“When I first joined project 351, they told us a story” said Whitney Meritus, a sophomore at Sturgis East. “Two young boys had to switch off going to school because their family only had the funds for one winter coat, and it was too cold to go without one” she continued. “Cradles to Crayons helped provide these boys with new jackets, giving them the ability to receive their education daily.” Whitney Meritus, with the guidance of Project 351, will be holding a clothing drive inside Sturgis East to help provide clothing for young children.
Project 351 is an organization founded in 2011 by former Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick. The organization selects student representatives from all 351 towns in Massachusetts to travel to Faneuil Hall in Boston where they will partake in service activities in the city. The organization was created to help get local youth interested in serving their community. Meritus was selected as an eighth-grader to serve in this program and now is a member of the Alumni Leadership Council, meaning she leads her own team of eighth graders.
Whitney and her team, along with the other 351 Ambassadors and Alumni Team, are collecting donations for Cradles to Crayons. Cradles to Crayons is an organization founded by Carolyn Casey that collects donations and provides specialized packages for children who are living in low income situations based on what each individual child is lacking. Her group is focused on clothing and will be collecting articles from Monday, March 26th through Friday, April 6th. They ask that all clothes brought are either new or gently used, mostly in sizes small to medium or shoes sizes infant through size ten. The organization especially needs male clothing, so any addition in that category is a great help. This clothing drive is a great way to give back to your community. If you are interested in donating, there will be blue boxes located around the Sturgis East main building and in the Annex for you to leave your donations in. Thank you for your support!
Camp Sunshine Fundraiser
The Sturgis East Key Club is holding a fundraiser to provide donations to Camp Sunshine. Camp Sunshine is a nonprofit organization based in Casco, Maine that hosts retreats for children with life-threatening illnesses along with their families. Throughout the year, these retreats give children and their families hope and support free of charge.
Key Club will be raising money through a fundraiser on Monday, April 2 at the Chipotle in the Cape Cod Mall. The fundraiser will take place from 4 to 8 PM. Be sure to mention that you are supporting the Sturgis East Key Club. Baked goods are also being sold at school during break and lunch.
The Sturgis East Key Club thanks you for your contributions toward supporting this wonderful organization!
Planning a Future in the IB Program
As this school year closes, many sophomores, including myself, are talking to counselors, teachers, and upperclassmen about their IB classes. Deciding which classes to prioritize and whether to double up on sciences, languages, or take an elective is all part of the stressful class selection week.
To understand the different methods of class selection, I asked a sophomore and a senior about how they chose their classes, who they looked to for help, and how satisfied they were about their choices.
The process of choosing classes has proven to be one of the more difficult challenges as a sophomore, besides facing the regular classes. Each individual student has their own way of deciding, whether it be taking time to reflect or talking with others. While I chose my classes based on the level of challenge I’d be facing, Ila Cheverie, another sophomore, decided to take another route. “First I looked into what my interests were and started basing my classes off of that,” she said. For her, those classes were math, physics, English and Spanish. “At first, I had decided on Spanish, physics, and English as my higher level courses,” she continued, “but then after talking further with my English teacher and my math and physics teacher, I ended up with math, physics, and Spanish as my HL’s.” This exemplifies that the first three classes that come to mind when choosing HL courses may not be the final courses you would decide on.
The influence of teachers plays a big role in course selection for some students. For Ila, her current teachers were the best source of help and information on class selection. “They know my strengths and weaknesses and know which class would fit me best,” she said. However, she does mention that upperclassmen were a good group of people to talk to as well. “They truly know what it’s like to take the class as a student, which was very influential to my decision making,” said Cheverie. Faith Bakar, a senior, agrees with looking to upperclassmen for advice. “I think that upperclassmen are the most reliable people to look for advice when it comes to choosing your classes because they went through the exact same process and were able to see how their choices played out,” said Bakar.
When asking Ila, she said she is satisfied with her choices and is looking forward to her future classes. “I decided to take a risk and take HL math and physics instead of staying in my comfort zone,” she said, “but I am excited to challenge myself and fully utilize the IB program.” As Faith had advised looking to upperclassmen for advice, I had asked her this same question. Though she wished she switched some of her HL and SL classes, she was still happy with her outcome. “I think as long as you rely on your decision on what you want to study, you’ll end up feeling like you made the right decision.” For anybody who fears they won’t like a class that they’ve taken as a risk, Bakar says, “I think that in the end, you get used to whatever classes you chose anyway and might develop an interest in a class you weren’t so excited for initially.”
No matter what combination of courses sophomores decide to take, the teachers at Sturgis are here to encourage and help each student on their IB journey!
Nor'easters Rock Cape Cod!
The month of March has devastated the northeast, bringing four nor’easters to Massachusetts. Tens of thousands of residents in Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod were without power as a result of the powerful nor'easters. The storms also shut down schools, roads, and has overshadowed many peoples’ hopes of a fast-approaching Spring. Families packed restaurants and enjoyed warm meals as they waited for power to be restored in their neighborhoods. Meanwhile, energy companies including National Grid and Eversource were working round-the-clock trying to revitalize the Cape’s communities. Now that it appears the winter storms are behind us, it is time to clean up the toppled trees and debris and prepare for a warm Spring. In time, we will all be able to look back on this crazy month of March with a smile as we remember the intensity of these winter storms. Although the storms are over, we would like to advise everyone to continue to work outside with caution as winds and downed trees can still prove to be dangerous.
For now, Sturgis students can let out a sigh of relief and look forward to the impending warm weather and Ben’s and Jerry’s Free Cone Day on Tuesday, April 10! Stay safe everyone!