Tantasqua Education Foundation

2008-2009 Grants
The Tantasqua Education Foundation has awarded a total of $25,448 to nine projects in the 2008-2009 academic year.

The following stories and pictures were written by Jennifer Grybowski of the Tantasqua Town Common and generously provided and permitted for reprint by Turley Publications.

Forensic Science Investigation
One Book/2 Schools & The Community
Podcasting in the Classroom
See the USA-The Virtual Way
WeatherBug Tracking Station
Using Yoga to Teach Self-Regulation
TRSD/Union 61 Digital Library
Maximizing Tomorrow through Mindfulness Today
Science Olympiad

Forensic Science Investigation
Grant: A Ken-a-Vision T-1920C –Series Comparison Microscope
Amount: $1,664
Teacher: Bob Jefferson
Students benefiting from grant: Junior High

Story by Jennifer Grybowski of The Tantasqua Town Common/Turley Publications

STURBRIDGE – Tantasqua Regional Junior High School (TRJHS) students will be able to analyze data like the forensics teams on CSI, thanks to a grant for a Ken-a-Vision T-1920C –Series Comparison Microscope. The $1,664 grant, secured by TRJHS Science Instructor Bob Jefferson, was provided by the Tantasqua Education Foundation (Ted.).

The scope allows for side-by-side comparisons of evidence. Each microscope can focus independently and each object or microscope slide on each side can be viewed in a full field independently or together in a split screen.
Although the scope didn’t arrive in time to use during the summer forensic camps, taught by Jefferson, camp veterans have been able to check out the scope and its capabilities since its arrival in the beginning of the school year – and they are really excited about using it in the camps next year.

“It gives you more of the feeling of being an actual scientist,” student Annie Roscioli said. Student Mackenzie Skowyra explained that the scope is useful for a situation in which you have a blood sample from the crime scene, and a sample from a suspect, and you need to compare them to see if they are a match.
“Instead of having to memorize each slide, when you move both, they are right next to each other,” student Kaylee Desroches said. Desroches said the scope also offers a free-floating stage and the options to use the regular view or a finer view. “You have the freedom to use different views,” Skowyra said.
“It makes it so much easier.” Jefferson said in addition to comparing things like blood and hair, the scope also allows for comparison of items such as bullet casings. “It helps shape working with other sciences, like biology and studying cancer, not just forensics” Desroches said.
Jefferson said he applied for the grant, because any equipment that needs to be purchased for a summer camp must be purchased using the student fees and there wasn’t enough to get the scope he wanted. “The committee was really excited about using this kind of technology,” he said.

A total of $25,448 has been awarded to nine projects so far. For more information, visit www.tedfound.org.

One Book/2 Schools & The Community
Grant: A free book for each student
Amount: $5,000
Teacher: Deborah McKinstry
Students benefiting from grant: School Wide

Story by Jennifer Grybowski of The Tantasqua Town Common/Turley Publications

STURBRIDGE – Each Tantasqua Regional High School (TRHS) student was able to take home a free book this summer thanks to a grant for “One Book/Two Schools and The Community.” The $5,000 grant, secured by TRHS English teacher Deborah McKinstry, was provided by the Tantasqua Education Foundation (Ted.).

The students were given the number one New York Times best seller “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin for their summer reading assignment as part of a school-wide initiative to participate in the Pennies for Peace program.

The free books were secured by TRHS English Instructor Deborah McKinstry and Junior High Social Studies Instructors William Lataille and Norma Roy when they attended a speaking engagement featuring Mortenson at Bentley College last year. While chatting with Mortenson during a book signing after the presentation, he promised to send 1,200 books to TRHS - and he delivered.

However, more than 1,200 students needed the books, so the money from the Ted. grant was used to purchase additional books and audio tapes for students who needed them.
“We wanted every student and every family to have a free book,” McKinstry said.
The read was mandatory for high school students, but optional for junior high students. Roy said many of the junior high kids attempted to read the book over the summer.
“It’s a great message, even though it’s a tough read,” Roy said. “Even the kids who didn’t read the book brought in money.”
McKinstry said the reaction by the high school students was positive.
“They got the message and they appreciated the message,” McKinstry said.

According to his Web site, in 1993 Mortenson was descending from a failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he eventually stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health. While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school. To date, Mortenson has built more than 75 schools in Central Asia through his Pennies for Peace program.
McKinstry and Roy said the students were more than willing to help raise money for the Central Asia Institute’s Pennies for Peace program. The goal was to raise $12,000, which will build a school in Afghanistan or Pakistan in the name of Tantasqua. If $15,000 is raised, they will be able to not only build a school, but sustain it for a year.

