Bristol County Agricultural High School: Aggie Weekly-April 13th

Aggie Weekly

Good Afternoon Students, Parents, and Community Members:

This week third term came to a close and grades have been posted to ParentPortals. With only one quarter left in the school year, we want to remind students to finish strong and continue your positive work habits for the remainder of the school year. For those that may be in jeopardy, you are advised to stay after in EXTENDS and with your teacher to put in the extra effort to ensure that you are promoted next year. We want to wish everyone a safe and happy April vacation and look forward to ending the school year on a positive note! When we return on April 23rd, it’s the home stretch!

Evacuation Update: As part of Bristol County Agricultural High School’s safety protocols, BCAHS administration initiated an “Evacuation Drill” today at 12:50 in order for students and staff to walk to their closet evacuation points. The drill concluded at 1:04 and we are collecting feedback from students and staff from today’s drill. Dighton Police and Dighton Fire were on site to assist with the evacuation. We appreciate everyone's patience and dedication to safety.

Grading Portal: We are currently in the process of rolling over our Student Information System (SIS) to a new SIS program called PowerSchool. Due to this rollover, our TeacherPortal pages will not be available for parents and students to check grades as of May 31, 2018. However, the last time teachers will update this gradebook will be Friday, May 18, 2018 (which is the official halfway point in fourth quarter). You will not be able to access this portal on June 1, 2018. After May 18th, the next grade report you will have available to you will be the final report card on the last day of school on Monday, June 25th. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Braga.

Outstanding Vocational Student of the Year: This year’s Outstanding Vocational Student of the Year is Eve Gannon in the NRM Department. Below is an excerpt from Mr. Bastarache’s nomination:

For the last four years I have had the pleasure of working with Genevieve Gannon. She will graduate from the Natural Resources Management Program at the Bristol County Agricultural School in the spring. Ms. Gannon has been a dedicated student since her arrival at our school. She has taken an active role in her educational and become a valuable member of our departmental team.

Genevieve Gannon has been an outstanding example of a Bristol Aggie student. She has been an active participant in a cooperative research project between Bristol Aggie NRM Department and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In her senior year, Ms. Gannon is currently working on cooperative research with the Burke Laboratory at Hofstra University investigating the over-wintering ecology of Diamondback Terrapin hatchlings. She has also worked diligently to meet her own high academic standards, earning honor role grades all throughout her high school career and the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship. I am proud that she is part of the NRM Department.

She is no less noteworthy outside of school. Last summer Ms. Gannon worked for the Trustees of Reservation at the Fall River Bio-Reserve. Her duties included trail work, GPS resource mapping, invasive species mitigation and conducting environmental education events. Her leadership and performance earned the 2017 Youth Leader of the Year from her co-workers.

Olivia with Dr. DiGioia receiving her High Five!

Congratulations, Olivia! Well deserved!

Spring Expo: Bristol Aggie will be hosting their 6th Annual Spring Expo on Sunday, May 6, 2018 from 10:00 - 3:00, Rain or Shine!

Meet members of our local, agricultural community, promoting exciting products & services at this 1-day, free - family event. Highlights include: BA Grows Farmer's Market & Vendor Expo, Live Animal Exhibits, Gourmet Food Truck, live entertainment, and more!

Just in time for Mother's Day, check out the Bristol Aggie Plant Sale, hosted by the BA Floriculture and Landscape Design & Construction students!

Interested in attending Bristol Aggie? Join Us!

A Prospective Student Tour for 6th & 7th Graders will run from 9:00 - 11:00. This is a great way to learn all about what Bristol Aggie has to offer! The tour starts in the Gymnasium at 9:00. To sign up, by clicking here.

Next Phase for Seniors: We are proud to share with you our senior’s plans for their next step in their college and career exploration. Based on the knowledge and skills, learned during their 4 years at BA, we are excited to publish acceptances into colleges, universities, military plans, and any career pathways each week. Please let Ms. Dias know in Student Services, so we can update our list weekly. Thank you for your dedication to excellence and drive to maintain Bristol Aggie Excellence.

