Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center

Holiday work with the Salvation Army

2011-12-05T12:48:00.001-05:00

During the 2011 holiday season, the students have joined forces with the Salvation Army. The students have been ringing the bell at the kettles and packing holiday meal boxes at the Lewiston/Auburn Salvation Army office.

Our awesome students even graced people passing the kettles with Holiday Music! Check it Out!!!

A Moooovouls day!

2011-11-09T11:14:00.001-05:00

We recently visited Pineland Farms in New Gloucester. We spent the day with our tour guide Cat who told us about the history of Pineland, their cows, and all of their products. We also got a tour of the facilities on the farms campus and got to Milk the cows! We all had a great day and can’t wait to go back!

Pineland Farms

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Take a Hike!!

2011-10-19T10:00:00.002-04:00

On October 7th, the Staff and Students here at ALTC took a hike on Bradbury Mountain. The students and staff had a wonderful time and enjoyed some great views! Thanks to Mr. Davidson for carrying the cooler with lunch as well!

Bradbury Mt.

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Transitions/ Career Explorations

2011-10-19T09:51:00.001-04:00

In the recent weeks, the Transitions class has had speakers come to the school and talk to the students about continuing their education and what their different school have to offer the Students. We would like to thank Stephen Deschanes from Kaplan University, Bobbi Jean Burke from Central Maine Community College, and Joyce Donald from Northeast Technical Institute for taking time to come speak with us!

Welcoming more Educators and Change to ALTC!

2011-10-17T10:25:00.001-04:00

All the staff at ALTC would like to welcome warmly the newest additions to the education team, and the exciting changes to our educational program!

Mr.Tom Davidson joins us from our sister school in Belgrade, CMLC. Mr. Davidson is a veteran educator for the Becket Family of Services. He will be teaching the Transitions/Career Explorations class with Mr. Wentzel!

Mr. Paul Carignan joins us with a background in education and formerly taught at the Spurwink school. Mr.Carignan will be teaming up with Ms. Dube as the Science and History team!

Mr. Erik Benham joins the staff as a Educational BHP, and has become our Jack of all subjects, Erik works with all the teams!

Ms. Shelia Twitchell joins our team as the Social Work intern. Shelia has been working with Jody Brinser in developing our social work groups on an even broader spectrum!

Mr.Ivey and Mrs. Williams have teamed up as well! They are now our Math and English team, which works perfectly as Mrs. Williams loves Math and Mr.Ivey loves to talk!! (Just kidding Mr.Ivey!!)

The 2011-2012 school years is off to a tremendous start and we cannot wait to see where it goes!!

~In the Community: Summer 2011~

2011-07-21T13:25:00.001-04:00

During the summer school session, we pride ourselves on our community involvement with agencies and organizations that were created to help and provide for others. This summer we are joining forces with multiple agencies, the first of which is the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society located on Strawberry Ave. in Lewiston. The students and staff have spent time over the last few weeks cleaning the animals living environments, moving supplies and most important of all, interacting with the animals and giving them the attention they deserve!

Community Caring

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The Core Values of ALTC

2011-06-24T08:51:00.001-04:00

The Staff of ALTC recently created a core values board for the students! These are the values the students practice during their daily interactions at school. All of our students also have the chance to earn points by showing their knowledge of those values and can use the points they earn to purchase items of interest, such as hygiene items, food, school supplies, and much more in our school store.

Wildlife Ecology exploration!

2011-06-17T09:39:00.001-04:00

This week Ms. Dube and staff took the students in multiple groups to Beaver Park to explore the life in and around the ponds. We discovered and talked about different types of frogs, bugs, snakes and plant life. Students who said they would never hold any of those creatures did!!

Wildlife Ecology!

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Beaver Park BBQ!!

2011-06-17T09:31:00.001-04:00

ALTC enjoyed a day of fishing, swimming, and great bbq’d burgers and dogs at Beaver Park.

Beaver Park BBQ

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ALTC participates in a Day of Giving

2011-06-17T09:26:00.001-04:00

On Friday June 3rd, the staff and students traveled up to Norway to take part in the “Day of Giving” at the Progress Center. The staff and students joined other volunteers from the community in expanding the ever growing handicap accessible Matthew Ricker walking trail. This year students worked on laying down stone dust and gravel for walk ways, paint, weeding and planting flowers. Everyone was rewarded with a wonderful BBQ put on by the Progress Center and made lots of new friends. We cannot wait for next year!!

Day of Giving

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Congratulations Ian!!

2011-05-31T11:14:00.001-04:00

The entire staff here at ALTC would like to Congratulate Ian Larlee on his recent graduation! Ian was one of the founding students of ALTC and was a part of the school since our doors opened. Good luck with all of your future endeavors and guitar playing!!

Ian’s Graduation Assembly

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Maine Wildlife Park

2011-05-03T10:21:00.001-04:00

ALTC visited the Gray Animal Park on Friday April 29th for a day of animal introductions and observations. All the students had a wonderful time and learned a lot!

Maine Wildlife Park

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The Penny Bridge Challenge!

2011-04-13T12:27:00.001-04:00

There was a challenge offered. Create a bridge using a single 3x5 index card, folding it in a way of your choice, that will allow it to hold as many pennies as possible. The students folded and refolded and tested, even the staff attempted it. At the end the winning bridge held 150 pennies with the second place holding 90 and the third place holding 75.

The Penny Challenge

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The process of paper

2011-04-13T12:10:00.001-04:00

The students took part in a Science lesson led by Ms Dube about the process of making paper. The staff explained the process that goes into making paper from pulp and then had the students make their paper on their own using pulp, screens and water.

Making Paper

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New additions to ALTC

2011-04-11T09:50:00.001-04:00

The staff and students of ALTC have recently been working on the atmosphere in the building. We have had new carpets installed in the building, a sign made for the front of the building, have begun to add plant life to the building, and even added a giant projection screen for the educational Wii games, documentaries, and presentations.