The junior high raised about $4,000 through a teacher breakfast and raffle, a bottle and can drive, a calendar sale featuring original artwork by the students, a bake sale and three large containers placed around the school for change donations.
“The kids were great,” Roy said.

The high school raised about $5,000 through daily donations by students and teachers throughout a 10-week period.
TipTop Country Store in Brookfield donated $927.40, by combining 1 percent of their proceeds from November and December with personal donations by the owners and some of their customers.
The final fundraiser will be a magic show Saturday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at the high school.
All of the books were returned to the school by the students. McKinstry and Roy are still looking for another school or organization to donate the books to.
“It would be great to have another district pick [the fundraising] up,” Roy said.
McKinstry said her experience with Ted. was a positive one.
“The process for applying wasn’t difficult and the follow-up was very nice,” she said.

A total of $25,448 has been awarded to nine projects so far. For more information, visit www.tedfound.org. To make a donation or to receive the books, e-mail McKinstry at mckinstryd@tantasqua.org.

Podcasting in the Classroom
Grant: New equipment including two new microphones, two stands, cables, headsets, a control box and an external hard drive
Amount: $1,199
Teacher: Bob Jefferson
Students benefiting from grant: Junior High

Story by Jennifer Grybowski of The Tantasqua Town Common/Turley Publications

STURBRIDGE – Tantasqua Regional Junior High School (TRJHS) students will be able to podcast like pros, thanks to a grant for new, updated equipment including two new microphones, two stands, cables headsets, a control box and an external hard drive. The $1199 grant, secured by TRJHS Science Instructor Bob Jefferson, was provided by the Tantasqua Education Foundation (Ted.).

Podcasting is the act of recording a broadcast and posting it on the internet, to be downloaded by various users. The students are also “vodcasting” – or making video broadcasts. The casts are uploaded to “TNN,” the Tantasqua News Network on itunes.
TRJHS students are podcasting as a club activity each Tuesday. Jefferson said the students are so committed to the club, they even come in to work on their podcasts on the weekends and over the summer. Last year, the club was able to post a total of 16 podcasts.

The podcasts can be found by visiting itunes and typing in “Tantasqua.”
According to Jefferson, the podcasts are required to have a strong educational content. Past podcasts have included interviews with teachers, mystery theaters, profiles of school clubs, “Tantastic” food places, movie reviews, school sports coverage, school concerts, tips for new students/seventh-graders, studycasts and information and study guides.
One project the members liked working on was “Sorry, wrong number,” a 1948 radio play which tells the story of a woman who overhears a plot for murder.They said they had a lot of fun recording it, and in fact, all the English classes listened to it.
“The feedback was unbelievable,” Jefferson said.

Another way the podcasts are used, are for public service. When the assistant district attorney came to the school recently to talk about internet safety, the club recorded the presentation, and posted it online, so that those who were unable to get to the presentation, or really anyone who is interested in hearing the presentation, can just download it.
“We try to be a service to the school,” Jefferson said.

Because this is a club activity, the students are really able to brainstorm their own ideas, with Jefferson’s guidance. There are several jobs to do when recording a podcast, and the club members rotate jobs for each podcast they create.
“The kids are really dedicated and willing to learn new jobs,” Jefferson said.
Many of the jobs are extremely technical, so often, freshmen who were in the club the previous year will come back to mentor the new students. Students join for many different reasons.
“It’s so cool because anyone anywhere can hear your voice, even all the way around the world,” Fatimah McElhinney said.
“It’s a new way to learn about teachers and what’s going on in school,” Melissa Prosser said.
This is the third year the club has been podcasting. The club originally started out using all of Jefferson’s personal equipment. The grant has allowed Jefferson to purchase equipment that is property of the school instead. Plus, he said, it is nice to have the new, updated electronics.
“The quality of the voices in the new microphones is much better,” he said. “The kids are really more excited the better it sounds.”
Students currently participating in podcasting are Sidhi Srinivasachar, Gerrish, McElhinney, Prosser, Ben Faucher (ninth-grade mentor), Nikki MacGillivray, Sara Coffill, Megan Brothers, Katie Knox and Kyle Libiszewski.

