On Friday, we went to a maple sugar house. We had a breakfast with pancakes, maple syrup and orange juice. Delicious! Then, we went to visit the farm. We saw lots of animals (horses, pigs, and bunnies (one was only one week old), and geese and cows too!..) We had the chance to touch some of them and to feed them. It was lots of fun. Then, we went for a little walk to see how they tap the maple trees. We even tasted the sap coming out of the tree. They need 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. Then, we went inside the sugar house and the owner explained how they transform the sap into maple syrup. We learned a lot. -The Preschool, Kindergarten and Grade 1 students
Last Wednesday, a Canadian Educational program, Aster, came to show us a planetarium. In the beginning, we were a little worried about going into the ''dark tent''. But once inside, we found it was just like the night and we felt more comfortable. We saw planets, stars and constellations. Our presenter, Megge, showed us the differences between the planets. She explained that the earth goes around the sun and the moon around the earth. The older children also learned about shooting stars and aurora borealis. They even saw astronauts in the international space station! Everything was in French and we all really enjoyed it. - Les Petites et Moyennes Sections
As you know, a healthy body and a healthy mind are important for a child's development. Recess is an important part of the day. Teachers and parents will affirm that without recess, children do not learn as well and are less focused in the classroom.
We are about to partake in a new and exciting venture for our students. We have carefully selected new playground equipment that is age appropriate, encourages creativity and development, and also blends into the natural setting of the environment. The purchase of this equipment would remain a long-lasting addition to our school. This structure would also benefit children in the community because our playground is used by neighborhood children outside of school hours.
Please take a moment to look at the proposed playground equipment, a climbing wall and tree house structure. A poster of the structures we would like to purchase is found hanging on the bulletin board near the office. The structure offers safe physical play for a wide range of ages serving children from preschool through middle school.
You can also view the structures on the website of Landscape Structures, using the links below:
We will have a fundraising kick-off event in April. We will be raising money through Corporate Sponsorship, Grants, the local community and fundraising efforts at the school. We are looking to raise approximately $50,000 to the purchase and installation of the new equipment.
We believe this equipment will add a wealth of value to the school experience and will provide lasting memories for our students of their happy memories with friends on the playground!
Thank you for your help as we undertake this exciting effort!
On Monday February 22, Kirsten Gill, a high level skier at Bates College made a presentation to the children of grades 2 to 7. She introduced herself, presented her results, how long she has been skiing, her level and her goals. She also told us about the competitions she took part in: where they were, how she traveled there, what she did on a typical day. She also told us how long she trains everyday and what she does during training, her techniques and what kind of equipment she uses.
This presentation, in an impressive level of French, taught children about her incredible life. She started downhill skiing when she was 2 years old, did a lot of competitions and training, and then switched to cross country skiing. She traveled a lot for her sport, to France, Sweden, Chili, Austria, New Zealand, etc. The children also learned about different techniques and the equipment used with them, the amount of training necessary to reach a good level, and even the average speed of a skating race.
Her presentation was followed by the many questions prepared in advance by the children. Children and adults have been captivated by her experiences. UN TRES GRAND MERCI to Kirsten. And good luck! L’Ecole Française du Maine is now part of your supporters!
Saturday, March 27th, 7:30 pm Trinity Episcopal Church, 580 Forest Ave., Portland, ME
$10 admission, ($5 for anyone under 15 years old)
Hello everyone,
I want to let you know that my new CD with Carl Dimow, "border crossings" is done and ready for listening! We're very excited about this new disc. It features new compositions by each of us, plus our arrangements of four of the Afro Sambas of Baden Powell. There's a more detailed description of the CD below.
Meanwhile, if you'd like to hear sound samples, they're posted on my website. And if you can't make it to the concert but would like to purchase the CD, you can buy it directly from the site. http://www.nathankolosko.com/audio.php (Or feel free to get it from me in person.) http://www.carldimow.com/cds.shtml
I hope to see you on the 27th.
Nathan PS - We will also be making an appearance on the TV show 207 the week of the concert!!