ALTC Grows

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Arrrrgh!!! ALTC visits the Portland Pirates!

2011-03-23T13:18:00.001-04:00

Yesterday the Staff and students went to Portland to see the Pirates in action against the Worcester Sharks! We even got a personalized welcome from the Pirates!!

Action on the Ice!

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The entire game was packed full of entertainment and not a dull moment was found by any of us and everybody enjoyed the game..except the part where the Pirates gave up the game winning goal to the Sharks in the sudden death overtime.

ALTC Goes Tribal!

2011-03-18T17:53:00.001-04:00

Today we received a visit from Annegret Baier, a teacher and performer of West African Percussion. Annegret discussed how she came into drumming and where she trained, and taught the staff and students the style Kpanlogo, the drumming style from Ghana, West Africa.

The students involved all enjoyed their time and created some incredible sounds with Annegret and the ALTC Staff!

Thank you Annagret for a wonderful afternoon! We hope to have you back to our School again!

Welcome Kris Dube!!

2011-03-16T16:23:00.001-04:00

The staff at ALTC would like to offer a warm welcome to the newest member of our staff, Ms. Kris Dube!

Welcome aboard Kris, we are glad to have you as part of our team!!

ALTC goes Rock Climbing

2011-03-16T13:52:00.001-04:00

On March 4th, the students and staff took their second trip to the Maine Rock Gym , it Portland. The students enjoyed having the staff dangling on the other end of a rope and in their control for a change!

Mr.Ivey and Mr.Wentzel race to the top! Ivey only own because he’s taller.

ALTC moves to the new School!!

2011-01-10T11:19:00.001-05:00

Over the Christmas break, the staff of ALTC moved our entire school to our new location, 15 Sacred Heart Place in Auburn! It took three days, 3 trips in a 24 foot U-haul and MANY MANY MANY trips up the two flights of stairs.

We would like to thank Mr. Ivey’s daughters, residents and staff from the Litchfield house, and Tammy, Dan Sullivan, Ms. Kristin and the entire staff from the Renaissance School, out first floor neighbors for helping in the transition to our new environment.

Here is a visual preview of our new facility as it unfolds!

Our New Waiting Area Classroom Wall

Social Meeting Area Main Office / Conference Area

Mr. Wentzel’s Room Mrs. Williams Graffiti Wall

Kitchen Area View Toward Entrance

View from Entrance

ALTC Bowling Event…

2010-12-17T08:34:00.001-05:00

The staff and student at ALTC recently went bowling at Spare Time Recreation in Lewiston for a relaxing afternoon. While bowling everyone enjoyed Pizza, Fries and soda made for us by the awesome staff at the bowling center! Thanks Spare Time!!

Thanksgiving 2010 with ALTC

2010-11-30T10:36:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday November 23, 2010, the staff put together the Annual Thanksgiving Smorgasbord, know as the ALTC Thanksgiving meal.

Each year we make our way over to the Lewiston/Auburn Boys and Girls club for the use of their Kitchen facilities for the preparation of the food. This years feast included; Caesar Salad, Mr. Fulps's famous clam chowdah!, Turkey, Ham, Potatoes (15lbs which Ms. Cassidy peeled for us!! Thanks Harli!), squash, green bean casserole, glazed carrots, rolls, cranberry sauce, and apple and pumpkin pies for dessert.

This year in addition to the staff and students enjoying this wonderful feast, we invited friends of the school from the community that we have worked with in the past or are currently working with.

We were even able to get pictures of the Turkey cutting the Turkey cutting the Turkey!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

2010-11-30T10:28:00.000-05:00

And the day began with goofy candids!

The Mayflower II (exact replica)

On November 22, ALTC visited the Plimoth Plantation & Mayflower II for a historical & cultural journey into the lives of the Colonists and the Wampanog People of the Plimoth area during the 1600's. We started our day by taking a tour of the Mayflower II, which was an exact replica of the original Mayflower. It was recreated in the town of Brixham, in Devon, England by skilled shipwrights at Upham Shipyard between the years of 1955-57, before finally setting sail for the New Englands! We were able to tour the entire boat stopping along certain areas so volunteers could explain different parts of the boat along the way, which included running into rein-actors who give us a view of life aboard the vessel during it's 17th century passages.

After leaving the Mayflower we made our way over to the Plantation for the next part of our Journey..

Mr. Ivey & Mr.Wentzel (both under the weather during the trip) modeling an artistic interpretation of the Mayflower.

At the plantation we were presented with a brief video overview of the history of the colonists and the Wampanoag and their relationships during the 1600's. After the video we ventured in the Wampanoag village where we were greeted by the people of the Wampanoag and invited to learn about their history, culture, and interactions with the colonists.

After our stop in the Wampanoag village, we took the path through the woods and arrived at the town of the Plimouth colonists of the 1600's, where we had a first hand look at the lifestyle of the time period. All the people we meet where dressed as, talked as, and acted as colonists from the time period. The houses, barns, farmlands, and traditions, such as the cooking where being performed in front of us, as it was done back in the 17th century.

Even with the weather dreary and overcast, and and handful of us feeling slightly under then weather. The trip was proven to be beneficial and very enjoyable by us all. We all learned a lot about our history and came away with a different view on the way things where. We even have proof of leaving with smiles!

New England Aquarium Trip

2010-11-01T08:52:00.001-04:00

On Friday October 22, the students and staff took a trip to the New England Aquarium for a day loaded with awesome learning experiences! The students got to interact with the penguins in the open area observation area, and watch the trainers and aquarium staff work with them as well!

In the middle of the aquarium surrounded by an spiraling walk way the students were able to walk around and explore the reef tank that was filled with hundreds of different species of fish, turtles, eels, and the countless array of other sea life!

