Yarmouth Elementary School is set to launch the American Heart Association's Kids Heart Challenge (KHC) from May 4-11! 

Students will learn about heart health and engage in cardio activities while raising funds to support children with special heart conditions. The KHC will take place during physical education, music, and SEL classes, providing an engaging educational experience for all students.

Fundraising is completely optional. Registration is only needed if you are interested in participating in the donation part of the challenge, or if you want your child to engage in more heart-healthy activities.

Kids Heart Challenge Information:

When: Monday, May 4 through May 11, 2026
Where: YES gym!
Why: Personal wellness and care for others
How: Students will come to the gym during their physical education and music classes that week

Art Update - Ms. Shoukimas 

2nd-grade artists spent the winter exploring all things cardboard! We began with the short film Caine’s Arcade (if you’ve never seen it, please check it out!) and then worked collaboratively to create tabletop games. We then learned about Thomas Dambo, the incredible artist behind the giant trolls at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. With Dambo’s sustainable approach to art-making in mind, we explored cardboard relief sculpture and learned all about glue-gun safety. After more exploration and 3D cardboard building (artist Anne Weber was another inspiration), we have now switched gears, creating storm paintings to capture the many sides of spring weather!

Some questions to ask your 2nd-grade artist: 

What is a cardboard relief sculpture? How is it different from other types of sculpture?

What is a horizon line? How do you use it in a landscape painting?

3rd grade artists have worked hard to learn new drawing skills this winter. We began with exploring still life and how artists can draw from memory, imagination and observation. We observed simple still life photography and used it to help plan our own still life drawings with oil pastel, taking care to add shadows to the objects and colorful backgrounds. We then tackled self portrait drawing, a notably tricky task for many young artists, but were rewarded for our efforts by being able to turn ourselves into Alter Ego characters using a transparency sheet overlay.  Next we will explore the shack sculptures of artist Beverly Buchanan!

Some questions to ask you're 3rd grade artist:

How do you get started when drawing objects in a still life?

What is helpful about using guidelines when drawing a self portrait?

4th and 5th grade artists spent several classes working on their beautiful oil pastel owls drawing for their yearly art fundraiser. Students explored texture, pattern, and color in this fun but challenging lesson. The results were absolutely stunning. Afterward, each grade level explored sculpture, with 4th graders creating pinch-pot creatures and 5th graders creating small clay figure prototypes, which they then used to create a corresponding digital advertisement. Students were introduced to artist CJ Hendry and her hyper-realistic colored pencils drawings (check her out!), including her multiple projects drawing inflatables and balloons. We used her work as inspiration for our own balloon art and are just finishing up a painting lesson focused on mixing our own colors to replicate the full range of colors seen in a balloon creature. 

Questions to ask your 4th or 5th-grade artist:

Tell me about CJ Hendry and what makes her work unique?

How do you use color to show reflections and light in a painting?

Music Update- Mrs. Troy 

We have had a busy and successful stretch in the YES music room! Between a wildly successful Yarmouth’s Got Talent, the 5th-grade band playing at the Unified Basketball game, 4th and 5th-grade chorus singing the National Anthem at the Maine Mariners game, and 5th-grade jazz band making its debut at Jazz Night last week, our young musicians are making a difference in our community, one note at a time.

Here’s a peek at what we’ve been up to in the music room:

Grade 2: Second-grade students have been learning about the life and music of George Handel. Using the book Handel Who Knew What He Liked, by M.T. Anderson, 2nd graders learned about how Handel persevered and didn’t give up on his dreams, even when things felt really tough. After listening to Handel’s Water Music, they composed an original piece in small groups that depicted a watery scene. Their music was thoughtful and creative - and their teamwork skills were impressive!

Grade 3: Third graders are continuing to develop their music literacy skills, focusing on the basics of reading notes on the staff. They’ve become experts at the musical alphabet, determining how notes are moving (higher or lower, by a step or a skip), and figuring out unknown note names by putting all of that information together. These pattern-recognition skills will become more automatic over time and help students find success in band, chorus, and Orff ensemble next year and beyond. In addition, third graders have been playing ukulele, focusing on proper playing technique and open strings. We will dive into one and two-finger chords after the break!

Grade 4: Fourth-grade musicians made incredible progress in their Rainbow Recorder challenge. Many students completed all 8 levels and have moved into alto recorder land. The Rainbow Recorder challenge combines many of the things we’ve been working on since second grade - coordination of breath, fine motor skills, self-control, practice habits, and music literacy skills - and gives students a chance to work at their own pace and reach their own personal best. In addition, 4th graders began creating and arranging their own music using loops in GarageBand. They explored the concepts of unity and variety, and what makes a song interesting to listeners. Check out some of their songs in the YES Composer Showcase. 

Grade 5: Fifth-grade musicians have been deep in songwriting land. They’ve analyzed what makes a song work - analyzing the form, layers of sound, genre, and rhyme scheme of the lyrics. They have connected songwriting to the feelings that arise when listening and dug into how songwriters share a piece of themselves with their audience. As we head into April break, they are working on creating their own songs from the ground up - writing lyrics that draw the audience in, creating rhythmic and harmonic layers, creating cover art for their album and recording to share with others. 

