Shakespeare Meets the 2011

Sophomores were challenged to write, film and edit a short Modern Julius Caesar skit in 4 classes. The results are a treat! Enjoy!

If there was Skype in 44BC...perhaps Julius Caesar would have received the message.

A video produced by G1 English. Spring 2011.
Anna, Danni, Brandi, Sara, Melissa, Delcine

A rap-Teach Me How to Caesar.
Video Produced by M3 English/spring 2011
By Mike, Alex

Modern version of scene at the Capitol in Rome on March 15th 44 BC

M4 Spring 2011- Bobby, Caleb, Brenden, Jacob, Brian, Brian

Windows into the Lives of the Modern American Teen

While reading Catcher we talked a lot about whether his character was still relevant to teens today. Each student picked a modern novel and compared Holden to their more modern protagonist in an essay. Finally,  I challenged three classes to capture life as a modern teen in a movie no longer than one song. They only had 2 classes to plan and one to film. The results were exciting. View their movies by clicking on the class blocks below.

G1 Movie
M4 Movie
M3 Movie


As a bonus, click here to read our If Holden had a Facebook version of The Catcher in the Rye written entirely in Facebook status posts.

Immigrant Interviews

Grade 8 2007-2008 Audio Profiles

Irmgard shook hands with Hitler when he visited her small town in Germany.
Now she realizes he "left the blackest mark on German History."
Listen to her life story and the lessons she learned.


Shawna survived the brutal take over of her country by the Khmer Rouge and immigrated to America with her family in the late 70s. She nows lives in Maine and helps other immigrant children and teens adjust to their new lives.


Minh escaped war in Vietnam in a boat and was raided by pirates twice before reaching the safety of a refugee camp and finally making her way with her family to America. She now lives in Maine and appreciates her life and work.



Jean Claude was born in France at the start of World War II and was hidden by his mother in a bucket when soldiers were fighting in his village. As a professor and world traveler, he has gained great perspective that he shares in this interview.

BARBER FOODS 10 Immigrant Profiles

Grade 8 2008-2009 Audio Profiles -Windows to the World
Every student in our eighth grade Language Arts classes had the privilege of visiting Barber Foods this winter to interview folks from around the world. Just weeks before our visit, Augustus Barber, founder of Barber Foods died. His parents emigrated from Armenia during the Armenian genocide during the early 1900's. According to the Barber Foods newsletter, "Gus always said being an immigrant in Portland was difficult. He said from an early age that he would be successful and help others. Gus lived that dream." His company is dedicated to helping Portland's immigrant community find work, learn English and develop confidence in their new home. Currently over 50 languages are spoken by the workers at the factory. Many are refugees who left unspeakably violent situations in their homelands, yet are eager to share their experiences and are full of hope for a brighter future. Their stories inspired us to appreciate the simple gifts of each day and to remember how hugely fortunate we are to enjoy freedom and safety in our state and country.

Lucila Richards thinks of her friends at home in Brazil on cold mornings in Maine as she makes her way to work. She misses the warm ocean waves and the open culture of Latin America where people on the street are much more likely to exchange hugs as greetings, but is working hard and creating memories in her new home in Portland.
Interview Team: Eric Patoine, Megan Gorton, Alex Lovely, Ethan Rush, Demi Dewitt, and Tori Lands
Audio Piece Produced By: Eric Patoine

When Margueritte Carol arrived from Kenya she was wearing stiletto heels. She remembers with a laugh that it was nearly impossible for her to navigate the snowy streets of Portland. She left her homeland in 1991 because of political instability and now feels lucky to be raising her children in Maine.
Interview Team: Brenna LaFlamme, Kyle Leskowsky, Chrissy Laverriere, Kelsie Wilson & Amber Reynolds
Audio Piece Produced By: Brenna LaFlamme

