A Passion for Flight

Here's one example of a student project with some exciting outcomes. Jonah Wayman, a 6th grader at Williston Central School chose to study electric planes for his end of year Genius Hour project. After reaching out to a local expert, he connected with Beta Technologies, an electric airline company in South Burlington. On Wednesday he had the experience of a lifetime! This will have a very positive impact on his research.

WCS Humanities teachers Jared Bailey and Joy Peterson provided some highlights of Jonah's experience. 

Jonah (and Jared too!): 

• was flown in a helicopter by the pilot of Barack Obama's Marine One
• looked through the two prototype planes they currently operate (one cargo, one passenger)
• used the flight simulator
• met the engineering team and flight team
• had lunch with the staff
• toured the scale model lab

The company is also planning a flyover of WCS for the learning team's open house on Friday, June 11th with two electric planes and the helicopter.

The Williston Observer shared this story about the experience with more information about Beta Technologies. Note the similarities between Jonah and their CEO! 

Thanks to Jared Bailey for the photos!

Empower Youth Leadership

In the fall of 2020, Kathy Batty, HCS School Counselor, and Mary Muroski, HCS 5th grade Teacher, received a $25,000 SEL in Action grant from the NoVo Foundation and Education First for their Empower Youth Leadership Project. The Project is focused on the creation of SEL Leaders in the district’s middle schools. With this funding, they have been working to coordinate student Empower Youth Leaders meetings and have hosted two school-based Empower Youth Leadership Conferences.

Throughout the year, middle-level students from each of the CVSD sending schools and VLA have met weekly. The focus of these Empower Youth Leaders meetings has changed over the course of the year. Initially, the students worked to create a unified vision and logo. Then, they worked on community service projects in the Winter. This Spring, the students developed SEL lesson plans and provided leadership classes in K-2 classes. This effort was very successful - despite the fact that the instruction was all done virtually, using Google Meets.

Recently, Mary and Kathy hosted Empower Youth Leadership Conferences for all 6th graders at Hinesburg Community School and Charlotte Central School. The conference started with students discovering what they all had in common and identifying their hopes and dreams for a better world. Then, the students were engaged with students in Uganda in a live conversation on Google Meet. Based on student feedback this was one of the highlights of the day. HCS students heard from students in Uganda about their daily life and aspects of their culture. In both schools, sixth graders asked the students in Uganda about the effect that COVID has had on them. We learned that the students there have struggled to have enough food to eat and are still not back in school. The conference also included three workshops aimed at teaching the personal leadership skills of effective communication, financial literacy, and goal-setting. The day ended with students learning how to practice and express gratitude as a way to bring abundance and positivity into their lives.

In her letter of support for the project, Superintendent Elaine Pinckney wrote, “The Empower Youth Project complements our district’s commitment to meeting the social and emotional learning needs of all our students. The vision of CVSD is to help all students develop skills to understand and manage their emotions, show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions needed in order to be successful for school and life”. 

For more information, please feel free to contact Mary (mmuroski@cvsdvt.org) and Kathy (kbatty@cvsdvt.org). Please visit www.ourclp.org to learn more about the Children’s Legacy Partnership Foundation.

Photos of Empower Youth Leaders teaching in K-2 classrooms:

Wednesdays are for (Optional) Hikes!

Some educators in Williston have recently begun offering optional hikes on Wednesday afternoons to third and fourth graders. These take place in the afternoons after students have engaged in remote learning in the morning. Here's a brief report from PE teacher Lynn McClintock.


For the past 3 weeks we have been taking 3rd and 4th graders by house/team on walking and hiking adventures. The first 2 weeks we explored the Allen Brook Nature Trail in back of Williston Central School (WCS). Last week we took students from Kaleidoscope House on a hike up Five Tree Hill and down Sucker Brook Trail. What a BLAST!! We will be taking Equinox House this coming Wednesday and Mosaic House the Wednesday after that. What a life. It feels like such a smurftastic use of a Wednesday afternoon. Dustin King, Nadine Paffett-Lugassy, and me are on these adventures with Reba the therapy dog too.

