STEAM Works at WCS

Allan Miller and Abbie Bowker, WCS educators, shared this guest post and video about a powerful STEAM project that took place in the latter part of the school year. View the video to learn more about the experience that integrated  many elements of STEAM, and which included ways to support our multi-lingual learners and families. 

This spring a small group of WCS 5th, 6th and 7th graders with a strong interest in art and design were invited to be part of a special pilot project that was part of a Vermont Agency of Education STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) grant. Nine Vermont middle and high schools were selected for the project, based on their original idea for addressing a local school or community problem. The WCS STEAM Team, led by Art Teacher Abbie Bowker and Design Tech Teacher Allan Miller, proposed that a group of students could improve school climate and teacher morale by having students create a multilingual entryway welcome and individual teacher name signs using laser and vinyl cutting technologies. This video is their project summary, highlighting the process the team used, as well as the positive impact their efforts had around the school. As a pilot it was extremely successful, and the team is exploring how it can continue to make the school community even more welcoming and inclusive through student STEAM creations.

Seal of Biliteracy, Part Two

The Seal of Biliteracy at CVSD

Contributed by: Johanna Shaw-Daniels, Robyn Suarez,

Susan Simpson, and Melita Sedic-Lawton

Last May we wrote about the CVSD Pathway to the Seal of Biliteracy Program. The following is an update to that post.


The Seal of Biliteracy is a fairly new award given by the Vermont Foreign Language Association, under the authorization of the Agency of Education. It recognizes students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation.

Since 2020, CVU High School has had two recipients of this award, and our program is growing. This year, so far, we have five seniors graduating with this award. In CVSD's elementary and middle schools, there are approximately 30+ active participants working towards this achievement through our Pathway to the Seal of Biliteracy program. The Pathway program is designed specifically for our younger multilingual students, with classes focusing on their heritage languages.

This year, classes are being offered at WCS in Nepali, Chinese, Russian and Vietnamese. Some of these classes will be offered at SCS as well. At the high school, students are participating in French and Spanish classes, forming conversational groups in the CLD Center, and studying independently. Students’ enthusiasm for participating in the Pathway program has been wonderful to see! Before the 8-week sessions began, students frequently asked when their heritage language instruction would begin. In addition, ABS has launched Lunch Bunches, an opportunity for students to eat together while chatting with a volunteer in their heritage language. The warm relationships students develop with their language instructors and with each other as multilingual learners has been invaluable.

Please view this graphic to learn more about the many benefits of multilingualism, and the photos of CVSD students enjoying their heritage language learning.

Russian Heritage Language Class

Practicing Chinese characters

Vietnamese Heritage Language Class

Nepali Heritage Language Class

The CVSD Pathway to the Seal of Biliteracy Program

 Here's a guest post from our English Learner teachers at Williston Central School (Melita Sedic-Lawton and Susan Heston Simpson) and Shelburne Community School (Robyn Suarez and Erika Monaghan). 

The English Language (EL) Team is proud to announce that students in Williston Central School (WCS) and Shelburne Community School (SCS) have been attending heritage language classes as a part of the Pathway to the Seal of Biliteracy Program. The Pathway program sets students up for receiving the Seal of Biliteracy when they graduate from high school. The Seal of Biliteracy is a nationwide award that recognizes a high school student’s achievement of a high level of proficiency in English plus another language. At graduation, students get the Seal marked on their diplomas, and their high school transcripts would also note this huge accomplishment. In fact, last year the Seal of Biliteracy was awarded to one student at CVU upon graduation, and this year a student will receive the Seal for biliteracy for English and Nepali.

At WCS, eleven students are taking classes in Chinese, Nepali and Russian, while at SCS, five students are taking Chinese. There is no expense for families. Lessons are once a week after school, and students take the late bus home.

As a pilot program this year, we limited participation to our EL students and focused on just three languages. We would love to expand what is offered next year, as well as include a wider audience. Next year, we are hoping to expand the program by hiring more heritage language instructors and having more students take advantage of this opportunity. We have been so happy with how smoothly things have gone thus far, and feel that we are in a good place to really take off next year!

The Pathway to the Seal of Biliteracy is offered in elementary and middle school and then the Seal of Biliteracy is actually awarded to students once they show competency in two languages in their junior or senior year. They can pursue the Seal through the Nexus program. For more information on the Seal of Biliteracy at the high school level, please contact Johanna Shaw-Daniels in the CLD center at CVU or through email jshawdaniels@cvsdvt.org.

Here are some photos of our students taking classes with Ms. Anna Sun, Mr. Phub Lama, and Maria Kapetanovic, who is also the school nurse at WCS.

at WCS

at WCS

Anna Sun teaching characters with flash cards at SCS

An SCS student working on a letter to her pen pal at WCS.

Maria K, the Russian instructor, works with students at WCS.

Thank you to our EL teachers for their efforts to get this program off the ground and for sharing this with the larger CVSD community.

English Language Learners in CVSD Benefit Over the Summer

The Champlain Valley School District has a growing number of English Language Learners (ELL students). As of May 2019, there were 127 ELL students in the district, with the largest percentage of those students in Williston. There's a district team of talented ELL teachers supporting students in classrooms and in our schools. More information about the ELL program can be found on their website.

Two of our schools provide summer opportunities for English Language Learners. Some of the educators associated with the camps shared updates about their focus and happenings this summer.

Shelburne
The ELL Summer Camp at Shelburne is always a blast! The purpose of our camp is to provide authentic experiences in the Vermont Community to facilitate the practice of social language and academic language. Students build relationships with other ELL students in the school as well as adults/places in the Vermont community. Each year we have a different theme. This year we are exploring the subject of postcards and writing about new experiences. See their visit with Elaine Pinckney!

Williston
Our theme in Williston this summer is Farm-To-Table and we are visiting local farms each week. The students are making their own snacks with local ingredients, and each week they make a different style book to document their experiences. Campers also start each morning by journaling about experiences from the previous day, and gluing photographs into their journals.