Tim Trevithick Named Hinesburg Co-Principal

 

We are pleased to share that Tim Trevithick has been appointed as the Hinesburg Community School Co-Principal for grades 5-8. He will jointly lead with Suzan Locke. He follows John Pontius, who is retiring at the end of this school year. Tim will assume his leadership duties on July 1, 2022.

HCS PreK-4 principal Suzan Locke is eager to work with Tim, “As an enthusiastic, compassionate, and hardworking educator who understands the needs of students, Tim will be an excellent addition to the HCS community. These qualities, combined with his collaborative approach, will ensure that Hinesburg students continue to receive a high-quality education in the years to come.”

Trevithick’s recent leadership roles as an assistant principal at Enosburg Falls High School, student assistance program counselor at Champlain Valley Union High School, health educator and student assistance counselor at Rice Memorial High School, and other experiences all lend themselves to preparing him well for this role. He is committed to supporting both students and adults. Tim had this to say about joining Hinesburg Community School, “Through the years I have visited HCS for a multitude of events both personally and professionally. With every visit to the school, I feel a sense of being at home. To me, this feeling is a testament of the community's care and investment, It is both solid and enduring. I feel grateful for the opportunity to work with creative and dedicated educators as we partner with families and community members to help our kids thrive.”

He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Keene State College, a master of arts in counseling from Johnson State College, and work toward his school leadership and principal license was conducted at Saint Michael’s College.

Superintendent Rene Sanchez enthusiastically welcomes Trevithick, “We are very excited to welcome an experienced administrator like Tim Trevithick back to CVSD at Hinesburg Community School. His counselor experience at CVU will help him build close relationships with students and will build trust among the faculty and staff, making him a great fit for HCS. Our district will also benefit from his diversity, equity, and inclusion work at Enosburg Falls.”

We all look forward to welcoming Tim officially as the HCS co-principal on July 1.

Williston PE Teacher Honored

Dustin King

Dustin King, Physical Education Teacher at Williston Central School, has been named the 2021 Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year by SHAPE Vermont, the Society for Health and Physical Educators.

Dustin has taught in the Williston Schools for seven years. He was recognized for his respectful communication and collaboration with school staff, and his work expanding a Motor Learning Group that offers students pre-teaching and additional time working on skills and concepts in a smaller setting. In addition, Dustin coaches, coordinates events, serves on committees and boards.

"Dustin teaches with enthusiasm, integrity, and respect for students and our profession. He considers the social, emotional, and physical well-being of our students every day. Most importantly, Dustin is a worker, an advocate, a voice of reason, and a wonderful role model for the staff and students in our community." - Cathy Kohlasch, WCS Physical Education Teacher

Congratulations, Dustin, on this well-deserved honor!

CVU Student's Safe Driving PSA Recognized

CVU student, Will Devereaux, was recognized by the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance for his public service announcement. (PSA) He was awarded the 4th place prize. 

In conjunction with National Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April, the VHSA hosted its fourth video public service announcement contest. The contest was open to high-school students and designed to encourage young drivers and their friends and peers to avoid distracted driving.

The goal for contestants was to research this important issue and produce a compelling 25-second video to enact change and spread the message to peers and the public that distracted driving is unacceptable and can have serious consequences. The VHSA hopes that videos produced by high-school students offer a relatable perspective for other young drivers. Finalists and winners were selected from the 52 entries submitted. Here's the full list of winners with links to their videos.

Will 's PSA can be seen below. 

 

A Winning Idea for an App

Earlier this year, Charlie MacFadyen, the Digital Learning Leader at CVU, encouraged students to submit an idea for the Congressional App Challenge. One submission is selected from each congressional district annually to be recognized and highlighted.

CVU submitted 5 ideas this year, the first time they participated in the challenge.

One CVU project was selected by Representative Peter Welch. The app idea the students submitted was a BusMap to track the location of their schoolbus.