Surrounding the outer walls of the Aquarium were smaller observation tanks, and touch tanks where you were able to touch star fish, urchins, horseshoe crabs, and many other creatures.

The Students and Staff of ALTC had a great day and came away with lots of information! Next trip...PLYMOUTH PLANTATION on 11/22/10!

Open House 2010

2010-10-21T10:04:00.000-04:00

We would like to thank all of our guests that made this years Open House the best one yet! We enjoyed getting to talk to all the visitors and look forward to our future conversations!

Welcome Jody!!

2010-10-20T14:41:00.001-04:00

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Ms. Jody Brinser to the staff here at ALTC as our new Social Worker! Welcome aboard Jody!

Visit to the Penobscot Narrows Observatory

2010-10-15T13:41:00.000-04:00

On Friday, October 8th ALTC took a trip to Bucksport to visit the Penobscot Narrows Observatory.

A one minute ride on the fastest elevator in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont will take you to the top of the tallest public bridge-observatory in the world. The others are in China, Slovakia and Thailand. Just opened in May 2007, the observatory is already proving to be a popular attraction. The beauty of the Penobscot River and surrounding countryside is immediately apparent as the elevator door slides open to a dizzying view from 420 feet up. Ascend two more levels up to find 360 degrees views, complete with identification panels showing you how to locate nearby mountains, lakes and towns.

http://www.maine.gov/observatory

The students were able to enjoy a beautiful look at the changing of the seasons, a topographical look at the waterways and even a birds eye view of our own bus!

Student Spotlight!

2010-09-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

Our student Jason displayed his knowledge of physics to us by balancing a can on it's fulcrum, something that he learned by watching Criss Angle's Mindfreak on the A&E channel...

No just kidding....IT'S MAGIC!

Making Chili.

2010-09-30T08:58:00.001-04:00

Recently, the students made chili during science class. Chili for science class? Yep, Mr. Wentzel and Mr. Ivey used this opportunity to teach the students about capsaicin, which by definition is:

Capsaicin is the active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact. Capsaicin and several related compounds are called capsaicinoids and are produced as a secondary metabolite by chili peppers, probably as deterrents against certain herbivores and fungi.^[1]Pure capsaicin is a hydrophobic, colorless, odorless, crystalline to waxy compound.

The students were given a pile of ingredients: Hamburg, white kidney beans, red kidney beans, black beans, McCormick chili seasoning, onions, tomatoes (pureed, diced, and paste form) , and Jalapeño, Serrano, and Red Chili Peppers. They were allowed to choose out of these ingredients what they wanted to use in their chili to determine the outcome of the flavor, heat, and consistency of their chili. The students learned where each of the optional peppers were located on the heat scale for hot peppers as well.

The two groups chili came out quite well, and were enjoyed by all the students and the staff at ALTC for lunch! Oh yeah!! Mr. Ivey also decided to challenge a student to eating a chunk of the Serrano pepper, which is a 10 on the 1-10 heat index of hot peppers, and I got a picture!!

Blog Updates

2010-09-27T14:45:00.000-04:00

I would like to thank Zac Wentzel, one of our amazing staff members here at ALTC for taking over the blog and really re-formatting into the age of technology! It looks amazing and offers so much to our students and parents, as well as all of the districts that we serve! Thanks Zac for all of your hard work!!!!!

Ricker Hill Orchards

2010-09-20T10:43:00.000-04:00

On Friday September 17th, ALTC visited Ricker Hill Orchards, located in Turner, ME for a guided tour of the apple processing & sorting, cider press and bottling facilities at the farm where we were given a demonstration and explanation of the inner workings of an Apple Orchard

After the tour, we had fresh apple cider to enjoy on our trip to the orchard where we were all given the opportunity pick our own bag of apples to take with us, which came from a wonderfully delicious selection of MacIntosh, Jonagold, and Cortland's.

The final stop for the day while at the Orchard, was Ricker Hill's famous apple sling shot!

Thank you Fairwinds Farm

2010-09-16T09:11:00.000-04:00

We would like to extend a warm thank you to Fairwinds Farm of Topsham, ME for the wonderful fall decorations they provided to us for our front porch entrance area.

Congratulations Mr.Ivey!!

2010-09-07T13:22:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Mr. Ivey! We here at ALTC are proud to announce that Mr. Ivey has been promoted to the position Program Director. We are very excited for all that he will bring to the program with his experience and community connections and reputation.

Also, along with his promotion, Mr. John Fulp has be promoted to the Director of Education for the Becket Schools in Maine which consist of the Androscoggin Learning & Transition Center, and our sister school in Belgrade, the Central Maine Learning & Transition Center.

Again, Congratulations to you both!

Summer Session Finale!!

2010-09-07T12:47:00.000-04:00

So, as the summer session at ALTC wrapped up for 2010, the Students who participated were rewarded with a special final field trip, THE PORTLAND SEADOGS!!! Mr.Wentzel got tickets for the group 5 rows up on the third base line, for a great view! The game was off to pretty rocky start, the Sea Dogs were trailing behind Altoona 6-3 (Minor League for Pirates) up until the bottom of the 7th inning when a home run was hit by Ryan Lavarnway, Anthony Rizzo hit a grand slam and then another home run was hit by Luis Expositio bringing the Dogs into the lead and allowing them to win the game! Fun was had by all on this beautiful summer day and was an exceptional end to a terrific summer session!!

Lockheed Constellation

2010-07-28T08:34:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, our school took a tour of the Lockheed Constellation, or "Connie" over at the Auburn Municipal Airport at the Lafthansa Teknic hanger where they are busily reconstructing one of the two Constellations that they now own. For those of you form the Lewiston/Auburn area, these are the planes that were sitting near the old tower off from Hotel Road for the last 25 years.

This plane, developed in the 1940's under the close eye of Howard Hughes, was used as a passenger plane as as a Military Transport Vehicle during WWII. After the war, it became popular to be used as a civilian transportation vehicle. Many airline corporations used this as their vehicle of choice.

