Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello All!

     Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  I hope you all get to spend some time with family and friends, and enjoy the time away from school.

     I'll see you all again on Monday!

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln - April 14, 1865

     Today in Social Studies, the eighth grade learned about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president.  Five days after the Civil War officially came to a close at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head while he was watching the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre.  Lincoln died the next morning; he had drafted the creation of the Secret Service the morning before, and his guard was absent from his post that night.  While Booth was eventually caught and killed, the first successful assassination of a United States President left the country in shock.

     You can read more about the death of Lincoln and the subsequent manhunt at the following websites:

America's Library - The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

History - The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

First Blue Bank of the Helen S Dunn School

     The First Blue Bank of the Helen S Dunn School is now in operation! Thanks to an amendment to the Class Constitution, available here, the teacher now has the ability to create and maintain a class bank, where students can earn blue bucks for their on-time homework, and can get a sense of how money operates in the real world. As of right now, students earn a base pay of $1.00 per on-time assignment, and a base fee of $1.00 per late or missing assignment.

First Blue Bank of the Helen S Dunn School

“Your money is safe with us.”

Hours of Operation, Room 27 Branch:

            Monday          7:30 AM         -           8:00 AM

                                    1:00 PM         -           1:30 PM

            Tuesday          7:30 AM         -           8:00 AM

                                    9:30 AM         -           9:59 AM

            Wednesday    7:30 AM         -           8:00 AM

                                    12:00 PM       -           1:00 PM

            Thursday        7:30 AM         -           8:00 AM

                                    9:30 AM         -           9:59 AM

            Friday             7:30 AM         -           8:00 AM

                                    12:00 PM       -           12:30 PM

Constitutional Justification:

“The teacher shall have the power to coin or print money; regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin or money; fix the standard of weights and measures; and establish and operate banks.  The teacher shall also have the power to provide compensation for work done by students, and the power to lay and collect taxes, fines, and fees.  All taxes, fines, fees, and compensation will be uniform throughout the class.”

Client Rights:

1.     Clients may engage in banking during regular hours of operation, or “banking hours.”

2.     Clients have full access to the funds in their accounts (“money”) during banking hours, and may withdraw or deposit money as they see fit.

3.     Clients have the right to know for what purposes their moneys are being spent.

Bank Rights:

1.     The First Blue Bank of the Helen S Dunn School (“bank” or “the bank”) has the right to restrict client access to banking hours.

2.     The bank may provide interest-bearing accounts, and has the right to regulate interest levels as it sees fit.

3.     Deposit accounts will receive no interest.

4.     The bank may charge clients with reasonable fines for overdrawing on their accounts,

5.     The bank reserves the right to invest in whatever businesses, ventures, or institutions it deems worthy of investment.

6.     The bank may update this list of rights after due notice to its clients.

The Cast of Animal Farm

     Seventh Grade is reading Animal Farm, George Orwell's clever and cutting tale of animals who rise up against tyranny and attempt to create a utopian world of organization and peace.  Today in class, after reading Chapter One for homework, they created diagrams of the characters' relationships.  One in particular looked very nice, so I decided to share it with you all.

     Dorothy, Nikki, and Eric did a great job organizing it, and Dorothy's final product was excellent.  Great job!

New Quarter, Upcoming Assessments

Hello All!

     Monday marked the start of the new marking period here at Helen S Dunn School.  That means your old grades are set, and you have a brand-new chance to improve!  With that in mind, you should all be aware of the upcoming assessments for which you need to study.  They are:

6th Grade:  On Friday, November 8, you have a quiz on the Greek Gods and Goddesses.
7th Grade:  On Wednesday, November 13, you have a quiz on Animal Farm.  Pay attention to the characters and conflicts.
8th Grade:  On Friday, November 8, you have a quiz on the eighteen (18) literary elements and techniques from pages 108 - 109 in your textbook.
8th Grade:  On Wednesday, November 13, you have an exam on the Civil War in Social Studies.

     Study hard; these are the first big grades of the new quarter in ELA!  As always, if you have any questions, please come see me.  Also, don't forget that tomorrow and Friday are half days, and parent-teacher conferences take place tomorrow afternoon.  Work hard!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

No School Today

Hello All!
     Due to a power outage, the administration has cancelled school today.  You should all enjoy your day off and spend some time outside while it's still warm enough to feel your nose.  Don't forget, though, that your homework is now due tomorrow.
     If you want to track the outage, go to Bangor Hydro's outage tracker on their website:  click here to see the outage map.  It is outage 77890-1.
     Have a great day!