New England League of Middle Schools (NELMS) Conference
We had a team visit the annual conference in Springfield, MA on March 19 and 20. Speaking on behalf of the team, it was nice to meet with 400+ fellow middle school educators from the six states in New England and go to workshops to improve our practice here at EGMS! The common theme, without a doubt, was that making human connections with our students in this VERY unique developmental level is the MOST important tool in our toolbox as educators. Not content... not the 3 R's... but connection. Tapping into the social emotional well being of our students goes so much further than the other stuff in the long term academic and social growth of our students at this age. One profound statement that sits with me form this conference: "It's not about 'improving student achievement'... it's about 'achieving student improvement'." (Jeff Rodman, NELMS Executive Director). Many thanks to Kyle Fusco (Gr 8 ELA), Laureen Dabrowski (Gr 7 Math), and Kelly Zils (Gr 6 SpEd) for joining me!
CMEA Northern Region Music Festival (UPDATED 3/27/26)
Congratulations to 13 of EGMS’s students who participated in CMEA’s Northern Region Festival on March 6 & 7! 11 students were accepted into/ participated in the Mixed Chorus while 2 students were accepted into/ participated into the Orchestra. We are so proud!
Updated 3/27/26: Please go to this link to view the performances:
https://vimeo.com/reviews/d3b6616e-add1-46c0-9b1b-c64cea3936c6/users/95222283/folders/28597301
Once on this Island
Congrats to our EGMS/EGHS Drama Club for putting quite the show last weekend! They rocked the house with some great singing, dancing, and crew production. Many thanks to Mrs. Gilbert and Mrs. Mullane for all of their dedication and effort in working with our amazing student performers!
8th Grade Science
Ms. Taylor has been doing a great job filling in for Dr. Faulkner while she recovers from becoming a humorously self proclaimed "bionic science teacher". In Dr Faulkner's absence, Ms. Taylor has been doing some hands on work while studying fossils. Her students had the opportunity to dig for bones and try to assemble the skeleton in groups!
Chromebook Damage and Repair
Our IT Department has been busy lately due to misuse of our devices. Please take a peek at the photos, but this list below sums up just a few recent cases of chromebook damage:
- Liquid spilled on keyboard (which fries the whole motherboard)
- Thumbprint-sized cracks on screens held irresponsibly
- Colored pencil jammed in the battery that could have caused a fire
- Keys intentionally popped out then switched or lost
- Edges broken from dropping or mispacking
To the point, while we recognize that these devices are used a lot by an age group that pretty much wears and tears at anything they wear or use, we would like to see a better effort by our students so as not to overwhelm our IT department with unnecessary repairs. Parents, please echo this and support this at home while we do our best here at school. Thanks in advance for your support.
Grade 8 Health: EGYS Visit
Mr. Ziff's 8th Grade Health class had guests today! East Granby Youth Services and Amplify worked with the 8th graders as an extension of the substance abuse unit.
Grade 7 Family and Consumer Science
In Mrs. Corey's FACS class, 7th graders are learning how to use sewing machines and how to iron.
Grade 7 Read Aloud
After a week of evaluating and analyzing text evidence for deeper meaning, students in Ms. Pelletier's 7th grade ELA class took a break to enjoy a read aloud from a guest. No matter how advanced we continue to become as readers, being read to is a nostalgic experience that we never outgrow!
Lunch Time - Outside!
Now that the weather is starting to turn for the better (finally), we're starting to cure a little of that cabin fever one day at a time! Our 8th graders had a blast going outside.
Grade 6 General Music
Ms. Chaloux's 6th Grade General Music class has been busy learning about the guitar! Students have learned pitches on four of the six strings as well as four chords. Please enjoy their performances of "Yankee Doodle" (Click HERE ) and "Old MacDonald (Click HERE).
Daughters of the American Revolution: EGMS National Finalist
Congratulations to Sofiia Boiarchuk! Sofiia has been named the winner of the Northeast Regional Daughters of the American Revolution Essay Competition. Sofiia recently competed and won first place in the chapter and state level for the DAR competition. She is now a national finalist! At this very moment, her essay is competing at the national level. Congratulations on this outstanding achievement Sofiia. We are all very proud of you!
EGMS Students in Robotics
This past weekend, a local group of middle school robotics teams called "G-4 VEX Robotics" competed in the 2-day state tournament in Wilton, CT. Out of the 36 teams that qualified for states, the "G-4s" claimed three of the five available slots for CT in the Worlds Championship in St. Louis, Missouri!
Congratulations to Dylan Hamilton and HenryTaczanowsky, whose team walked away as state tournament champions! They also won the Design Award.
Congratulations to Alex Zygmunt and Andrew Houghton, whose team won 2nd place in the skills competition and the Create Award.
Their teams will compete against teams from all over the world in late April. Best of luck in St. Louis!
EGMS Dance
Fun was had by all that attended the dance on Friday March 6! Great music, food, company, and atmosphere made this one to remember!
February Students of the Month
Grade 6: Henry Taczanowsky
Grade 7: Lincoln Thompson
Grade 8: Aubrey Handley
Daughters of the American Revolution
On Sunday, March 8, our three essay contest winners and Ms. Rosenstein celebrated their success at a banquet held in their honor. Congratulations to Sofiia Boiarchuk, Darsitha Nair, and Cooper Whitehouse!
Grade 6: Readers are Leaders
In the first week in March, our sixth graders read a lot of great books to celebrate the annual Readers are Leaders week! Their work with the books was displayed in great fashion on the board in the hallway.
EGMS Cooking Club
Our students in EGMS Afterschool Cooking Club made some cinnamon rolls that turned out super tasty!
EGMS/HS Drama Club: Spirit Day
Spirit Day at Drama Club just in time to start Tech Rehearsals! The cast of Once on this Island “told their story” today!
Congrats to our extra super superstars tonight! Spencer Namnoun, Rachel Mullane, Izzy Dallesander, Alyssa Lengyel, Alice Ball and Brooklyn Rinaldi! Almost show time!
EGMS Band and Chorus
Several of our mabers of the EGMS 7th/8th grade Band and Chorus joined the EGHS Band and Chorus for a fun night of country music at our annual Pops Concert! They did such a great job representing our school!
8th Grade Art Gallery
In this project, students reviewed and applied the elements of art including line, shape, color, value, texture, and space by creating a single cohesive composition divided into seven sections, with each section emphasizing a different element. To check out the students' projects, click HERE to see the slideshow!