This Constellation that Lafthansa is rebuilding is going to be used as a trans-continental flight plane again when it is finished. The estimated time line of this is within the next five years. They have been working on this for over a year, and the work is impressive. There are parts being rebuilt all over the world, from their corporate center in Germany, to having the Jet engines repaired in Idaho.

We have been invited back to see the progress that they are making in December. We will keep you posted!

Mt. Blue State Park

2010-07-27T18:46:00.000-04:00

Well, what a busy summer we have been having. I hope that everyone is enjoying this amazing weather we have been experiencing! It can not be any better than it has been. Love it!!! Last week we took our group up to Mt. Blue State Park. The water was cold and therewasa wicked breeze coming across the lake. What a great experience we had. We even had ice cream on the way home!!!!

Smalls Falls Trip

2010-07-13T20:20:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful day we had at Small's Falls in Rangely. The weather could not have been more perfect and the students had a blast. Providing opportunities for this kind of experiential learning is so fulfilling to the staff. The kids swam, jumped off rocks into the deep, inviting pools and enjoyed an amazing sandwich bar for lunch. We love Small's Falls.

More whale pictures

2010-07-11T12:48:00.000-04:00

Whale Watch

2010-07-11T12:28:00.000-04:00

Our first educational field trip was based on ocean science when we went to Portland, Maine and joined the crew from Odyssey Whale Watch on an exciting four hour trip through Casco Bay out 13 nautical miles into the Atlantic. It was a very eventful trip, from seeing Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoises, a Minke Whale to over 100 Dolphins in a pod that were feeding on herring. It was amazing. The students and staff alike were amazed as dolphins flipped out of the water before us, and jumped right out in front of the boat. They were beautiful. Although the water was a bit choppy (I am so glad I took a motion sickness tablet) everyone had a good time and enjoyed the ever changing weather along the coast of Maine. Wind, rain, sun, clouds...............a little bit of everything.

Summer School

2010-07-11T12:25:00.000-04:00

Summer school is officially in session! We have a lot of exciting educational trips and events scheduled for the summer!!! We are looking forward to keeping you updated on our blog, facebook fan page and through emails and such. You can also join our teachers on facebook by searching for "Mistah Ivey, Mistah Wentzel and Jane Williams." Have a great summer and enjoy!!!!

Thank You Miss. Karen

2010-05-14T09:07:00.001-04:00

We would like to thank Karen Desjardins, our most awesome Social Work intern, for helping out with our program this last year. Karen will be missed by all of us as she moves on to her next placement! Thank you so much!!!!!

Dry ice experiments

2010-05-13T19:49:00.001-04:00

Today, the staff led the students through some really cool dry ice experiments. First, we demonstrated what dry ice did in water. Some of the comments were "like at a rock concert" or "at halloween!" Next, we did a cup filled with water and dry ice, topped with a sheet of paper towel ladened with soap. This formed a really big bubble that grew and grew and suddenly popped when it was full of carbon dioxide. We also carbonated several beverages, such as a sports drink, lemonade and apple juice. We added some cardice to diet coke, and it went flat. We took a bottle and put some dry ice in it without water. This filled the balloon with CO2. Next, Mrs. Williams filled a balloon with CO from her lungs. When asked which one would fall faster, the kids thought it would be the CO one, but they were incorrect. The CO2 balloon fell much faster!!!!!

Boston Museum of Science

2010-05-04T07:48:00.001-04:00

Science Experiment

2010-05-03T20:22:00.000-04:00

With this experiement, we took heavy cream mixed with some milk and heated it in the microwave. Then we added some drops of food coloring to the solution. Finally, we added a drop of DAWN dish detergent (best known for it's grease cutting properties) to the solution. What resulted was probably one of the coolest things I have seen. The DAWN was pushing the fat in the mixture around the tub, but was visible to the students due to the added food coloring. This was a fun experiment.

Fishing at Beaver Park

2010-04-06T13:01:00.000-04:00

What a great day we had - no fish - but good food, friends and some learning all at one location! Thanks to Verla Brooks, the ranger of the park, for accomodating us and making us feel so welcome! We are looking forward to a wonderful summer of outdoor learning!

Student gets job training through Work Oppotunities Unlimited!

2010-04-06T12:28:00.001-04:00

My name is Dylan. I am a senior at Androscoggin Learning and Transition Center through Lewiston High School. I'm doing job training through Work Opportunities Unlimited. They help people get jobs and keep jobs. I have been training at VIP Auto Parts Store. I have been training in retail and stocking. and Work Opportunities Unlimited pays me minimum wage. I have to complete 20 hours at VIP and then I'm looking at going to get hired at another job. So far I've done a great job with no mistakes.

We here at ALTC are very proud of Dylan and his accomplishments. We wish him the best of luck on his job hunt!

The Adventures of Slink and Ash

2010-04-06T09:50:00.000-04:00

The Comic saga continues as we view the third of Ian's wonderful personality depictions of our pets here at school. To come soon - we will introduce Eileen Right, our newest ferret, who has one front leg shorter than the other, hence the name.

Good clean fun

2010-04-06T09:37:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I think that naming these post is the most fun thing ever.

This last week we did an experiment in class for science that dealt with soap. Bar soap. Dial, Lever 2000 and Ivory. First we discovered that Ivory floats and dial and Lever do not. The kids were informed that Ivory is whipped prior to being made into bars and that it has air within it. To prove out point, we headed down to the kitchen and used the microwave. The first bar we microwaved was the ivory. it came out looking really cool. It did not smell to bad either. It puffed out really far and felt like cotton or toilet paper, as the kids reported. The next bar was the Lever 2000. This bar opened up in the middle on top and like a dispenser, out came this tongue of bubbles that hardened onto what the kids called "Gene Simmons's tongue!" Lastly we placed in the bar of Dial. Ick. This melted into a form of bubbles that burnt and smelled absolutely disgusting. Double ick. The school smelled for several days afterwards, and the microwave smells to this day.