A total of $25,448 has been awarded to nine projects so far. For more information, visit www.tedfound.org.

See the USA-The Virtual Way
Grant: SMART Boards installed in each fourth-grade classroom
Amount: $2054.85
Teacher: Matthew Trudeau and Kathy Van Camp
Students benefiting from grant: Fourth-graders, Brimfield Elementary School

Story by Jennifer Grybowski of The Tantasqua Town Common/Turley Publications

BRIMFIELD – Brimfield Elementary School fourth-graders will be creating a technology-filled tour of the 50 states this spring, thanks to a grant for “Seeing the USA – The Virtual Tour Way.” The $2054.85 grant, secured by teachers Matthew Trudeau and Kathy Van Camp, was provided by the Tantasqua Education Foundation (Ted.).

Each of the 48 students of the fourth grade will be assigned a state (the two leftover states will be worked on collaboratively) and must create a three- to five-slide PowerPoint presentation for that state. Students will be encouraged to pack their presentations with interesting facts, details and photos focused on subjects such as climate, places to visit, landmarks, landforms and national parks. They will use classroom materials, the library and the Internet as resources.
“Lots of states have quirky little facts,” Van Camp said.

All of the presentations will be put together to create a “virtual tour” of the country. Once the tour is completed, parents will be invited to come in and view the presentation via the SMART Boards installed in each fourth-grade classroom. The teachers raved about the SMART Boards.
“It can be viewed by everybody without being huddled by a computer screen,” Trudeau said.
But according to Trudeau, this virtual tour is only a fraction of how the technology will be used. Currently, it is also being used for educational games and Trudeau said he projects photographs coinciding with lessons to get kids talking. Van Camp said she puts her daily lessons into the SMART Board and then if a student is absent, she can just print the SMART Boards for the day. Both teachers said the SMART Boards get the kids interested in learning.
“It is very engaging,” Van Camp said. “We live in a video world.”

Although one classroom already had a SMART Board setup, the Ted. grant helped in securing two more.
The Ted. grant itself bought two LCD projectors and the cables needed to hook them up. Trudeau said a full SMART Board set up runs about $5,000, so they decided to apply for just the LCD projectors to get more bang for their buck.
But then the SMART Boards themselves were able to be purchased through school funding.
“[Ted.] was very accommodating with the projectors,” Trudeau said. “They allowed us to apply the extra money we had to get them mounted [to work with the SMART Boards].”
Now all three of the fourth-grade classrooms are fully equipped.
“So instead of getting one full setup, we got two,” Trudeau said.
“It is so unusual for us to be able to apply for something that is so much money,” Van Camp said,
Van Camp said that most of the grants she has looked into in the past typically have a $500 cap. Van Camp also commented on how difficult some of the grant applications are to fill out.
“[Ted.’s] grant process was very clearly laid out,” she said.
“We had no idea what to expect, but [working with Ted.] was a great experience,” Trudeau said.
“I would encourage other staff members to do it,” Van Camp said. “They’ve been very nice.”
The students will likely embark on the tour somewhere between February and April vacations.

A total of $25,448 has been awarded to nine projects so far. For more information, visit www.tedfound.org.

WeatherBug Tracking Station
Grant: A device that constantly collects weather-related data that can be analyzed in the classroom
Amount: $5,000
Teacher: Otto Shillieto and Rick Doherty
Students benefiting from grant: High School

Story by Jennifer Grybowski of The Tantasqua Town Common/Turley Publications

STURBRIDGE – Students at Tantasqua Regional High School (TRHS) are using up-to-the minute weather data for a variety of purposes thanks to a grant for a WeatherBug Tracking Station. The $5,000 grant, secured by TRHS Science Curriculum Supervisor Otto Shillieto and Math and Science Teacher Rick Doherty, was provided by the Tantasqua Education Foundation (Ted.).

WeatherBug is a device that constantly collects weather-related data such as temperature, humidity, dew point, precipitation, pressure, wind speeds and more. The collected data is transferred onto a local computer server and then into a national database. Information from the WeatherBugs are often spotlighted on WBZ-TV news.

