http://www.coolidgescienceteam.org/home/donations) to raise funds to cover operating expenditures. Upcoming events include the annual community-wide yard sale, which will be held this year on Saturday May 2 (see flyer) at the A.W. Middle School in Reading, MA, and our direct mail campaign. The A.W. Coolidge Science Olympiad Team gratefully acknowledges the overwhelming support shown by the community throughout the past 22 years.

The Coolidge Science Olympiad Team is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all contributions are tax-deductible. For more information about the team and upcoming team events, or to make a donation, please visit http://www.coolidgescienceteam.org.

2015_donation_flyer front+Back for student distribution

Good Morning,

Below is the latest edition of the Pathways Newsletter.  This week we have stories and photos on the Parker Science Olympiad Team, the RMHS Girls Hockey Team, the Parker Musical, Just So, and curriculum frameworks/PARCC.

Our district has a busy weekend with the RMHS Science Olympiad Team competing in the State Tournament, the RMHS Robotics Team competing in Smithsfield, Rhode Island, the RMHS Color Guard participating in the NESBA tournament, and our RMHS Jazz Band competing in the State Finals.  Good luck to all of those teams!

Pathways Newsletter V1N27

Good Evening,

Posted below are the latest issues of the Pathways Newsletter.  There are several stories this week, including the Reading Robotics Team exciting NE FIRST tournament last weekend and Read Across America at several schools.

Have a great week!

Pathways Newsletter V1N26

Pathways Newsletter V1N25

Congratulations to the Coolidge Middle School Science Olympiad Team who placed first out of thirty teams in the Massachusetts State Science Olympiad Competition that was held at Assumption College today.  Out of 22 events, Coolidge won 8 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze medals.

With today’s first place finish, Coolidge will now compete in the National Science Olympiad Competition to be held at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln in May.

Congratulations to Head Coach Karawan Meade,  and all of the coaches, parents, and students for their success in today’s competition.

A Panoramic View of the NE FIRST Event at RMHS Field House

Last weekend, the Reading “Robockets” team joined 39 other teams from all over New England to compete in the NE FIRST North Shore District Robotics Event, which was held at our own RMHS Field House.  This year’s game is called RECYCLE RUSH, which is a recycling-themed game played by two Alliances of three Robots each. Robots score points by stacking Totes on Scoring Platforms, capping those stacks with Recycling Containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing Litter. In keeping with the recycling theme of the game, all game pieces used are reusable or recyclable by teams in their home locations or by FIRST® at the end of the season. Each Alliance competes on their respective 26 ft. by 27 ft. side of the playing field. Each RECYCLE RUSH Match begins with a 15-second Autonomous Period in which Robots operate independently of their drivers. During this period, Robots attempt to earn points by moving themselves, their Yellow Totes, and their Recycling Containers into the area between the white scoring platforms, called the Auto Zone. During the remaining two minutes and 15 seconds of the match, called the Teleop Period, Robots are controlled remotely by student drivers located behind the walls at the ends of the field. Teams on an Alliance work together to place as many Totes on their white Scoring Platforms as possible.

During the weekend, Reading finished 11^th in the qualifying round out of 40 teams.  They then became eligible to compete in the competition round of 8 alliances where they finished as the third best alliance in the entire competition.  In addition, Reading received one of the prestigious Judge’s awards, the Entrepreneurship award for their outstanding business plan, implementing that business plan, and reaching out to the greater community.  Congratulations to the Robockets who now will compete in Smithsfield, Rhode Island on March 20-21^st.  If they rank high enough, they will be invited to compete in the district tournament at WPI in April.

The Robockets Team Pit Area at the Event

Some additional thoughts about last weekend’s event

Over the last several years, our school district has focused on our mission of Instilling a joy of learning and inspiring the innovative leaders of tomorrow.  The NE FIRST program and this competition clearly supports that mission.  FIRST goes far beyond what those other STEM opportunities provide because for six weeks, students are given a challenge that goes well beyond building a robot to perform a task.  Students have to be entrepreneurs and raise funds, they have to use technology and engineering skills to develop a design and plan, they have to market and brand their team to the community and to sponsors, they have to have people willing to lead, and those that are willing to follow.  They have to test ideas, fail at those ideas, and retest them with new solutions. Team members have to work together because if they do not, they will not be able to fulfill your challenge.  And, they had to face unexpected obstacles, like multiple snow storms.  All of this had to be done in 6 weeks’ time, while at the same time they need to continue to participate in school, a job, their family, and other responsibilities.  It is evident that this process prepares students for life with skills that will give them the ability to face many more difficult challenges.

The NE FIRST Teams all seemed to have three common themes.  First, there was this consistent buzz of positive energy and enthusiasm.  Many participants said during the event that this program has changed their life because it is exciting, challenging, builds lasting friendships and is hard work.  One student even quoted saying, that “this is the hardest fun that he has ever had, but he would never stop doing it”.  It is this contagious enthusiasm that was heard consistently all weekend.

Another theme that was observed was the different types of students that participated.  One would think that since this was a robotics event, most students would want to be engineers.  This was clearly not the case as teams had not only future engineers, but future artists, entrepreneurs, storytellers, scientists, teachers, architects, and computer software designers.  What is evident is that this program is for every student, regardless of their background, skills, or talents.  Each member of the team finds his or her own role and contributes in a very powerful way.

The final theme that emerged is that this process is more than building a robot to complete a task.  Participating in FIRST teaches skills that a student will need well beyond this competition.  Skills like communication, time management, innovation, problem solving, creativity, and most importantly, teamwork.  These are the skills that will prepare students for life, regardless of what field they pursue.

The students that were at the event last weekend could potentially be the future Leonardo DaVinci, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Ellen Ochoa, and other skilled entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers of their generation.  They are part of the generation that will be solving the environmental, fiscal, and technological problems that face our communities, our country, and our world.  It is clear that with events like this, our region is in good hands and their participation in this FIRST program prepares them to work as a team and tackle those challenges.

The overall running of the event was a complete success and like any event of this magnitude it took a Team to make the event run smoothly.  Special thanks goes to NE FIRST,  Co-Chairs Sanat Patel and Kyle Henry, our Reading Robockets Team and their parents, our Facilities Department and our technology departments for the time and effort in planning the logistics of this past weekend.

The Robockets