List of 3 news stories.

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  Sixth graders take leadership role on composting program

  3/9/2023
  For the past several years, Tenacre has participated in Wellesley’s Food Waste Challenge, a project of the Wellesley Department of Public Works. This composting program engages sixth graders in a daily project that results in putting any food waste from Tenacre’s lunchroom to good use. After every lunch, fifth and sixth graders are responsible for clearing the tables and scraping any plates with leftover food into designated buckets in the lunchroom. Once everyone has been dismissed to lunch recess, sixth graders work in teams of two to tie up the bags of food scraps and put them in green bins located outside the lunchroom. Once a week, the Town of Wellesley picks up the bins and delivers them to a farm in western Massachusetts, where the food waste is put into an anaerobic digester. This machine breaks down the food into three components: gas, which is used to produce electricity; liquid, which is made into a “compost tea” to use as fertilizer; and a dry component, which is used as bedding for animals.
  
  

  Food waste makes up about 40% of our landfills, emitting high levels of greenhouse gases and  creating toxic leachates that end up in our waterways. Food waste is energy. Wasted food is wasted energy. One ton of food waste can power up to 10 homes with electricity. 
   
  In addition to gathering lunchroom waste, sixth graders are also responsible for gathering, on a daily basis, used coffee grounds and food scraps from the staff lounge and putting them in the green bins.

  Science teacher Leah Staffier, who runs Tenacre’s composting project, believes that Tenacre’s participation in the Food Waste Challenge is important for the school and the students. “Our food waste isn't actually waste anymore with what we're doing. It’s getting converted into electricity, fertilizer, and bedding for animals,” Staffier said.
  
  

  “The composting project also teaches sixth graders responsibility and that they can do more,” Staffier added. “They are leaders and role models, so it’s important for the younger students to see sixth graders taking this responsibility. This one little act at lunchtime makes a big difference, and they're doing it.”
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  Fourth graders help PKers with Spanish voacbulary

  3/9/2023
  In Spanish class, fourth graders have been learning animal vocabulary and the difference between Spanish’s two versions of the verb “to be,” ser and estar. To help them learn when to use each verb and practice new vocabulary, students created their own version of the beloved children’s book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You see? Fourth graders chose a habitat and an animal that would live in that habitat before creating their book, incorporating what they have been learning in class. In the meantime, pre-kindergarteners have been learning the basic animals as part of their Spanish classes. For the final step of this project, fourth graders read their books to their Little Friends in pre-kindergarten before giving them the books as a gift.
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  First graders perform class play, "The Principal and the Pea"

  3/8/2023
  First graders performed their class play this morning in Wells Playhouse. “The Principal and the Pea” is a musical that tells the story of a school searching for the perfect principal. Taking its inspiration from the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale, The Princess and The Pea, the kids in this musical, wondering why they're never asked what they think or what they want, devise the perfect plan when the teachers cannot choose. Of course, the students find the perfect fit, "A grown-up who could not stand peas," only to find out that their new principal is a fan of... Brussels sprouts!