The Adventures of Slink and Ash: Comic #2

2010-03-08T11:27:00.000-05:00

Thanks Ian for a job well done. He depicts the attitudes of our animals very accurately. Nice work!!!!

Shorts

2010-03-08T10:59:00.000-05:00

I will keep this blog post short. Today, the three of us wore ours. But since we already have a leg up on the competition, we just kneed to be there for our students. We are not pulling your leg. The students thought this was great and the fact that we planned it made them laugh even more. Sometimes we just have to grin and bare it.

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess!!!!

2010-03-02T09:23:00.001-05:00

Today is Dr. Seuss's Birthday. He would have been 106 years old. Today, we made green eggs and ham, learned about how chicken eggs are formed inside a chicken, and did some some Dr. Seuss type writing! We love to celebrate these cool holidays!!!!

Our First Comic

2010-02-26T13:22:00.000-05:00

As part of our Language Arts, Computer and Visual Art Curriculum, we have challenged our students to create comics about our school. Our student Ian has created the first one and we are pleased to share it with you today. Click on the picture to view it larger! Thanks Ian and great job!!!!! What talent!!!!

Salem Witch Museum Trip

2010-02-26T13:07:00.000-05:00

On Friday prior to February Vacation, we took our group down to Salem to visit the Witch Museum. What an excellent opportunity we had to tie academics into an enjoyable trip for our students. We participated in the tour, walked the streets of Salem and went to lunch at Brothers Deli. It was cool for them to experience what we had been learning first hand!!!!

Student gets a haircut!

2010-02-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

Our student decided it was time for a haircut, and having known we have done many a haircut here at ALTC, he decided it was his turn. What a difference!!!!! What a good sport

CPR / First Aid Training at ALTC

2010-02-26T12:50:00.000-05:00

This month, we had an awesome opportunity to have our Nurse, Mrs. Marilyn Brown, to come to our school and provide CPR and First Aid Training to our staff and students! We had a really good time. We really appreciate this excellent educational opportunity we had here at school. Students participated in both courses and will receive certifications for them also! Thanks to Marilyn for providing all that you do for Becket! You are really appreciated.

Museum L/A

2010-02-04T13:15:00.000-05:00

Museum L/A is a historical museum related to the history of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine's past. Our tour guide was Mrs. Sue Smith, a retired History teacher from the Auburn School Department. She did a wonderful job presenting the information in a clear, concise manner, while maintaining the educational richness that the information has to offer. We toured through the big section of the mill. To see the vastness of one of the rooms, which was at least the size of a football field, was amazing. The original floors still had the spots visible where row after row of looms and machinery sat. The original signs were very interesting also. We talked about how much lint there must have been within these rooms with well over 300 machines all doing the same job at once. Fire was always a big concern, and Bates Mill had its own Fire Department.

We next went on to look at some of the amazing machinery that was used within the textile industry in Lewiston and Auburn. These were amazing pieces of machinery that were so intricate and advanced for their time. The next sections was about the shoe industry that was ever so popular within this region of Maine. We then moved on to the section about the history of immigrants into the region, starting with the Irish, who were brought up here from Boston by Mr. Bates to begin construction on his mills and the canal that runs beside them. This timeline concluded with a large section on the recent increase in immigrant activity brought on by the Somali and the Somali Bantu tribes form Africa, fleeing their homelands and coming to Lewiston and Auburn within the last 10 years. Finally, our tour concluded with a talk about the brick industry which also has thick historical roots in Lewiston and Auburn. Morin Brick Company was established in 1912 and is still in operation today, making about 50,000 bricks per day at their plant in Auburn.

Everyone learned some very cool things, which we will post onto our blog within the next week. Each student will be responsible for researching deeper into something they found interesting today during our tour. Some of the topics already decided are the cards used for patterning cloth at the mills, to Byssinosis, something related to inhaling the lint at the mill.

Science Demonstration: We "lava" science!!!!!

2010-02-02T10:26:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, the students took part in a demonstration of science that dealt with the viscosity and dissolvability qualities of liquids. Students were supplied with a plastic see-thru cup, water, food coloring, vegetable oil and salt. First, the students added two tothree drops of food coloring to their water. Then, they added some oil and floated it on top in a layer about a quarter of an inch thick. They then added salt in various amounts and watched what happened. They thought it was cool. The salt would catch the oil as it sunk down into the water. Then, as the salt hit the water, it would dissolve and release the oil back up to the top, looking like the bubbles of a lava lamp. We then did the project on a larger scale using a large glass vase instead of the individual cups. It was awesome.

Our fourth Motivational Tribute: CONFIDENCE

2010-01-22T09:35:00.000-05:00

Our Newest Graduate!

2010-01-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

ALTC would like to congratulate Mr. Zachary Storkson for completing the curriculum required to graduate from high school! Zach is a resident of Lewiston, and will be marching with the class of 2010 in June. We are very proud of our pal Zach as he has matured and grown into a wonderful, responsible, caring young man! Congratulations from all of us here at ALTC! We wish you the best!!

Our New Pets

2010-01-22T09:23:00.000-05:00

ALTC would like to welcome our two new pets, Ash the Rabbit and Slink the Ferret. Both of them are interactive with our students during service learning and experiential learning. Ash comes to us form the home of Zac, our staff member. Slink comes to us from the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society. We are excited to welcome our new pets and hope that they foster learning and experience in our students!

Harrassment Education at ALTC

2010-01-12T11:04:00.000-05:00

This morning, we had a wonderful visit from Detective Dumont from the Lewiston Police Department. He was invited to our school to offer some Harrassment Education and insight to our students, who are now young adults. We had discussions pertaining to the definitions of harrassment, the difference between punishment and rehabilitation, and how the procedure of pressing charges of Harrassment work. It was an excellent educational opportunity for the students, staff and leadership here at ALTC. Thank you Detective Dumont!

