The CMS Tide Weekly Newsletter

Thursday was Malawi Day at CMS!

Recently our grade 6 students finished their reading of the autobiography The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. The novel tells the story of William Kamkwamba, who faced severe drought and famine. William was forced to drop out of school at age 14 because his family could not afford the school fees. William’s determination to help his family and his village inspired him to learn how to build a windmill out of scraps he found in the junkyard. His windmill would generate electricity and save his village from deprivation and suffering.

After learning about the struggles that so many in Malawi face, the grade six students raised money to support William’s nonprofit, Building Windmills, which is fundraising to help build an innovation center in Malawi. This center will mentor students and provide young innovators with solutions to prevent issues such as drought and famine. The students raised over $1,000 which was announced after students watched the movie version of the book (picture above and video below)

After this, students went to the cafeteria to continue to celebrate their experience of reading the book by dining on traditional Malawian food made by students and families. Thank you to our parent volunteers who set up the food line and to our amazing grade 6 teachers who served students.

The luncheon was followed by an exposition of student windmills. These were built in Ms. St. Peter's science classes using principles learned this year. Students used recycled materials brought from home and, working in student teams, designed their windmills while experiencing many of the challenges William had to overcome in the book.

The approach to learning that creates intersections between content areas and authentic learning opportunities for students is called Project Based Learning (PBL). Our grade 6 team demonstrated the highest degree of collaboration and creativity in providing this wonderful PBL opportunity for our students and deserve to be recognized for their efforts.

Thanks to teachers, parents and students for making Malawi Day 2022 an unforgettable success!

On Wednesday, Ms. Weisslinger's World Geography class welcomed Mr. Ben Yemini as a guest speaker (picture above). Our grade 6 students have been studying the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and were excited to meet Mr. Yemini who grew up in Israel. During their rich discussion, students heard about everyday life in Israel for middle-school aged kids, the common hopes and humanities of all people, and the effects of conflict on societies and people.

Mr. Yemini's is a CMS parent who had reached out to Ms. Weisslinger to offer to visit with her students. Because many of our parents have had interesting personal and professional experiences, we invite any other parents who are interested in coming in to speak with students to complete the Google Form linked below!

We appreciate your support and interest in enriching the learning opportunities of our students!

Congratulations to the members of our Robotics team for their outstanding showing at last weekend's Lego Competition in Andover. The team blends their coding skills with engineering principles to create Legos robots capable of overcoming various tasks and challenges. The team meets several times per week after school and is always open to new members.

The success of the team and the interest it has created in robotics has produced a new Coding & Robotics class which will be offered as a class next year. Students in grades 7 and 8 will have the choice between art and robotics when selecting a specialist class.

We are really excited to see more students interested in acquiring coding skills as this new form of literacy will unlock academic and career opportunities for our students in the future.

At Home Testing

The COVID-19 home tests are being distributed to all participating students on a biweekly basis during their Utility period. Please remember to report to the nurse if your child tests positive. If your child did not receive a test kit, but you were expecting one, please contact the school nurse. Also, please contact the nurse if you would like to participate (it is not too late) or if you are already in the program and decide that you no longer want to participate.

COVID-19 Symptom Fact Sheet

The COVID-19 guidelines continue to change. Please refer to the cohassetk12.org website for the most recent Cohasset Public School requirements for returning to school for different COVID-19 scenarios. The most recent version the Symptom Fact Sheet is from 3/8/22 and is available on the COVID-19 Information link when you click "Symptom Fact Sheet CPS."

Postural Screening

Postural screenings have started for the 8th Grade students who have not opted out. Students are being called out of Utility for the screening. We will be starting Postural Screenings for 6th Graders soon. Students are reminded that the nurse will need to look at their backs for this screening.

Any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the nurse's office.

Jocelyn Crowell, RN, BSN JCrowell@cohassetk12.org

Erin Kalberer, APRN EKalberer@cohassetk12.org

Cohasset Middle School Nurse

143 Pond Street

Cohasset, MA 02025

Phone: 781-236-1070

As we work with our community through these difficult times, Cohasset Public Schools makes many resources available to the community on its website and Superintendent Sullivan's Navigator newsletter contains up-to-date information about COVID in the Cohasset community as well as the school system. It is available online here

All students are required to attend school for 180 days. As of today, the new last day of school (half day) for the 2021 -2022 school year is Thursday, June 30, 2022. Please see below for an updated school calendar.

