On April 2nd, eight CMHS students traveled to Eastham in order to participate in a Habitat for Humanity building project as part of their community service graduation requirement. Habitat for Humanity provides affordable housing for low income families worldwide and relies on the services of volunteers to complete their mission which has provided thousands of homes to deserving families for over 30 years. Participants included; Adam Harrington, Idayah Jones, Cameron Keefe, Katelyn McCarron, Kristen McCarron, John Reilly, Emily Rubin, and Madison Senna under the tutelage of the US History II teacher Thomas McLean.

Chef Dan Portelance, Culinary Arts Instructor at Carver Middle High School, has been selected as the “ProStart National Educator of Excellence.”

This award recognizes, rewards, and promotes an educator who demonstrates excellence in the classroom as well as passion, commitment and creativity in all aspects of the ProStart program.

Chef was nominated for the award this winter by the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and he will be going to Chicago in May to receive it.

Chef Portelance was also recently featured in a short documentary, “Why this Road” produced by Breakwater Studios.

Congratulations to Chef Portelance on this well-deserved recognition.

Daniel Shannon, an eighth grader, has been notified by the National Geographic Society that he is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2016 Massachusetts National Geographic State Bee. The contest will be held at Elms College in Chicopee on Friday, April 1, 2016.  Dan also won the school competition last year and competed in the State Bee.

Daniel Shannon (left) and runner-up Robbie Cottam (right)

School Bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions then took an online qualifying test. The National Geographic Society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the state Bees.

Each state champion will receive $100, the National Geographic book “The National Parks: An Illustrated History” and a medal, and will journey to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Geographic Bee Championship at National Geographic Society headquarters, May 22-25, 2016. The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. The national champion will also travel (along with one parent or guardian), all expenses paid, on a Lindblad expedition to Southeast Alaska aboard National Geographic Sea Lion, including Glacier Bay National Park, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. Travel for the trip is provided by Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic. Visit www.natgeobee.org for more information on the National Geographic Bee.

The 2016 National Geographic Bee Championship final round, moderated for the first time by journalist and humorist Mo Rocca, will air on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD on Friday, May 27, at 8 p.m. ET, and later on public television stations..