More about Fab Friday
at Freeport Middle School


Hi! I understand you would like to know more about Fab Friday so here goes. It will be stream of consciousness...

Fab Friday is our school's answer to activity period. We decided a number of years go that we would trade off full days for a period of time each day or week. We have a Fab Friday three times a year, once in the fall, October, once in the winter, January, and once in the spring, May.

The stated purpose of Fab Fridays is to involve the students and the staff in lifelong enrichment or leisure activities. We also want to have students and teachers interact with one another beyond the teacher/student relationship. Students are more than the assignments we give them and teachers are more than the assignments they give out. Fab Friday activities can be half or full day activities, on or off campus.

We brainstorm a list of possible activities then survey the students about a month before FF. From the brainstormed list we take the activities that have at least 15 students who have expressed an interest and make up a sign up list. This is done three weeks before FF. We use homebase time to have students select their top four choices. This is done two weeks before FF Each time we have a FF a different grade level get first choice.

After the students do their choices, the office staff goes through the signup sheets and creates the groups the week before FF. On the Wednesday before FF each teacher meets with their group for a few minutes at the end of the day to hand out permission slips and go over any details. For example, I take a group kayaking each fall or spring. I meet with the kids who have signed up to make sure they can get their hands on a kayak and gear. I talk about meeting times, getting parents to help drive, food, etc. I also hand out permission slips. Other teachers will talk with their groups about buses, proper clothing, first aid, behavior expectations, etc.

Each group needs to do the paperwork for fieldtrips, buses, permission slips, etc. There are fees for some activities, everyone knows there is scholarship money available. I don't think anyone is ever turned away because of costs.

If you have any questions let me know. It's a fun activity. It's a lot of work though because it's a change for everyone. Sometimes we refer to Fab Friday by another name....but in the end everyone says that it's worth the extra time to organize it, effort to carry it off, and even the time taken away from the academic agenda is worthwhile. Folks who don't understand it, or who are misinformed say it's a waste of time and resources. Some think we do it every Friday. We'd have to put ourselves out of our misery if we even did it once a month. The relationships developed among students and staff is exceptional.

Here's a list of activities we did last January:

Fab Friday Activities for January 12, 2001 Peer mediators remember you should not sign up for an activity.

All activities are full day unless otherwise specified.

1) Bread baking and breadboards - Mr. Queior and Ms. Nichols

Make two loaves of fresh "homemade" bread and a bread board all in one day. Join Mr Queior and Ms. Nichols for a day of kneading dough and cutting wood. You will go home with a tasty treat for the family and a cutting board that you design and make.

Full day activity Max: 11 students. Bring or sign up for bag lunch.

2) Intermediate Basketmaking. Mrs. Heye; Mrs. Montgomery; Mrs. Goucher.

Students who have made baskets before are invited to join us for a day of basketmaking. This will be a chance to try a new kind of basket or create your own basket design. There will be a lab fee of $3per student.

All day activity. Bring your lunch or sign up for a bag lunch. Limit 20 students.

3) Snow Tubing - Mr. Soule and Mrs. Donahue

Yeeha, lets go tubing! The Snow tubing slope in Oxford will be our destination for a day filled with fun. There is a warming hut if we get too cold and a snack bar, too. The cost is $6. per student.

45 student maximum. This is an all day activity. Bring, buy, or sign up for bag lunch.

4) Bowling - Mr. York and Mrs. York

Go to the Bowling Bowl in Brunswick for some bowling fun. $6.00 will cover bowling and shoes.

28 students. This is an all day activity. Bring, buy, or sign up for bag lunch.

5) Snowboarding - Mrs. Fournier, Mrs. Gamache and Ms. Parker.

The Seacoastnowboard park in Windham offers knarly terrain for a fun day of snowboarding. $10 per student. Plus $2. transportation fee. Snack bar will be open.

Min. 50 students. This is an all day activity. Bring or sign up for bag lunch.

6) This is two activities in one - half day each!!

Rock Gym 1/2 day - Bob M. and Ms. Zur AND
Gym activities with Mr. Cormier1/2 day.

Experience an unforgettable high as you scale the indoor climbing wall at the Maine Rock Gym. You,ll first have instruction from a Rock Gym staff member on the how to,s of climbing and belaying (securing a fellow climber with a rope is called belaying). Then you,ll be able to climb and belay, climb and belay to your hearts content, well until the bus arrives anyway. There is a morning session departing at 9:00 and returning at about11:30 and an afternoon session departing FMS at 11:00 and returns at 2:00.

