pair of ospreys choose to build a nest on it next spring. We hope to in-stall a web-cam in the spring so that we or any other school can watch any activity directly from the classroom!

Ospreys are a conserva-tion success story and their rebounding popula-tions have been aided by pesticide bans and the construction of artificial nest sites. Osprey num-bers rapidly decreased in the early 1940s to 1970s. The osprey suffered the same fate as the American Bald Eagle; the wide-spread use of pesticides (DDT in particular) in

By Will Webber and Paul Aziz

Last month, students from our biology, envi-ronmental science, and wood shop classes gave a lift to the local osprey population in the New-buryport area. They built a 16 foot “osprey pole” and platform and installed in on Carr’s Island, an island in the lower Merri-mack River.

An Osprey is a raptor also known as the “Fish Hawk.” The Osprey is the only hawk on the conti-nent that basically eats only live fish. In North America more than 80 species of live fresh- and saltwater fish make up 99% of the Osprey’s diet.

An Osprey pole is a man-made structure built and installed in a way that makes it attractive to a mated pair of Ospreys looking for a place to nest. The reason why Osprey would want a pole is because they are

very picky on where they make their nest (they like high, lonely places with lots of open space.). With the population growing steadily since they were removed from the Endangered Species list, suitable nesting sites are at a premium.

So our students joined wood shop teacher Mark Webster and science teacher Paul Aziz aboard the Yankee Clipper har-bor tour boat in New-buryport. We built the giant structure in pieces in the wood shop, loaded it onto the boat, and beached the boat on the salt marsh at Carr Island. There, we dug a deep hole in the marsh, assem-bled the structure and hoisted it into place. Now we will keep a close eye on it in hopes that a

MSEC TOPSFIELD HELPS THE OSPREY

RETURN FROM THE BRINK

MERRIMACK SPECIAL EDUCATION COLLABORATIVE

TOPSFIELD , MA VOLUME 9, ISSUE 2

MSEC T IMES

INSIDE THIS ISSUE :

NEW SCHOOL

CHAPERONES

2

NOT JUST A

WOODSHOP

3

“I PROMISED I

WOULD TELL”

4

FROM THE DESK

OF BUFF

5

POETRY CORNER 5

PUTTING AN END

TO BULLYING

5

CALENDAR 6

By Keith Nizwantowski

On September 27, 2012 a group of students went to Cider Hill Farm in Ames-bury, Massachusetts to go apple picking. The staff that was present at the school field trip to the ap-ple orchard was Aaron, Marcia, and Nattasha’s mom Mariela. The students who went on the field trip were given a bag of apples, donuts and apple cider.

“My favorite part of the field trip was drinking ap-ple cider and eating cider donuts,” Nattasha said.

The group of students that went to the trip was eligi-ble to go because they were all caught up on their school work and had all their homework done, so they had no outstanding assignments.

legal arguments against the use of pesticides. After the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, its DDT ban helped populations to increase and the Osprey became a conservation suc-cess symbol.

But Ospreys are still listed as endangered or threat-ened in some states—

farms and other areas along rivers built up in the food chain and poisoned the eco-system, accumulating high concentrations in these top predators. This caused a thinning of their eggshells to the point that when fe-males sat on their eggs in the nest, they would crush them. Osprey studies pro-vided support for wider

especially inland where pesticides ruined many populations. As natural nest sites have disappeared due to tree removal and shoreline development, specially constructed nest platforms and other struc-tures such as channel mark-ers and utility poles have become vital to the Os-prey’s recovery.

APPLE P ICKING AT C IDER H ILL FARMS

OSPREY NEST (CONTINUED FROM PG . 1)

HELPING HANDS : NEW SCHOOL CHAPERONES

coming with us.

Mariela was interested to come to our school so she could see how the school works and how kids deal with some of the school issues. She wanted to see some of the students and teachers that her daughter is around on a daily basis. She got to know a couple of the girls on the bus and

talked with us about the school program. She thinks the vocational program is a great way to learn a trade and still be able to earn a high school diploma. She also thinks that having smaller classes are a lot better for those kids that work better in smaller groups and can work on a somewhat of a one on one

By Jasmine Cruz

On September 27th 2012, we had a school field trip to Cider Hill Farms to go apple picking. I want to talk about the chaperone we had on our trip. Her name was Mariela, one of our very own students Nat-tasha’s mom. I had asked her a few questions about why she was interested on

PAGE 2 MSEC T IMES

A leading cause of death for

Ospreys is entanglement at

the nest. The adults use

baling twine and other

types of lines into their

nests, which can end up

wrapped around a chick's

feet and injure it or keep it

from leaving the nest.

level. Mariela also believes that this school could be a good thing for some kids. This program may not be for everyone but it works for those of us here and we would love to see more chaperones come in and be a part of our school pro-gram.

Students enjoyed apple picking and apple cider donuts at Cider Hill.