News from the PTO

Art to Remember Fundraiser

Thank you to those who have already ordered! It's not too late to capture your child's creativity! The ordering window has been extended to 5/10.

We are partnering with Art to Remember again this year to celebrate your children's art and raise funds that benefit our students, including field trips, classroom enrichment, and special events! (You may remember this as Silver Graphics.)

Your Rowe & YES children worked hard on a creative and colorful art project in their art classes, which will be used to customize products! Here's the link to order! All shipping will be direct to your homes.

As in the past, you can also upload your own art or photographs to customize products by selecting "upload" near the bottom of the page and following the directions from there. 

Are you a family with older students interested in continuing your collection and ordering these products? You can! Visit the website at www.arttoremember.com and select "Shop" at the top. A banner in the center will prompt you to add a piece of artwork for custom products. From there, you can upload the file containing the (edited) artwork. Once you have placed your order, please email our representative hollyb@arttoremember.com with your order confirmation code and let her know your order is to benefit the Yarmouth Elementary School fundraiser!

Volunteer with the PTO: 2026-2027 Elections held this month! 

Are you looking to get more involved with the PTO during the next school year? Our annual elections are coming up, and we're actively seeking board members, committee chairs, and volunteers! Board members are elected positions, and elections will be held at the PTO meeting on May 21st at 7 pm in the YES library.

If you're a caretaker of a student in the Yarmouth school system, you're automatically a part of the PTO and eligible to run for any seat. For more information about anticipated openings and other role information, please reach out to Allison Cole, current PTO president, at yarmouthpto04096@gmail.com, or Emily Bates, volunteer coordinator, at emilyopoole@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Please note that there is no deadline for nominations; you may decide to run at any time up until the moment of voting at our board meeting on May 21st. Any Yarmouth resident can vote, and all are welcome and encouraged to attend!

Committee membership is another great way to be involved in the community. We're seeking chairs (or co-leadership) for the Glow Run committee, the Welcome Committee, the Rowe Ice Cream Social Committee, as well as committee members for any and all events and fundraisers.

If you're interested in any capacity, from leadership roles to one-time event volunteering, please fill out this form, and we will be in touch. We hope you'll join us!

Teacher and Staff appreciation luncheon is coming up!

We are excited to celebrate our incredible educators who show up each day with patience, creativity, and care. On Wednesday, May 6th, at YES, the PTO, along with help from the community, will be hosting a lunch for the staff members as a way to recognize the heart and hard work your child's teachers and school staff members pour into the classroom.

Thank you to all who have already committed to a donation! There are some remaining slots available for anyone who is able to bring in a homemade or store-bought item. Some items of need are:

Green Salad (2)
Pasta Salad (1)
Veggie Platter (1)
Gluten Free Side/Salad (3)
Fruit Salad (2)

If you are able to contribute, please click here to sign up.

We appreciate your support!

Staff Appreciation Discounts Around Town!

The PTO thinks the teachers and staff at Yarmouth schools are truly the best around and are so grateful for all they do for our kids! The businesses in Yarmouth agree, and during the week of Teacher Appreciation, Teachers and Staff can stop in for some extra discounts! Here is the growing list of participating places-- please help spread the word!

Clayton's Cafe- Free bagel (with spread of choice) and coffee- May 4-8
Maggie Mae’s- 20% off food- May 6th
Attic and Eaves- 15% off- Entire month of May
Royal River Books- 20% off- May 4-8
Goodfire Brewing- 20% off- May 4-8
Sea Love- 15% off scent blending and 10% off all products- May 2-8
Revel- Use code Teacher10 for 10% off pre-ordered boards- May 4- 12

Y.E.S. Field Day 

This annual event will take place on Monday, June 15th, with a rain date of Tuesday, June 16th.

We’re looking for parent volunteers to help make this a fun and successful event for the kids! If you sign up, please be sure you are also available on the rain date.

Minted Graduation Announcements, Party Invitations, etc.

Minted may be well known for their holiday and New Year's cards, but they have a wide breadth of offerings for occasions throughout the year, from graduations, birthdays, birth announcements, and more. Keep them in mind for your stationery needs and support the PTO when you place your order by using code FUNDRAISEYARMOUTH at checkout. You'll receive a 20% discount on your order and Minted will donate 10% of the sales earned using the code back to us-- a win-win! 

PTO Gather & Greet 

Join us on Tuesday, May 5th for our monthly casual coffee hour at Fox & the Fiddle (inside 317 Main) any time after 8:45 am. If you're hoping to learn more about the organization or would just like to chat with some other parents and community members, we hope you'll join us. PTO elections will be held at this month's meeting, so it's a great time to learn about some of the open positions and ways you can get involved. Drop in, grab a coffee from the cafe, and pull up a chair! 

Gather & Greet is a recurring event on the first Tuesday of each month, so even if you can't make it this month, we hope to see you for our final event of the year in June!

May PTO Meeting

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, May 21st at 7 PM in the YES library, when we'll hold our annual elections in addition to regular business. Our meetings are open to everyone, and we'd love to see you there!