Dorhety said they applied for the WeatherBug station because liked the idea of a self-contained system that can integrate the school locally with a national weather system.
“It lends a credibility to the kids you just can’t get with simulation,” Dorhety said. “When we look at data here, it’s real data, data
we collected.”
Dorhety said the WeatherBug will only gain value as the years go on.
“Each year as it collects data, that’s more data we have to work with,” he said. “Every year it’s running, it’s collecting data.”
Dorhety, who teaches both math and science, said the data is useful for complex mathematical and science purposes, such as statistical analysis and weather tracking, and also other, more basic, applications. For example, he said, a carpentry teacher could look at the temperatures for a specific date over the past few years to help a student decide how to dress for a day outside on the job. The data could also be useful, he said, for Superintendent Daniel Durgin to make an informed decision about school cancellation.

He also said he thought the WeatherBug was a good investment because although the grant paid for its installation, the WeatherBug company maintains it and makes necessary repairs at no charge.
The software to access the data has been installed in every computer. Dorhety said the data can be filtered in a number of ways and that anyone in the Tantasqua system can access the information in any of the other systems.
“You can get organic information that’s actually happening in our district,” Dorhety said.
Teachers are being trained how to integrate the system into the curriculum.
“We are exploring cross-curricular opportunities,” Dorhety said. “This is an opportunity for meaningful collaboration between the faculty, and that’s good for the kids.”

According to its Web site, WeatherBug is the leading provider of weather information services. It manages and operates a proprietary network of over 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations and more than 1,000 cameras that are strategically placed at schools, public safety facilities and television stations throughout the U.S. These professional-grade weather stations generate live neighborhood level reports every second. WeatherBug was developed with the purpose of delivering live local weather conditions, forecasts and life saving severe weather alerts from its exclusive network of WeatherBug Tracking Stations.
Dorhety said bringing the WeatherBug to Tantasqua would not have been possible without the help of Ted.
“They have the discretion to make decisions that are not formulaic or a result of state policy,” Dorhety said. “It’s nice to have that resource available.”

A total of $25,448 has been awarded to nine projects so far. For more information, visit www.tedfound.org. To connect to the WeatherBug station, visit www.weatherbug.com.

Using Yoga to Teach Self-Regulation
Grant: Training for a yoga class that will help students sufferering from sensory processing disorders, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD and various other learning disabilities
Amount: $2,330
Teacher: Susan Guertin
Students benefiting from grant: Special Education Students

Story by Jennifer Grybowski of The Tantasqua Town Common/Turley Publications

STURBRIDGE – Susan Guertin is helping Tantasqua district special education students help themselves, thanks to a grant for using mindfulness and social strategies to teach focus and self-regulation skills. The $2,330 grant, secured by district Special Education Instructor and Occupational Therapist Susan Guertin, was provided by the Tantasqua Education Foundation (Ted.).
Guertin will divide the grant money into three areas: training for herself, professional development training for the rest of the staff and sensory toolkits and supplies for the students. About 20 of Guertin’s students will benefit from this program. These students suffer from sensory processing disorders, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD and various other learning disabilities.

A strong component to the program is yoga and mindfulness, both of which Guertin practices. She said she uses yoga in the elementary school, but that she needed the funding to gain more training to bring it to the higher grades. Thanks to the grant, she was able to take a yoga class focused on teaching yoga to middle-school students, taught by Leah Kalish, MA of Yoga Ed, which is based in California.
“The yoga is a very fun program,” she said “It is yoga-based types of things we can all do that is helpful in a setting of doing things everyone can do.”
It includes games, team-building exercises and stress-reduction techniques, including relaxation, sensory/motor skills and visualization. It also includes games.
“They are very secular tools,” she said. “They are games we’ve all grown up with, which are chosen for their therapeutic value.”
She says the yoga prepares students to pay attention to their bodies, which is an important part of learning mindfulness.
“Mindfulness is learning to pay attention to the here and now, with kindness and curiosity,” she said.
She said the focus is on how the mind works, and how one can learn to pay attention.
“It is learning how to step back and process what is going on in our minds,” she said. “That there is an opportunity to choose what you say, do and how to handle a situation.”

Guertin said learning mindfulness builds patience and focus, as well as help to refresh the body and mind.
“I am sharing with students that they have an inner part, and a way to get in touch with those inner parts,” she said. “[Through that there is] an opportunity to get an impression or intuition or guidance about what they should do.”
Guertin said this is a program all children can benefit from.
“The research beginning to show positive results,” she said. “It is for good students to realize they can help themselves.”
She said this type of education is also important so that students and teachers can have resources in the classroom.
“It fosters an atmosphere of sensitivity,” she said.

