CVSD Update, March 31, 2022

 

Dear CVSD families and caregivers, faculty and staff,

The distribution of this newsletter marks the end of March and hopefully the beginning of spring-like weather. Here are some highlights from the newsletter: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• Information about COVID notifications and testing
• Notices about upcoming standardized tests
• An introduction to Let's Talk
• Celebrating some recent school accomplishments
• and more!

Let us know if you have questions, comments, or compliments using our new Let's Talk form.

CVU Scholars Bowl Wins 2022 State Championship!

We're thrilled to share another celebration from CVU! As the RoboHawk's coach Olaf Verdonk said, "CVU has some awesome 'sport for the mind' state champions this year!"

Here's a guest post written by CVU's Scholars Bowl coach, John Bennett. 

CVU's Scholars Bowl team concluded an epic season by winning the 2022 Vermont State Championship. In matches held at Montpelier High School on Saturday March 26, the team won 3 playoffs matches to claim the championship. This is the second state championship for CVU Scholars Bowl, having previously won in 2007.

The team won a quarterfinal match over host Montpelier and then faced off against Hanover in a semi final match. CVU got out to a quick lead and finished strong to win convincingly, setting up a final showdown with South Burlington. South Burlington had previously defeated us 3 times this season.

However, this time CVU was able to get out to a big early lead, and held off two comeback attempts by South Burlington to win the match and the championship, 385-315. This was truly one of the best sets of matches I've ever seen one of my teams play in 27 years of coaching. We faced top notch competition and only briefly trailed once in any of the three matches. Leading the way was another outstanding performance by our all-time lead scorer Evan McMahan, who finished his Vermont career with 1,136 questions answered over 4 years. All 7 other players contributed to our victories with clutch answers and key support.

By winning the state championship, we have earned the right to represent Vermont in national championship competition. This will be the 3rd straight year we have been able to do this, but the first time in person. I am in the process of making the plans for having our team play in the High School National Championships, this year held in Atlanta over Memorial Day weekend. We have a 32-4 record this season, the second-best winning percentage in team history.

This championship was a team effort all around and the product of many contributing factors. I am especially glad that we could win this for Dan Shepardson's final year as activities director, as he has greatly supported Scholars Bowl in many ways over the years. I also want to recognize the great assistance I have received this year and in past years from Kiran McCormick, Chris Smith, and Katie Mack helping to coach the team and read questions at events. I also will note that without a chance to rebuild and renew our program during C3 time this year, this championship likely doesn't happen. Finally, I want everyone to know this is a championship for our whole school district. You are the teachers and advisors of these students, who give them the learning and example to be successful at Scholars Bowl and show off what CVU has to offer.

The following players represented CVU on Saturday-

Evan McMahan, Aidan Devine, Ben Fox, Jake Potter (12th grade)
Kai Jenkins-Mui, Ava Rohrbaugh, Keaton St. Martin (11th grade)
Elias Leventhal (10th grade)

Congratulations to the CVU Scholars Bowl team and all involved for this incredible accomplishment. 

CCS Honors World Down Syndrome Day

Here's a guest post from Charlotte Central School.

March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day. Our community helped celebrate by wearing #lotsofsocks!

Do you know what makes those with Down syndrome unique? Just like everyone else, there are SO many reasons!

The one common reason people with Down syndrome are unique is that they each have 3 copies of chromosome 21. Most people have two copies of chromosome 21, but those who have Down syndrome have 3.

For this reason, we celebrate World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, or 3-21, every year!

This year, we joined the international community by wearing #lotsofsocks and #crazysocks.

Next year, please show your support by wearing brightly colored, mismatched, even 3 socks on each foot to represent the 3 copies of chromosome 21, etc. on March 21!


Want to learn more? 

https://www.worlddownsyndromeday.org/

ARDownSyndrome.org

Watch this 3-minute video.

                            

TJ Mead is an Outstanding Teacher

Today, CVU educator TJ Mead, was recognized as a UVM Outstanding Teacher. TJ is truly well-deserving of this honor. 

This information was submitted with his nomination:  

In the ever-changing landscape of health education, the need for trusted adults who authentically engage students in meaningful work is paramount. TJ is one of those adults. Trusted by students and colleagues alike, TJ embraces challenges and empowers students to do the same all while navigating sensitive topics. TJ understands the importance of relationships; and it's clearly evident when observing his classroom and team.

Congratulations TJ and thank you for all that you do on behalf of our students!

CVU RoboHawks are State Champions!

Here's a guest post from Olaf Verdonk, CVU Design and Engineering Technology Teacher. He shares exciting news about the success of CVU's robotics team, the RoboHawks, this past weekend. 

The Vermont State Robotics Championships happened this weekend and...

CVU RoboHawks are the Vermont State Robotics Champions!
They have qualified for the FIRST Robotics WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in Houston, TX !!!!!!

It was an exciting tournament in which CVU fielded TWO teams this year!

We had a Varsity (RoboHawks) and a JV team (RedHawk Robotics).

Due to COVID the field was a little smaller than usual, but the competition was fierce! There were a lot of capable teams and robots this year from all over Vermont.

Both CVU teams made it to the elimination rounds and an exciting semi final match featured the JV team against the Varsity team. The JV almost beat them!

The Finals was a "best of three" NAIL BITER! The RoboHawks (along with their alliance partner Bubbert Innovations from U-32) won the first match, but lost the second, forcing a tie-breaking third match. The RoboHawks Alliance won in a squeaker, 138 to 124 pts!! It was a super exciting final, one of the best tournaments in recent history.

The RoboHawks racked up several awards.

