Superintendent Update
Windham School District | November
Friday, February 23, 2024
Dear Parents/Guardians:
We are off to our well-deserved February break! Thank you to our students and staff for their dedication and hard work to push through and close out this week. When we return, spring will be right around the corner, along with the planning and preparing of many of our favorite end-of-year activities. Before we head off, we have a few district-level highlights to update you on. Then, the spotlight will turn to our Windham Center School students and staff for their most recent accomplishments and achievements.
Tutor.com: The Windham School District is proud to announce that Tutor.com offerings have been expanded to include grades 4-6. For the past two years, we have partnered with Tutor.com to provide on-demand tutoring services to grades 7-12 students. We are thrilled to be able to now offer this free service to more of our students. More information will be available to our GBS and WCS parents in the weekly newsletters.
Windham Voyager Podcast: This episode introduces you to our new student internship program. Alex Buckman is a high school student who will be producing his very own podcast series for the high school. Through his internship with our Director of Communications, he will learn to host and create a podcast series that will launch soon!
District-wide Calendar of Events: The district calendar of events for March is now available. Download the calendar to save the upcoming dates.
WCS Achievements:
Guest Speaker: Peter Nhiany a lost boy from Sudan, came and shared his story with some of our fifth-grade classes that are currently reading the book “Home of the Brave”, which is about lost boys that came to the United States. It was a very enriching experience for our students. He is a motivational academic speaker who has presented in multiple schools. Thank you, Mr. Nhiany!
Digital Literacy: Mrs. Cronin and her digital literacy students participated in Mystery Skype. This educational game connects students from different locations through video calls, allowing them to guess each other's location by asking yes or no questions. This activity promotes global awareness, critical thinking, and communication skills. It encourages students to become global collaborators as they interact with peers from diverse locations, fostering cultural awareness and global citizenship. Students worked together to solve the mystery of each other's location. After asking several key questions, our students concluded that the other students were skyping in from New York.
A Visit from Mr. Johnson: Students have been learning about the history of Windham through the book Looking Back: Windham, N.H., Not So Long Ago by Frank Johnson. Students welcomed Mr. Frank Johnson as their guest speaker to talk to them about the history of Windham and his experience growing up in the town. He also spoke about the history of their family farm, Johnson's Highland View Farm.
ELA Presentation for Parents: ELA students welcomed parents to celebrate their progress in ELA. Students recently finished reading Ramayana: Divine Loophole, in which they learned about monomyths and archetype characters in monomyths. Students worked on a summative project using themselves as an archetype character within a monomyth of their lives. They then designed, wrote, and illustrated their work.
American Heart Association Kids Heart Challenge: WCS kicked off our Kids Heart Challenge with an assembly. Students are raising money for kids with special hearts. The goal is to raise $15,000 as a school. So far, the WCS community has raised over $5,000! There are prizes to be earned, and students who complete the Finn’s Mission learning module will earn an entry for two tickets to Super Bowl LIX in 2025. WCS will also be entered in a drawing to receive a $10,000 fitness equipment makeover for every 18 completed Finn’s Mission! Every dollar raised will help kids and families build healthier lives.
Student Leadership: Students at WCS are taking leadership very seriously. Mrs. Martin has met with students who want to start a fishing club and has recently been interviewed by a student trying to bring school dances to our 5th and 6th grade building.
Student Council: Our Student Council made some beautiful tissue paper flower bouquets for staff at WCS, to bring extra smiles during Valentine’s Day.
Random Acts of Kindness Spirit Week: WCS students have worked over the last few weeks to spread kindness in and out of our building. Students have been sending notes, cleaning desks, holding doors, and much more. They continue to find ways to make our community the best place to live.
Excellent work, Center School! Whether you have plans for adventure or relaxation, I encourage you to embrace your vacation time and return rejuvenated for the remainder of the school year.
Enjoy your break,
Dr. Kori Alice Becht
Superintendent of Schools