Congratulations go out to Max Olinsky-Paul and Addison Hoopes! (pictured below)

CVSD Update, April 14, 2022

 

Hello CVSD Families, Caregivers, Faculty, and Staff,

Here's the latest newsletter from the Champlain Valley School District. In it, you'll find information about: 

• The upcoming equity audit
• CVSD's strategic planning process
• Some new hires in leadership roles
• Reminders about vacation days, holidays, and end-of-year dates
• and more!

Thank you for taking the time to read it and stay informed. Have a safe, healthy, and wonderful vacation week next week.

Sarah Crum Named CVSD's Director of Learning and Innovation

 

Sarah Crum has been appointed Director of Learning and Innovation for the Champlain Valley School District (CVSD). Ms. Crum replaces Jeff Evans, who is retiring at the end of this school year. Sarah will begin her leadership duties on July 1, 2022.

Superintendent Rene Sanchez shared, “Sarah’s experience as an English teacher, special educator, and special education director will prove to be a valuable resource for the Champlain Valley School District. Literacy, instructional techniques, and inclusivity are always among the most important current focus areas of school districts. Sarah’s background will help Champlain Valley’s already innovative work progress even further.”

Sarah graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University with degrees in English and Special Education. She holds a Master of Education in Curriculum & Pedagogy from the University of Colorado. She earned her Special Education Administrator Licensure with a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from St. Michael’s College. Sarah is currently engaged in leadership work with the Snelling Center for Government’s Vermont School Leadership Project. She is currently the Director of Special Education for the Williston Schools. Prior to that, she was a special educator at Champlain Valley Union High School, and an English teacher in Telluride, Colorado.

The Director of Learning and Innovation will collaborate with the directors of Student Support Services and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in CVSD. In addition to curriculum, instruction, and assessment, the Director of Learning & Innovation oversees the English Language Learner (ELL) program, instructional coaches and coordinators, the faculty and staff mentor programs, and manages the Consolidated Federal Grants and ESSER grants. The Director also leads Continuous Improvement planning, COVID recovery planning, and helps ensure compliance with Vermont Education Quality Standards and Acts 77 & 173.

Ms. Crum shared this with us, “I am thrilled to have this opportunity to join the central office leadership team as the Director of Learning & Innovation. I look forward to continuing the strong foundation that has been built at CVSD and working towards an innovative and responsive experience for our CVSD students and community.”

We are excited to welcome Sarah to the central office leadership team in July.

DEI Town Hall #3

 

For April DEI's Town Hall, we would like to invite our community to join us for a two-part event.

For the first part of the meeting, we encourage you to log on to the Vermont Human Rights Commission's 2nd Civil Rights Conference. The topic for the evening is LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in Vermont schools. Please register here. This session offers the opportunity to learn with youth and adults from Outright Vermont about the state of LGBTQ inclusion in Vermont schools, the moves youth are making, and what you can do to show up for free-er, more liberated schools for LGBTQ, and all youth. The session lasts from 6:00 - 7:30. Breakout rooms for discussion will be provided for the final 30 minutes of the session.

At 7:00 pm, rather than joining the breakout rooms there, we will open the CVSD DEI Town Hall for questions and answers regarding the topics from the conference or for any other questions that you may have. You can find our CVSD Zoom link here. (see full details below)

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the HRC's session and then in the CVSD Zoom at 7:00 pm.

Complete Zoom info:

Zoom Information: https://cvsdvt-org.zoom.us/j/89782818920

Meeting ID: 897 8281 8920

Passcode: cvsddei

One tap mobile  +16468769923,,89782818920# US (New York)

Dial by your location   +1 646 876 9923 US (New York)

Anna Couperthwait Named Director of Student Support Services

 

Anna Couperthwait has been appointed Director of Student Support Services for the Champlain Valley School District (CVSD). Ms. Couperthwait replaces Meagan Roy, who is taking on the role of superintendent in the Washington Central Supervisory Union. Anna will begin her leadership duties on July 1, 2022.

Superintendent Rene Sanchez shared, “I am very excited for Anna to take on our Director of Student Support Services role. She brings both local CVSD historical knowledge as well as a full K-12 system perspective to our central office. With these two qualities and more, I am confident that CVSD will continue to be a leading district in inclusive practices in Vermont and the nation.”