Olivia Aguiar- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA

Click here for the full article on the EcoRI News.

DIGHTON. Mass. — On one side of a large greenhouse behind the Bristol County Agricultural High School are a dozen shallow plastic tubs, each containing a few inches of water, some artificial vegetation and several rare Blanding's turtles. A similar lineup of tubs, but with much less water, contain equally rare wood turtles. And four 60-gallon pools hold federally endangered Plymouth red-bellied cooters.

All of the turtles are less than a year old, and all are part of research projects designed to boost their populations by raising hatchlings in captivity for their first year until they are less vulnerable to predation. After a year in captivity, the animals are returned to the wild.

The effort is called “head-starting” the turtles. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) has been head-starting cooters since 1984 by collecting hatchlings at the few ponds where they live in Plymouth County and having them raised at science centers around the state. Students at Bristol Aggie got involved six years ago, and this year they are raising 66 cooters in a partnership with MassWildlife and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

“They’re easy to raise, so it’s gone very well,” said Brian Bastarache, a teacher in the high school’s Natural Resource Management program. “We have some issues with a shell infection this year that we haven’t had to deal with before, but it’s a disease only found in captive turtles, and we expect it will clear up once they’re released.”

Blanding’s turtles are rare throughout most of their range in the central and eastern United States due to habitat fragmentation and nest predation.

Head-starting of young turtles has a somewhat controversial history, according to Bastarache, so the Blanding’s turtle project is designed to put the controversy to rest.

“Some biologists have concerns that head-starting sounds good in principle but isn’t effective in reality,” he said. “This Blanding’s experiment is to determine if it does improve population recruitment, as opposed to just making us feel good that we’re doing something. What’s different with this project is that the turtles will have an intensive post-release monitoring, and the larger ones will get a radio transmitter so they can be tracked.”

Blanding’s turtles are quite rare throughout most of their range in the central and eastern United States and Canada due to habitat fragmentation and nest predation. They are unusual in that they show no signs of aging and can remain active, healthy and continue to reproduce for more than 80 years, assuming they reach maturity. The head-start program aims to help them do so.

During a recent tour of the Bristol Aggie head-start facility, about 20 sophomores were attending to the Blanding’s turtles, weighing and measuring each one and sorting them by size.

The students weigh, measure and sort the Blanding’s turtles by size.

“They’re very slow growing, so you don’t really notice their growth until you look at the data,” said student Wyatt Rego of Swansea. “They have different growth rates based on their metabolism and competition for food, so we sort them by size so the smaller ones aren’t competing for food with the big ones.”

Rego said the turtle project is one reason he enrolled at Bristol Aggie.

“You’re actually doing something, not just being in school and learning,” he said. “We’re actually helping in a government program to get something done.”

Fellow student Abigail Bruno agreed. “I’ve always had a love for nature and natural resources, so getting into this program was a natural thing,” said the Rehoboth resident. “I’ve always been interested in turtles — I have a pet tortoise at home — and I like the idea of helping out endangered species.”

Bastarache said the project teaches his students how to care for and study rare turtles by following strict scientific and safety protocols and they also learn to work independently and as teams.

“They all really want to be here,” he said. “They’re learning project management, communication with team members, and the ability to assess a problem and take actions to address it. This time of year, I stand in the corner and let them run the show so they can develop those professional and survival skills. They’re also learning how to apply computer skills and math skills.”

Nine years into a 10-year study of the head-starting of Blanding’s turtles has already shown that the effort is worthwhile. Survival of the turtles that spend their first year in captivity and safe from predators is much greater than those that spend that first year in the wild. A detailed analysis of the project’s results will be completed after the final year of the project, in 2019.

In May, the year-old Blanding’s turtles raised at Bristol Aggie will be released at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury, and Bastarache’s students will be there to wish the animals well.

While the turtle project will continue with a new batch of hatchlings next year, Bristol Aggie will launch a new partnership with Roger Williams Park Zoo this fall in which the students will also raise rare New England cottontails for release throughout the region.

Rhode Island resident and author Todd McLeish runs a wildlife blog.

