York 6

See the website from the expedition; watch documentary movies.

York 6 becomes stewards of Deering Oaks in Urban Oasis March '10

Students at King Middle School in York 6 have connected with Friends of Deering Oaks for their spring expedition, "Urban Oasis". Students will be collecting data about the health of the trees, conducting a tree inventory and testing soil samples in Deering Oaks Park. Students will assume the role of steward, arborist and soil scentists. They will report their findings to city officials and Friends of Deering Oaks. York 6 will also archive their information through a link on the Friends of Deering Oaks website and the KMS website. York 6 students will be busy this season providing spring clean up and becoming life-long stewards of Deering Oaks Park!

York 6 is Takin' Care of Business Sept '09

Starting mid-October, the students of York 6 will be getting paid for coming to school, completing homework, helping classmates, and being respectful. With their earnings, the students will be creating businesses in small groups and putting their work to the test at the York 6 Carnival in December. There’s plenty of math to be completed (Ms. Murphy is the Banker), taxes to be paid (Mr. Michaud is the government), and formal business proposals to be written for the Executive Director of the York 6 Carnival, Mrs. Hatch.

York 6 welcomes new students
See pictures from the first week of school

The teachers of York 6extend a warm welcome to our students.

Information about our fall expedition is coming soon. In the meantime, you can check out expedition work from the past below.

News and Highlights from Last Year:

ATTENTION EARTHLINGS: LIFE ON EARTH ENDING FRIDAY
Choose your new planet before it's too late at York 7's culminating event on June 4.

Artist rendering of June 5, 2009

It is with regret that I, Michap Pedroia, Chancellor of the Intergalactic Federation of Planets (IFP), inform all Earthlings of your impending doom. All life forms on Earth will be destroyed by an asteroid measuring 1000 of your Earth miles in diameter. The asteroid will impact your planet at 9:00 a.m. on June 5, 2009.

The IFP has assigned 12 member planets to assist in saving as many of your inhabitants as possible. These member planets have the capability of sustaining human life, and also stand to gain something by the presence of Earthlings on their respective planets.

At the culminating event on June 4, you will have the opportunity to select the planet on which you wish to live. Please educate yourselves by reading the information posted at the website and post questions you may have to representatives from each of the IFP member planets.

Sincerely,

Michap Pedroia

Michap Pedroia
Chancellor,
Intergalactic Federation of Planets

York 7 blasts off into their final expedition - the Final Frontier March 26

Greetings Earthlings,

This is Commander John of the Counsel of Intergalactic Calamities. I have some disconcerting information to reveal.

Unfortunately, on June 1, 2009, your planet will disintegrate, destroying all Earth-based life forms. It is York 7's mission to construct a space colony containing the prime specimens of humanity. This space colony must be able to sustain human life for 1000 Earth years. Use all of your skills, as well as your knowledge of ecology, architecture and sustainability.To assist you in your mission, find comfort in knowing that one of your teachers is a member of the Final Five.

Student Views of the Expedition: 1000 Years without a Bath, on the web in multimedia
See the documentaries March 1

The expedition 1000 Years Without a Bath is one of the longest running expeditions at King. This year, the students of York 7 produced over 10 skits that fit together loosely into a musical depicting life in medieval Europe.

This documentary section includes all of the performance pieces indexed by their skit names, as well as several behind-the-scenes features showing how the performance came together.

Those interested in more recent history, can visit KingTV to see a documentary of this expedition from 9 years ago under the title Castle Days, Medieval Knights.

York 7 brings medieval times to life Oct 2

York 7 has begun their medieval expedition, A Thousand Years Without a Bath. Students will create and take on fictional roles of lives in the middle ages, and will finish with a performance at the State Street Church. Each student will create a character based upon roles of that time, and write a memoir or a journal entry about what life was like for that character. Eventually the different characters will meet one another in skits produced by the students.

To prepare for the performances, students and teachers will create original costumes of the age, and develop context for their stories through studies of medieval medicine and disease, calligraphy, family shields, stain glass work, and much more.

Following the performance, students will enjoy a medieval feast!

News and Highlights from 07-08:

Alien Invaders are coming April 10

See Video from the Expedition

York 6 is fighting Alien Invaders! No, it's not an expedition about science fiction. The students and teachers of York 6 are joining forces with the City of Portland and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to address Maine's invasive species epidemic. Along the way, we will be collecting data on invasives in Maine, working to reduce invasives in Portland and at Biddeford pool, and disseminating our findings through the design and production of informational pamphlets and posters.

Taking Care of Business is a learning expedition for students in York 6. We learned about what it takes to run a small business, we created our own businesses, and tested our ideas in a business carnival for fellow-students and families. Learn all about it here.

In music class, the students of York 6 learned about advertising, and the role of music in selling products. They then produced their own commercials, each with original music arrangements and a voice recording of their sales pitch.

This fall, students in York 6 have been working on their own business, in Takin' Care of Business, our first expedition. Students have been raising money for a while now, and are almost ready to take out their bank loans.

We will need to create a business proposal in LA, make money in math, and pay our taxes in social studies. Coming to school and doing odd jobs for our teachers can make money. And yes, money can be taken away by coming to class late, speaking out, and not doing your homework.

During the fall and the winter the students and teachers of York 7 made medieval times come to life in our expedition 1000 Years without a Bath? The journey from idea to reality was long but worth every second. Learn all about it in our Student View of the Expedition. More...