Good Afternoon Students, Parents, and Community Members:
Each week we want to provide you with an update on how we are responding to the current COVID 19 crisis. Without students crowding the hallways, the Aggie Weekly was on pause, but it does not have too, so we need your help! We are requesting students to share (kbraga@bcahs.com) some of the work they are doing at home. If you are working on an assignment and you want to share your work, please send it along to me so we can keep up the Aggie Weekly classroom updates. Additionally, if you are working on your baseball/softball/LAX swing/skills in your backyard, please share those as well. Feel free to tweet @BristolAggie if you use Twitter. Check out Mrs. Noel’s attempt to engage her freshman exploratory students while playing the ukulele.
Gov. Baker extends school closures in Massachusetts through the end of April: Gov. Charlie Baker has issued an executive order that will further extend the closure of Massachusetts schools and nonemergency child care centers through the end of April amid the coronavirus outbreak in the state. On March 16, Baker ordered all schools to be closed for three weeks, from March 17 until April 6.
"This will allow school districts to provide the best possible opportunities for remote learning to all students," Baker said. "This is not an extended school vacation. During this long-term closure, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will work with school districts to further develop educational programming students can use at home. This way, schools can prepare for their students' return in May."
"We recognize this is a traumatic time for our kids," said Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley. "We want to get them settled, and then we want to get them into a routine." Click here for the full story.
Aggie Website- COVID 19 Updates:
Check the Bristol AGGIE COVID-19 Information website for answers and resources. This website is updated frequently as more information becomes available.
COVID-19 Family Economic Impact: If your family has been impacted economically, please check out this website to see what resources are available for you and your family.
Aggie Family Table: During these challenging times, the Bristol Aggie Food Services team wants to stay connected to our students and families! The team has decided to create the Aggie Family Table Cooking Series! Follow our food services team as they create meals from common food. Do you and your family have a favorite recipe? Upload and tag @bristolaggie You may find it on our future school menus! Click the episode below to see Food Service Manager Theresa Vernazzaro.
- Episode 1 The Incredible Edible Egg
- Episode 2 Healthy Granola & Trail Mix
- #BAPride (Facebook)
- #BAPride (Twitter)
- #Aggiesfamilytable (Facebook)
- #Aggiesfamilytable (Twitter)
Bristol Aggie Stepping Up by Donating Supplies and 3D Printing: Click here for the full story in the Taunton Gazette
DIGHTON - Bristol County Agricultural High School is hoping to help with the shortage of medical supplies in the area hospitals. While school is closed until May 4, the staff are still hard at work, but not in the way that you would expect. In addition to the donation of desperately needed masks and gloves, staff at Bristol Aggie will be 3-D printing face shields to help address the shortage of supplies for medical professionals on the front line.
Mark Lyons, Senior Education Strategist at AET Labs, was contacted by Medictronics, a global medical device company, to see if AET’s customers could help with creating the shields. Lyons reached out to the schools he has worked with to see if there was interest.
Adele Sands, Superintendent at Bristol County Agricultural High School, responded right away: “Of course we want to help. It is exciting to be able to have an impact and we know that every little bit helps in a situation like this. ”
The printing starts with a digital file that was provided by Medtronic. It takes approximately three hours to print two visors. Once the visor is complete, a plastic shield and elastic will be added. The face shield is another layer of protection that covers the medical professional’s face while still being able to wear a mask underneath.
Bristol Aggie is not the only school that jumped at the opportunity to help. The network of education professionals has come together to help where they can. Agricultural/vocational schools across the commonwealth have stepped up to the plate, offering donations of medical supplies and 3-D printing essential parts.
Custodian Dave Rhines and Security Carol Carr
Additionally, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Custodians Andy Silkworth and Joe Gaspar, along with Assistant Principal Mr. Higgins (not pictured) set up the new Stratasys 3D Printer. Mr. Higgins returned on Thursday and met with Mark Lyons from AET Labs. They started to print the face shields that will be assembled and then donated to local healthcare workers to help with the shortage.
Foreman Step Up: With no students on campus, the maintenance team has really stepped up to handle the workload. As you can see below, Carpenter Foreman, Mr. O’Connell is working the horses and preparing meals for small animals. We appreciate our Bristol Aggie Team stepping up to help with the extra workload.
Student Services: On Tuesday, Student Services sent out the following information to students and parents.
Dear Bristol Aggie Families,
Student Services wanted to reach out to you and let you know we are hard at work creating resources for health, wellness, and balance while we are out of school. For now, a few tips:
- Keep to a routine. Especially try to keep to a regular school/work sleep schedule. Take a shower every day. Get dressed every day. Develop and follow a realistic schedule.
- Keep in contact with outside providers and keep appointments for mental health. If you aren't able to go to their office, ask if they are offering other options to connect.
- Be mindful of media intake. Temporarily limit exposure to sources that increase anxiety, depression, loneliness, fear, and anger. Choose content that helps you feel hopeful, happy, calm, connected, inspired and uplifted.
