Winter Games Live! » SeDoMoCha Schools
Dover-Foxcroft, Maine | Piscataquis County
Grades PreK-8
Meet the School
“For many of our students, the Winter Games would be their first chance to see winter as an opportunity, not an obstacle.”
Weekly Updates
Week 1
Physical Activity
January 12-16, 2026
“This week reinforced my belief that movement, joy, and connection belong at the center of our school culture. When students feel successful, supported, and excited to participate, the impact goes far beyond a single week.”
Moment of the Week
Reflections
This week was one of those moments that reminds me why I love what I do. WinterKids Week 1 truly brought out the best in our school community. Many of our Unified Arts teachers intentionally highlighted stretching and checking pulse with students, which helped reinforce the heart-health message across settings and made the learning feel consistent and purposeful for kids.
At recess, we ran relays outside, and the difference in enjoyment and participation, especially for our middle school students was noticeable. Students who don’t always choose to be active during recess were engaged, moving, and encouraging one another. The energy felt positive and inclusive rather than forced, which is exactly what we hope for.
We also took Elementary PE outside this week, and honestly, I don’t know if I’d want to bring these activities back inside again. Being outdoors elevated everything: engagement, joy, and willingness to try. Students had fun, and that fun translated into meaningful movement. One moment that really stood out to me was a student who typically struggles with PE and often opts out or sits during running activities. This week, he was leading the charge outside: moving, smiling, and fully participating. Seeing that shift was incredibly
powerful.
I love finding ways for all students to feel successful, especially those who don’t always see themselves as “active kids.” This week affirmed that when we create the right environment and offer the right opportunities, students rise to the occasion. WinterKids gave us a framework to be creative, flexible, and student-centered, and the results spoke for themselves. The confidence I saw in students, especially those who are often hesitant, was one of the most rewarding parts of the week.
Scoring a 4 on almost all areas of the rubric felt like an authentic reflection of the work happening here. We weren’t just checking boxes; we were creating experiences that mattered. Between the creativity of our activities, the strong staff collaboration, and the visibility from Channel 8 covering our opening ceremony and part of the Snack Pals Heart Walk, our students truly felt celebrated and proud to be part of something bigger.
This week reinforced my belief that movement, joy, and connection belong at the center of our school culture. When students feel successful, supported, and excited to participate, the impact goes far beyond a single week, and that’s the energy I’m excited to carry forward into the rest of WinterKids.
Week 2
Nutrition
January 19-23, 2026
SeDoMoCha competes in WinterKids Winter Games
SeDoMoCha Schools are proud to be participating in the WinterKids Winter Games, competing on the competitive track against schools across the state of Maine while representing Piscataquis County. >> READ MORE
“…the sense of togetherness was felt throughout the entire school, and it reinforced the heart of WinterKids: connection, creativity, and whole-school wellness.”
Moment of the Week
Reflections
Week Two of WinterKids focused on nutrition, and it was a strong reminder of how powerful community partnerships can be. We were thrilled to welcome a representative from Northern Light as our community coordinator, who joined our classrooms for a nutrition-themed read aloud. The students loved it, and it was especially meaningful for us as a school to continue strengthening connections with organizations that support the health and well-being of our families.
With no school on Monday and fluctuating, sometimes frigid temperatures, we had to stay flexible and creative in how we kept students moving. We adapted by bringing 5-2-1-0 activities into the hallways and finding ways to keep students active and engaged even when being outside wasn’t always feasible. One of the highlights for me was involving our eighth-grade health students, who worked alongside fourth graders during outdoor activities. Giving my health classes ownership over parts of WinterKids has been incredibly rewarding and has helped build leadership, confidence, and a sense of responsibility in our older students.
As a larger school, hosting a community lunch required thoughtful planning to meet the rubric while honoring our space limitations, and I truly believe we rose to the challenge. While we don’t have a single space that can accommodate all 600+ students at once, we created a shared experience by having all students eat lunch at the same time in their homerooms. This structure allowed students to sit with peers they don’t normally spend time with and helped foster new connections. We also invited families to join their children for lunch throughout the building, which brought an added layer of excitement and meaning to the day. I talked about the community lunch all week with students, and some of the most memorable moments were seeing the genuine surprise and joy on younger students’ faces when an older sibling walked into their classroom to sit and eat with them.
Even without a single shared space, the sense of togetherness was felt throughout the entire school, and it reinforced the heart of WinterKids: connection, creativity, and whole-school wellness.
Week 3
Family
January 26-30, 2026
Moment of the Week
Reflections
Week three kicked off exactly the way a Maine winter likes to remind us who’s boss with over a foot of snow and a snow day on Monday. By Tuesday morning, we were back and ready to kick off the week with kindness, and honestly, it felt like the timing couldn’t have been better.
This week centered around our Kindness Boxes, placed in classrooms for students to add acts of kindness they noticed throughout the building. What stood out immediately was how intentional students became. Teachers shared that one day was spent explicitly recognizing what kindness looks like, and the following day students were actively searching for it in their classrooms, in the hallways, and with one another.
We already have strong systems in place at our school, like SOAR tickets (SOAR like an eagle) and positive office referrals, which we use frequently to reinforce positive behavior. But this felt different. Students weren’t just being kind to earn something, they had to notice kindness, or choose to go out of their way to show it. The intrinsic motivation shifted. Kindness was front of mind: If I’m kind, someone else might be kind to me.
