Cluster Four Update

Our students are in the final stretch of 7th grade! It’s been an eventful year that has passed by way too quickly! We’re going to miss these kids!

For the culmination of our dystopian literature study, we are ending the year with book clubs. Students are working in small groups to read one of several different dystopian book titles. Students are doing a wonderful job of noticing the qualities of a dystopia, following the progress of the protagonist’s journey toward fighting injustice, and narrowing in on themes.

Throughout the school year, students have learned the importance of water in ancient settlements: for farming, religious practices, and the development of laws, justice, and governmental systems. Students have learned about the truly phenomenal technologies that bring clean water in and dirty water out of ancient and modern communities.

To end the year, Cluster 4 students are immersed in an interdisciplinary project titled “Future Cities.” Students have looked at data from the UN that suggests that in 2050, 65% of us will be living in cities. Working in small groups, students have been asked to imagine themselves as novice civil engineers, tasked with designing their own city for the future that manages the challenges of stormwater in a community.

The constraints of the project require students to use ONLY recycled materials, build their city to scale (a tough task), and include a water source, a residential zone, an industrial zone, a commercial zone, municipal buildings, and a form of transportation. Moreover, students must include examples of Best Management Practices of stormwater management. Members of the Watertown Stormwater Committee joined us on a walk around town pointing out specific infrastructure that has been installed on Edenfield St. as well as in the new construction projects by the river. Students identified rain gardens, swales, and tree pits as ways for water to be absorbed into the ground as opposed to running down the storm drain to the river, dragging pollutants along with it.

Working as part of a team challenges the students to work through decision-making, task management, and construction. On Monday students will try a design challenge in which they will have to construct one building that can hold water without collapsing…should be interesting! The students will present their finished cities on Thursday in the WMS library.

Wishing all a safe and relaxing summer! Please encourage your student to READ over the vacation!

We are very sad to say goodbye to the amazing Breanne Cole, our truly skilled librarian and media specialist for the past three years. She has been the kindest, most collaborative, creative, and thoughtful colleague, teacher, and mentor to our students. We wish her the best of luck in her new school district and hope that we see her from time to time.

We also say goodbye and congratulations to the phenomenal Holly Carroll Cachimuel, a preschool, Kindergarten, and middle school teacher for over 30 years in both Cambridge and Watertown.

...“a holly plant is a vibrant sign of life, which prospers during dark, cold days of winter.” This definition also applies because as a WPS Family Liaison, she is a vibrant ray of hope for vulnerable students and their families, who often face layers of challenges, as well as intergenerational trauma."

(Excerpted from Sheila Gilmartin's speech at the Retirement Party)