The Messalonskee Monitor
Homework often
is a waste of time
By Cooper LaPlante
Staff Writer
I can determine the missing coordinates of a partially graphed shape with both hands tied behind my back and a blindfold on.
After all, we spent an hour in class discussing how to do it, taking notes on it, and doing two pages of in-class work on it.
Yet even though I’m certain every student in that class could ace a test on the subject, we still receive two pages of homework that are nothing more than an exercise in tedium.
That’s not to say that every single piece of homework is a waste of time. The validity of assignments is highly dependent on the classes, the grade level, and even the school.
Some assignments in certain classes can serve a real purpose. Take your average writing class, for example. Typically, you read through a book, the teacher makes sure you understand it through the use of in-class quizzes or short written assignments, and then you write an essay or two, expounding on the meaning of the book, gaining a deeper understanding of its themes, a greater hold on literature in general, and, most likely, some words, phrases, or writing styles that you could use later on in life.
The problem is that meaningful homework tends to be few and far between, and so many other classes don’t teach you anything with their homework. It’s exactly what the word entails: work. A series of pointless tasks that do nothing but further exhaust students, day after day.
Most of my assignments do nothing but repeat the same done to death lesson that I’ve already learned, forcing me to take time out of my day, not to be educated, but to practice my ability to sit at my desk and regurgitate things I already know onto a page, despite proving that morning that I’m more than capable of doing it.
Homework rarely teaches anything. Instead, it consumes your time, or, at best, helps you memorize a subject, idea, theory, or practice that you might never use in your life again.
About a week ago now, I was having a conversation with Julius Thibodeau, a good friend of mine who began attending a different school at the beginning of this year.
We were discussing what we had been doing that weekend, and, coincidentally, both of us had spent the majority of it working on homework.
I had just finished up my last sheet of geometry not even minutes before we began talking, and I planned to start the budget for this column during the conversation.
That’s when Julius said something that I’m positive most, if not all, students attending school can relate to.
“I’m contemplating just getting off and crying myself to sleep,” he told me.
He had spent roughly 3 hours each day that weekend doing homework, perched in front of his screen, back hunched, fingers bent, and corneas slowly being burnt away as he mindlessly typed in another another sequence of numbers.
That feeling of uselessly writing away for hours, knowing that the next day, you’ll have to do it all over again, is engrained deep into every student's mind.
I asked a group of friends if they would prefer school with less or no homework, and everyone said yes, citing some legitimately good reasons.
Many of them have extracurriculars and have to spend up to 3 hours after school on a club or some other responsibility, meaning that if they were to start doing homework as soon as they got home, they would be done by 8:30 PM, assuming that they have the usual 3 hours of homework.
By that time of the night, I’m in bed, listening to music or watching cooking videos. Why you may ask? Well, because the average teenager is recommended by the school curriculum to get 9 hours and 20 minutes of sleep each night to function properly.
I have to wake up at 6:30 a.m. each morning to be up and ready for school, meaning that I should be getting to bed at around 9 p.m.
On the days where I and 2 other friends of mine need to attend robotics, a 3-hour commitment, we are left with 30 minutes before we should, in theory, go to bed.
That is ridiculous to me. 30 minutes of free time for a high school student is next to nothing, and that’s disregarding any other responsibilities the student might have, such as siblings, work, chores, and even food.
Yet despite the negligible impact homework has on academic achievement, the overwhelmingly negative psychological effect it has on students, and the huge time consumption, there has been little to no change to the amount of homework given to students.
A study from the Brown Center Report on American Education showed that for the past 4 decades, the amount of homework students have been receiving has gone largely unchanged.
Aside from a few increases and decreases in hours between grade levels, students probably have to do the same amount of studying for that upcoming bio test as their parents.
So, parents, guardians, teachers, or any who may receive complaints about homework, take a second to think about it and reflect on how you felt as a teen when it came to that math quiz you stayed up all night cramming for. It’s no different for kids now.
Fast Break Cafe serves up a tasty education
By Aspen James
Staff Writer
High school students generally don’t have many at-school options when it comes to a quick breakfast to start their day, but Messalonskee in Oakland has an alternative choice that brightens everyone's morning.
The high school’s Functional Life Skills (FLS) program, made of students with special needs, has been maintaining a small business right on campus for years: the Fast Break Cafe.
These students use the high school’s old home economics room that is equipped with enough supplies and equipment to feed an army. From iced coffee and hot cocoa to fresh-baked muffins and bagels, both students and staff can purchase a quick meal served by the most heart-warming smiles around.
The school’s FLS program focuses on creating a comfortable learning environment for students with disabilities. Instead of a traditional high school curriculum, these students learn practical skills that will assist them after their graduation. Teaching skills like time management, budgeting, cooking, cleaning, proper manners, and social etiquette prepares students for independent living and future employment.
