“Free cone day was extremely fun, and it was nice to participate in a longstanding Sturgis East tradition,” says Freshman Grace Rizzuto. “It definitely has me wanting to go back for more!”
We look forward to Ben and Jerry’s free cone day next year! Hopefully 2019 will bring a warmer April to enjoy our delicious ice cream!
Aspiring Leaders Attend 4th Annual Ambassadorship Day at the JFK Museum!
I had the opportunity to attend this event along with fellow Sophomores Sita McGuire, Whitney Meritus, Razilee Mueller, and Noah Smith.
Students heard from local appointed officials including Bud Dunham (Sandwich Town Manager), Mark Ells (Barnstable Town Manager), and Meg Mayo-Brown (Superintendent of Barnstable Public Schools, local elected officials Barbara Dunn (Barnstable School Committee), Mark Forest (Selectman of the Town of Yarmouth), and Joseph Tierney (Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School Committee), and state elected officials Senator Julian Cyr (Cape Cod and the Islands), District Attorney Michael O’Keefe (Cape Cod and the Islands), Representative Sarah Peake (4th District, Barnstable County), and Representative Timothy Whelan (1st District, Barnstable County).
These speakers shared their personal public service experiences on Cape Cod with the students.
Students also indulged in a lunch at Alberto’s Ristorante with video remarks from Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III.
While each speaker took different paths to get to where they are today, they shared a few common themes. They urged students to seek out opportunities such as internships to make connections in a field they’re interested in and to learn more about what role they want to serve in their communities as young adults.
One of the main points that was discussed at the event was leadership. Many of the students who attended are involved in their school’s Student Council, sports teams, or a variety of clubs. The message throughout was that students should be persistent, work hard, set an example for those around them, and make everyone feel welcome and involved in groups. These practices will help students develop the teamwork skills that will be essential in their future careers.
Ambassadorship Day at the JFK Museum was an amazing opportunity to connect the next generation of voters and innovators to current politicians and leaders. Many thanks to Ms. Emily Lambdin for enabling Sturgis students to take part in this event! Also, thanks to Peter Ubertaccio, Chairman of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum Foundation for his hospitality!
Learning to Communicate with Whales with Dr. Genevieve Davis
On Thursday, April 12, the Sturgis East ROVers club welcomed Dr. Genevieve Davis to Hyannis to speak about her humpback whale research using hydrophones. A hydrophone is a microphone that can detect sounds underwater. As a researcher for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Davis listens to whale songs that whales use to communicate with one another. The songs travel as waves underwater and can be detected by researchers from up to 5 miles away.
Specifically, Dr. Genevieve Davis is involved with NOAA’s Caribbean Humpback Acoustic Monitoring Program (CHAMP). The program was able to monitor humpback whale distribution, judge seasonal differences in the arrival and departure of whales in the area, and analyze the content and structure of the whales’ songs.
This type of research is important because a variety of whale species, including right whales, are endangered. The whales travel from feeding areas around Cape Cod down to the West Indies and use their songs for mating. Sounds made by ships near the whales can interfere with their songs. Therefore, CHAMP seeks to develop a strong acoustic monitoring program for whales in the Caribbean with the help of sanctuaries and government officials.
Leading up to Davis’ arrival, the Sturgis East ROVers club built their own hydrophones that will be used by scientists. This project gave students a better understanding of how hydrophones work and why they are so useful.
Many thanks to Dr. Genevieve Davis for taking the time to share her research with students at Sturgis East! We all wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. Also, thanks to Ms. Stacey Strong for organizing the presentation! If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Genevieve Davis’ work, follow the link below. There, you can also listen to unique whale song recordings.
https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/psb/acoustics/psbAcousticsCHAMP.html
Thinking about Future Careers Today through a Unique Test
The start of English class for many Sophomores began with the question, “what’s the difference between a job and a career?”
As this was asked, students in different classes were given the chance to explore a possible career path through the Massachusetts Career Information System website. Each student completed a test with 80 questions about what they are interested in and translated their answers into a list of possible career choices. Students learned more about careers that best fit their personality, prerequisites for certain careers, wages for different departments, and other important details that could not have been found anywhere else. This website also took into account the location of the student to display specific information such as hourly wages in the town of Barnstable. Out of this experience, the best feature was the prerequisites which informed students about what kind of high school courses they should be taking to prepare for certain occupations. This broadened many students’ view on their future because it opened up paths to careers they may have never thought about and gave students a clear vision on what certain jobs entail.
Spending a day to research and examine careers was absolutely insightful to everyone who took the test. With the help of Sturgis East’s guidance counselors, the students’ took a leap towards their future careers.