Friday, March 26, 2021

CVSD Update: March 26, 2021

In this latest update, you will find a letter from Superintendent Pinckney, the status of 7th and 8th grade students returning for more time in school, reminders about travel and quarantining, and more. 

Thank you for taking the time to read it. As always, let us know if you have questions by contacting us using this email address (cvsdinformation@cvsdvt.org) or this form


Thursday, March 18, 2021

Pandemic Self-Portraits at WCS

 

Liz Demas, art teacher at Williston Central School contributed the following post and the self-portraits. Thank you, Liz, and your students, for sharing your personal and creative portraits. 

I shared the work of some contemporary collage artists with my grades 5-8 art students. Using collage as the medium, the goal was to create a photo realistic self portrait using an enlarged photo of themselves, and various papers: newspaper text, magazines, old maps, and books. My hope is for the students to produce art that reflects this extraordinary time we are living ~ a piece to look back on years from now that documents this surreal time in history. I will say as I worked on mine along with my classes, this was probably the most challenging art assignment I have done!

Credit goes to Judy Klima, art teacher at Edmunds Middle School, who developed the project and shared it with me.











Friday, March 12, 2021

CVSD Update: March 12, 2021


Here is the latest newsletter from CVSD. It includes a letter from Superintendent Pinckney about vaccines and bringing more students back to school, as well as results of the mid-year Thoughtexchange and some other celebrations. 

As always, let us know if you have questions. 



Monday, March 8, 2021

A Cold Run for a Great Cause

What would entice a large group of adults and students to run through freezing water and snow on a cold, winter day? A good cause, of course. Like many other things, COVID-19 has impacted the annual Penguin Plunge that usually takes place at Burlington’s waterfront to benefit Special Olympics Vermont. Not to be dissuaded, the force behind CVU’s efforts, teacher Peter Booth, worked on an alternative plan. This video was created by folks at CVU and shared with students and faculty to build excitement. Soon after it was announced that CVU would continue with an effort, Greg Marino, lead principal of the Williston Schools, joined in to help coordinate and plan. The Penguin Run was born. 

On Saturday, March 6, participants from both school communities, CVU and Williston, ran through an icy tunnel of frigid mist and snow in the Williston Central School (WCS) parking lot.  


From Peter Booth: 
This year was tough without being able to just go to the waterfront and have kids jump in the water. There were a ton of logistics and it 100% could not have happened without the help of:
  • The Hinesburg and Williston Fire Departments (especially Tim Gerry from Williston who put in HOURS as we tried to navigate all the challenges)
  • Essex Equipment who donated two massive generators that they normally rent for $300 each/day
  • Cochran’s Ski Area who gave us their two humongous snow guns without even blinking. No hesitation, Just “yup, take our $10,000 snow guns and bring ‘em back when you’re done!”
CVU has long championed inclusion and was recognized by ESPN as a Unified Champion School in 2020. This year's combined effort raised about $20,000 for Special Olympics Vermont. 

Thank you to all who helped organize, participate, and support this great event!

Friday, March 5, 2021

Meeting With Our Local Legislators

Image: https://pixabay.com/images/id-5435053/

The Champlain Valley School District's Board of Directors has an annual tradition where they meet with and have breakfast with some state legislators that serve our towns. Despite not being able to meet in person and share breakfast together, the tradition continued this morning via Zoom. We were pleased that the following legislators joined members of the CVSD School Board, along with district and school leaders, for a very informative conversation.

Joining us today: 

  • Senator Ginny Lyons
  • Senator Thomas Chittenden
  • Representative Kate Webb
  • Representative Bill Lippert
  • Representative Erin Brady
  • Representative Jessica Brumsted

Attending from the CVSD School Board: 

  • Angela Arsenault
  • Kelly Bowen
  • Brendan McMahon
  • Ken Scott
  • Josilyn Adams
  • Lynne Jaunich
  • Meghan Metzler
  • Colleen MacKinnon
  • Erin Brady (yes, she is a member of both groups!)

The discussion focused on sharing information about bills and legislation that are underway at the Statehouse. it was also an opportunity for the school board members and district administrators to share some perspective around the work happening in our district. Some of the topics discussed included literacy programs, the weighting study (proposed changes to education spending), universal school meals, and Act 1 (an act relating to ethnic and social equity studies standards for public schools.) There was also discussion around the recently released guidance for education recovery from the Agency of Education. That conversation was about funding and resources to help move us forward post-COVID. Our district's planning is already in process. 

One legislator commented that input from the district helps representatives and senators make improvements to their bills. This collaboration is so helpful and informative for all! 

Sadly, we were not able to take a photo together to commemorate the event, but look forward to meeting in person again next year.