WBMSHS Principal Update to Families

Dear WB Community,

I hope this newsletter finds you well. Please take some time to read it and see all the great things happening at the MSHS. I hope it can provide you with some important information and give you a glimpse into what we are doing throughout the year.

As always please feel free to reach out to us anytime with your questions or concerns.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs. Page

• Junior Class Prom - 5/5/2023

The West Bridgewater River Walk will be held on Sunday, June 4, 2023 from 10:00am-2:00pm. We are looking for student volunteers who might like to earn community service hours, or just be a part of a fun community day. We need help running activities (games, crafts, bouncy house, music, raffle/silent auction), setting up/breaking down, and with other odds and ends jobs. Students can earn up to 6 hours for their time. If you are interested, please see Mrs. MacMillan in Guidance to sign up or find out more information.

Congratulations to James Le Grice and Alyssa Bassett for being selected to attend the Boys and Girls State Program this June. This year the week-long program is being held at Stonehill College in North Easton. Such a wonderful opportunity for two great students!

Ryan McGrath was recently honored as the Good Citizen winner for the Deborah Sampson Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. After being selected by his teachers, Ryan had to submit an essay which was one of the winning essays. All of the winners and their families were celebrated with a ceremony and refreshments at the Abington Public Library. Congratulations Ryan!

The Director of Second Language Services at Bridgewater State University (BSU), along with two international BSU students, came to middle/senior high school to speak with our multilingual learners on Friday, March 31st. They talked about how our students can prepare for higher education and the variety of programs that Bridgewater offers. They also spoke to students about the supports available for multilingual learners at BSU.

Thank you very much Ms. Falls and students for your time and encouragement!

Now that springtime is here and the weather is getting warmer, it is the perfect time to get outside in nature for some exercise! Exercise has proven to have many significant benefits for mental health, some of which are listed below:

• Reduces symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression

• Improves confidence

• Increasing energy levels

• Improves sleep

• Improves memory and cognition

Let’s get those endorphins flowing!

Parents of seniors! Your assistance is STILL needed!

• We are preparing for your senior’s end of year activities. Yes! Believe it or not - it is fast approaching!!! Please send us a picture of your senior. Share it with Mrs. MacMillan in Guidance at jmacmillan@wbridgewater.com at your earliest convenience. Thank you so much!

Friday, March 24th, the Seniors got all dressed up and enjoyed a fun evening at Lebaron Country Club.

On Wednesday, April 12th, at 5:30 p.m. there will be a junior parent meeting to discuss the college process and touch upon paying for school. No registration is required. We look forward to seeing you in the high school auditorium.

Counselors completed their presentation for College and Careers in the Junior History classes. Students had an opportunity to ask questions as they begin their journey thinking about their future plans.

The Guidance Counselors are taking Juniors on a field trip to check out some colleges, Bridgewater State University (open campus) and Stonehill (closed campus). Have Juniors come to Guidance to sign up and get a copy of the permission slip. Date Monday April 3rd. Cost is $20/student. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Our first official career fair was held on March, 15, 2023. We are so grateful to the people and companies listed below that assisted us in our new endeavor. With all new things we will evaluate and make adjustments to make next year's fair even better.

A&A Metro Transportation - Pam Arrighi

Matt Calvani - Graduate of Mass Maritime and currently a Merchant Marine

Coast Guard

Marines

South Shore fireplaces

Dan Carlino - Nurse

Southeastern Technical Institute

Concannon Plumbing

Eric Diedricksen - Entrepreneur

WB Fire Department

WB Police Department

Electrical Union

Minot Building Corporation - Rich Burchill

Bruce and Sam Raphel - Lawyer

Audra Roberts - Athletic Trainer

Mitch Roberts - Pilot

Suzy Cosgrove - Entertainment Producer

We also had some former graduates, Colleen O’Toole, Reagan Mullins and Samantha Driscoll talk to seniors about “What they wish they knew after graduation”

This March, our school’s health staff including the Guidance Department started administering a state mandated health screening called SBIRT for grades 7 and 9. SBIRT stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment. SBIRT is used to screen for alcohol, nicotine, tobacco, and other drug use in teens. Early intervention and psychoeducation are key strategies to prevent teens from the dangers of substances and addiction. For more resources on how to talk to your teen about this topic, here are some helpful websites:

• https://drugfree.org/

• https://helplinema.org/for-parents/

• https://handholdma.org/

Inclusion Matters' final webinar for the school year will be on Thursday, May 18 from 7 - 8 p.m. Join us as we learn how to support our children with dyslexia with Dr. Joanna Christodoulou, Associate Professor within the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at MGH. Learn more about the event online at https://fb.me/e/2QGFAlFcB

Students in Mrs. Pope's Biotech class had to determine which suspect left a set of muddy footprints at a crime scene.