Our Third Motivational Tribute! TEAMWORK

2009-11-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

Todays tribute is really fitting for the day. The staff here at ALTC is an incredible team of professionals who go above and beyond the "jobs" for which we are assigned! For example, today, everyone chipped in and made a dish (or two or three!) in order for our students to enjoy a delicious full course Thanksgiving Dinner! Teamwork is encouraged everyday! There is no better way to accomplish things while feeling good about helping others!

Thursday at the Androscoggin Valley SPCA

2009-11-17T13:18:00.001-05:00

On Thursdays, it our now with great excitement that we are volunteering at the SPCA on Strawberry Ave. in Lewiston. Each week, five kids and two staff will be going over and cleaning pens, cages and the such. What a great amount of pleasure the kids and staff had last week making a differences in these animals lives, as well as the lives of the employees there! Thank you for having us!

Individuality

2009-11-17T13:16:00.001-05:00

Dream - Our First Motivational Tribute

2009-10-22T11:52:00.000-04:00

Motivational Posters

2009-10-22T11:49:00.000-04:00

Last week, the staff and students made some of our own motivational posters. Each week I will post a picture and how the staff and students decided we do it here at ALTC. This was a great motivational activity and showed the kids just how much we learn here at school. Everyone participated and enjoyed this activity! Two hours of cooperative learning - there is nothing more positive!

Reading is alive and well!

2009-10-22T11:46:00.000-04:00

This morning, I saw one of the most wonderful sights and needed to take a picture of it. How often do you see a high school aged boy reading to his teacher. The picture speaks for itself.

The results are in

2009-10-21T08:39:00.000-04:00

The results for both of the science experiments were very interesting. Tyler decided that the food coloring the was very concentrated killed the flowers. They did absorb some, but ended up dead prior to the ones with the less concentrated food coloring. The less concentrated ones ended up alive and conintinued to absorb the color.

Roger and Ian's experiemtn with the leaves ended up as they expected. The water inthe bowls changed the color that the leaf was, wither brown, yellow or orange. The leaves in thedye did coninute to rely on the water, as the veins of the leaves did change tothe blue color!

Nice work on these self-guided experiments. They are already planning somenew ones!

Chemistry Science Project

2009-10-15T10:07:00.000-04:00

Ian and Roger, two of our chemistry students, have designed an experiment.

First, we went over the scientific method:

1. Ask a question.

2. Conduct research.

3.Construct a hypothesis

4.Test your hypothesis by conducting an experiment.

5.Analyze the data and draw your conclusions

6. Communicate your results!

They have asked the question of "will water change color if you place cut-up autumn leaves in it?"

They researched and have found that according to several websites, decomposing and decaying leaves can change the color of water, usually to a reddish-brown color. This is usually caused by the chemical and minerals such as carotene, which gives the leaves their natural orange/yellow color.

They have hypothesised that all of the water will change color, although only slightly.

For this experiment, they went out and collected several different colored leaves, and made score marks in them prior to placing them in the bowls of water. They will check for color change in 24 hours.

Also, as a challenge experiment, they have placed food coloring in two bowl to see if the leaves will continue to absorb water even though they have fallen from the tree. They have placed two maple leaves in blue water, on by the stem, one fully submerged. They think that the water will be drawn into the leaves.

Biology science project

2009-10-15T09:53:00.000-04:00

Today, we went over the scientific method in class. We reviewed the following steps:

1. Ask a question.
2. Conduct research.
3. construct a hypothesis.
4.Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment.
5.Analyze the data and draw a conclusion
6.Communicate your results.

Today, our biology student Tyler started his experiment by asking the following question.

Will higher concentrations of food coloring placed in water make the carnation placed in the colored water change color faster?

He researched and found out that it will take from 1 to 24 hours for the flowers to showsomechange in color.

Tyler has hypothesized that the higher concentration of food coloring will make the carnation darker and change color quicker.

Tyler disolved the food coloring in the water at different levels of concentration, and then placed the white carnations into the water. He will check for results beginning in one hour.

PSATs

2009-10-14T08:58:00.000-04:00

I would like to thank the three wonderful, hardworking students who completed thePSATs this morning with minimal complaints. They worked hard for the two-and -a-half hour test block and were rewarded with delicious lunch from The Gridiron, one of our favorite restaurants in town! Thanks boys! Great Job!

Thank you!

2009-10-09T12:40:00.000-04:00

Thank you to those parents and students who came to our Open House last night! It was a very excellent opportunity to have some personal time with each of you who came! We would like to thank the Becket House at Litchfield and especially Cathie for the amazing food, including the most excellent chili! The whoopie pies were to die for, as were the homemade brownies with chocolate ganache deliciously placed upon them! If you were unable to attend and would like to schedule a time to come in and visit our facility and staff, please call 207-344-6226! Thanks

Open House!

2009-10-07T16:51:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, October 8th, ALTC will be having our Annual Open House from 4:00 to 7:00pm. Feel free to stop by and say hello, meet our outstanding staff and our new director, John Fulp! There will be food and lots of goodies! Hope to see you there!

Apple Ridge Farm

2009-10-02T20:40:00.001-04:00

Today, for those students who were on the appropriate level, we went to Apple Ridge Orchards in Auburn, ME. It was a beautiful day for a trip to the farm! When we arrived, they taught us about the storage and refrigeration process. They actually seal up the room and suck all of the oxygen out of it. That leaves only nitrogen, which helps to preserve the apples. Oxygen will speed up the deterioration process, so that is why it is removed. Then, we were given some bags to go pick some apples. The macs and cortlands were delicious! After that, we returned to the farm and got some fresh pressed apple cider. You would be hard-pressed to find any better cider! It was yummy! They gave us some feed for the farm animals and we went over to visit them. There were goats, pygmy goats, baby sheep, a couple of cows, silky chickens, turkeys and ducks. We then headed back to the school to go home for the weekend!