The cost is $11.00 per student all equipment is provided but please wear appropriate clothing. There are scholarships available. 22 students per session. The other half of this activity is a variety of games in our gymnasium. This may include anything from basketball to badminton to volleyball. You will move from one activity to the other after lunch. Bring or sign up for bag lunch.

7) Aircraft Model & Diorama Building - Mr. Carkin

Students will be constructing their own model airplane (1/72nd scale) and a diorama base to place it on. We will be learning about airplanes and airports and watching Memphis Belle ( a WWII movie about a B-17 bomber). Students will need to provide their own models , snacks, and a bagged lunch. Toyland in Yarmouth and the Bath Hobby Shop are good sources to purchase models. Mr. Bob Chisholm ( a Brunswick Naval Air Station firefighter) and Mr. Carkin will be the instructors.

8) Woodcarving - Students signing up for this activity will have the opportunity to work with expert woodcarver Gary Cornwell. All tools and materials will be provided.

This session is limited to the first 8-10 students who sign up. Come and have a fun and relaxing day of carving! All day activity. Bring or sign up for bag lunch.

9) Design a web page! - Mr. Lunt

This full day activity will have you create a web page complete with graphics, animation, sound, links, etc! Be sure to have an idea for the topic of your page.

Full day activity. Max: 15 students. Bring or sign up for bag lunch.

10) Good Times Bowling - Mr. Galligan and Mrs. Pritchard

The group will leave at 9:30 am and return at approximately 2:45 pm. Students may bring a bag lunch or purchase lunch from the snack bar. The average cost of lunch at the snack bar is $5.00. The cost of bowling is $1.25 per string. Shoe rental is free.

All day activity. Limit 28. Bring, buy, or sign up for bag lunch.

11) Portland Museum or Art and Portland Public Market - Mrs. Pemberton, Mrs. Amaya, Ms. Compton.

Join us. We will visit Portland Museum of Art, (Wilbur net- paintings on display) and possible in-town gallery tours, lunch @ Portland Public Market or One City Center. Estimated cost is under $2. ($1 for transportation and $1 museum fee.) You will need money for lunch, perhaps a hot cocoa or snack, and any additional spending money youmay want.

20 students Bring money, bag lunch or sign up for bag lunch.

12) Come make a rain stick - Mrs. O'Brien and Ms. Murphy

Each student will be making and decorating a rainstick which will be completed and brought home that day.

Bring or sign up for bag lunch. 15 students.

13) Games, games, games!! - Mrs. Smith

Use your wits to learn and play chess, checkers, Battleship, Stratego, Parchesi and others games that require thinking and strategy. Bring your own game or use ours. In the morning we will watch half of a video about a game player and start our play. After lunch we will finish the video and continue our play.

Max 16 players. School lunch or bring your own.

14) Chinese Cooking and Culture with Mr. Toy

Students will make a trip to Mr. Toy's house in Bath to make wonton soup, eggs rolls, stir fry, and some other dishes. We'll also do some calligraphy and learn some Chinese Language. Oh, and you'll need to practice with your chopsticks!

12 students. If your parents have a van and want to join us let Mr. Toy know.

15) Life in Baseball - Mr. Paul

Watch two classic baseball movies. Study and discuss the movies and what they have brought to the film world and how they may have impacted the game of baseball. We'll break for a pizza lunch between films.

20 students. Full day activity

16) Instructor - Mr. Lou Haskell, Recreational Safety Coordinator, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

AM session Snowmobile and ATV safety-This session will cover operation and maintenance of of snow machines, winter survival skills, and responsibilities of operators. The instructor will have working snowmobiles for demonstrations. Those interested in getting a Maine Snowmobile Safety Certificate will have the opportunity to sign up for a follow up course through community ed.

PM session Firearms Safety-This session will cover how to handle and use a firearm safely, care and maintenance of firearms, hunting laws, and responsibilities of hunters.

17) Italian Celebration - Ms. Childs

This Fab Friday will be an opportunity to enjoy the influence of Italy in America. We will make stuffed bread while listening to Italian love songs and opera. We will learn some Italian language like greetings and numbers, and we will look at the location of Italy in Europe and see the different regions, weather and attractions. We will watch a delightful movie called "The Big Event" which takes place in Little Italy, New York City.

