Greetings! Welcome to another edition of the Telstar Times, a series of monthly news articles about Telstar, written by our sophomore students. Students gather the information from teachers and staff and collaboratively report out on all of the things happening in our school. This month we asked Telstar staff and teachers, “What’s like a present to you when you’re teaching/educating?”
Dr. Poston stated that a present to her is when students apply the skills she has taught to something they are doing in another class or when students use a skill without being directed to do so. Dr. Poston was also involved in the recent date night raffle, which was won by Melissa Prescott. Marcel Pollack came to talk to interested students about the Holocaust and immigrating to the United States, a topic in the Humanities 10 classes. Another class being taught by Dr. Poston is her World War II seminar for the next 10 weeks.
Mrs.Colpitts said that a gift to her are students who are into learning math, pushing past challenges, and those who work well together. Students in her class are currently learning about geometric proofs involving lines and angles. Her Algebra 2 students are finishing a unit on linear functions. In Algebra 1, students are solving equations and equalities, and finally, in project based learning, students are working on an architecture project where students design their dream high school.
Mrs. Blauss shared that gifts to her were students who are genuinely interested in science, students who choose to dig deeper and students who ask questions to further their knowledge. Mrs. Blauss also stated what her students were doing in her different classes. In Biology, she is going over evolution and classification. In project-based learning she is going teaching students how light works, and how the earth is heated from the sun. In the Anatomy and Physiology classes, she has just finished talking about cells. With that, she has added an honors course in Biology.
Merrie Lee Ojeda, the Spanish teacher, stated that when students, present or past, come to her and explain how they have used and applied their Spanish education to real life situations or for performing their job. In her Level 1 class, students worked on a poem project before Christmas break. Level 2 students constructed a Christmas food project before Christmas break. Upper level students will be translating sets of words and phrases for emergency responder personnel, such as policemen or firefighters.
Mrs. Fraser, the technology teacher and librarian, said that a gift to her was when students take a moment to say hello to her or check in. In her middle school technology class, this week is steam week, where Mrs. Fraser takes kids who are interested in coding, and allows them to access code.org to develop their coding skills. With that, she plans to make a website that will make it easier for students to find information on her class. There will be a link on the THS site that will allow people to access this new website. Along with information about her class, there will be a link to the “download library,” where people can read any book from the Maine State Library on any device. The recommended book for this month by Mrs. Fraser is All the Way Down by John Green.
Mrs. Lindsey, the counselor, said that a gift to her is when students start to think about their futures, and they get excited about college and life after high school. She also stated that she likes to see student enthusiasm and enjoys interacting with students.
Mrs. Lang, the principal, said that a gift to her is when students strive to succeed. She also stated that she found several of the activities that the 10th grade was a part of interesting, including the recent dance and raffle and is excited for upcoming sophomore events.

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