Ms. Couperthwait brings a wealth of experience to CVSD. She is a product of CVSD (formerly Chittenden South Supervisory Union) and graduated from Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU). She received her B.A. in English from the University of Vermont and her M.Ed. from Lesley College. She continued her education, obtaining her administrator’s license and then enhancing her leadership skills through the Snelling Center for Government’s Vermont School Leadership Program. Anna has been the director of special services at CVU since 2012, leading a department of 23 special educators and as many as 60 paraeducators. Prior to that, she was a special educator, classroom teacher, Reading Recovery teacher, and language arts teacher.

The Director of Student Support Services will collaborate with the directors of Learning and Innovation and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to coordinate and oversee student support services in CVSD. Primarily, the director oversees special education and Section 504 and serves as the liaison for numerous local, state and federal programs that provide services to students such as: school counseling, nurses, homeless children & families, the school psychological services program and occupational & physical therapy services.

After accepting the position, Ms. Couperthwait said, “I’m looking forward to joining the central office leadership team in the work of supporting the students of CVSD. I’ve learned so much over the years as a CVSD student, teacher, and administrator, and I’m excited to continue my professional journey at the district level.”

We are thrilled to welcome Anna to the central office leadership team.

Mindfulness in CVSD Schools

 

HCS students

Last year, the Champlain Valley School District announced that Inner Explorer was made available to our schools. Access to Inner Explorer comes at a critical time when supporting the mental health of students and adults in our buildings is a priority. 

This was made possible through a generous donation from Project Hoeppner. Sue and Joe Hoeppner, who established Project Hoeppner, see Inner Explorer as a research-based, school-family-community, plug-n-play solution to support kids. 

“We created Project HOePpnEr in response to our 17-year-old son Paul’s death by suicide. Initially, our goal was to prevent teen suicide by encouraging teens to ask for help. Unfortunately one of the things we realized is that help is hard to find. As we find ourselves further removed from Paul’s death, we realize that preventing teen suicide is more than identifying and addressing the crisis. It’s providing tools, teaching strategies, and creating habits that kids can access their whole lives. We see Inner Explorer as an important part of an overall strategy to promote health and wellness for kids.”

Tony Moulton, CSVD’s Director of Integrated Wellness, has been instrumental in working with Project Hoeppner and Inner Explorer to make this happen. 

“I am excited to have this evidence-based, easy-to-use tool for our students and families. We know that stress and anxiety have increased over the past year. The practice of mindfulness, when offered and applied in a structured, easily accessible format like Inner Explorer, has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety. This tool in the hands of our amazing teachers, educators, students, and families can help teach emotional regulation skills and build resilience. We are so grateful to the Hoeppners for this opportunity.”

CVSD schools have started to implement Inner Explorer and incorporate it into routines. Some of our educators using it were featured in a recent Inner Explorer blog post. 

We will share additional information and announcements about Inner Explorer soon as it rolls out to more classrooms and eventually to families for use at home. 

WCS educators

About Inner Explorer
Inner Explorer was developed in 2011 by mindful awareness teachers with more than 30 years of combined experience. Understanding the difficulty in developing a daily practice, Inner Explorer created a technology platform that delivers audio-guided practices to teachers and students. This gives them the opportunity to practice together - reducing stress, improving academic performance, and enhancing the school climate. This unprecedented offering simplifies the implementation of mindfulness in the classroom and supports the national initiative called 2-Generation Approach by bridging the classroom and home. Especially now – Inner Explorer encourages families to join in daily practices with their children, extending the wellbeing benefits into the community. www.InnerExplorer.org One-page Flyer: Why Mindfulness


About Project Hoeppner
Project HOePpnEr is a 501(c)3 organization invested in providing tools, teaching strategies, and practicing habits that kids can access their whole lives. Increasing awareness around the catastrophe that is teen suicide. Offering courage for teens to say "I need help" and for their loved ones to hear.