Summer Academy

Bristol County Agricultural High School is excited to offer two 4-day sessions of our Summer Academy in 2018. (Session I: July 23-26 and Session II: July 30-August 2). There are morning sessions and afternoon sessions offered to students entering grade 5-8. Some sessions have an age restriction. Please read the descriptions on our web site closely. To register on Eventbrite, please click here. Academy offerings include:

July 23-26, 2018 8:30-11:30 a.m.	July 30-August 2, 2018 8:30-11:30 a.m.
Animal Science Enrichment (Grades 5-8) *$150	Animal Science Enrichment II (Grades 5-8) *$150
July 23-26, 2018 12:30-3:30 p.m.	July 30-August 2, 2018 12:30-3:30 p.m.
Horsemanship (Grades 5-8) *$200	Horsemanship II (Grades 5-8) *$200
Dr. Doolittle (Grades 5-8) *$150	Dr. Doolittle II (Grades 5-8) *$150

We encourage your student to mix and match your morning (AM) and afternoon (PM) sessions. All costs are listed above for each session (plus processing fees which have allowed us to move to online registration). If you are registering for a morning and afternoon session in the same week (full-day students) please use the promotional code ALLDAY2018 for a $50 discount at checkout.

All instructors are MA DESE Certified Teachers in their respective areas of expertise. Refunds are only offered if courses are cancelled. View program descriptions and register online through our link at. www.bristolaggie.org. If you have any questions, email eKbraga@bcahs.com.

In the Classroom:

Mr. Johnson’s Chemistry Class

Mrs. VanRotz was a guest helper in the class’ reaction! As you can see, Mrs. VanRotz was not entirely confident in her chemistry skills. Thank you to the very capable Mr. Johnson for helping her out and making science fun and engaging in our classrooms!

Landscape:

Sophomores were working on a spring campus cleanup. It’s always great to see students teaching students.

ELA: In Mr. Mondensa’s class, students provided presentations to their classmates on their research program. Below is Senior Amber Ford discussing her research on the SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) program.

Sophomores pruned the panicled hydrangeas in front of AgMech.

Agricultural Mechanics: The brush cutter came in for a total restoration. The project included sandblasting the mower to remove all the old paint and rust, welding patches on the rotted sections, various stages of bodywork and painting. We also replaced the seal in the gearbox and unseised and sharpened the blades. The final stage of the project was to replace the gearbox oil, grease all fittings and replace all factory safety decals. The project was completed by Michael Koussa and Melanie Rea.

Math: Jasmine stays after school to help fellow student Jonathan learn about linear equations.

FLORI READY FOR THE PEP RALLY!!

Marine Service Technology: On Tuesday, the Marine Service Technology advisory met to discuss our submission to the DESE (Dept of Ed) for program approval. We received a lot of positive feedback from our advisory that will help us plan and create a successful Marine Tech program if approved by DESE.

Student Services

On Wednesday, April 11 some students along with Miss Costa and Mrs. Boudreau attended the 2018 Teen Safety Summit hosted by the Bristol County Underage Substance Use Prevention Task Force and the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office. The seven students were able to participate in several workshops that ranged from the dangers of social media usage, stress management, healthy relationships and more.

Boston Globe Foundation/Richard J. Phelps Scholar-Athlete Award

Attention Student Drivers:

Student Drivers and Parents

Many of you are looking forward to school vacation week, and if you are getting your learner’s permit, you’re probably thinking about visiting the Registry of Motor Vehicles. School vacation week is the busiest week of the year at the Registry. Before you take a trip to the RMV, make sure you:

1. Visit Mass.gov/ID to start the permit process.

2. Learn about requirements and the documents you need to bring.

3. Print out your completed application and bring the bar code scan with your required documents to the RMV.

4. Take some time to enjoy your vacation, and wait a week before coming to the RMV.

Please keep in mind that the Friday of vacation week is the busiest day of the week. We know you are anxious and excited to get out on the road but if you can wait until the following week to visit the Registry, you might save yourself a lot of waiting time.

Road trips should be fun; but avoid one to the RMV during vacation week.

Activities and Athletics: