To: Parents/Guardians & Students From: Donna F. Brunette

To:
Parents/Guardians & Students
From: Donna F. Brunette, Principal
Date: April 15, 2015
RE:
MTA Newsletter
Spring is finally here and we have closed out the third quarter. In the final weeks of school there are many
events to look forward to that will highlight the accomplishments of students and adults at Mt. Ararat High
School. Please mark your calendar for the events when you review the calendar dates listed later in the
newsletter.
During the spring months there are many assessments scheduled and members of our junior class are the
target group for a majority of the tests. The Smarter Balance Assessment, testing in English and Math was
administered earlier this month. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), for 3rd year students who registered for
this “free” opportunity to take the test, was administered today. Advanced Placement (AP) testing will begin
on May 4 and conclude on May 15. And our final test session, the MEA Science test, will be proctored on May
19. The data we receive, as a result of the testing, will be used to reflect on individual and collective student
learning and review of curriculum to confirm alignment with state standards. There have been a number of
parents and students who have shared their concerns regarding the timeframe of the testing; as we look to
the future, though we are locked into the testing dates established by our state, we will attempt to schedule
the MEA assessments, after the AP tests have been completed, to avoid impact on instruction leading up to
these assessments.
Enclosed, please find your child’s report card. If you have a question or concern, please contact your child’s
teacher.
Important Calendar Dates
4/20 – 4/24 Spring Vacation Week – No School
4/29
Capstone Day – Seniors Present Capstone Projects – Parents You Are Invited!
5/4 – 5/15
AP Exams (detailed schedule on next page)
5/9
Senior Prom at the Bath Country Club
5/15
Progress Reports
5/19
MEA Science Testing (3rd Year Students)
5/19
Class Officer Election Speeches
5/19
MTA Band Concert
5/20
Step Up Day (No School for Seniors)
5/21
District Budget at the Orion
5/25
Memorial Day (No School)
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Important Calendar Dates cont…
5/28
MTA Choral Music Concert
6/3
Senior Awards Night
6/4 – 6/10
Senior Final Exams
6/9
Underclass Awards Night
6/11 & 6/12 Marching Practice for Graduates (Attendance is Mandatory)
6/14
Graduation Day
6/15 – 6/19 Underclass Final Exams
Advanced Placement Testing Schedule
Day/Date
Monday, May 4
Tuesday, May 5
Wednesday, May 6
Thursday, May 7
Friday, May 8
Morning 7:15 AM
Environ. Science
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
107
English Literature and
Composition
107
STUDIO ART
US History
Location
107
Afternoon 11:15
Psychology
Location
Guidance Conf. Room
Day/Date
Exam 7:15 am
Monday, May 11
Biology
Location
Afternoon 11:15
107
107
European History
107
107
Tuesday, May 12
US Gov.&Pol(24)
Wednesday, May 13
English Language and
Composition
107
Statistics
107
Location
Thursday, May 14
No exam
Friday, May 15
No exam
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Student Recognitions
Congratulations to freshman poet Elizabeth Garver. Elizabeth is one of three runners-up receiving honorable
mention in the 2015 University of Maine System Student Poetry Contest sponsored by UMA. She was
recognized for her poem "A Note from a Cancer Patient's Daughter" and is invited to attend UMA's annual
Plunkett Poetry Festival on April 17-18. Congratulations, Lizzie!
Congratulations to the Mt. Ararat Science Club who worked very hard and did exceptionally well at the 4th
Annual Northern New England Regional Seaperch Challenge Competition on Saturday, March 28. The
students were challenged to design and build aquatic robots to complete a number of underwater tasks
quickly and efficiently.
 The team of Courtney Hall, Aerial Miller, Max McAndrews, and Dominic Bobalek had strong finishes
in all of their events; finishing 5th overall.
 The team of Ryan Rethi, Ian Scanlon, Gage Palmer, and Jacob Tobias took 1st in the Poster
Competition, 1st in Deep Dive Transfer, and 2nd Overall.
 The team of Jonathan Roux, Caleb Miller, and Everett Johnson took 1st in the Obstacle Course, 1st in
Finesse, and 1st Overall.
For the second straight year Mt. Ararat will represent Maine at the National Seaperch Aquatic Robotics
Competition in Dartmouth, Massachusetts on May 30. The students will be working to improve upon their
outstanding 14th place finish from last year.
Congratulations to freshman Madison Stover, who was selected by the Maine Humanities Council as the
Level 3 second-place winner in this year's Letters About Literature contest. She's one of 39 semi-finalists in
the state chosen from 1,104 entries from Maine.
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Interact Club
Many, many thanks to all who participated in the Interact Club and National Honor Society's 8th annual Cram
the Van event. Special Thanks to Ella Anderson for organizing our now what will be annual, "Let's Get Ready
to Crumble" bake-off. The NHS held a bake sale at the Variety Show and with in-school cash donations, the
sale of grocery shopping bags along with a day-long event of collections at the Topsham Hannaford, the
totals are all in. Our winners for the bake-off were Lindsey Cornelison, Alison Gosselin and Madeline
Dumont. We are proud to announce that we were able to raise 1158 pounds of food and $1919 for MidCoast
Hunger Prevention.