Charles Kalinijabo is one of the lucky survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. This terrible tragedy had death tolls at around 800,000- in only 3 months. As Rwanda rebuilds, Charles continues to rebuild his life here in Maine.
Interview Team: Curtis Cole, Jake Sawyer, Joanne Wing, Ryan Hersey, Shirley Martel, and Seth Woodsum
Audio Piece Produced By: Seth Woodsum with thanks to Eric Patoine

Geng Biel left his home is Southern Sudan because of the of the fighting between Muslims and Christians. Now he works on a factory line with people of every religion including Muslims. He lives in Portland, ME with his wife and four kids and never takes his freedom for granted.
Interview Team:Brenden Dugal, Jeremy Sylvain, Chris Reardon, Brandi Shook, Elijah Hanright, & Vanessa Nason
Audio Piece Produced By: Vanessa Nason

Alfred Awugah is from the peaceful country of Ghana located in West Africa. He is a happy man who is always smiling. He came here three years ago and now lives with his brother who came several years before. They both live in Portland, ME and work at Barber Foods. A teacher in Ghana, he was sad to find his experience did not translate in the US. Later in his life, he dreams of going to college so he can become a teacher like was in Ghana.
Interview Team:Katie Couture, Nathan Reavy, Spencer West, Lyle Turgeon, & Caleb Paul
Audio Piece Produced By: Caleb Paul and Katie Couture

Marie Bamani lived in a refugee camp with her family for 7 months after she escaped a brutal war in Congo. She lost her brother and two sisters to the violence, but feels lucky that she was able to escape the the US with her husband and children.
Interview Team: Brain Moskowitz, Katie Roy, Alexis Cote, Dan Ciullo, Miranda Houle, Tamara Walker
Audio Piece Produced By: Katie Roy & Brian Moskowitz

Delmi Martinez remembers being hungry and afraid in El Salvadore clearly, yet struggles to share these challenges since she is still learning English. She used to make only $20. a week in her homeland and feels lucky she made it to America where she has a solid job at Barber foods.
Interview Team: Joe Lemoine, Cody Boudreau, Melissa Paul, Amber Reynolds, McKenzie Labbe
Audio Piece Produced By: Joe Lemoine

James Swatka grew up surrounded by war and unrest in Sudan. As a result he will never take his freedoms or safety for granted. When he first arrived as a teenager, he got into some trouble because everything (including our legal system) was so unfamiliar. He dreams of becoming a lawyer someday so he can defend other immigrants who are confused by the rules of their new land.
Interview Team: Tori Lands, Chris Benson, Nicole Langevin, Ethan Rush, Alex Vincent
Audio Piece Produced By: Ashley Belanger

Jivka Babikova is a contagiously positive woman who feels that world peace begins with simple kindness. During our interview, she shared with us rose water perfume from her homeland Bulgaria, warm smiles, and stories of climbing trees as a child and watching the activity of her village from above. Jiv ka believes diverse cultures are a gift and loves working at Barber Foods where she meets people from around the world.
Interview Team: Emily Richards, Greg Hite, Thomas Kimball, Demi Dewitt, Chelsea Barrett
Audio Piece Produced By: Emily Richards



Ahmad Muti remembers clearly the two weeks he and his brother traveled day and night across mountains and deserts from Kubul, Afghanistan to Pakistan. The grim war scenes along the way are burned into his mind. But, he knew they were on their way towards a safer future, towards a place were peace allows for dreams to flourish. He now know this freedom comes with many moral questions and still covers his mother's and sister's eyes when people kiss on television. Ahmad is married to an American woman, so he is constantly juggling and weighing out the values of two cultures.
Interview Team: Dylan Court, Rachel Nault, Allie Aquaviva, Jeremy Vallee, Lexie West & Matt Giard
Audio Piece Produced By: Matt Giard

MAIN STREET ELECTION RESPONSE

Teams of 4-5 nervous eighth grade students hit the streets of Saco the morning after the historic 2008 presidential elections to hear how people were feeling. They talked with folks about the newly elected president, their own lives and the country's future. Listen in on their conversations in coffee shops and on Maine Street. This was their first interviewing and editing assignment.