Trip to the Farm!

2009-09-22T22:27:00.000-04:00

We had the best trip to Pineland Farms. We experienced the Moo to You program and the Cheese Making operation! It was awesome! We had a blast! We started in the manure pit (and no other name was acceptable) We learned how this went in a cycle from the land to the animal into by-products that go back to the land! We walked through the heiffer barn and got to pat some of them. When we were in the calf barn, we learned how they name the cows. The "P" names are handed down from the mother of the calf, and the names that start with "P"are traced back all the wayto the herd in England when they arrived back in the 1700's! Amazing! Next we went to the hay barn and threw the hay to see how far we could go! Then we saw the milking parlor and how that works, and got to touch udders and teats (which was a little wierd!) Anyway - the best part was going to the cheese company! We saw them making fresh cheese, and got to taste cheese curd, cheddar, colby, pepper jack and many other types of fresh cheese! We went to lunch at the Pineland farms Cafeteria and enjoyed each others company!

Welcome Karen Desjardins!

2009-09-22T22:23:00.000-04:00

We would like to welcome Karen to the staff at ALTC as our Social Worker! We are very excited to work with her, as are the students! Good luck!

ALTC Welcomes John Fulp

2009-09-02T17:11:00.000-04:00

The Becket Programs of Maine is proud to announce its newest administrative addition and transplant, John R. Fulp. John has worked for nearly 8 years with the Becket Family of Services of New Hampshire as a Program Director of 4 separate at risk youth facilities and as the Principal of a Special Education day school called The Life Centered Learning Institute in Tilton, NH. John brings with years of experience and capabilities to manage all aspects of leading, operating and evaluating educational institutions.
Along with his M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Law. He holds both Special Education Administrator and Teaching Certifications in NH and is in process to gain his Maine State Special Education Administrator certificate.
“I pride myself on the supportive and collaborative leadership style I have evolved, which fosters a safe and growth oriented aura. My teachers and students know that they have the room to be creative and grow yet the structure to ensure that all faculty and students receive the opportunities and educational experiences they deserve.”

We are very excitedto be under John's leadership. We wish him the best of luck here in Maine!

For more information on these Becket programs and others, visit http://www.becket.org/.

Tie Dye and Geocache for Experiential Friday

2009-08-29T19:38:00.000-04:00

This week for "Experiential Friday" we did several awesome things! First, we went to search for some Geocaches in the Lewiston and Auburn Area. We went for a walk up behind Ingersol Arena in Pettingill Park, where we found one that was in an Army Ammunition Box. Tyler and Ian were so excited. It was great. After this, we went to Cold Stone Creamery and had Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt with one mix-in. Yummo! It was delicious. Earlier in the day, we had completed our tie-dye activity. The shirts came out awesome. Everyone had a very successful week! We are looking forward to our two new students joining us this week and the adventures they will bring with them!

First School Day of 2009-2010 School year!

2009-08-26T20:01:00.000-04:00

What a great first day of school! We were very happy to have a nice day. As the kids arrived today, we had prepared a very delicious breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs and Lewiston's own Mailhot Sausage cooked on the grill. It was delicious! We then discussed our new schedule, talked about some improvement coming to our already awesome program, and went to check out our geocache we placed at Beaver Park in Lisbon. We came back to school, had lunch and the kids were dismissed as Wednesdays are our half day workshop days! We are excited to have a new director joining us soon, as well as two new students starting next week! We would like to wish all the other schools out there the best of luck this school year! We look forward to working with you all!

Chris, Jane and Zac

North Pond Canoe Trip

2009-08-13T07:52:00.001-04:00

We had the best time canoeing, kayaking, fishing and swimming at North Pond in Smithfield. We did not find any lean generation pigs, though! Everyone had a blast - The pictures speak for themselves!

Service Learning Trip

2009-08-06T21:25:00.000-04:00

This week we took the students over to The Good Shepard Food Bank to volunteer. The kids experienced helping those less fortunate than themselves, and also practice their sorting skills. As they sorted through the boxes, they needed to pick out the stuff that was not good, and repack the good items into new boxes that will be stacked and stored on the really high shelves! They worked really hard. Mrs. Williams said she had many moments of pride today! Good work guys. Mr. Ivey really wishes he could have gone with you, but he was busy giving a tour to the most wonderful and supportive parents.

Canoeing in Smithfield

2009-08-06T21:14:00.000-04:00

Ian

Mrs.Williams and spider

This week we went to Smithfield, Maine for a wonderful canoe trip on beautiful North Pond. The kids and staff canoed out to the island and had lunch, swam a little and canoed back to shore. They had so much fun, they want to go again next week for an extended stay! Sounds like a plan to me! Mrs. Williams even pretended to eat a spider! Talk about shock factor! Ian also had fun floating in his lifejacket. A special thanks goes out to Mr. Wentzel for picking up the canoes in Belgrade! Thanks!

Good-bye Devan!

2009-07-31T09:19:00.000-04:00

We would like to wish the Deschaine family well as they move to their new home in Florida. Devan has been at our school since it opened in 2007! We will definately miss him! Good Luck Darren, Marisol and Devan!

More Smalls Falls Pictures!

2009-07-30T20:08:00.001-04:00

Smalls Falls

2009-07-29T19:26:00.000-04:00

Today, we had a really long trip for a really awesome field trip. We went to Smalls Falls, which is up and over near Rangely, Maine. We drove through Farmington, Weld, Strong, Avon, and Phillips to get there. One there, we alked up the trail (kinda) and found the perfect hole for swimming. The water was cold! But that is what you get when it comes straight from the mountain! The Sandy river twists it's way down through the falls and comes to a rest at the bottom with a nice swimming spot for younger kids, and a fifty foot cliff that people were jumping from into the pool below. It was scary to watch them jump - it really got the adrenaline going in everyone who was watching! We had a nice lunch and some s'mores and then went in the water again. We drove the two hours to get home and Mr. Ivey drove everyone to their doorsteps! What a great day!

