After reading about solar energy in literacy, Mrs. Lazzaro's second grade students engineered solar ovens to make delicious summer treats!
On Friday, Representative Walsh delivered copies of the New Hamshire Constitution to HCS fourth grade students and flags to grade 1 as they prepare for their flag day presentation.
Hampstead Central School had three teams compete in the NH CoderZ League Robotics Competition - Novice Division which included both elementary and middle school students. Out of 85 teams, all three HCS teams placed in the top 20 coming in 12th, 17th, and 20th place! Students worked collaboratively within and among teams and demonstrated perseverance and a growth mindset during the eight weeks they competed. A big congratulations to our Robotics Teams and Mrs. McLaughlin!
The fourth grade Ventures students and Mrs. Wisecarver are proud to share that they have completed their GLOBE Mission Earth student report from the April Solar Eclipse. Their data and observations at the HCS weather station will be used to support NASA's research of this incredible atmospheric event. Way to go HCS weather scientists!
Congratulations to Heather Burkett of HCS and Brittney Hewett of HMS for being named nominees for the 2025 NH Teacher of the Year Award. We are very proud of both Heather and Brittney and wish them the best of luck in their quest to be awarded the NH Teacher of the Year!
On Friday, our 4th graders competed in their second annual Mile Run. Students had been training for this event in PE classes for months. They were cheered on by the staff and many of their fellow students. Congratulations to our winners! The girls' winner was Alexandria Cunha with a winning time of 7:20 and the boys' winner was Finn Dowd with a winning time of 6:39. A big thank you to our PE teachers, Angie Ingraham and Sara Arroyo for making this successful event happen! Thank you to our middle school friends who ran with our students and those who cheered on the runners. Congratulations to all that competed! Job well done!
Last week we wrapped up our community read of Wishtree with our One School, One Book Family Evening Event. It was an educational evening filled with STEM activities, yoga, poetry, wishes, and a guest arborist. It was a beautiful way to culminate a great book and our school-wide reading experience. Thank you to Mrs. Cameron, our librarian for organizing the One School, One Book school-wide reading program. Thank you to Mrs. Wisecarver, Mrs. Proulx , Mrs. Cameron, Mrs. Rodrigues, Ms. Ponti, and Mrs. Dyer for planning this fun family night event.
Students in preschool through grade four had the opportunity to investigate soil last week with the week long visit of the Soil Tent. The Soil Tent is a traveling STEAM educational exhibit that combines hands-on GLOBE science activities centered around the layers of the soil and a ten-by-ten pop-up tent with murals depicting students’ observations of their local soil ecosystems. The tent was developed by the NH GLOBE Team, the USDA Forest Service, and the Northern Arts Alliance. Thank you to Mrs. Wisecarver for facilitating the Soil Tent at HCS again this year!
Recently our first graders put on their annual First Grade Mall. Students had the opportunity to go shopping for goods that were donated and have fun visiting different shops (classrooms) which offered different items. From books for sale to stuffed animals, to toys, to a carboard carnival, students had fun practicing their money and shopping skills. Thank you to the First Grade Team for hosting this event!
Wish Day is almost here! HCS families are invited to the One School, One Book Family Night to celebrate reading "Wishtree" on Wednesday, May 1, at 6:00 PM in the HCS Gym. (Siblings are welcome, but no drop-offs, please.)
Meet a tree expert, try family yoga, enjoy a story walk, nibble a treat from the bake sale, toss a beanbag in our tree hole game, and hang a wish on the Wishtree. Bring your BINGO board for a chance to win a raffle prize! Hope to see you there!
Recently, our fourth graders delighted the community with a trip around the world during their annual Multicultural Concert. The concert presented music, dance, and singing from Ghana, Scotland, Brazil, Canada, and India. The students designed and painted their country's backdrops in Art class and produced post cards using digital artwork and design in Technology class. It was a fun, festive, international evening! Bravo to the fourth graders for a job well done and thank you to Mrs. Starck, Mr. Terrile, and Mrs. McLaughlin!
This past Thursday our third graders put on their annual Chorus Concert & Art Show. The evening showcased the music of Stevie Wonder. Students sang classic Stevie Wonder songs which were accompanied by digital lyric art work produced in technology class. The art show featured clay figure works by the third graders. Also, all the background posters were produced by the third graders in Art class. It was a fun evening celebrating Gr 3's creative works in music, art, and technology. Bravo! to all the third graders and to Mrs. Starck, Mr. Terrile, and Mrs. McLaughlin for their hard work in putting on this special event.
Over the course of the last two weeks, students had the opportunity to learn about local raptors such as hawks, owls, and turkey vultures in connection to our One School, One Book community read entitled "Wishtree." The presentation was put on by Tailwinds Raptor Educators from Kensington, NH. The visit was made possible with a grant from the Hampstead Educational Foundation (HEF). Thank you HEF for helping to make this visit possible! Thank you as well to our school librarian, Mrs. Cameron for coordinating this awesome learning experience.
Eclipse 2024! Yesterday afternoon the entire HCS community went out together to watch the solar eclipse. Thank you to all our volunteers who helped out. In preparation for the Eclipse, some of our first graders had the chance to use Ozobots with Mrs. Wisecarver where students drew an orbit around planet Earth and then pretended that the Ozobot was the moon crossing between the Earth and the Sun. Yesterday was also marked with many eclipse themed-activities and festivities. You could say that yesterday was truly "out of this world!"
We are proud to announce that Central School's Destination Imagination (DI) Team, "The Illuminating Skittle Squad" received first place in their engineering challenge at the state-level DI competition this weekend in Goffstown. They have now been invited to compete at the Global DI Competition in Kansas City, Missouri this May! This year marks the first time ever that a Hampstead student has been invited to the Global competition at the senior level, middle level, and elementary level. We are very proud of our students, their managers, and their coaches for this outstanding accomplishment! Way to go!!!
Third and fourth grade students spent the last few weeks of technology class collaborating in small groups to code with TI Rovers. Students used TI graphing technology to program the Rover to move, draw, create angles, and even dance. The Rover is a very effective and engaging tool to introduce students to coding and robotics and we are very grateful to Texas Instruments for providing us with this loan opportunity. Thank you to Mrs. Wisecarver and Mrs. McLaughlin for facilitating this awesome learning experience!
Field Hockey Club has started at HCS! This club introduces students to skills, drills, and small games in the sport of field hockey. So far, the club has been a big hit and students in grades 3 &4 have been learning, working hard, and having fun! Thank you to Mrs. Arroyo and Ms. Poulin for facilitating this awesome opportunity for our 3rd and 4th grade students.
Volcanoes! As a follow up post, here are a few examples of research that our grade two volcano scientists prepared. Well done!
Some of our second graders worked on a Mystery Science experiment on the topic of erosion. This experiment paired nicely with the essential question in the Gr 2 reading program- How does Earth change?
Students had fun learning how the earth can change over time and what elements, (wind, water and storms) can contribute to that change.
Recently, some National Science Honors Society students from Pinkerton Academy visited with our fourth graders. Our students had to opportunity to learn about different areas of science from the "big kids." It was a fun, hands-on learning experience for our students and a great opportunity to connect with Pinkerton students. Thank you to Mrs. Morin for organizing the visit and to Mr. Breda and the PA National Science Honors Society members for coming to HCS to share their time and love of science with our fourth graders!
