Students unravel a mystery and get fit

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — Last week a pair of events at the SeDoMoCha School promoted reading and wellness respectively through several fun after-school activities.
    Librarian Gayle Peirce said flyers were posted around the middle school to promote “Boys Only!” on March 6 after school. “We got the male teachers to come in and help with this,” Peirce said as the promotional material indicated teachers Derek Carroll, Richard Clark, Jeffrey Dale, Jeff Love, Ryan Nickerson, Sean Malone and Peter Walsh and Assistant Principal Matthew Lokken would all be in attendance.

    “To build suspense we covered up the library windows,” Peirce said, as the Boys Only! attendees learned the event was centered around a theme of mysteries once the middle school boys stepped through the library doors on the afternoon of March 6. Peirce said the boys enjoyed popcorn and drink while listening to some “Two-Minute Mysteries.” They then viewed some video book trailers, which Peirce said they also enjoyed.
    “We had a discussion on what they are reading and they showed some great enthusiasm,” Peirce said, adding that statistics indicate that middle school can be a time when some boys begin to fall behind in school. “I wanted them to know we are here and the library is here for them to come in and explore.”
    She said “Boys Only!” had a relaxed atmosphere for the students to spend some time with the seven teachers and the assistant principal, and the two age groups had the opportunity to play board games, including Clue, together.
    “We had a turnout of 16 boys, I thought it was good for the first time,” Peirce said, adding that she had been wanting to try a “Boys Only!”-type event. “I am sure the boys hope to do it again.”
    She said some of the middle school girls indicated they would like to have an event of their own, and Peirce said school officials are looking into holding such an event for the female students.
    On the evening of March 7 the entire school community — pre-kindergarten though eighth grade and students’ families — were invited to SeDoMoCha’s Wellness Family Fun Night. School nurse Emily Poland said the night, the second of the school year with the first taking place during the first semester, had three activities for participants to take part in.
    “We had Taekwondo, line dancing and yoga,” Poland said, with Wellness Family Fun Night attendees performing each activity for about 20 minutes and then rotating to the other two. She said the evening also included open gym time for the older students to play basketball.
    “Our goal is to promote family fun together in a physical way,” Poland said about the evening. She said a crowd of about 50 attended the Wellness Family Fun Night, and “Taekwondo was the most popular” of the three activities. She said the martial arts and yoga sessions were taught by parents and a teacher served as the line dancing instructor.
    “The kids had fun, they liked seeing their teachers having fun,” Poland said, mentioning a third Wellness Family Night will likely be held in the spring.