Range Pond State Park

2009-07-28T21:08:00.001-04:00

Bocci Ball is so much fun, especially in a lawn full of canadian goose poopies. Ick. We had fun swimming in warm water this week and enjoying the company of everyone. It was a fun day!

2009-07-28T21:06:00.000-04:00

Zac - That is not the meaning behind Beaver Park!

2009-07-28T21:05:00.001-04:00

Mr. Ivey, the "fun guy"

Beaver Park - Service Learning

2009-07-28T20:55:00.000-04:00

Beaver Park, a nature preserve in Lisbon, Maine is one of our favorite haunts, Fishing, swimming and hiking are activities that we access almost weekly! We have a blast just having fun and learning with each other. This week, we went and cleared the trails of brush so that Verla, the Ranger, could mow the walking and hiking trails. Within two hours we had completed quite a bit of the park and had fun conversing while we did so! We had a great cook out and continued working the trails in the afternoon! Thanks Beaver Park!

http://www.lisbonme.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B71E40E4F-A75E-4F4D-91FE-F51A0DFFD143%7D

Popham Beach!

2009-07-28T20:47:00.000-04:00

Popham Beach was a chillier day. It was mostly cloudy, but it was still fun. We walked out to the island that is accessible during low tide, and then swam in the shallow waves that were breaking hard! About two hours later, the lifeguard came out (we were out pretty far) and told us that it would soon get deep. Within 100 feet of swimming to shore, the water was at least 12 feet deep. We all floated back in together. Tanner the Tank made it first! Keyana and Zac had fun watching the sites and enjoying the views!

Our trip to Reid State Park, Georgetown, ME

2009-07-13T10:16:00.000-04:00

What a joy it was to take our students to the Ocean on the first nice day in Maine since June 1st! It was absolutely beautiful. The water was exceptionally cold (54degrees) but we still had fun. We hiked the rocks, crawled under the bridge (Ian tried to collect a toll), and relaxed on the warm sand. Lunch was great, as the kids purchased it from the snack shack at the beach! Hot dogs, steak and cheese and onion rings were among the favorites! We were there for about three hours, but what a great time we had!

More pictures of fishing!

2009-07-07T18:58:00.001-04:00

Ian

Sand Art

Tyler

Tanner

Fishing Trip to Beaver Park

2009-07-07T18:52:00.000-04:00

After a nice relaxed morning of consumer education as our academic lesson, we were off to Lisbon, Maine to Beaver Park, one of our favorite places to visit. We all enjoyed a wonderful lunch of macaroni and potato salad, grilled corn on the cob and delicious New York Sirloin on the grill. Mr. Wentzel did an amaxzing job cooking today! The steak was perfect! The kids and staff enjoyed a wonderful fishing experience. In total, we caught at least 25 fish. Mr. Ivey caught 11! Thelast two of the day were new species to us! Devan caught a catfish and Mr.Ivey caught something we can not identify. It was very cold (57 degrees) and rainy on and off. What a great day though!

Ocean Park

2009-07-07T18:47:00.000-04:00

2009-07-07T18:42:00.001-04:00

Pictures from Boothbay!

Boothbay Harbor

2009-07-07T18:30:00.000-04:00

No rain for us at Boothbay, but it was not really very warm at all. I think it reached 61 degrees that day. We went to the aquarium. What a time we had there. The kids experienced touching the dogfish, as well as many other creatures. We then went to an ocean side park and had lunch and played on the rocks while Devan fished, trying to land a flounder. We then drove home and made it back to school in time for the buses.

First day back a success!!!!

2009-06-30T21:23:00.000-04:00

What a great first day. We talked about our curriculum for social studies and science, as well as prepared our checkbooks using our checkbook curriculum. The kids will keep track of their school credits they earn and spend throughout the day! Real life education! In the afternoon we prepared for our trip to Boothbay! The students seem so excited to touch a dogfish and a skate!

Back to school tomorrow

2009-06-29T19:44:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Tomorrow is going to be our first day of summer school! Jane, Zac and I have been working on plans and getting the schedule set for the week. This week our field trip is taking us to the beautiful town of Boothbay Harbor. We will be going to the Aquarium and having a picnic lunch on the ocean. It is such a beautiful community and I am looking forward to having my students experience this first hand. For more information on this wonderful Maine community, go to http://www.boothbayharbor.com/

Enjoy!

From tadpoles to frogs

2009-06-20T21:15:00.000-04:00

This spring, our student Devan brought to us a wonderful clutch of frog eggs. We pulled out our 50 gallon fish tank that we've never used and put some water in it from the runoff stream out behind our school. Within two weeks we had tadpoles. They were pretty fool. We were all so amazed at how fast that they grew. We fed them fish flakes and earth worms (which they ate very rapidly) daily. We watched as they grew rear legs and then front legs. As they matured, we released them into the stream out back. In these pictures you can see the tadpoles and some of the frogs! Talk about experiential learning!

School had ended for the year!

2009-06-20T20:41:00.000-04:00

With another school year coming to a end, we are on a short vacation getting rejuvinated before we start back up for the summer on June 30th. This summer, we will be in school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for eight weeks! We love long weekends! We will doing a field trip each week as well as an off campus service learning experience with a local non profit that can benefit from our assistance.
This summer we are down to three staff. Chris Ivey is the managing teacher. Jane Williams and Zac Wentzel are the incredible support staff. We are looking forward to great experiences and beautiful days this summer as we educate, socialize and prepare our students for all that life has to offer to them.