I sent an invitation to each WCS third/fourth grade team with information about when it would be their turn and inviting them to come. It included a permission slip and the details for their parent/guardian. The kids have to get to school somehow. Once, I did pick up a student who wanted to go but had transportation issues. For the trip to Five Tree Hill, we all met at school. The bus dropped us off at Five Tree Hill. I called the bus driver when we were almost finished and she left school and picked us up at Sucker Brook. When we went to the Allen Brook Nature Trail everyone was invited and we were ready to take anyone who came. Close to 20 students joined us each time. For the Five Tree Hill hike, we put on the permission form that we had a limited number. We didn't reach that limit for the first hike. We had 20 and our cut off is 30. We are more likely to reach the limit on the next two trips because they are teams made up of four classes, so there are potentially more students that might be interested. This limit is a drawback because we believe that the more the merrier! We're just so happy we are doing something together and providing this opportunity for students to get outside and move.

Thank you, Lynn, Dustin, and Nadine, for making this possible. "Smurftastic" says it all!

CVSD Special Educators & Team Honored

CVSD is proud to announce that several special education team members have been honored by the Vermont Council of Special Education Administrators (VCSEA) as the 2021 recipients of the team and individual Golden Apple Award. The Golden Apple Award is presented each spring to one individual and one team who has shown exemplary advocacy in support of students with disabilities. The Award honors professionals who:

• Focus on student strengths in the development of programs or activities that maximize students’ potential
• Actively create opportunities for students with disabilities to be fully engaged as members of the school community
• Participate and contribute to a collaborative team process
• Demonstrate resourcefulness in meeting student needs, and
• Demonstrate compassion and respect for students, family members, and all members of the school community.

Sarah Sargent, Shelburne Community School Special Educator, was nominated by her teaching team for her professionalism and masterful skill at creating opportunities for all students to be meaningfully engaged on their team. Her nominators shared that "In a year fraught with uncertainty, anxiety, and more complexity than ever, I cannot think of another educator who has worked as tirelessly as Sarah. Her passion for special education and inclusivity, her belief in all of her students, and the support she provides our team and our school deserve recognition."

 

Sarah and her teaching team at today's recognition ceremony

Sarah and Peggy-Sue Van Nostrand, SCS Director of Special Ed
and Meagan Roy, CVSD Director of Student Support Services.

The CVSD Consultation Team was also honored with the Golden Apple Award. The team includes Jennifer Randall, Cindy Cole, Katey Wisse, Janelle Moynihan, Tracy Titchner, and Ali Karmosky. This is a multidisciplinary group of professionals who provide individual team consultation, faculty and staff training, and systems-level analysis to all Champlain Valley Schools to support students with significant and/or low-incidence disabilities. From the nomination: "Over the course of my career, I have had the privilege to work with countless professionals who make a difference each and every day in the lives of their students; [this] team of professionals stand out as the epitome of what your committee is seeking to recognize with the Golden Apple Award. As a result of their leadership and expertise, we have countless students whose programming is more fully engaged in the classroom and whose teams work more collaboratively together."

Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition and thank you all for the work you do to serve and support CVSD students! 

COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic - Open to 12-15 Year-Olds!

We are very excited to share this news! If you are the parent/guardian of a student between the ages of 12-15, here's an opportunity for them to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. 

What: Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinic at CVU, open to the public by appointment through the Vermont Department of Health

Where: Champlain Valley Union High School, Hinesburg, VT

When: Tuesday, May 18th from 8 am-8 pm (second dose clinic will be June 8th at CVU, scheduled after receiving the first dose)

Who: Open to all, including students ages 12-15 years old

How: Parents/Guardians will need to create an account on the Department of Health website if they haven't already. Once they have an account, they will need to add their child as a "dependent" and register them for an appointment. Parents may accompany their child but they will not have to (by registering them as a dependent, they have given "consent").

*Registration is available as of Thursday, May 13.    

Students who do not attend CVU and whose appointments are during the school day should notify their school of their absence as the state will not be sharing this information with us.

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Additional information from the Vermont Agency of Education:

Access to School Buildings

Since adults will have been eligible for vaccination for more than a month at the time the clinics begin, we anticipate that the largest population will be Vermonters between the ages of 12-18. However, all COVID-19 vaccine clinics scheduled as part of this effort will be open to the community. This is a specific exception to the guidance in A Strong and Healthy Year related to visitors in schools.

Parents will also be welcome to attend these clinics with their children if they would like to do so.

Registration

Registering in advance for these clinics is the best way to secure a dose, and will simplify the process of providing parent/guardian consent (see below). However, these clinics will have a limited number of doses available on a walk-in basis, as long as students under the age of 18 have parental consent.

Parental Consent

Consent from a parent/guardian is required for students under the age of 18 to receive the vaccine. In an effort to make receiving a vaccine as easy as possible, there are multiple ways that parents can provide consent.