By Charles LeBuff

Once again Mark and crew came through for the Tops-field site in his wood shop. On Tuesday October 23rd, Mark was acknowledged by the larger group of students and teachers for his cross curriculum activities sup-porting the education staff in Topsfield. In our con-tinuing efforts to do out-reach with the community, Mark and his crew recently opened another shop site by becoming involved with a boat called the “Watermark” in Gloucester Harbor. This follows over 6 years of the woodshop working with the “Adventure”, a fishing schooner from the sailing days of Gloucester’s fishing heritage. We will have a crew down in Gloucester Harbor working to keep the Watermark “ship-

shape” for this com-ing spring.

Mark became in-volved this fall in an-other cross -curriculum project that involved the 10th grade geometry class and the 10th grade biology class in which they built an Osprey perch and got it out to Carr Is-land on the Merrimack River. We are hoping at some point in time to get a time lapse camera out to the nest so that we can check in on it from Paul's biology classroom. The geometry class came up with the measurements for the perch which stands about 15 feet above the ground on the island, and the wood shop class made all the cuts that built the frame. Special thanks go to teacher Paul Aziz, who lent

his boat for the day to haul it out Carr’s island.

Recently one of the princi-pals from the Ipswich school system was being trained next door and put in an order for two picnic tables for her school, which were completed on the 24th and delivered on the 26th of this month. So thanks to the Winthrop elementary school in Ips-wich for supporting the Topsfield site. We hope they enjoy their tables.

Cooperation with the

been looking for one since July. Salisbury Elementary School recommended the Collaborative to build one for them.

Before it was delivered it

took somewhere between

1-2 weeks to build. They

built the podium here in

the wood shop class. This

gives the students the op-

portunity to learn some-

By Jasmine Cruz

On October 19th 2012, a few of our students Mike Grella, Josh Smith, and Paul Peicott presented a podium to the Salisbury Police Department and delivered it to them all pol-ished and ready to use.

They built the podium be-cause the police depart-ment needed one and has

thing new and as well as do

a good deed for the town

of Salisbury. This project

on the podium made the

newspaper, The Newbury-

port News, and was appre-

ciated from the town of

Salisbury.

NOT JUST A WOODSHOP

WOODSHOP IS RECOGNIZED FOR GOOD DEED

“THIS GIVES THE

STUDENTS THE

OPPORTUNITY TO

LEARN

SOMETHING NEW

AND AS WELL AS

DO A GOOD DEED

FOR THE TOWN OF

SALISBURY.”

PAGE 3 VOLUME 9, ISSUE 2

teaching staff and the sup-port that Mark lends to his peers in reference to these projects impacts the learn-ing going on in Topsfield on a day-to-day basis. It is the definition of coopera-tive learning, in my opin-ion. Both the staff and stu-dents have counted on his support since we moved to the Topsfield site 7 years ago.

Remember “the strength of the Wolf comes from the pack." (R. Kipling.)

Students present the podium they made to the Salisbury Police Station.

By Keith Nizwantowski

On October 2nd, 2012 a group of students went to the Topsfield’s Fair in Topsfield, Massachusetts to see the exhibits, play games, go on rides and eat food.

“My favorite part of the fair was going on the freak out ride,” Trevor said.

The staff members who attended were Marcia,

Chris, and Jeff. This was an academic field trip so the kids who were able to go on the trip have all their class work and homework completed.

At the fair we saw the biggest pumpkin in world history that weighed a total of 2,009 pounds.

“My favorite exhibit was the biggest pumpkin,” Keith said.

There were a bunch of horses in stables for people to see and pet. There had cows, goats and a bee ex-hibit. They also had pigs and chickens. There was many food concession

step.

I’m not saying not to listen to anyone, but I am saying that only you should be able to decide for yourself what’s right and wrong. If someone says that some-thing is right, whether it be slavery or murder and eve-ryone believes that it’s

By Dom Presutti

Your whole life people are going to be telling you the right thing to do and the wrong thing to do. But who says it’s their job to tell you. Standing up and saying that you do not care what everyone else says is right or wrong is the first

right, does that mean that it’s right? If someone told you that driving backwards was the right thing to do, and everyone thinks it’s right, is it?

You need to believe in what you think is worth believing in. Don’t let peo-ple tell you what is real or

TOPSFIELD FAIR 2012

BEING AN UPSTANDER : BELIEVING IN WHAT ’S RIGHT

“I PROMISED I WOULD TELL”—HOLOCAUST PRESENTATION

She did a nice job, and she did what she could to put her Mom out there and prove that the Holocaust really hap-pened.

“Sandy’s presentation was very heartfelt. Many students were moved and compelled to ask many questions once the presentation had ended,” Chris Peura stated. My therapist Sandy Weitz is a great therapist to me. She

helps me with all my prob-lems, and now I’m doing a lot better in school because of her. She can help anybody in this world, and she has helped many students in this school.

So we thank Sandy Weitz for

coming in and showing the

presentation on the Holocaust

and her mom. We all miss

you Sandy’s mom. Thanks for

showing the world.