Oftentimes when dealing with personal or family issues, we feel overwhelmed because we lack experience and expertise with handling these issues. We want to be sure our families know that they are not alone--there are many resources on the South Shore that can help.

Community Resources

Wellspring Multi Service

Website: wellspringmultiservice.org

Address: 814 Nantasket Ave Hull, MA 02045

Phone: 781-925-3211

Contact: Jenny Gerbis, Community Outreach, ext. 127, jenny@wellspringmultiservice.org

Baystate Community Services

Website: baystatecs.org

Address: 1120 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA 02169

Phone: 617-471-8400

Email: info@baystatecs.org

Cohasset Food Pantry

Address: 129 So. Main Street, Cohasset, MA 02025

Phone: 781-383-0219 ext. 25

Cohasset Rotary Club

Website: cohassetrotary.org

Email: cohassetrotaryclub@gmail.com or pwmcohassetrotary@gmail.com

Interfaith Social Services

Website: interfaithsocialservices.org

Address: 105 Adams Street, Quincy MA 02169

Phone: 617-773-6203

Email: info@interfaithsocialservices.org

Safe Harbor Coalition Cohasset

Website: safeharborcohasset.org

Address: 35 Ripley Road, Cohasset, MA 02025

Phone: 781-783-5293

Contact: Nicole Balaschi, Program Director,

Email: safeharborcohasset@gmail.com

The CMS administration and faculty communicate with our families using many digital and traditional means. Our weekly newsletter, the CMS Tide, will be sent to families and students every weekend. It is also posted on our school website and shared via Twitter (@comsprincipal).

We call it the CMS Tide because just like we find when we walk along the beach, the tide brings to us treasures from the deep. It helps us picture what is going on just beyond where we stand. The CMS Tide supplies news, images, stories about life at CMS to our families each week,

We hope you enjoy each issue this year!

Since July 2014, Safe Harbor Cohasset has been working to promote awareness and implement resources to help make an impact on the substance use in the community. The group has members from across the spectrum in the community, including, but not limited to, Paul Pratt Memorial Library, Cohasset Recreation Department, Cohasset Police Department, Cohasset Public Schools, Second Congregational Church, town leaders, health professionals, parents, youth, fire personnel, and concerned citizens. In September 2017, Safe Harbor was awarded a federal Drug- Free Communities (DFC) Support Program grant, which focuses on preventing substance use among youth ages 12-17.

Since then, the group has worked to foster a strong and inclusive community that allows youth to strive and encourages healthy, educated and responsible choices about drug and alcohol use. The mission is supported by evidenced based, prevention focused, sustainable policies and youth- focused programs, such as Ground Level Café and the Safe Harbor Youth Ambassador Program. To learn more, and to find resources for both parents and teens, visit the Safe Harbor website at safeharborcohasset.org. Keep up to date on the latest news and trends by following Safe Harbor on Facebook at www.facebook.com/safeharborcohasset, on Twitter @cohsafeharbor, and on Instagram @safeharborcohasset.

Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu observed "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

These are certainly difficult times and many parents and families are experiencing great stress. Our ability to cope is regularly challenged and, understandably, there may be times when individuals can no longer manage their emotions. It is important to know where to turn when we reach that point.

To help our families, we share this contact list of support providers--Mental Health and Crisis Contacts These support providers offer great opportunities to help receive help when those we love are struggling to manage.

The Cohasset Middle School is a grade 6-8 school dedicated to the development of the whole child. We are an inclusive, supportive, and safe learning environment committed to excellence and growth. Our community values experiential, collaborative, active learning that is rigorous and relevant, and fosters creative, responsible contributors to a global society.

Website: https://www.cohassetk12.org/Domain/9
Location: 143 Pond Street, Cohasset, MA, USA
Phone: 781.383.6100
Twitter: @comsprincipal