Students in Mrs. Warnock's class were building their roller coasters while working together to get to the best speed.

Middle School Battled it our in their Academic Bowl Powerblock Challenge. Mrs. Aiello-Jones PB won!

An amazing performance by our drama students of Legally Blonde! Congratulations to the cast and crew and the director, Mrs. Brogna.

Talented student's artwork that is hanging in our school lobby.

Mr. Stanfa's students making videos with the puppets they created in their class.

During the month of March, French classes in grades 8-12 participated in a March Music Madness competition, la Manie Musicale de Mars. Each student predicted an initial winning bracket from sixteen French music videos and voted for their pick of the day, in collaboration with over 3,500 other schools from all 50 states and 10 different countries.

On April 6th, all French students participated in a small reception to announce the winning video and to receive awards for the most accurate brackets. These classes have been extremely engaged in the Manie Musicale and even made their own videos that you can check out below! Great job Madame Eddlem and all French students who participated.

Mrs. Brogna's class had their own version of March Madness in AP BIO!

Students making bookmarks during their Book Club meeting.

The 8th Grade State Mandated Civics Project is underway in both Mr. Despier & Ms. Martin’s classes! The students are asked to make strides in their community by creating policy change by reaching out to legislators, changemakers and more! It is going to be due in May but please be talking to your 8th grader about it! It is a great way to be involved in something bigger than ourselves! Both teachers have posted on google classroom with all materials! It is mainly an outside of class project, so please make sure you are meeting check-ins in class! You can also stay after school with your civics teacher on most days but Wednesdays are specifically dedicated to civics project help! Anyone is welcome! We can’t wait to see what you change in the world!

Mrs. McMurray's art class making their paper mache projects.

Mr. McMurray's class making their guitar's in class. Once completed they can make some beautiful music!

Athletic News:

A huge shout out to our Winter Enterprise All Scholastics!

First Team

Ryan McGrath, Boys Basketball

Aly Bassett, Girls Track

Ella Dunbury, Girls Track

Second Team

Tommy Perna, Boys Basketball

Amanda Jacques, Girls Basketball

Kenly Laime, Boys Track

Unified Basketball:

The MS Unified Basketball season has been a great experience for all involved! They have played home and away games against Middleboro, Pembroke and an away game with Walpole. West Bridgewater also hosted a Unified Sports Jamboree on Thursday, March 30th. Kathy Lutz from Special Olympics Massachusetts came to run an opening and closing ceremony for all teams. Seven teams participated in the jamboree from five other towns, West Bridgewater, Canton, Westwood, Hull, Pembroke and Walpole. We are excited to have the opportunity to have our students participate in such a great event. It was a great day! The season is wrapping up next week with a WB versus WB scrimmage.

Wrapping up the winter tourney season!

Winter Track And Field

5 individuals from the girls winter track team had their final races of the indoor season on Friday and Saturday. Ella Dunbury went to the Nike Nationals meet in New York City on Friday and ran in the Rising Star 2 mile race, achieving a time of 11:40! Hannah Smith, Ava Xayavong, Lasadia Gurley and Aly Bassett went to the New Balance Nationals meet on Saturday in Boston and competed at the championship level in the 4 x 60M hurdle shuttle relay, earning a time of 37.36 seconds! Congrats Wildcats!!

The Wildcat’s had Girls Mayflower Athletic Conference All-Stars in Track and Field! Congratulations to the following athletes for being named All Stars in their events. Ella Dunbury in the 1 mile, Aly Bassett in the 55 M Hurdles and the Long Jump. Also congratulations to Aly Bassett for being named Athlete of the Year in the MAC!