Kayla Madore has been an educator in the special education field for nearly 10 years and has been working in Messalonskee’s FLS program for the last 3 of them.
She said, “From what I’ve heard, we are one of the only FLS programs in this are and in the state of Maine that runs like this. We are a very unique program."
“We focus more on functional and practical skills to prepare for future employment rather than academic areas like chemistry or physics.” she said. “They do get academics as well, but it’s all related to functional skills, so it really all ties in together for them”.
The FLS room, where these students spend the majority of the day, is a welcoming environment. The colorful space is filled with comfy seats, stimulating activities, and friends that will happily sit down and tell their interesting stories.
Next door, the old home economics room has been brightened and renovated into a charming breakfast cafe.
A multitude of appliances and supplies are found, all clean and organized, courtesy of the hard-working employees. The smell of fresh-baked muffins and the sound of giggles and coffee brewing fills the room.
“The Fast Break Cafe is really the cornerstone of our program,” Madore said. “We are essentially running a small business that operates as a real breakfast cafe, and it’s truly like a job for the kids”.
Every day, these students are assigned various tasks around the kitchen. Although the cafe is only open every other day, their off days are designated for preparation for the next business day.
Madore said, “Everyone is assigned a prep job and a station job, and they rotate about every two to three weeks depending on how much they have learned”.
“On prep days we bake muffins, make coffee, stock, and clean the kitchen as well as our classroom,” she said.
The Fast Break Cafe caters to students and staff alike, providing comfort foods courtesy of Messalonskee's Functional Life Skills program.
“We do all of our dishes, laundry, and cleaning here,” she said, “so the kids can really get an understanding of how to run a kitchen and household”.
Myra Trott, a freshman at Messalonskee with special needs, had an early transfer to the high school’s FLS program as an 8th grader and has been eager to learn since.
Madore said, “Myra is only a freshman and she is already absorbing so much, I think she’s going places”.
Trott is one of the many incredibly friendly members of the program and is insistent on engaging in conversation. She will chat about her favorite topics in school like ceramics, her favorite movies, and funny stories from her childhood.
“My favorite part of the cafe is eating the goods,” she said with a giggle.
Myra enjoys working with her group of friends and switching stations to learn all she can from the cafe.
“There is no I in team,” she said. “The only part I don’t like is that we have to wear aprons and gloves and a hairnet, but I know we have to keep things clean”.
“The coffee and muffins are the most popular,” she said. “I like the pumpkin chocolate chips ones, but we also have mixed berry, blueberry, and raspberry with white chocolate chips”.
Fast Break receives equal support from students and staff, even the drivers from the bus garage regularly come in and purchase their breakfast from the students. The cafe’s detailed menu has many options, but the coffee and muffins are particularly popular.
“We have had a pretty good following,”
Madore said.
The cafe had to be shut down during the previous school year due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. They were able to reopen the cafe this school year, but the lingering pandemic has shifted some of their daily operations.
“This year we can only open the cafe up to study hall students,” Madore said, “because you have to take your mask off to eat and you have to be 6 feet away from someone to do so”.
Previous to the pandemic and the high school’s mask mandate, the students would deliver the goods to different classrooms during the first period of the day.
Bordes turns love for volleyball into a coaching passion
By Brianna Carmona
Staff Writer
Messalonskee High School English Teacher Lisette Bordes worried her involvement in volleyball was over after tearing several ligaments in her left leg during her freshman season at Division I Alabama.
But 25 years later, Bordes is back on the court, this time as coach of the Messalonskee volleyball program she founded.
“It was really the girls who started it,” Bordes said. "A few of the girls who pushed to create the team were Mackenzie Mayo and Jordan Devine.”
Bordes said that she first offered volleyball as an activity during the YES (Year End Studies) program. The YES program is a time at the end of the year where students can choose to do fun activities or credit recovery if they need it.
Because of how familiar she was with the sport, Bordes thought she would try something new and add it as an activity. Bordes said the group that signed up ended up loving it and quickly picked up the sport.
The students loved it so much that they went to Messalonskee principal Paula Callan and put together Messalonskee’s first club volleyball team. Though Bordes wasn't so sure of the idea at first, she knew she had to be involved in starting the program for her students.
Only a few years later in fall of 2020, Messalonskee first Varsity Volleyball team was approved.
Coach Lisette Bordes (middle) instructs her volleyball players during a game played a few years ago at Messalonskee High School.
As a child, Bordes started volleyball in eighth grade with her friend. Bordes said, “Our team had a really good reputation for working hard, winning, etc. ... I was interested in taking on those challenges with the sport.”
Bordes said that, “When I was younger, I didn’t really understand what it meant to play in college… Actually I went to a school where a lot of kids, as we were getting older, you could see the division of privilege from kids who had a lot and who didn't.”