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The kolosko • dimow duo consists of the critically acclaimed composer/performers Nathan Kolosko (on classical guitar), and Carl Dimow (on flute and bass flute). As Creative Artists Kolosko and Dimow have a natural propensity to break down the boundaries between classical music and other genres. Their new CD, border crossings, draws on elements of classical music, world music and jazz. The disc includes original music by both musicians and frequently features the unique combination of bass flute and guitar.
border crossings has three distinct and unique sets of repertoire:
Kolosko's Nayarit, Dimow's Klezmer Suite, and the duos' collaborative arrangements of four of the Afro Sambas of Baden Powell. Nayarit was inspired by John Steinbeck's novel, The Pearl. Its four movements explore the themes and characters of the novel, drawing in places on folkloric music from the Pacific coast of Mexico where the novel is set. The Klezmer Suite evolved from Dimow's many years of performing and touring with the Casco Bay Tummlers klezmer band. Its movements are rooted in the rhythms and scales of klezmer and middle eastern music and range in mood from introspection and mystery to joy and celebration. The brilliant guitarist Baden Powell effortlessly combined elements of classical music and jazz with his rich Brazilian roots. The duo featured a number of his compositions on their first CD, nos•tal•gia, and have returned to his inspiring music on this disc with original arrangements of four of his Afro Sambas.
Press quotes from our first CD, nos•tal•gia:
"The Bachianas Brasileiras by Villa-Lobos is stunning ... This is a great recording that I highly recommend." - Flute Talk Magazine "...such artistry, you may find yourself levitated a few inches off the floor ... the sound is both celestial and lively." - Portland Press Herald "Nostalgia features some truly sublime playing, both meditative and playful, as well as a successful delivery of the sentiment expressed in the title." - Portland Phoenix ".. elegant phrasing and mastery of color - simply breathtaking."- Gazette - Greater Boston Flute Association
We want to inform you of the activities that will take place at the Augusta State Capitol to celebrate the Franco-American Day of Maine on March 17th. Here is a summary of the main events:
• 8 am : Chorus of the students of L'Ecole Française du Maine • 9 am : Proclamation and nomination of the Franco-American of the year, first at the House of Representatives then at the Senate. • 11:30 am : Press conference with Governor Baldacci at the Hall of Flags
• Noon : Franco-American lunch at the State Capitol cafeteria
• 2 pm : Meeting and discussion about the French language with Mr. Moussa-Makan Camara (Permanent Observer to the United Nations of the International Francophonie Organization), Mr. Michel Robitaille (CEO of the Centre de la Francophonie des Amériques), Mr. Neil Leblanc (Consul General of Canada in Boston), Mr. Christophe Guilhou (Consul General of France in Boston), Ms. France Dionne (Quebec Delegate in New England), Emil Wyss (Consul of Switzerland in Boston). This meeting will most probably be held at the Legislative Council Chamber. • 7 pm : Music concert “French in Action” (Franco-American Heritage Center, Lewiston, ME). For more details, please see www.franco-newengland.org • Chorus of the students of L'Ecole Française du Maine (Franco-American Heritage Center, Lewiston, ME). For more details, please see www.franco-newengland.org
All these events are free, open to the public and you are cordially invited!
The team of the Quebec Government Office in Boston
The children enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year at school.
Willy decorated the school with dragons and streamers to set the scene for the day’s festivities. Activities included making crafts, sampling special foods, putting on a play, singing songs in Mandarin and learning about the Chinese culture. We want to thank Sally for sharing all of this with us. Mary Lou prepared another splendid meal including Chop Suey, dumplings and the traditional New Year Nian Gao cake. We finished the lunch with fortune cookies and chocolate coins for good luck! We performed the skits and songs in the Community Hall for an audience of parents and friends, where all the students did a fabulous job. The year of the tiger is definitely off to a great start!
On March 17, 2010, the children of L'Ecole Française du Maine will celebrate Franco Day. In the morning, children of grades 2 to 7 will be in the State House in Augusta. La chorale will sing and the children will serve as pages in both Houses. At 7:00pm, La Chorale will be performing at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston. Artists from Canada will be performing as well. Please join us for this wonderful event. Entrance is free.
This winter, we have been cross-country skiing at school and at Pineland, and downhill skiing in Sugarloaf. Unfortunately the snow is now almost gone, and we cannot go cross-country skiing on Friday afternoons anymore… You might be wondering what we are doing for sports? Well, we do sports while enjoying the little amount of snow we have left! Didier has organized running activities, which is a little hard… but then we do relays, and even though we still run a lot, it is much easier because it is a lot of fun! We work on cooperation, running, being precise and having strategies, and we do all that very happily!
The Olympic games are still going on in the pre-K class. Wednesday, we continued our competition. This week, we pretended to do ski jumping and alpine ski slaloming. We also had a medal ceremony and were very proud to go back home with our own medals. We also listened to the national anthems of England, France, Canada, China and of course, the United States. We learned to stand up and to listen respectfully to the anthems. We had a very good time.