Produced By Katie Roy (grade 8)

Produced By Brenden Dugal (grade 8)

Produced By Brian Moskowitz (grade 8)

Public Service Announcements

Students each wrote a 5 paragraph persuasive essay based on a topic they felt passionate about. Then they were challenged to distill their idea into a 30 second advertisement that would be equally convincing. Here are some of the results.

Stop Relying on Factory Farms
By Tommy Kimball -fall 2008(grade 8)

Stop Testing Cosmetics on Animals

By Tamara Walker & Kelsie Wilson -fall 2008 (grade 8)

Interviews with Maine Mall Shoppers About how the Economy Impacts Their Purchasing Decisions

On Tuesday November 18th, Eighth graders set out to the mall to interview shoppers about their shopping habits. We had read in recent articles that October retail sales were way down for most stores. The business news was predicting a big drop in holiday spending. We hoped to hear first hand what impact the economy was having on purchasing decisions. 10 Groups of 5 produced the following economic snapshots. Check them out!

Mall Interviews on Economy By Allie A.

Radio Piece on Holiday shopping By Brenna L.

Ferry Beach Ecology School Memories

This Fall the entire eighth grade spent an overnight at Ferry Beach Ecology School. The educational parts of the trip connected directly to work they are doing in Science with Mr. Hersey and indirectly to their next Social Studies Unit on consumption. Memories of a walk though the woods in the dark, family style meals, playing on the beach, staying up late in bunk beds, lessons on beach and forest ecology, eating carrots fresh from a garden, were all sweeter because they brought the class closer together.

The Mythical Wedding that started the Trojan War

All Grade 9 students at Thornton study the Odyssey. To get eighth graders ready, we read a short version of the Iliad (the preceding story of the Trojan War) and wrote our own script about the mythical wedding that kicked off the whole war. At the end of our unit, we cooked Greek food (thanks for the cooking lessons Mrs. Zafirson!) and had a huge wedding party. Below are the movies from that day! Hopefully Homer is not rolling over in his grave, we had fun with it!

6 Word Memoirs Challenge

"A short saying often contains much wisdom.” Sophocles
Smith Magazine believes everyone has a story and challenged people to tell theirs in six words?

See examples below from http://www.smithmag.net/sixwordbook:
Wanted older brother, got sisters instead.
Cold Poptart; messy hair; running late.
Couldn't say it, so I sang.
Can't dance...do it anyway awkwardly.
Wasn't born a redhead; fixed that.
"Gifted". "Jock". But no true friends.
Always in trouble, not really troubled.
Followed dreams, often broke, still smiling.

We were inspired to try our own six word memoirs.

Hear our collection of TAMS 6 word memoirs in a radio piece created by 8th graders Allie Acquaviva & Amber Reynolds in the winter of 2008.

Tools of the Trade

Our interviews are recorded in a variety of ways.

When visitors are able to come to our school to be interviewed we use the High School Podcasting Studio. When we take the show on the road, student interview teams use iPods and an attachable Micromemo device with a small microphone. All interviews are edited in GarageBand using Macs.

Vocal Impressions

Students used NPR's Vocal Impressions series as inspiration for their own tribute to a meaningful "voice" in their own life. Sixth grader Lexie W.'s spoken poem about her grandfather is a beautiful piece that will make you smile and cry. Lexie is now in ninth grade, but her poem is still my favorite example to use when discussing metaphor and the power of the senses.

My Bampie's Voice By Lexie West (grade 6)

My Mommy's Voice By Nicole Langevin (grade 8)

IMAGINE IF...

Imagine if we each did a small deed each day to make the world a better place. Imagine how big an impact many small dreams and actions could have together. Imagine a whisper becoming a roar...it all starts with the courage to speak up and share your visions of a better world. Share your ideas here at imagineif2007.blogspot.com, gain strength from the dreams of others, then step away from the keyboard and take action. The world is in our hands.

Please take a moment to visit our Imagine If page, read for awhile and then return to leave your own thought.