History teacher Chris Peura

By Justin Lane

On Wednesday, October 10th, Sandy Weitz came in to do a presentation on her mom and the Holocaust. So she showed a video of her mom talking about it. And all the other students said it was sad.

It was pretty nice of her to come in to show her mother’s experiences in the Holocaust.

PAGE 4 MSEC T IMES

stands that included Ice cream, fried dough, pizza, fries, burgers and lots of other delicious food and drinks.

Sandy Weitz’s presentation on behalf of her mother Sonia Weitz and showed the power of one brave woman’s experiences during one of the most horrific events in human history. No special effects were needed, just Sonia and her testimony. The presentation demonstrated the power of poetry as both Sandy and Sonia pro-vided poems inspired by the Holo-caust. The entire school, as well as members of the community, attended the presentation. –

fake, just or unjust. You know who you are and you know what is right, but people will try to convince you otherwise.

Think about the impossible

and let your mind roam

free. Don’t let people tell

you different.

Students and staff prepare for a thrill on the Freak Out carnival ride.

I would like to thank every-one who came to parent teacher night on October 11th. It has been our best turnout since we started seven years ago. There was a lot of positive energy in the room, and we appreciated all the parent input. It is my hope that we alleviated any parent concerns, and it was great to see some of the stu-dents show up with their par-

ents as well.

I didn't get a chance to ad-dress the group as a whole, but I am hoping that parents will consider coming in at some point in time during the year to be a hand in the class-room or on one of our monthly activities. It would be great to have your energy and enthusiasm in our class-room.

We got some positive feed-back on the new curriculum that we have been using, as well as the mid quarter re-ports that were out a few days before our meeting. Listed in this newsletter will be some of the activities that we will be having here at the school through the holidays. And even if it's just for a cup of coffee, I hope that you’ll stop by to make your presence

My feelings for you could never be erred

And on this day I am unprepared

To allow my feelings to be declared

To the whole world with arms flared

My heart you have repaired

And on this day I hope you are prepared

To hear that my feelings for you cannot be compared

For whenever I look at you I become very scared

Because my vision ends up completely impaired

By Dom Tocco

It isn’t me, it’s you

It was me who you caught staring at you from across the way

It is me who wants to talk with you while walking the San Francisco bay

It was me who thought of you while you were walking away

It is me who looks at you as my life turns white from grey

It wasn’t me that never cared

It wasn’t me who ever compared

It wasn’t me who ever declared

FROM THE DESK OF CHARLES LEBUFF

POETRY CORNER : IT ISN ’T ME ; IT ’S YOU

PUTTING AN END TO BULLYING

that with a smile every day. I had asked him a few times if everything was okay on a few of his down days, and he told me he was okay. But I could hear in his voice that he was-n’t all that sure. Well I didn’t want to believe it, but I didn’t want to upset him in anyway by asking multiple times if everything was alright.

A few weeks later he had passed away by killing him-self.

There were only three kids

that pushed him to do this with just words on a daily basis. I hope I’m not the only one seeing bullying as a prob-lem, because it’s a worldwide issue. There are so many peo-ple that hurt themselves and maybe others.

I want to ask you if you see bullying or if you’re the one doing the bullying, do you think that is fair to the person being bullied? Would you want your child or brother or sister or best friend to be bul-lied? What happens if you see

known. It's truly helpful for the teachers to put faces to names. We hope you found it is helpful as we did. On be-half of the teachers and the vocational staff, thanks a lot for taking the time out of your busy schedules to work with us.

Charles LeBuff

PAGE 5 VOLUME 9, ISSUE 2

By Jasmine Cruz

Hey you! Ya, you reading this! I want to let you know about a lil big secret. You see, there are millions of people being bullied around the world. Some people known as “bullies” push kids to do unforgivable things. Some kids put themselves or others in danger.

I had a friend who was being bullied, and no one could really tell because he kept it inside to hide it and he did

it and do nothing about it and weeks later something bad happens to that person?

Let’s spread the word that bullying is not okay and it should be stopped as soon as possible. One person hurt everyday is a family being hurt in the process.

Thanks for listening and know

that you can make a change in

the world.

November 2012 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Birthdays: Matt V– 11/3 Dom T– 11/25

1 Grade 11&12 Math

MCAS RETEST

2 Grade 11&12 Math

MCAS RETEST

3

4 5 Grade 11&12 English

MCAS RETEST

6 Grade 11&12 English

MCAS RETEST

7

8 9 End of 1st Quarter

10

11 12 Veteran’s Day/

No School

13 14

15 Job Corps Tour

16 NECC Tour

17

18 19

20 21 Turkeybowl/Early Release @12

22 Thanksgiv-ing Break

23 Thanksgiv-ing Break

24

25 26 27 28

29

30

The MSEC Times Newsletter Staff Cassandra Fulford– Editor

Jasmine Cruz– Correspondent Keith Nizwontowski– Correspondent

Justin Lane-Correspondent

Guest Contributors: Charles LeBuff

Paul Aziz Dominic Tocco

Dominic Presutti William Webber