In an effort to encourage and promote youth participation in winter outdoor recreation, Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) and Maine Huts & Trails (MH&T) are pleased to announce a partnership that will provide Maine's elementary and middle school students taking part in the MWSC Healthy Hometowns program with a significant discount on hut lodging fees.Any student who takes part in the Healthy Hometowns program can stay at the huts with their family or as part of an organized group for a special rate of $25pp any Sun-Thu night from Dec 11 - April 1, excluding holidays. A hut stay includes two meals and lodging.Adults who are acting chaperones on group trips are offered member pricing ($65). Adults accompanying healthy hometowns students on non-school or group trips pay regular rates.For more information visit www.mainehuts.org and www.mainewsc.org.
The Maine Winter Sports Center was founded in 1999 as an organization designed to promote healthy lifestyles for Maine residents and create opportunity for Maine people, with a focus on rural towns. The Healthy Hometowns program was established by the Maine Winter Sports Center with the mission of getting Maine children outdoors, having fun, and staying physically active. Healthy Hometowns provides low cost ski rentals and programming in the winter, making skiing more accessible to communities and schools across the state. We are committed to an active lifestyle year round.
Maine Huts and Trails is a non-profit organization whose mission is to contribute to the economic, social and natural environment of Maine’s Western Mountain region by creating and operating a world-class recreation corridor for current and future generations. Our backcountry trails enhance access to beautiful lakes, rivers and forest lands, and our low impact huts provide inviting spaces that facilitate outdoor adventures and learning. This self-sustaining resource stimulates environmentally sensitive economic opportunity in the region by attracting visitors of all ages and abilities.
Top photo courtesy of Sugarloaf-USA/ Second from top by Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger
Congratulations to Seth Wescott for an amazing Gold Medal win at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver!
Margaret Gould Wescott, Seth's mom seen hugging Seth in the picture, came to L'Ecole Française du Maine last spring to offer a great dance performance. Beth and Mikki Cote (Eli's mom) are former members of Margaret's dance company at University of Maine at Farmington.
Here in Maine and across the nation, we are all very proud of Seth. Heartfelt appreciation goes to Seth and his family, we are grateful to you for the positive attention you have brought to your home state. Wishing you all the happiness you deserve and continued success! While many of our students have been fortunate enough to meet Seth up at Sugarloaf, we would be honored if ever your busy schedule allows for you to pay us a visit in the future!
This week we wanted to celebrate the Olympic games.
We divided the class into 4 teams: England, China, Canada and France.
First, we colored each of the flags and we built the Olympic torch. Then, we went across the street to make our parade and to begin our games. We put many different flames into one big one. We began with a ''speed skating race'' and we pretended we had skates. We learned about the Olympic games and we can't wait to continue the different competitions, indoors and outdoors.
Of course, we also made our own medals with play dough!
Seeds of Independence is attempting to collect 1,000,000 vitamins to aid the earthquake victims in Haiti. We will leave Portland on March 27th to begin our 12th annual trip to LaRomana, Dominican Republic where many of our medical staff, workers, and supplies will travel to the Port-Au-Prince area to continue with the aid and reconstruction.
All supplies are critical, but vitamins are in very short supply and are much needed as the victims continue to suffer from malnutrition and related diseases.
Seeds of Independence Po Box 8 Freeport, ME 04032
Website: www.seedsofindependence.org
Donations may be in the form of vitamins and/or cash/check for the purchase of vitamins. For donations or more information, please contact Mary-Lou Carhart at L'Ecole Française du Maine: phone# (207) 865 3308.
Seeds of Independence is a Maine-based 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. All proceeds will go towards the purchase and distribution of the vitamins.
We visited Angie at the Post Office to send a letter to our pen pals in France. We sent them our counting book.
Angie showed us how to weigh a letter and where letters go afterward. She gave us cookies and juice and a bag full of surprises. To thank her, we sang her two songs, in French of course… and we brought the school’s mail to Elodie on our way back.
In English we read Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, and each of us did a different project on it to present to another class. Mine was a picture book destined for Valerie's class. After some hard work condensing the story, telling it in an age-appropriate way, and drawing pictures, I finally got to present it! I loved sitting in their classroom, with so many eager eyes watching me intently. I think that it was a good experience for me to write and illustrate for pre-school comprehension-something that wasn't easy for me-and then see first-hand everyone's enjoyment. I hope that in future I'll get to do more projects like this!