Cost: $3.00 per person. Limit: 10 Full day activity.

18) QT (quiet time) - Mrs. Cavanaugh and Mrs. Brown

Ever wanted a homebase reading activity to stretch through until lunch? Ever wanted lunch to be off campus with some friends? Ever wanted to spend a cold afternoon watching a movie and eating popcorn? If all three of these things sound like your idea of a good time, join Ms Cavanaugh and Mrs Brown for QT during Fab Friday.

Needed: A really great book and $$$ for lunch. 15 Students.

19) Candle making - Mrs. Hedgcock.

We will use colored and scented waxes for old-fashioned dipping. We will create molds in sand for three-legged sand candles. Students should bring any old coffee cans,paraffin wax, old pieces of "dead" candles, and/or crayons so that we can experiment with different techniques!

For lunch we will take a brisk walk to McDonalds or Friendly's. Students accommodated 8-10

20) Advertising - Ms. Tucker

How do advertisers convince you to buy? A fun day learning the "tricks of the trade", creating your own commercials, filming and viewing!! Students can bring in costume and prop materials. Ms. Tucker will provide materials for "sound effects".

Maximum: 15 students Please bring lunch or sign up for bag lunch.

21) Bicycle Maintenance with Fred Robie

Fred is LL Bean's bike expert. Students who sign up for this daylong workshop will learn how to maintain and repair their bikes. If the weather permits we'll take a spin around Freeport to see how our handiwork holds up!

6 Students (12 if another adult helps out). Bring or sign up for bag lunch. Full day activity.

22) Visit to the Coastal Humane Society - Ms. Zur

We will spend a fun morning at the Coastal Humane Society in Brunswick. Students will get a tour of where the animals live, learn about the animals and do some volunteer work while there. We,ll leave from FMS at 7:30 a.m. and arrive back at school for lunch and a movie at 11:30 a.m.

There is a limit of 6 students for this activity.


Here's a list of staff ideas from our fall Fab Friday list as well.......

-- museums, rock gym, hiking, juggling/mime, jewelery, dance

-- frisbee golf, ultimate frisbee, model rockets, model building

-- mining trip

-- jewelery, dance, model rockets, golf

-- gray wildlife park, ultimate frisbee, basket weaving

-- biking, museum, wolfs neck, hiking

-- BBall, VBall, YMCA, rockgym, tennnis, softball, rod and gun, biking, hiking,

-- hiking, yoga, cooking, martial arts, dance

-- rod and gun, YMCA, web page design, film fest

-- softball, rock gym,tennis,bowling,cooking,

-- golf, video, road biking, ultimate frisbee

-- museum

-- wolfs neck

-- golf, scavenger hunt, cooking, theatre

-- wolfs neck

-- Rod and Gun, breadbaking and breadboards, Delorme, skatepark

-- breadboards, yearbook, basketweaving, hydro dam visit, maritime

-- rod and gun, bowling, hunting safety

-- Museum

-- fishing, tennis, rod and gun, road bike, bradbury mt.

-- bowling, model building, gray wildlife park, jewelery making

-- golf, bowling, field day, wood carving

-- scrapbooks, jewelery making, film fest, video, coastal humane

-- golf, bowling, kayaking, sci-fi

-- coastal humane, sci-fi day, film festival classics, WWII

Matt.Arnold asked:

>Do you have full participation of teachers and students? If >there are students or staff that don't participate what do they do?

Since FabFriday is during the school day all staff and students are expected to participate. Reluctant staff are assigned to help out staff members who have large groups. I try to take into account preferences and capabilities. So, if there is a staff member who is physically challenged, I would tend to place them in a craft-based or more passive activity.

We maximize student participation by doing the pre-surveying. That way every offering is something a number of kids expressed an interest in doing. If there are a lot of kids to express an interest we will run more than one activity of that type. So, for example, biking is huge here, so we offer a road trip as well as a trail biking trip. One time we offered three different biking trips.

I always get parents to help me out when I take kids biking or kayaking. They get to see me and the kids in a different light.


Chris Toy
Principal
Freeport Middle School
19 Kendall Lane
Freeport, Maine 04032
865-6051 ext. 223
chris_toy@coconetme.org
website http://www.freeportpublicschools.org/fms/fmshome.html

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