At the time she described how other students at her school were getting cars and talking about their college funds or where they were going to attend. She had a sit down with her dad and asked “Is there a chance that I could get a car? Or have something to drive?” Bordes said her father told her “If I get a full scholarship to college,
then they would have a way to get me a car.”
Because of how hard it is to obtain academic scholarships, she knew volleyball was the path to take. Bordes started going to the gym, practicing whenever she had free time and even more, she knew she had to work hard for what she wanted.
She soon quickly realized how much love she had for the sport and quickly forgot why she was really training so hard. “I was just all in,” said Bordes.
At the end of her high school career, Bordes ended up getting her D I full ride scholarship to University of Alabama. But not everything went to plan.
In 1995 during a practice for the SEC division playoff Bordes had a net injury that caused her to tear multiple ligaments in her leg. ‘“When I went in for a surgery the doctors said, ‘This looks like a football injury. How the heck did
did you do this in volleyball?’ ”
During the recovery, every day after classes she would do rehab from noon to 6 from spring through all of summer. By the time the next fall season came along, she was ready. Though it was difficult, “I was actually stronger than I was before. My vertical was higher…. It's just such an intense and difficult program. I was just in better shape,” Bordes said.
After her sophomore year, she just knew that Alabama wasn’t the right fit for her, but she never let her passion for volleyball disappear. This is what led her to transfer to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Though she continued to play volleyball at Louisiana-Lafayette, she just couldn’t get enough. During the off season she coached younger club teams, which took up a lot of her time. “I never got a break. I never really wanted a break,” Bordes said.
Over the years Bordes pursued her passion of volleyball through many different ways, but when she came to Maine it all came to a halt. This was her first time being involved with a high school and not having volleyball.
When the team was first being pieced together, she said yes to coaching. Bordes said, “I was worried that if I didn’t say yes, we wouldn’t have a team.” All she wanted was to at least get a program started. Her thought was maybe someone else could take over the team in the future.
Ice Cream Shoppe finds success in Oakland despite the pandemic
The Ice Cream Shoppe Locations/Hours
Oakland - Takeout, Drive Through, Indoor Seat 12-9 p.m. year-round
Randolph - Takeout 12-8 p.m. May-October
Skowhegan - Takeout 12-8 p.m. May-October
Farmington - Takeout 12-8 p.m. May-October
The Oakland Ice Cream Shoppe is the company's only location that stays open year-round and offers drive-thru pickup as an option for customers.
By Ella Buck
Staff Writer
Many businesses closed during the pandemic, victims of a virus that made it difficult to attract workers and customers. The Ice Cream Shoppe is an exception.
The Ice Cream Shoppe succeeded — big time.
Local resident comes to The Ice Cream Shoppe in Oakland on a cold rainy night.
“I was so excited when they announced that they were coming to Oakland,” Messalonskee High School sophomore Haylea Patten said. “They have the best ice cream hands down, and it’s extremely convenient as I live two minutes away. Also, the prices are great for the amount you get.”
The Ice Cream Shoppe in Oakland, barely five months old, is the fourth location of a shop that first opened in Skowhegan in 1988. At the Oakland site whiskey barrel trash cans and barn wood siding create a down-home and rustic environment.
Menu boards are handwritten with items like Graham Central Station — graham cracker ice cream with a graham cracker swirl and chocolate-covered crunch candies.
The shop aims its crosshairs at southern-aesthetic pleasure to create a fun atmosphere, said The Ice Cream Shoppe’s Tina Gardner, who owns and operates the business with her husband, Robert.
“We had intended for building a new location,” Tina said, “and a great opportunity came that we couldn’t pass up: a piece of land on KMD Drive, a major travel stretch.”
But then the pandemic happened.
“COVID-19 suddenly approached within one month after we bought the land,” Tina said, “but we knew no matter what the circumstances were that we could survive on the incoming money from the other locations.”
Tina said her husband was always behind the scenes helping to construct the building as he is not only an entrepreneur but also a contractor.
“We wanted an accessible easy-to-use location that offered a drive-through and indoor seating intended for the winter seasons to make extra revenue,” Tina said.
As with most new food establishments, construction delays due to the pandemic pushed back The Ice Cream Shoppe’s grand opening. The Gardners originally intended for a late spring launch but finally opened on June 25 after more than a year of preparation.
According to Tina, the business has been booming. Nearly 600 customers showed up on its first day.
“It was crazy,” Tina said. “I hoped we’d get a lot of business, but it was more than expected. We truly believe that we’re doing so well because there are so many options to choose from: 50 different flavors of ice cream, sundaes, parfaits, smoothies, shakes, banana splits, etc. ”
Employee Addyson Greenlaw said, “This was my first job, and the first day it opened I was bombarded with customers and everything was hectic."
Messalonskee High School athletes wait for a bus to arrive earlier this month. Athletes have had to endure delays in getting to sporting events because of a shortage of bus drivers.