The second part of the grant funded the purchase of two sensory toolkits. The toolkits target movement, touch, vision, hearing and taste/mouth components through using components such as music cds, ideas for short motor breaks, things to manipulate by touch and stimulating or calming scents.

The sensory toolkits are geared toward self-care. Through trial and error, students can find what works best for them.
“They are everyday things we used to keep ourselves together in the day,” Guertin said. “We come up with a strategy for them to take care of themselves.”
The final part of the program will encourage students to create their own personal toolkits, tailored to their needs. They will include simple, everyday things such as mints, snacks, a highlighter or stressballs.
“We are teaching them to advocate for themselves,” she said.

The third part of the grant will fund the trainings for teachers in the district Guertin will facilitate during professional development days in the spring. She said the teachers she has been working with so far are very supportive and excited about the program.
“It is a collaborative program with the teachers,” she said. “If we’re all relaxed, it shows. It sets the stage for students to take good care of themselves if we take good care of ourselves.”
Guertin said she is grateful that the schools, and Ted., have been very open to new ideas.
“I feel fortunate to be able to do something like this,” she said. “It is something I’m very passionate about and I get excited with I see the students grab on to it.”

A total of $25,448 has been awarded to nine projects so far. For more information, visit www.tedfound.org.

TRSD/Union 61 Digital Library
Grant: A server for a 500,000 song Digital Music Library that can be shared between all the schools throughout the district
Amount: $2,900
Teacher: Christine Costello
Students benefiting from grant: Students in the Tantasqua/Union 61 district

Story by Jennifer Grybowski of The Tantasqua Town Common/Turley Publications

STURBRIDGE – Students in the Tantasqua/Union 61 district will have access to 500,000 pieces of music, thanks to a grant for a digital music library. The $2,900 grant, secured by TRHS/Union 61 Fine Arts Curriculum Supervisor Christine Costello, was provided by the Tantasqua Education Foundation (Ted.).

Specifically, the grant allowed Costello to purchase the server needed to create the library, nicknamed iTunes for Tantasqua, which is currently being created. Intern students are in the process of uploading existing music materials the district presently owns to the server, which holds about 500,000 songs.

“Why should Wales and Burgess elementary schools buy the same materials when we can just share,” Costello said.
In the meantime, staff is also working out how to organize the music so that it is easy for everyone to use. Right now, only music teachers have access to the server, but eventually, all staff will have access.
“We want to make sure teachers have access to the best recordings possible,” Costello said.

Costello said that not only is the server useful in a practical way, but that it also opened doors for professional development. Costello said teachers throughout the district got together as a staff to talk about what kind of music they wanted to purchase and use in their classrooms. They also talked about what each other is dong in their classrooms and ways to reinforce what is going on in other curriculums.

A total of $25,448 has been awarded to nine projects so far. For more information, visit www.tedfound.org.

Maximizing Tomorrow through Mindfulness Today
Grant: Funding for teacher training that will directly impact students grades 4-8
Amount: $2,500
Teacher: Susan Kinnin and Maria Hughes
Students benefiting from grant: Grades 4-8

Story by Jennifer Grybowski of The Tantasqua Town Common/Turley Publications

Stressed out staff at Tantasqua Regional High School (TRHS) will have the opportunity to refresh and recharge, thanks to a grant for a program called Mindfulness, Courage and Reflection for Educators: Maximizing Tomorrow though Mindfulness Today. The $2,500 grant, secured by Wales Elementary School Sixth-grade Instructor Susan Kinnin and Physical Education Instructor Maria Hughes, was provided by the Tantasqua Education Foundation (Ted.). "People forget that, yes it's a job, but it's an emotional job, especially at the elementary level," Hughes said. "We are trying to teach kids as individuals with mass teaching standards." "There is more to teaching than facilitating learning," Kinnin said.

The program will be held June 25 and June 26 at the junior high and is open to not just teachers, but any district member that has regular contact with children. It will be facilitated by Florence Meleo-Meyer, M.S., M.A., senior instructor of the Stress Reduction program at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School in Worcester, and Pamela Seigle, M.S., executive director of Courage & Renewal Northeast at Wellesley College in Wellesley. "We are using those two schools of thought as an approach to replenishing a teacher's strength and spirit in order to be more available to students," Kinnin said. "We are hoping to pass these tools on to the students," Hughes said.