MTA Quebec Exchange
The 11th Mt. Ararat Quebec Exchange took place March 11-15. Madame Gorey and Madame Ballou
accompanied 12 MTA students to St. Georges, Québec where they were paired with students at Polyvalente
High School. Our students experienced Quebec culture and language by staying with the families of their
host students, attending classes at their school, having an old-fashioned “dîner” (lunch) at a sugar shack,
complete with la tire [if you don’t know what this is, you need to find out], and traveling to Quebec City for
shopping and snow-tubing at a nearby tubing park. We also were treated to a real Quebec blizzard. Look for
the return visit from our hosts May 13 through May 17, and enjoy some visitors in your classes.
"The Eagle's Nest" the School Based Health Center (SBHC)
SBHC Student Advisory Group -WOW WHEEE! We have 14 students interested in supporting the SBHC by
becoming student advisers to the SBHC. Our first meetings were canceled due to the SNOW! But we were
able to hold our first meeting on February 13th during lunchtime. We were able to get 5 students interested
in attending. The students agreed to support the SBHC Awareness Day held in the Commons over lunchtime
on February 25th. Students were engaged in passing out bottled water and other free things to make
students and staff aware of the SBHC at MTA. Through awareness of the SBHC we were able to recruit 7
more students interested in the becoming a student adviser to the SBHC.
Our second official SBHC Student Advisory group was held March 24th during lunchtime. We had 13
students show up and another 2 students who showed interest but were unable to attend the meeting.
Students showed their support to our senior in the group who is doing her Capstone on anxiety! So stay
tuned – on April 29th we will support our senior and hear the results of her research when she presents her
Capstone project!
Class of 2015
Spring is here and with it comes a flurry of year end Senior Activities! We are all getting very excited and we
need YOUR help! Please visit this site and volunteer or donate where you can!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050C4FA9AB2EA02-senior/8124769
A second sign up genius will be available shortly for the Senior BBQ scheduled for June 12th!
Please email Ellen Messier (messiere@link75.org) with any school/event questions and/or Charlene Gott
(charlenejimgott@aol.com) with any donation questions! We look forward to sharing these milestones
together!!
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Class of 2016 News
Our class has had a very busy month with a dodgeball tournament, semi formal school dance, and the Yankee
Candle sale. Thank you to everyone who supported 2016 through those efforts. We do all of these
fundraisers so we can enjoy senior year and try to keep costs down for everyone as much as possible. Our
goal is to offer a free prom and greatly reduce the cost of caps, gowns, and stoles for graduation.
The Mt. Ararat High School Class of 2016 is pleased to announce our Second Annual BiddingForGood Online
Auction runs from May 1st through May 14!! We are asking local businesses and individuals for donations to
help raise money for our class expenses. Donations can be gift certificates, products, or a combination of
both. Businesses donating more than $50.00 in goods or services will have their business logo (with a
description of the item) and a clickable link back to their website placed on our auction website. In addition,
donations of $100 or more will be listed as one of our featured donations on the homepage! This
opportunity provides businesses with exposure to new customers and gives them a chance to support our
local high school! Don’t own a business? You can still help by donating items, gift certificates, money,
services, or you can help with running the auction. All donations are tax deductible and 100% of the
proceeds directly benefit Mt. Ararat’s Class of 2016 fund. If you are interested in more information please
contact Kendra Steel at kendrajsteel@gmail.com or at (207) 751-3258. Many, many thanks to Kendra for
taking on this big project for a second year!!
It’s Time to Start Organizing for PROJECT GRADUATION!!!
Project Graduation is an important tradition run by parents to offer graduates a safe, chem-free night to
celebrate on the night of graduation. Parents lead the fundraising efforts and organize the event itself. The
class officers and I would like to invite all 2016 parents/guardians (students are welcome, too) to an
organizational meeting on Thursday, April 30 at 6:30 PM in room 108 at the high school. We hope to choose
a Project Graduation chairperson at that meeting, as well. This will be the beginning of a long-term Project
Graduation (PG) committee that will work together over the next year plus. The first major PG fundraiser
will likely be the annual weeding/ mulching event at The Highlands in late May. Lynn Sirois has graciously
offered to run another major PG fundraiser the weekend of June 5 and 6. We need 50 or so volunteers (many
of those must be adults) to staff an event for Compass Rose Events in Litchfield. Please save the date and let
Lynn know you can help (her email address is: sirois1988@comcast.net.) People who worked a similar
event last year said it was quite easy and really a lot of fun. We could earn about $2,000 for two days of
work.
We have a permanent bottle redemption account at Bootleggers in Topsham where you can drop your cans
and bottles off anytime and just mention they should go to our 2016 account.
Finally, we share important class information through our "Mount Ararat Class of 2016" Facebook
page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/194668937328986/. We would love for you to join (and turn
your notifications "on" so you get the updates). Please get involved in 2016 fundraising! We want senior
events/fees to be as inexpensive as possible for everyone in 2016! Thanks so much for your support!
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