Bristol County Agricultural High School: Aggie Weekly- November 17th

Aggie Weekly

Good Afternoon Students, Parents, and Community Members:

Thursday, November 9th officially ended term one. Students had until Tuesday to make up grades. Earlier this week, families received their report cards indicating their grades. We hope that everyone used this opportunity to reflect on their hard work; or conversely use it as motivation to step up their studies to ensure they stay on track to be successful at Bristol Aggie. Monday, we are hosting Parent-Teacher Conferences and we look forward to meeting with parents. Since next week is a short week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, there will be no Aggie Weekly next week. We wish everyone a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Homecoming: Tickets are available at the door for purchase for Bristol Aggie students. Tickets are $10.00 for tonight homecoming dance. If your child does not drive, please arrive on time to pick up your child. The dance will be over by 10:00 pm sharp. Thank you

Dr. Johnson visits Bristol Aggie:

On Thursday we hosted researcher and molecular biologist Dr. David C. Johnson, who is the Director for the Institute for Sustainable Agricultural Research at New Mexico State University, present his research to students and staff regarding his Compost Bioreactor. The results of his study with no fertilizer was absolutely revolutionary for agriculture. Less money ( no cost for fertilizer at all) spent and greater yield. Here is a video on how to create the Compost Bioreactor. He is one of the keynote speakers at the Climate Reckoning, “Paths to an Earth Restored” conference at Harvard this weekend from November 17-19th. For more information go to www.bio4climate.org/climate-reckoning.

Information for Families:

This week we received the following documents (below) regarding “food insecurity and other health concerns.” We wanted to provide you with the flier that was sent to us to encourage families to apply for WIC if assistance is needed at home. If anyone would like more information, please contact the main office. Thank you

School Building Committee Update:

On Tuesday, the School Building Committee met to discuss the rendering(s) as well as floor plans for Gilbert Hall. Below is a preview of the rear of Gilbert Hall.

Hidden in Plain Sight:

The display is a mock teenage bedroom that is designed to raise awareness about the signs of addiction or drug use a parent might or might not notice in their child’s room. The items in the room can range from alcohol, tobacco and marijuana related paraphernalia to items associated with prescription drug and heroin use.

The Hidden In Plain Sight initiative will assist parents spot signs of at-risk behaviors by using an interactive display of a teenager’s bedroom. The display will be staffed by volunteers from the district attorney’s office. The volunteers, through the use of the interactive display, will teach parents to see the signs of hidden substance abuse. The program uses a re-created bedroom of a typical teenager to test parents’ knowledge of common items that can be signs that the teen is using drugs or drinking alcohol.

Field trips: On Sunday, part of the Ocean Bowl team went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History to attend the microbe festival. We learned a lot about microbes, attended a microbe story time, and got to make our own drawings of glow-in-the-dark microbes.

Pictured at right are Hannah Medeiros, Hannah Kaliton, Austin Gaw, Abby Bruno, and Hope Siddall.

Pictured at below are Abby Bruno and Hope Siddall, showing off their microbes.

FFA Field Trip:

On Wednesday, students from the Bristol FFA Chapter took a trip to a local nursing home to make crafts with the elderly. Students and the elderly made pine cone turkeys to celebrate the upcoming holiday. A focus of FFA’s mission is service and giving back to the community. We are always looking for ways to help our community. If you are interested in participating on our next visit to the nursing home on Wednesday, December 13, please contact Hannah Medeiros or Kyle Mazzola.

From Student Services:

Hello Parents and Guardians of Students at Bristol County Agricultural High School,

I am writing to invite you to attend our next scheduled BCAHS SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) meeting for the 2017-2018 school year on December 12, 2017 at 6:00pm in the library of Bristol County Agricultural High School. At this meeting the district will provide a workshop on student and parent/guardian rights. We are also fortunate that a representative from the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) will also be joining and presenting information about the services they offer.

At our first BCAHS SEPAC meeting, we developed bylaws and updated our Mission Statement. Thank you to all those who attended! As a reminder, this is a parent led group so you are also encouraged to share ideas for any topics you would like us to discuss at future meetings. Please feel free to send me any topics or agenda items!

If you are interested in joining the SEPAC but are unable to attend this scheduled meeting, we will be looking to schedule a couple more meetings this school year and I encourage you to reach out to me anytime to share your thoughts, questions, or concerns.

I look forward to working with each of you and continuing to grow our BCAHS SEPAC!

Thank you,

Dr. Marie-Juanita D. DiGioia

In the Classroom:

Animal Science: The Animal Science Department is pleased to announce that they once again have been selected to receive the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation’s 2018 Horse Farm of Distinction Award for the coming year. Our farm was nominated for the award after a very thorough inspection of facilities and our horses. Only farms that score above an 85 are eligible to receive the award. Congratulations to the students and staff that work so diligently to keep our facilities in pristine condition.
Animal Science: Below, students from Small Animal Science cleaned up the Bird Room on Friday afternoon.

Landscape: On Friday, students in Landscape were preparing the loam to lay sod.

Ag Mechanics: As winter is approaching, students were working on equipment to ensure we are ready for the snow season.

Flori Juniors Releasing BCA’s (Biological Control Agents) in Greenhouse

The Junior Floriculture students are learning about extending the growing season through the winter months. They all have been running science experiments, since September, to study and learn about the many different flower and vegetable crops that can be grown in a cool environment. They are growing 18 different vegetables and 14 different flowers that can tolerate a minimum temperature of 45℉. Their goal is to produce a sustainable organic flower and vegetable crop that can be harvested, in an environment that conserves heat. They have their crops growing in organic media and in biodegradable pots. In their attempt to control insect pests in the greenhouse (aphids and thrip) they have released predatory mites, wasps and nematodes. They will continue to collect data throughout the term to report their findings. When reporting on releasing the predatory wasp, student Sydney Hussey said “That was so cool. I actually saw the wasp attack another insect on the gerbera daisy!”

ELA: This week students in Mrs. Noel’s freshman honors English class acted as mentors for Mrs. St. Germain’s grade three students at Dighton Elementary School. Mrs. Noel partnered up with Mrs. St.Germain for a collaborative creation of a WebQuest. The topic is The Pilgrims and the Wampanoags and the First Thanksgiving. The 3rd graders were building background knowledge for their field trip to Plimoth Plantation. Mrs. Noel’s students were technology assistants and facilitated the 3rd grader’s navigation through the WebQuest. The freshman tutored their proteges on the art of note-taking from the online sources. They used this information to answer questions, take an assessment, and plan questions for their upcoming field trip. All the students stated how much they LOVED the experience and wish to do more of this in the future. They clearly indicated it enhanced their learning experiences; it was a win-win for all involved. Mrs. St. Germain reported they demonstrated greater proficiency at retaining the information and applying it later. Mrs. Noel’s students gained teaching experience and improved their social skills and teamworking abilities. And to add to that the 9th graders expressed how rewarding it was to be able to assist and have some fun in the process. Thank you to all involved for helping to make this opportunity possible!