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Saturday, May 13, 2017

May 12, 2017 Aggie Weekly

Aggie Weekly
Good Afternoon Students, Parents, and Community Members:
This week we had a busy week preparing for Spring Expo tomorrow.  In addition, Arbor conducted their yearly Jamboree (see pictures below) today.  It was amazing to see how skilled our students are in the field of arboriculture.  For our sophomore’s, Math MCAS starts on Tuesday, May 16th and Wednesday, May 17th, so take this weekend to work on math strategies.  After speaking to our math teachers, they are confident in this year’s class.  Ensure you get a good night’s sleep and eat breakfast.  Have confidence in your ability and GOOD LUCK!   
Bristol Aggie received excellent news on Tuesday! The DESE reclassified our Natural Resource Management program into Environmental Science and Technology (CIP Code of 150507).  This means that we now offer four separate programs with an additional pathway that we can offer in the future, Environmental Technology.  We would like to thank the work of Mr. Bastarache and Mr. Caswell on a job well done.  This provides Bristol Aggie with more career pathway options to offer our students, especially as the MSBA building project expansion discussions continue.  


Top 5 Luncheon: On Thursday, Bristol Aggie Top 5 students were invited by the Taunton Rotary Club to attend a luncheon the Stoneforge Restaurant in Raynham.  It was a great event and we appreciate the support from our local communities.
Congratulations to our salutatorian and valedictorian. Bravo ladies on your hard work and accomplishments! #BAPride #BAEducation
Congrats ladies on the esteemed designation to be #BATop5. #BAPride #BAEducation
Congrats to our #Top5. Your hard work has paid off! #BAPride #BAEducation


BA Spring Expo:
Bristol Aggie is hosting their 5th Annual Spring Expo tomorrow from 10:00 am-3:00 pm.  This one day family friendly event gives the public an opportunity to meet members of our local agricultural community promoting exciting products, services, events, & opportunities.  Highlights include:
  • BA Grows Farmer’s Market & Vendor Expo
  • Live Animal Exhibits
  • Gourmet Food Truck
  • Floriculture and Landscape Plant Sale (trees, shrubs, groundcovers and perennials) & More!
If you know any 6th or 7th graders interested in applying to Bristol Aggie, there will also be Prospective Student Tours from 9:00 am-11:00 am.  Sign up online by visiting our website or click here!
The Cat Country 98.1 Promotions Team and DJ will be here from 11:00 am-1:00 pm.  They will be giving away Dierks Bently tickets along with a bunch of prizes.  Don’t miss the Spring Expo!