Basketball:

The Girls Basketball team wrapped up their season as Mayflower Athletic Conference Champions. They did lose in the state tournament to a strong Case team to finish their season 10-11. Congratulations to Amanda Jacques for being named MVP of the MAC Conference. Amanda Jacques, Dorothea McGrath and Jenella Jacobs were also named MAC All Stars.

The Boys Basketball Team were Mayflower Athletic Conference Champions. The Boys Basketball Team won their first round tournament game 46-41 in overtime over WCHS. They then traveled to Randolph and lost in the second round. Congratulations to Mike Antonio for being voted MAC Coach of the year. Ryan McGrath, Tommy Perna, and Jacob Sousa were also named MAC All-Stars. Congrats to the WB boys basketball team on a great season and best of luck to our seniors!

WEB Hockey

**The WEB Boys Ice Hockey season came to an end as they fell short against Abington with a 6-1 final. Congrats to the team on a great season and we wish all of the seniors best of luck!

Gymnastics

Congrats to the BR/WB gymnastics team on winning the South Sectional Championship! They moved on to the state tournament where they placed 4th overall Congrats on a great season!

The spring season is underway! Tryouts have wrapped up and the teams are set to kick off their competitions. Boys and Girls Track and Field hosted East Bridgewater on Thursday March 30th. Boys track final score, WB: 26 EB: 110 and the girls track final score, WB: 44 EB: 91. The Softball team will kick off their season with games vs Southeastern on Friday, 3/31. The baseball team will travel to Pembroke for their first live action of the season. While Boy’s and Girl’s Tennis will open up their seasons with matches against Brockton. Good luck to all of our Spring sports teams this season!

*You can find the spring sports athletic schedule on the Arbiter Live Website: https://arbiterlive.com/Teams?entityId=25160

Make sure to follow along on Twitter for all your athletic updates

WBMSHS Athletics (@WBMSHSAthletics) / Twitter

Good Luck to all of our Wildcats!!

High School Dates

Grade 10

May 16, 2023 - Math Session I

May 17, 2023 - Math Session II

Grade 9

June 6, 2023 - STE Session I

June 7, 2023 - STE Session II

Middle School Dates

April 6, 2023 - ELA Session II

May 9, 2023 - Math Session I

May 10, 2023 - Math Session II

May 17, 2023 - STE - There is only one science session.

Field trips- With Spring comes student field trips. Whether your student is in elementary school or in high school, the WB Food Nutrition staff can pack their lunch! Look for the links to google lunch order forms along with permission slips. These lunches are FREE!

Universal free school meals have helped support students and families the past two years. On average, 56,665 more Massachusetts children participated daily in school lunch in October 2022 compared to October 2019. Not having to pay for school meals could save families up to $1,200 per student per year (source: Project Bread). Legislation is being proposed in MA to make universal school meals permanent.

Adding funds to a student's lunch account. While (1) breakfast and (1) lunch per day continue to be offered at no cost, extra meals and a la carte items such as bottled water, freshly baked cookies, ice cream and milk for students that bring lunch from home are offered for sale in the cafeteria. Students must have money on their lunch account to purchase any extra items. Cash and checks are accepted and electronic payments can be made through MySchoolBucks. You will need your child's 10-digit SASID# to register for a MySchoolBucks account.

Click on WB Food Services to find April's menus.

Food Assistance- Project Bread Food Source Hotline , West Bridgewater Food Pantry.

30 hour/week position available! Interested individuals should contact Ann Marie Grinder, Food Service Director at agrinder@wbridgewater.com or (508)894-1220.

A friendly reminder that all medications need to be kept in the nurse’s office. The only exception is for students in grades 9-12 who carry life saving medications such as inhalers and/or EpiPen's. All medications, even if carried with the student, need to have a medication order on file with the nurse. If you would like to authorize your student to take over the counter medications at the nurse's office you can access the STANDING ORDER MEDICATION & ANNUAL HEALTH UPDATE FORM on our Health Services page on the district website: https://www.wbridgewaterschools.org/page/health-services

Email: cpge@wbridgewater.com
Website: https://www.wbridgewaterschools.org/o/ms-middle-senior-hs
Location: 155 West Center Street, West Bridgewater, MA, USA
Phone: 508-894-1220
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wbmshs
Twitter: @WBMSHS