An update of remembrance...

At the end of the day today, I took a moment to remind everyone to spend some time this weekend listening to the stories of some of the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives in defense of our liberty.  As our world continues to change, it is important to also remember the first responders and every day citizens who rush into harm's way to protect others around them in danger.  Our heroes are taking many forms and appear in unlikely circumstances.  Let this weekend be more than just the unofficial start of the vacation season and help model for all of our students the importance of demonstrating respect and gratitude for everyone who has died to keep us safe and free. This afternoon, our 8th graders in DC were able to witness a very moving wreath laying ceremony and changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown in Arlington National Cemetery.  If you haven't seen them already, check out our Twitter Feed and or FaceBook page to see pictures from that event and more from the trip.  In addition to those pictures, we will also be posting pictures of the local service work many of our 8th Grade Ambassadors did this week as mentors to elementary students over at Nabnassett while others were in DC. Rounding out the news for 8th grade, if you haven't heard already from the local press or our earlier tweets, Saketh J. performed incredibly in the NatGeo Geography Bee and came in 2nd place in the National Finals also in DC this week!  The finals are being shown on Nat Geo Wild tonight at 8pm!  Congratulations, Saketh!  I guess that should have come with a spoiler alert if you were hoping to watch it without knowing the results...sorry :?) Next Wednesday night, the Stony Brook Theater Arts will be presenting a public performance of their festival piece Beauty and the Bee along with performances from the Stony Brook Chorus here in the auditorium at 7pm.  There is a suggested donation of $10 for admission to help cover the costs of royalties for the production. Ms. Smith is still looking for volunteers for the Barnes and Noble book fair event on June 10th: I need at least five volunteers to help at the Stony Brook Barnes and Noble Book Fair in Nashua on Friday, June 10 from 6-8pm. I am looking for students and parents that would be willing to help at makerspace stations. We will have Ozobots, Littlebits, Spheros, and Meccano available for students to try out.  It is an exciting opportunity to see some of items students will be using in the library/innovation lab next year. Please contact Mrs. Smith at nsmith@westfordk12.us if available to volunteer. Here is a link with the pertinent information for the event.  SB Barnes&noble Bookfair 2016 Additionally, we are going to begin accepting items to repurpose here in the library as part of our MakerSpace area... Finally, for those of you with seniors in your families (students that is)...today is the deadline for Balloon orders!!! Remember All The Balloons Last Year? The Westford Education Foundation is doing it again. Send your favorite WA Class of 2016 graduates shiny maroon and silver Mylar balloons as a fun way to congratulate them on this big accomplishment. Imagine hundreds of balloons decorating mailboxes and front porches of WA seniors throughout town on graduation day. Balloons are just $6 each. An array of six balloons to the same address (ordered at the same time) is $30.The deadline to order balloons is Friday, May 27, 2016.  Go to http://wefweb.org/ for the balloon order form. Be sure to include the grads’ names, addresses, and your own personal note for each recipient, and WEF will take care of the rest. Balloons will be delivered the day before graduation. Proceeds from balloon sales help WEF fund a variety of innovative educational and professional development grants for Westford schools, as well award two scholarships to graduating WA seniors majoring in education. Questions? Contact Kelly Guthrie atkguthrie@wefweb.org. The Westford Education Foundation is grateful for your support. Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, Chris