By registering for the vaccine online - Parents/guardians can add their children as dependents in the State's vaccine registration system, and then schedule an appointment for them at their school clinic or another convenient community clinic. As part of that registration process, they will be asked to provide consent for their child to be vaccinated.

• By registering for the vaccine online - Parents/guardians can add their children as dependents in the State's vaccine registration system, and then schedule an appointment for them at their school clinic or another convenient community clinic. As part of that registration process, they will be asked to provide consent for their child to be vaccinated.
• By registering for the vaccine using the call center - Parents/guardians can call the state's call center (press "1" to use a language other than English) to make a vaccine appointment for their child. As part of that registration process, they will be asked to provide consent over the phone.
• By attending the clinic with their child - Clinics will provide limited 'walk-in' vaccine doses. If students have their parent/guardian with them, they will be able to provide consent at that time. As a reminder, the best way for students to guarantee their dose is to register in advance.
• Over the phone during the clinic - If the student attends a clinic as a walk-in without their parent/guardian present, the clinic registration staff will be able to accept and document parental consent over the phone, similar to the call center process. As a reminder, the best way for students to guarantee their dose is to register in advance.

Pharmacies

In addition to the school and community-based clinics, they will be able to make appointments to receive the vaccines at pharmacies that offer the Pfizer vaccine. At this time, that includes Kinney Drugs, CVS, Hannaford, and Costco. Students and families can choose to make their appointment wherever is most convenient for them.

Celebrating School Lunch Heroes!

image used with permission: School Nutrition Association

Between preparing health food, adhering to strict nutrition standards, navigating food allergies, and offering service with a smile, school district nutrition professionals have a lot on their plate. To celebrate their hard work and commitment, CVSD schools recognize them today on School Lunch Hero Day. This day, celebrated annually since 2013, was designed by the School Nutrition Association and Jarrett Krosoczka, author of the "Lunch Lady" graphic novel series. School Lunch Hero Day provides an opportunity for parents, students, school staff, and community to thank those who provide healthy meals to our students every day. We also recognize that their work is not limited to just lunch - tha tincludes breakfast, weekend, and vacation meals as well for many!

We appreciate what they do to nourish our students, whether at school or at home, on school days, and on vacations - and YES, during the summer too! Whether in the cafeteria, in the classroom, or in the gymnasium - it doesn't matter. Always the same great food and same great service!

If you get the opportunity, send an extra thank you to the School Lunch Heroes in your school. 

Allen Brook School Abenaki Land Link

This past weekend, a group of volunteers were at the Allen Brook School to prepare garden beds. ABS educators Chris Sedic-Lawton and Cara Clopton shared the following to help inform others about this project. 

Allen Brook School has partnered with the Abenaki Land Link Project in an effort to acknowledge the fact that we live and learn on the traditional land of the Abenaki, support the movement of food sovereignty in Native nations, and engage our students in gardening. We are devoting four garden beds to raise plants which will be harvested and returned to the Nulhegan Band of Coosuk-Abenaki Nation in the fall. This past weekend, a large group of volunteers prepared existing garden beds and built two new ones.

The Abenaki Land Link Project (ALL) is a partnership between the Nulhegan Band of Coosuk - Abenaki Nation, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), and the Vermont Farm to Plate Network's Rooted in Vermont project. From the coordinators:

“As the growers, you are joining us in this partnership to steward Indigenous crops for food and seed saving in solidarity with the Nulhegan Band of Coosuk, to share in the eating of foods native to the Abenaki people, and to learn from the cultural history that the Abenaki ancestors used and continue to cultivate today. This project is founded in resiliency, not charity, and we are happy that you have chosen to join us in working towards this common goal.”

What will it look like at ABS?

• This is a pilot year
• The Nulhegan band, NOFA-VT, and VT Farm to Plate will supply heritage seeds.
• 2 garden beds will be built specifically for ALL
• The beds will hold Calais Flint Corn, True Cranberry Pole Bean, and Algonquian Winter Squash.
• In the fall, all harvested food will be given back to the Nulhegan band.
• We are working to include Native voices and expertise, as well as partnerships with the community.

What's Next?

• Collect materials and donations for garden beds, compost, fencing and tools. If you'd like to donate, please visit this link.
• Garden bed construction and preparation took place on Green Up Day (May 1st).
• After constructing and preparing the beds, then planting the seeds, we will look for partners to help maintain the crops as they grow over the summer.
• When we return in the fall, we will consider how to celebrate the harvest and return of the crops to the Nulhegan band.