It's Sure to 'Bee' Entertaining

The Bristol Theatre Company performs "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" Thursday night at 7:30 pm at Kickemuit Middle School. $25 reserved seats; $15 general admission.

Who Will Elucubrate a Victory Tonight?

The Bristol-Warren School District holds its annual Spelling Bee tonight at Kickemuit Middle School.

  [Wondering what 'elucubrate' means? Answer at the bottom of this article.] It may not be televised on ESPN like the national contest, but there's sure to be plenty of excitement at tonight's Bristol-Warren School District Spelling Bee, scheduled for 6:30 pm at Kickemuit Middle School. Two third-place finalists from last year's bee are back this time around, with the rest of the field including repeat school winners and alternates from the 2012 competition, Mary N. Almeida, the district's Director of Literacy & Title I, explained in an email message. Kickemuit's Caroline Alexandre, who's in grade 6, and eighth-grader Noah Hanmer return to the final showdown after reaching third place last year, noted Almeida, who's been coordinating the …

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Bristol and Warren Students Show Their Skills at Lego Competition

Three local teams finished in the top 25 of the First Lego League Competition, held Jan. 12 at Roger Williams University.

  Teams from Bristol and Warren schools made a respectable showing at the First Lego League Competition held Jan. 12 at Roger Williams University, with all three teams finishing in the top 25 and one squad breaking into the top 10. "Wheelchair Workout," one of two teams from Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Bristol, posted scores of 245, 180, and 185 in the three rounds of competition, good for eighth overall. "Robo Seniors" from OLMC and "Bazinga" from Kickemuit Middle School finished tied for 23rd. [Video: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Students Prep for Lego League Competition] Lynn Towers, the coach for the OLMC teams, said in an email that she is proud of her students' accomplishment . The judges even suggested that a boat created for the …

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KMS Students Collect Money, Canned Goods for Soup Kitchen

Students donated 300 canned goods and $200 in cash to the Bristol Good Neighbors Soup Kitchen.

On Friday, April 6th, two representatives from the Bristol Good Neighbors Soup Kitchen came to visit students in Jeff Grifka and Bonnie Pansa's advisory classes at the Kickemuit Middle School. As part of the Alan Shawn Feinstein Challenge to Fight Hunger, students sold soup to faculty and staff to raise money for canned goods for the soup kitchen throughout February and March. Among the many varieties of soup the students made and sold were corn and kielbasa chowder, clam chowder, bean and kale and matzo ball soup. From the soup sale, also know as "Soupapalooza," the students were able to make a donation of 300 canned goods and $200 in cash. Photos and article submitted by Bonnie Pansa of the Kickemuit Middle School

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High School, Middle School Cheerleaders Win State Competitions

Cheerleaders from Kickemuit Middle School and Mt. High School came home with first place prizes from the RICCA State Cheerleading Competition on Sunday

Cheerleaders from Kickemuit Middle School and Mt. Hope High School gave it their all at the RICCA Cheer Competition in Portsmouth on Sunday and both teams came home on top. For Kickemuit Middle School cheerleaders, winning the competition means being named best in the state of Rhode Island. But taking first in the state isn't necessarily new to the middle school cheerleaders. This win marks their second undefeated season in a row. Last year the cheerleaders were honored by town officials as well as the school committee for their achievements. "What made it even more of a big deal was that we went into the competition undefeated, so we had a championship title to uphold and a second consecutive season of being undefeated!" said Coach Lynn …

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Bristol and Warren Students Spell the Night Away

Four students walked away with prizes during the district spelling bee on Thursday.

On Thursday evening, dozens of Bristol and Warren students competed in the annual spelling bee, vying for a trophy. The district spelling bee took place at Kickemuit Middle school and was comprised of finalists from grades four through eight at all the district elementary schools, as well as grades six through eight at KMS. Of the finalists, four students walked out with the big prizes and got to meet Channel 10's Mario Hilario and Barbara Morse Silva. The winners of the evening's spelling bee were Kickemuit Middle School 8th grader Read Ruddick (first place), 4th grade Hugh Cole student Joshua Bartoszuk (second place), and KMS 6th grader Noah Hanmer and Rockwell School 5th grader Caroline Alexandre tied for third. "We could't be prouder …

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Bristol Warren Schools Participate in Roger Williams Robots Tournament

Bristol and Warren teams participated in the tournament on Saturday.

Nearly 500 elementary and middle school students competed in the 2012 FIRST LEGO® League “Food Factor” Robotics Tournament, held on Saturday on the campus of Roger Williams University. Rep. James R. Langevin (D-R.I.) and RWU President Donald J. Farish provided opening remarks for the Rhode Island Challenge, now in its 11th year. A few teams from the Bristol-Warren area competed in the tournament, including two teams from Our Lady of Mount Carmel and one team from Kickemuit Middle School. Each member of the winning team, the self-named Mindstorms Mayhem team from All Saints Academy in Middletown, R.I., walked away with not only top honors at the competition, but a four-year RWU scholarship of $5,000 per year – a total of $200,000 in …

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Middle School Principal Announces Early Retirement

On Friday afternoon Michael Carbone told students and staff that he would be retiring early.

On Friday afternoon Kickemuit Middle School's principal notified students and faculty of his decision to retire early. Kickemuit Middle School principal Michael Carbone originally planned to finish out the school year and retire next June, but after another opportunity presented itself, Carbone told students and faculty that his retirement would come much earlier than expected. Superintendent Melinda Thies said that she could not release too much information about Carbone's change but that she and Carbone had discussed his decision to pursue an opportunity in the private sector last Wednesday. "It was a little bit of a surprise to me as well," Thies said. "But I don't want to say too much because I have not yet received a formal letter …

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Teaching Sept. 11, to a Generation Too Young to Remember [VIDEO]

Local educators say they're grappling with how to teach the events of that day to youth who weren't old enough to understand at the time.

Portsmouth High School Principal Richard Littlefield calls Sept. 11, 2001, and the days that followed the most challenging time in his career as an educator. "I can say that unequivocally," he said. "Our students at that time were looking for answers, they were looking to be assured, they were looking to understand the world around them. ... As far as they were concerned, they were seeing the world crumble around." Now 10 years later, Littlefield leads a school of students who can't fully comprehend those feelings of shock and disbelief. That's because the memories of Sept. 11 and the events that followed are at best a blur. Like those youth, most of this country's younger generations were just small children or infants at the time of the …

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