"It will enable them to be mindful of what they need, will positively impact their learning," Kinnin said. According to information distributed to staffers, "this program will explore practices that can augment your capacity to respond to children with respect and compassion in a range of fulfilling and challenging situations and invite you to explore the intersection of personal and professional life, and the relationship of the inner life to the outer work of service in the world."
"So many kids come to school with so much baggage that they aren't always accessible to learn," Kinnin said. "We can provide them the tools to focus and to be able to learn and be successful in school." "These are skills kids will be able to take with them through life," Kinnin said. "Everyone has stress and issues and if you are able to cope with those and focus on the now moment that is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a life skill." Kinnin said the pressures don't come only from working with the children.

"I've come to realize that in our society today, multi-tasking has become the norm and many people feel that they're not being productive unless they are multi-tasking," Kinnin said. "Unfortunately, because of that belief, along with the myriad distractions inherent in life today, the value of 'mono-tasking' has been denigrated, and obviously there are times when one needs to focus completely on a single thought or action. [The] program will address that issue as well."
In addition to giving teachers tools they can use individually, Kinnin and Hughes are also looking at the program as a way to bring the entire district together. "It can be very easy for us [the smaller elementary schools] to feel on the outside," Hughes said. "It is nice to have this initiative to include the other schools. It is really important to have the whole district participate in things."

"It's that sense of community," Kinnin said. "It will give a commonality through the district, a common language." Kinnin and Hughes said they are looking to expand the program, and are hopeful to turn it into part of regular professional development activities. They said they would also like to use the seminar to partner with district Special Education Instructor and Occupational Therapist Susan Guertin, who secured a grant through Ted. this year for Using Mindfulness and Social Strategies to Teach Focus and Self Regulation Skills at the Middle School Level. Kinnin and Hughes said they have enjoyed working with Ted. "What they are giving to the community is huge," Kinnin said. They praised Ted. for their understanding while they organized the program, which was difficult due to scheduling conflicts.

Science Olympiad
Grant: Funding to allow students to expand participation in science Olympiad competition
Amount: $2,800
Teacher: Kerry Breinlinger
Students benefiting from grant: High School

Story by Jennifer Grybowski of The Tantasqua Town Common/Turley Publications

Tantasqua Regional High School (TRHS) students were able to better prepare and compete at this year's state Science Olympiad, held recently at Framingham State College, thanks to a much-needed grant. The $2,800 grant, secured by TRHS science teacher Kerry Breinlinger, was provided by the Tantasqua Education Foundation (Ted.). The funds went to purchase supplies for the competition, as well as Science Olympiad resources, such as CDs with practice tests. Last year, the school's first year competing, people donated or bought the things the students needed. Even so, the students were only able to compete in 18 out of the 24 events.

"We actually got to compete in all 24 events this year," Breinlinger said. She said having the grant made it much easier on her and the team this year. She said because she must purchase supplies from so many different places, it was really convenient that the money came directly to her. "I'm really appreciative of that," she said And some of the resources purchased this year can be used for next year.

The TRHS Science Olympiad team placed 20th out of 33 schools this year. "I'm pretty happy with it, considering the other schools we were competing against," Breinlinger said. The Olympiad is set up like a track meet. Students compete in several events. Points earned from each event are added up at the end to determine the team's overall score. TRHS placed in the top 10 teams in the following events: Health Science, tenth; Remote Sensing, sixth; Evolution, fifth; and Picture This, third. Each student participated in one or two events.

"The kids knew better what to expect this year," Breinlinger said. "Most of those that attended last year, that didn't graduate, returned to attend this year." In fact, only 14 students participated last year. This year, 20 students, the maximum participated – including 14 girls and six boys. Breinlinger said many of the events this year were different from last year, and required different preparation. She said she, along with some of the other science teachers, hold preparation sessions, but she ultimately leaves it up to the students to prepare properly.

The students said they had a great time at the event. "The events changed and we prepared a lot more this year because we knew how the events were," Emily Fournier said. Sara Thomas agreed. "Every event was so different this year," she said. "I always have fun when we go." For Danielle Cloutier, her favorite event was Picture This, which is basically Pictionary with science terms.

"You have to be familiar with a lot of science terms," she said. Breinlinger spearheaded the efforts to get TRHS involved in the Science Olympiad because when she was a teacher in New York, her school participated in that state's Science Olympiad. "When I started here [five] years ago, I realized there was no competitive science program here, so I signed us up" she said. Breinlinger said the grant process with Ted. was very straightforward. "It was a good experience," she said. "I would definitely work with [Ted.] again."

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