• Best Vermont Team (State Champions)
• 1st Place - Tournament Champions and Captains of Winning Alliance
• 1st Place - Inspire Award (actually the most prestigious award in a tournament)
• 2nd Place - Motivate Award
• 2nd Place - Design Award
• 3rd Place - Connect Award

NOW the hard work begins to figure out how to make the robot better and get everyone and everything out to Houston, TX April 20th-23rd.

From the RoboHawks: 

We would like to thank our sponsors, Kennedy Excavation and NDI, for helping us get this far. However, in order to proceed to this next level of competition, we are looking to raise $7,500 dollars. If you are interested in supporting us on our journey, please go to our website: http://www.robohawks5741.com/ or email our coach: overdonk@cvsdvt.org

The task of getting all RoboHawk team members, a robot, tools, and materials to keep the robot running through an intense 4-day competition is daunting and expensive!

Varsity (RoboHawks): Wolfie Davis, Lindsay Beer, Jared Kennedy, Sam Yager, Crawford Phillips, Jack Gourlay, Charlotte Tyler, Violet Fennern.

JV (JV RedHawk Robotics): Evan Mead, Jonas Hemmett, Joe Jacobs, James Haines, Jacob Graham, Sean Menard.

CVSD Update, March 17, 2022

 

We are happy to share our latest newsletter. In it, you will find: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• Information about new train service to the area
• Reminders about what to do if your child is sick along with an update about notifications
• Penguin Plunge celebrations
• and more

A Chilly Penguin Plunge 2022

This past weekend marked the annual Penguin Plunge event to support Special Olympics Vermont. It happens that this year's event took place during a snow storm, which certainly added a frosty element. 

Many of our schools have historically participated, forming teams and garnering interest, enthusiasm, and support for an important organization. This year, three of our schools had teams that took the plunge in icy cold waters. 

In all, the Cool Schools program raised over $110,000. Contributions from CVSD schools and communities total $50,000 of that! Thank you to the faculty, students, staff, parents, and others who came out in the snowy cold to run into Lake Champlain for an important and valuable organization. See all of the details on the Special Olympics Vermont's Cool Schools page

CVU's team maintained their record-setting status for the 10th year in a row as the leading school fundraising team. They raised over $29,000 this year. Peter Booth, CVU teacher and Penguin Plunge captain, said this after the event: 

"The plunge went on in the middle of that massive snow storm. It was epic and horrible and amazing all at once. And wet. It was very wet. Eighty-five kids showed up and proceeded to grin, laugh, and dance their way through the whole thing. CVU really showed up and showed up with fabulous attitudes. They made me proud!"

CVU

CVU

CVU

The team from Hinesburg Community School, led by captain and teacher Paul Lasher, raised $11,000, resulting in the third highest fundraising school team. Principal Suzan Locke provided this quote: 

"5th and 6th grade HCS students survived a blinding snowstorm and the freezing waters of Lake Champlain in support of the Special Olympics Vermont, while participating in the Penguin Plunge. 22 students along with teachers Miss. Wieland and Mr. Lasher helped raise $11,000 for this amazing organization. Here’s a video of their efforts: https://youtu.be/h9urm5HcP5g" 

HCS

HCS

HCS

Shelburne's team was not to be outdone, raising over $8,000 for Special Olympics Vermont. SCS student Gray Latka was the team captain. Bravo! 

SCS

SCS

SCS

The photos and videos were provided by a range of contributors, including parents and student media collaborators. 

Communicating with All

Last week a group of CVSD special educators and speech and learning pathologists (SLPs) from CVSD met to continue their learning with the University of Vermont's Inclusion Team. The focus is on augmented communication tools for preschool and kindergarten students who are learning to communicate. 

This all-day session was the second of three that are taking place over the course of this school year.

CVSD Update about Masks

 

Welcome back, I hope you all had a restful and rejuvenating winter break. I wanted to provide an update about masks in our schools, as I promised in our February 17th newsletter. As of Monday, March 7, masks will be optional in CVSD schools. Anyone that wants the layer of protection that high-quality masks provide should feel free to wear them. It is critical that we are supportive and understanding of those who, for a variety of personal reasons, decide to continue wearing masks.

We will make the transition to masks-optional on March 7 as we have determined that all of the schools in our district meet the 80% vaccination rate..At Governor Scott’s press conference today, Education Secretary French stated that all Vermont schools will be mask-optional as of March 14.

In the February 17 newsletter, I stated that there were a number of variables we needed to sort through before making any changes. Here are some of the things we’ve learned.

• Preschoolers in our buildings will still need to wear masks for now.
• For those who live in towns where there is a town mask mandate, the mandate does not apply when in school buildings.
• School transportation: The CDC changed their requirement about masks on school buses. They are no longer required. Anyone who wants to wear a mask on a school bus is welcome to do so.
• Schools will have the option of returning to more flexible lunch configurations, including the mixing of students in different learning cohorts.

If the health situation changes, or if the Vermont Agency of Education or Department of Health change their recommendation, we would follow that guidance, up to and including a reinstatement of mask-wearing.

Please talk with your family about a decision that is right for you. While some of you may be ready to do away with masks altogether, others will continue wearing them. We will support you no matter what you decide.

I fully realize that this change will be met with differing responses. These past two years have been full of emotions and, at times, division. All of us have been affected by this pandemic differently, so I ask everyone to be respectful and sensitive to the individual needs of our families and staff during this transition.

Once again, thank you for your patience, understanding, and support as we’ve worked through yet another challenge of the pandemic. I'm proud of how our district has together respected and cared for one another. Let’s continue that practice in the coming months.

Thank you to everyone who voted on or before Town Meeting Day in support of our students and schools.

Stay well,
Rene Sanchez, Superintendent