It kept reminding me of that quote: “In times of darkness, look for the helpers.” That truly captured the feeling in our building this week — people actively looking for the good instead of the negative. You could feel it.
The cold weather had us in and out during PE classes, which pushed me to get creative. One of my favorite moments came from a partner relay activity that our first graders proudly named “Copycat.” It has quickly become a go-to warm-up, filled with nothing but giggles. Children laughing is one of my favorite sounds and I tell them that often. There was no prep, no equipment, just kids being silly with a friend and moving together.
As a staff, we’ve been doing a lot of professional development around regulated classrooms, and this activity was a perfect example of movement that helps students regulate, connect with peers, and then be ready to listen and learn. It activated them in all the right ways.
On Friday, we wrapped up the week with a whole-school assembly, where we celebrated one student from each grade level who had been nominated through the Kindness Boxes. Each student received a certificate and a pair of blue star sunglasses from my kindness box. Watching those students be recognized and seeing their peers cheer them on was incredibly meaningful. This week aligned so closely with my philosophies as a teacher, and it felt really special to see those values come to life.
The weekly incentive was flashlights, and our librarian truly brought this piece to life by teaching students Morse code. For our younger students, we provided slides with color patterns already created, while our older students took on a leadership role. Our eighth graders went down to kindergarten to do this activity with them, which once again highlighted the intentional community-building that WinterKids has pushed us to think about.
We talk a lot about improving school community, but WinterKids has challenged us to make conscious, meaningful decisions about how students interact across grade levels. The engagement of our older students has noticeably increased. They understand that they are role models now. Even something as simple as walking down the hallway has shifted — they know younger students are watching them, looking up to them. One moment that really stuck with me: during one class, a kindergarten student came in late, and without hesitation, an eighth grader waved them over and said, “Come join us over here.” That speaks volumes.
To wrap up the week, we hosted our Outdoor Family Night on our school’s nature trail, which features a story walk. The book we chose was The Night Tree by Eve Bunting, and we intentionally designed the evening to mirror the experience of the book so families could share that moment together. Using our Hannaford gift card, we provided hot cocoa, oranges, and popcorn. We dried orange slices so families could make orange ornaments for the trees. Students spread peanut butter on the oranges, dipped them in birdseed, and hung them along the trail for wildlife. We also had popcorn to string for garlands and while we quickly learned that threading popcorn with a plastic needle is not easy, we got creative and used knots in the yarn to hold everything together.
Families came in after school, walked the story trail together, created decorations, and truly experienced something special as a community. We invited our local Hannaford from Dexter, Maine, and while they weren’t able to attend, it still felt important to connect with them and to thank them personally and share the positive impact their organization has had on our school. It’s one thing to know you’re helping, but it’s another thing entirely to hear about the difference you’re making.
This week was full, intentional, and heart-centered and it reminded me why I love doing this work.
Week 4
Winter Carnival
February 2-6, 2026
Moment of the Week
Week 4 Winner
Reflections
Week four of WinterKids was our Winter Carnival week, and it truly felt like a celebration of everything that makes our school community special. There was a lot happening across the building, and it was one of those weeks where you could feel the energy everywhere you went. Throughout the week, our art teachers, along with both elementary and middle school students, worked on a beautiful cafeteria mural made up of fruit hearts. Every single student in the school contributed by coloring or designing a heart, and students helped put them up on the wall. Seeing a visual representation of every student’s contribution was a powerful reminder of how much pride our students take in being part of something bigger than themselves.
We also tied movement into the week by bringing stretching out to recess, giving students a chance to test their flexibility in a fun, low-pressure way as part of their assessments. These small moments of intentional movement added to the overall spirit of wellness that WinterKids promotes.
The highlight of the week and honestly the funnest part was our outdoor Winter Carnival. We brought beach balls outside for the entire school and paired each grade level with their buddies. This buddy system was introduced earlier in the school year, pairing younger and older students together, and we’ve continued to use it on half days to build community. Carrying that tradition into Winter Carnival felt like a natural fit.
With over 600 students outside at one time, this event required creativity, flexibility, and a lot of thoughtful planning. Even on Field Day, we typically split elementary and middle school into separate blocks, so bringing everyone together was new territory for us. Staff worked incredibly hard to make this experience both safe and fun. Each grade level was given tools to be creative—hula hoops, scarves, small and large parachutes and students played a variety of games and relays within their buddy groups. The engagement, laughter, and joy were impossible to miss, and it was so rewarding to see both students and staff ending the week on such a high note.
We were also fortunate to have members of our broader community join us. Our school board president attended as a guest and also represented Rowell’s Garage. We had a PTCO member and several parents participate, as well as the head of our Positive Action Team. We even made sure our Adapted PE class was included in the activities, reinforcing that this truly was a celebration for everyone.
Coordinating events like this in a larger school is never easy, but weeks like this remind me why it’s worth the effort. Bringing people together, getting creative, and sharing leadership across staff and community partners made this Winter Carnival a meaningful and memorable way to wrap up WinterKids. I’m incredibly proud of our students, our staff, and everyone who helped make this week such a success.
The WinterKids Winter Games is a four-week outdoor learning challenge that inspires thousands of Maine elementary students to move, learn, and explore during the HEART of winter.