BA Grows Feature: On Sunday, May 7th Bristol Aggie was featured in the Mass Farm to School blog, Facebook, and Twitter.  See below for the full article or click here to visit their blog.  
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Interview with Kyle Medeiros, Animal Science Dept. Foreman, BA Grows Garden & Farmers’ Market Manager
Bristol County Agricultural High School has a thriving farm stand, school garden, and farmer's market born from a desire to engage with the community by recognizing the renewed interest in local produce and by involving students in production agriculture. Bristol Aggie’s superintendent, Stephen Dempsey, approached Animal Science Foreman, Kyle Medeiros, and Carpenter/Foreman, Ryan Miranda, to discuss the possibility of creating a garden program where students would be involved in every aspect of growing, harvesting, and selling crops, from starting seedlings to operating a farm stand (built by Miranda) on campus. Both Medeiros & Miranda were excited about the project and they’ve been off and running since 2014.
Understanding the current trends in agriculture is an important part of Superintendent Dempsey’s job. Picking up on the increase in farm to table restaurants, people’s desire to eat local, and the growth of the SEMAP conference motivated Dempsey to create the BA Grows program. Medeiros says, “Mr. Dempsey wanted to see more entrepreneurship [and] production agriculture, [so students] will know how to run a business and not just how to grow [crops].” The increased market for local food means that small (5-acre) farms growing an excellent product have the ability to be profitable, and it was important for Mr. Dempsey to introduce this possible career path to his students.
In the beginning Medeiros & Miranda started and maintained the garden, but now students from the floriculture department are involved from the start of the season. All through the winter, microgreens were grown and eaten in the school cafeteria. Medeiros is especially excited about the ability to provide the cafeteria with food from the their greenhouse and garden. He says, “we’ll have kids come in before school and pick a couple of bushels of whatever is ready and it’s literally getting eaten for lunch three hours later.” Medeiros works with Food Service Director Theresa Vernazzaro, who is thrilled to have fresh produce grown on site. She was able to give her input based on the nutrition requirements for school meals and then suggest the various types of produce she would like to incorporate into her menus. Medeiros was able to make a planting plan around what Vernazzaro thought she would use most.
Now that it's springtime, the students are involved in starting up the outdoor garden by planting seedlings which start in Bristol Aggie’s large greenhouse, and then by transplanting those seedlings in the garden (images). The students have been doing all the transplanting for the past two years, and prior to this no vegetables were grown on site. Over the summer the students will run the farm stand with supervision from Medeiros and Miranda. The farm stand will be open from Tuesday – Saturday and the students decide, “how they want to set up the stand and what vegetables… and other things they think will sell best,” says Medeiros. He’s excited that, “the kids can really learn from the whole program because they’re running a business… and getting their farming experience.” Bristol Aggie received their Commonwealth Quality Program certification, which gives them the ability to sell at grocery stores, however their farm stand and farmers market have been so successful they’ve sold all their product on site.
Bristol Aggie is taking a wonderfully holistic approach to farm to school: in the garden, in the classroom, in the cafeteria, and in the community. Floriculture teachers are able to incorporate cafeteria menu items into their lesson plans by having the students learn about and plant garden seedlings, Medeiros and Food Service Director Vernazzaro are working together in the cafeteria, and students are involving the community by selling produce through their farm stand and boosting awareness about the BA Grows program and Bristol Aggie generally. If you’d like to visit Bristol Aggie and learn more about what they’re doing, consider attending their Spring Expo on May 13th or visit their farm stand over the summer. You can keep up with all the BA Grows news via their Facebook page.
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Cory’s Cause: Opioid Education
Massachusetts is currently experiencing an epidemic of opioid-related overdose and death.  As part of a multi-faceted effort to combat the epidemic, Chapter 55 of the Acts of 2015 was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Baker in August 2015.
The term opioid means “opiate-like.” It generally refers to a family of substances that include natural opiates (like Morphine and Codeine), as well as synthetic and semi-synthetic opioids like Heroin, Oxycodone, and Fentanyl.
There is a fight to curb the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts and also a battle to protect future generations. The percentage of opioid-related deaths for different age groups shows the young people of Massachusetts are especially at risk. From 2013–2014, opioids accounted for more than a quarter of all fatalities in the 18–24 age group.
The opioid epidemic won’t be solved overnight, and there’s no easy solution to make this problem disappear. However, there are signs of hope and a turning tide.
The state has recently taken a number of important steps to address the crisis. From campaigns aimed at shifting the culture around how the public views addiction, to giving our health care professionals the tools they need to responsibly prescribe opioids and monitor prescriptions, Massachusetts is working to end the epidemic.
