Canton Public Schools

The fifth grade band and chorus concert was a fantastic success and showcased all of the students’ hard work! 🎶🫶

Bulldogs are ready to tackle summer! ☀️🏈

Pollinator Garden Makes a Move – and Pollinators Follow!

Among the many changes coming with Canton’s new Galvin Middle School is a new location for the GMS pollinator garden. 🌱🐝 Students in Mrs. Ghostlaw’s classes have been working hard to relocate many of these pollinating plants before construction of the new school begins this summer.

The new garden location is near the drop-off area at the back of the current GMS building

“The garden has 22 varieties of pollinator plants, many of which are native,” said Mrs. Ghostlaw. “We’ve already had some pollinators visit the new garden.” 🪴

Some of Ghostlaw’s students worked with Mrs. Willet’s kindergarten class, who adopted a peony along with a wide variety of bulbs that have been planted in raised beds.
The project is connected to the novel “Seedfolks,” which the students read in May and follows the residents of an urban street transform a neglected vacant lot into a beautiful community garden.

Mrs. Ghostlaw is hopeful the new middle school will have many opportunities for pollinator plants, including the new rooftop garden. ☺️

Mrs. Kohl was delighted to see her former Hansen 5th grade student, Amy Hylen! 💞 Amy recently graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in Elementary Education. Way to go, Amy! 🎓

Those were the days. ✨

Our three State Championship-winning teams were honored at the State House by Representative Galvin and Senator Feeney. The celebration also included time with Lieutenant Governor Driscoll. What a fantastic way to cap off an unforgettable championship season! 🏆🎉

Diving into the archives for another ! 💦

❓What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a question children hear and contemplate countless times before heading off to college. Students at Canton’s Luce Elementary School recently had the opportunity to hear from adults representing various fields during the school’s annual “Career Day.” Most of the adults who volunteered to share their stories were either parents or relatives of Luce students.

“This year marks the 4th annual Career Day at the Luce, and it has become such a magical element of our school identity,” said Principal Yeshi Lamour. “There is incredible power in providing all of our students with the access and opportunity to explore what is possible for their future career paths. I truly believe that planting that seed at a young age makes the biggest impact on a child’s life. I am beyond grateful to our presenters, who are truly agents of change and inspiration for our student community”

👨‍⚕️ Dr. Maurice Joyce is an anesthesiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Students in Mrs. Fish’s fifth grade class heard him describe the many aspects of anesthesiology, as well as the work he does as an interventionist in the hospital’s cardiac ICU.

“You need to be willing to work nights and weekends,” said Joyce who also is a Professor of Anesthesiology at Tufts University Medical School.

Joyce joked that he graduated from “25th grade” after finishing medical school. When asked what the main challenge of his job is, Joyce said, “I have to deal with people getting really sick and not surviving. I try really hard to keep them alive, but sometimes people die and that can be very hard.”

🎥 Across the hall in Mrs. Petrus’ class, WCVB-TV anchor Antoinette Antonio explained TV news to the young students. “My job is to help keep you informed,” said Antonio. “I keep you up to date on what is happening in the world, in Massachusetts and in Boston.”

Antonio showed a short video of her work, which included “behind the scenes” bloopers as well as clips from her first job as a young reporter in Texas. She also explained how news has changed over her career. “I’m a bit of a content creator, too,” said Antonio as she explained how she produces videos for the station’s social media platforms.

Another guest, Lily Darling, is a Battalion Retention NCO in the U.S. Army and mom to a Luce student. “I love being able to stand in front of the students and show them I’m a regular person in the town of Canton and somebody’s mom,” said Darling. “And also, as a woman, that I can be in the military and these young girls can look at me and say ‘that’s something I can do, too.’”

⚾️ Matt Hyde certainly got a lot of attention as he roamed the hallways dressed from head to toe in a New York Yankees uniform. The Canton father has spent the last 21 years working as the Major League’s club’s northeast scout and has discovered some great local talent to compete against their rival Red Sox.

“I go around and try to find the best players,” said Hyde. “There are two Yankees players from Massachusetts that I signed. Those two are Walpole’s Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice from Cohasset.”

Hyde put the students in Mrs. Petrus’ class to work figuring out math problems like, “If I drive 40,000 miles every year and I’ve been doing this for 21 years, how many miles is that?” and “I see 250 players a year. How many players have I seen in 21 years?” Those who did the math received baseballs. Hyde also showed off his 2009 Yankees World Series ring and a vial of dirt from the original Yankee Stadium.

Hyde wrapped up his talk by asking students to consider the qualities he looks for in potential Yankees players, besides baseball skills. They responded with answers such as sportsmanship, teamwork and how well they listen to their coaches. He also explained how professional players get their start in local youth leagues like those in Canton.

“That should prove to you guys that you can do whatever you want to do in life,” he said.

Hansen students have been hard at work building their reading and writing skills. Keep up the great work, Bulldogs! 📖✏️

Every year about 40 percent of Canton High School’s (CHS) graduating class leave the classroom to learn. 🎓✏️ These students gain real-world experience working alongside business owners, teachers, health care professionals and first responders from the Canton Police and Fire Department. It’s all part of the CHS Senior Externship, a 5-week program run by Ed Amico, the school’s Career Center and Community Service-Learning director.

“This is an incredible opportunity for the students to learn real-life skills and expectations as they end their high school career and start the next phase of their life,” said Amico. “Long before they even did their externship, the learning was beginning as [students] make calls and emails and set up interviews.” 📞📧

CHS recently hosted its annual Externship Expo where participating seniors set up presentations in the library which detailed the work they did. Joining CHS faculty were many of the business owners and mentors who hosted the students, and their family members.

Four graduating seniors worked in the dental field. 🦷 Tony Sfeir worked at Canton Dental Collaborative. “I mainly observed and saw things from simple cleanings to tooth extractions, tooth fillings and even watched the oral surgeon do wisdom teeth extractions,” said Sfeir. “My favorite part was seeing the patient/doctor interactions. Seeing the relationships that the doctors built with their patients was inspiring and I want to do something in medicine. It really opened my eyes to the opportunity I have to be a beam of light for other people.”

Sometimes, externships help students recognize what they don’t want to pursue for a career. “I want to do something where I can help people and medicine is a good path,” said Vlad Francoeur, who did his externship at the office of an oral surgeon. “It’s different from general dentistry. It solidified for me what I don’t want to do – surgery.”[m1]

“This program is an exemplar, and a testament to Mr. Amico’s continued commitment to offering our students such an invaluable learning experience while still in high school,” said CHS Principal Jeffrey Sperling. “Many area schools have senior projects or internship programs, but I would bet not many are as well-organized and formalized the way ours is at CHS. We are ahead of the curve when it comes to school-to-career programming, and this is a shining example of that.” 💡

Victoria Vin worked alongside the CHS strength and conditioning coach helping train CHS athletes. “I learned a lot about leadership and how to lead different types of people,” said Vin. “I loved how it gave me real life experience that traditional academic work wouldn’t give me.”

Elias Palacios had a similar externship working at Compete Strength & Conditioning in Norwood. 🏋️💪 “I think the ability to go into a real-world experience instead of being in school is very good,” said Palacios. “To be able to branch out and learn more about yourself and how you can learn in different environments is important no matter what you want to do.”

Amico calls the Externship Expo one of his “favorite moments of the year” and recognizes the importance of those outside of CHS who make these experiences possible.

“We owe a big thank you to all the businesses and mentors that worked with our students,” he said. “They are the backbone of this program. The time and energy they give to the students is so appreciated. The students and I are forever grateful.” 👏