- Take the time to get caught up. If you're behind, chip away at some outstanding assignments. It will help you keep from getting bored, can serve as a distraction, and will reduce long term stress. If you have a question about make-up work, let us know.
- Stay connected. Genuinely connected. Have real phone conversations, write letters/cards, play board games with others, spend time near other humans (and animals) while keeping in mind social distancing protocols and reach out to friends and loved ones via facetime or other video platforms that feature more authentic 1-1 connection.
We understand the importance of our families emotional and physical well-being and have gathered resources you may find helpful. Please view them on the Student Services COVID Website.
Sincerely,
The Student Services Team
Ms. Costa, Ms. Eddlem, and Ms. Boudreau
MCAS: The Department is exploring all options around this year’s testing requirements. To date, DESE has postponed both the grade 10 English language arts assessment scheduled to begin on March 24. The Department will keep districts informed of decisions related to the spring 2020 assessment schedule and the competency determination. There may be an opportunity for a one-year assessment and accountability waiver from the federal government, but even if that is granted, we would need legislative relief from our state legislature to waive the state law around the testing requirement.
Distance Learning/In the Classroom (#StayEngaged): Just because school is not in session, does not mean that our staff is working to ensure our students continue to learn!
Click here to see Mrs. Noel's greeting to students and how she is working to keep them engaged!
Landscape Design & Contracting: Sophomore’s utilized Belgard’s online photo imaging app to design a backyard hardscape.
Distance Learning Opportunities (#StayEngaged):
Public media outlets WGBH in Boston and WGBY/New England Public Media in Springfield announced a new partnership Thursday with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide distance learning opportunities on their TV channels while schools are closed. "The core mission of public broadcasting always has been to support students in every community with the educational resources they need to thrive. That mission is even more important in challenging times," WGBH President and CEO Jon Abbott said in a statement. "We know not everyone has access to the internet or cable, which is why we are also going to begin broadcasting educational content for middle and high school students on television, free over the air." The programming is being finalized, but starting Monday, students will be able to tune in to the WORLD Channel from noon to 5 p.m. weekdays. In greater Boston, WORLD channel is broadcast on channel 2.2., and in the Springfield area, it's over-the-air channel 57.2 and Comcast 209. Spectrum has it in the Pioneer Valley on 181, and in the Berkshires on 1275. For cable services across the state: Comcast 956, FIOS 473, RCN 94, Cox 807, Charter 181.
From the Nurse’s Office: Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle:
Fourth Congressional District Art Competition ONLINE PORTAL UPDATE: How to submit your Art Competition entries online. Please have students submit your entries by clicking here.
As a reminder: ONLINE SUBMISSIONS OF STUDENT INFORMATION AND SCANS OR PHOTOGRAPHS TO THIS PORTAL WILL BE TAKING PLACE OF DROPPING OFF ARTWORK TO THE OFFICE. The only piece that will need to be dropped off/ sent to our office will be the Best in Show winner after the judging and competition have concluded.
If there are any questions, please, as always, do not hesitate to contact me. Again, you can find copies of the rules and guidelines on our website: Kennedy.house.gov or on the Google Form.
Culver’s FFA Essay Contest: Culver's is sponsoring an essay contest that is open to all FFA members. See the information below, or visit this link - https://www.culvers.com/essaycontest
FFA members, we understand how important it is for your chapters to have access to hands-on learning experiences. Your education is vital to your future and ours, which is why, through the Thank You Farmers® Project, we’re rewarding funds to three FFA chapters to use toward agricultural education initiatives. The funds can be used to attend the National FFA Convention & Expo, Oct. 28-30, 2020, or for another educational project or event.
- First place: $7,500
- Second place: $5,000
- Third place: $2,500
FFA recently celebrated 50 years of women in its organization. Tell us about a woman in agriculture who has inspired or influenced you and why.
Don’t miss out!
Keep checking the list for updates.
Click Here to view available scholarships.
We wanted to create an online Student Job posting to help you get started. Please click the link(s) below to view the job posting(s).
- Acushnet:
- Easton:
- Middleborough:
- North Attleboro:
- NaturaLawn of America & Mosquito Ranger (updated 3/3/20)
- Norton:
- Somerset:
- Somerset Baseball League (new posting 3/3/20)
- Swansea:
Summer AcademyBristol County Agricultural High School is excited to offer two 4-day sessions of our Summer Academy in 2020. (Session I: July 20-23 and Session II: July 27-July 30). 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:
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 ALLDAY2020 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 Questions? Email Kbraga@bcahs.com
MSBA Update: The MSBA project continues on the new CSE and Student Commons buildings. Even though the Governor limited work in the state of MA to essential employees, construction workers outside of Boston can continue to work as long as they practice social distancing recommendations. As you can see, walls are being framed. #BAPride #BAFuture
The Week Ahead: This week we only asked that students complete one assignment for distance learning. Next week students will be responsible for two new assignments to Google Classroom due Friday, April 3rd. Contact your teachers with any questions.