As educators, it is also our professional and personal mission to take every step we can to prevent and provide support to students in need, particularly in the area of substance abuse.  On the morning of May 25th, 2017 Bristol Aggie students will view a powerful presentation from the The Palazzi/Gonsalves family called Cory's Cause.  The purpose of this presentation is for students to hear how opioid addiction has impacted this family and how prevention will save their lives and future.  Cory's Cause and the Bristol County District Attorney's office have come together to provide opiate youth prevention in Bristol County Schools.  If you have any questions regarding this presentation, please contact Angela Scanlon at ascanlon@bcahs.com
You may view Cory's Story on their website, by clicking here.
Field Day: The votes have been counted and the winning design is below! T-shirts will be $15 and will be sold in Mrs. Savage's room or from student council representatives which started this week through May 17th. Congrats to Devin Veilleux for designing the winning shirt!
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In the Classroom:
  • Landscape:  On Tuesday, our Landscape department prepared our fields for the baseball game.
  • Landscape: Scott Martin spoke with the Juniors in the Nursery Operations class on Tuesday afternoon. He shared his story of his work to help re-establish commercial lime production in Haiti. The commercial lime industry there was wiped out about 30 years ago due to political and economic turmoil. Through his work, a state of the art nursery and 25 acre production grove are up and running with an additional 400 acres planned to go into production. He has introduced vegetative propagation methods that have cut the time required for a tree to produce fruit from five years to one! Since the students have also taken my related business class, topics also covered the challenges and rewards of being a business owner in today's retail climate.  Scott lives in Rehoboth and is the owner of Brahmin Handbags in Fairhaven.
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  • Natural Resource Management (NRM): On Tuesday, Mr. Braga stopped by NRM as students were preparing for their turtle release at the end of the month.  
  • NRM: This week marks the eighth year that the Natural Resource Management Department has partnered with the Massachusetts Environmental Police in order for students to earn their Massachusetts Boater Safety Certification. Boat Massachusetts is a recognized safety course that meets the National Boating Education Standards and is approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). All graduates will be issued a safety certificate allowing them to operate a motorboat (of any length or motor size) without adult supervision, as required by state law. The same is true for 16 and 17-year-old youth who wish to operate a personal watercraft (jet ski, wave runner, etc.) The course addresses fundamental safety concepts and emphasizes the operator's legal and ethical responsibilities.
    • Additionally, our students participate in an on-the-water day with the Environmental Police, where they have the opportunity to put the classroom knowledge into practice, operating a variety of powerboats in addition to canoes and kayaks.
    • At the conclusion of this course next week, the collaboration between the NRM Department and the Environmental Police will have certified 147 students. We would like to thank Lt. James Cullen, a member of the NRM Advisory Board, for his continued support and hope this beneficial relationship will continue and hopefully grow in the future.
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  • Honors Freshmen Biology: This week, students learned and put into practice the methods to extract, amplify, and compare DNA samples. After perfecting their pipetting skills with some practice food dye and agar samples, they got to work on the real thing- DNA extraction from Roundup-Ready (GMO) soybeans, wild-type soybeans, and food products containing soy from their homes. After extracting and purifying the DNA, they prepared it for PCR, a process which creates many copies of targets sequences of DNA. Then they loaded the DNA in gels to compare the sequences extracted.
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  • Arbor: On Tuesday, students were learning how to use leverage to manage weights on a line.  Students took turns using mechanical advantage to ease with the weights on a line.  
Peer Mentor Program: Peer Mentor students pair up in a marshmallow construction team building exercise.  Both teams competed to construct the highest marshmallow - spaghetti tower possible.  The results: both teams reached 31 inches high.
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Project Intern: On Wednesday, May 10th seven Bristol Aggie students showcased their internship to parents, BA Staff, intern-supervisors, and Taunton Area School to Career (TASC) staff.  It was great to see how our students were able to transfer what they learned in the classroom into real world job settings.  That is the Bristol Aggie Advantage!  See pictures below from the event.
BRISTOL COUNTY AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL
PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION
SENIOR ESSAY CONTEST
Topic: Tell Your 8th Grade Self Why They Should Come to Bristol Aggie
Award: $200 (additional awards may be given at the discretion of the PTO)
Essay Criteria: Essays will be judged upon the content of the paper. However, as in life, presentation will be noticed.
Other Criteria:
  • Two-page minimum
  • Double spaced
  • Size 14 font
  • One-inch margin top and sides
  • Indent the line of each paragraph
  • Write your name and the date on a cover page. Do not put your name/identifying names on any other page.
  • If your paper has a title, type it in the center of the first line. Double space twice to begin your essay.
  • Use easy to read fonts such as Times New Roman.
Submission Date: Essays must be e-mailed to Mr. Johnson (cjohnson@bcahs.com) by 2:30 pm on Friday, May 19th. There is NO exception to this deadline.
All submissions become the property of Bristol County Agricultural High School and may be used for recruitment purposes.
Award Date:
  • Academic Awards Night
  • Thursday, June 1, 2017
  • The winner will be invited to read their essay at Academic Awards Night.


Activities and Athletics:
  • Bristol Aggie Talent Show: On Friday, May 5th Bristol Aggie's sophomore class officers hosted the Talent Show, which boasted 14 of our amazing students in 12 different acts including, singing, dancing, and playing a variety of instruments. The show was well attended with over 100 guests. The freshmen class was well represented throughout the show and swept the awards received by the following students:
    • First Place - Hannah Johnson, singing and playing guitar Love Me Now by John Legend
    • Second Place - Janayah King & Riley Mydlack, singing Someone Like You by Adele
    • Third Place - Hannah Araujo, lyrical dancing to Let Her Go by Passenger
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  • Congratulations to the winners and a huge shout out to all who participated!
  • This show was made possible with the help of many dedicated students and staff. Thank you to Maddy Krugar for entertaining the crowd throughout the evening as our MC, Luana Vargas for organizing the set up of the gym and stage, Amanda Jordan for running sound, Nicole Simas for managing ticket sales and assisting with set up and clean up, Daisy-Victoria Silvia and Blaze Abren for running the baked goods table, all the students who donated baked goods, and the Floriculture Department for the awesome herb garden pots for our judges. Finally, a huge thank you to our judges, Mr. Braga and Mrs. Noel!
  • Below is the full line up of the show:
    • Elizabeth Sousa – Singing Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again by Andrew                                           Lloyd Webber
    • CJ Aguiar & Sam Rosen – Singing and Playing Ukulele The Judge and Screen mash up by 21 Pilots
    • Janayah King & Riley Mydlack – Singing Someone Like You by Adele
    • Arianna Lachance – Singing Rain is a Good Thing by Luke Bryan
    • Hannah Araujo – Lyrical Dance Let Her Go by Passenger
    • Kaylea Astuccio – Singing Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood
    • Hannah Johnson – Singing and Playing Guitar Love Me Now by John Legend
    • Reilley Moreira – Singing Skinny Love by Birdy
    • Skylaa Silveira – Tap Dance Beat It by Michael Jackson
    • Jack Moitoza – Singing You’re Nobody till Somebody Loves You by Dean Martin
    • Luana Vargas – Singing Rolling in the Deep by Adele
    • Olivia Aguiar – Singing and Playing Guitar A Drop in the Ocean by Ron Pope
  • On Monday, Hannah Johnson performed her winning act during morning assembly.  Bravo! For a video clip of her performance, check our Twitter
  • Softball:
    • Bristol Aggie 23-Upper Cape 8: The weather was windy and cold in Bourne on Monday but the Bristol Aggie bats were hot. The Lady Chieftains posted 23 hits to defeat Upper Cape in five innings.  Emma Duarte, Sarah Ellis, and Cora Monast all had perfect games at the plate (5-5).  Ryley Morse added two doubles off the fence and Malarie Pittsley hit a double and a two-run home run.  Kennedy Alves picked up her second win of the season pitching the complete game.
    • Bristol Aggie 7-Norfolk Aggie 3: The Lady Chieftains improved to 10-0 on the season and clinched the Mayflower League-small title with a home victory over Norfolk Aggie on Tuesday.  Bristol Aggie took a 3-0 lead into the fourth when Madison Medeiros sent a two-run RBI pinch hit single into right field driving in Malarie Pittsley and Sarah Ellis to extend the lead to 5-0.  The Rams strung together five consecutive hits in the sixth to plate three but the Maroon and Gold answered with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Second base person Kasey Culhane fielded three ground balls to retired the side in order to end the game.  Malarie Pittsley recorded her eighth win of the season in the circle.
    • Bristol Aggie 13-Sacred Heart 3: The Lady Chieftains improved their record to 11-0 with a road victory over Sacred Heart of Kingston. Cora Monast went 4-5 in the lead off slot. Senior co-captains Sarah Ellis and Alyssa Costa matched Monast's offensive output by adding eight additional hits.  Malarie Pittsley came in to pitch in the third inning and hit a solo  home run in the seventh to insure the win.
    • Bristol Aggie 10- Southeastern Regional 7: In Bristol Aggies fourth game of the week it came down to the end of the game to seal the win. The Chieftains and the visiting Hawks were tied at seven headed into the bottom of the sixth.  Lead off hitter Cora Monast flew out to second to start the inning but Melanie Rea reached on a single and Malarie Pittsley followed with a walk setting the stage for Aggie cleanup hitter Sarah Ellis to come to the plate.  With a 2-1 count Ellis stroked one out of the park to put her team up by three.  Backed by a solid defense Malarie Pittsley retired the side in order in the top of the seventh and picked up her 10th win of the season.
Week Ahead: A Week
  • Saturday, May 13th
    • Spring Expo 10:00 am-3:00 pm
    • Baseball Game: 11:00 am
  • Monday, May 15th
    • Morning Assembly
    • Varsity Softball vs. Holbrook (HOME)
    • JV Softball and Baseball @ Holbrook, Bus Time: 2:15
  • Tuesday, May 16th
    • Math MCAS
    • Varsity Softball vs. South Shore (HOME)
  • Wednesday, May 17th
    • Math MCAS
    • Varsity Softball vs. Tri-County (HOME)
    • JV Softball and Baseball @ Tri-County, Bus Time: 2:00
    • FFA Banquet 6:00 pm (Auditorium)
  • Thursday, May 18th
    • JV Softball vs. Southeastern (HOME)
    • School Building Committee 6:00 pm (Keith Hall)
  • Friday, May 19th
    • PTO Senior Essay Contest submissions DUE
    • Honors Science Applications DUE
    • Prom at LeBaron Hills, Lakeville, MA 6:30 pm-10:30 pm

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