WCS Students Win a National Competition

Williston Central School's Equinox team is comprised of third and fourth graders. Two of the teachers, Jamie Coffey and Karin Ward, each adopted cows through the Discover Dairy program. They both got calves from the Gervis Family Farm in Enosburg, Vermont. Jamie and Karin shared photos over time with their combined classes to watch the progress of Aurora and Tawny.

Aurora is the heifer on the left and Tawny is the Brown Swiss on the right

Then they received an email with a challenge to make a video to go with the Discover Diary song. Students helped to choreograph the movements and started learning the words to the song as fluency practice. Thanks to other adults in the building, Tara Weegar and Jessica Wilson, the video was created and submitted. They won the award for the grades 3-5 category, nationally! 

The students won an ice cream party with heifer-patterned décor and lots of Vermont ice cream from Wilcox Dairy, a farm that sits at the base of Mount Equinox. 

Congratulations! 

An Exciting Finish at the State Geo-Bee Finals

Here's a guest post from Sam Nelson, SCS educator and Geo-Bee coach. Thanks also to Josh Roof, WCS Geo-Bee coach. Congratulations to both of you and thank you for your support of these students. 

On May 8th, students from schools around the state gathered at Montpelier High School for the 5-8th grade Vermont State Geography Bee. After a COVID-related hiatus, the Bee returned this year to offer the opportunity for students to flex their knowledge while answering quiz questions centered on state, national, and international geography and culture. The format is simple: sitting in rows of four, students answer individual questions to accumulate points for their teams. The team with the highest point total at the end of 12 rounds of questions is the winner.

At this year's Geo Bee, Shelburne Community School competed against four other schools: Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School, St. Johnsbury School, U-32, and Williston Central School. For SCS, the four 7th grade students representing their school were Ben Gardner, Jonny Thayer, Josh Kalbfleisch, and Leo Wang. For WCS, the team included Avery Antonioli, Kai Maxwell, Charles Meisenzahl, Grayson Pogact, and Annika Scott.

After the first four rounds, SCS had a two-point lead over both Williston and U-32. Four rounds later, however, SCS was down two points to Williston, U-32 and St. Johnsbury. The audience was audibly excited as the scores were close going into the final set of questions.

By the 11th and 12th rounds of questions it was clear that the two schools competing for the win were SCS and Williston. In the final round of questions it was Leo who came through for SCS. Navigating tricky questions centered on the Middle East, Leo came away answering the final round question correctly and, after an incorrect answer from a Williston team member, the results were in: Shelburne and Williston were tied after the final round.

This forced a playoff. Teams had five minutes to calm themselves and prepare. All four members of the SCS team used the opportunity to review a classroom atlas and cram whatever geographic knowledge they could before moving back to their seats on the stage. 

A notable moment came when, before the final round of questions were presented to the two teams, students from both SCS and Williston offered each other fist-bumps, handshakes, and "good luck" sentiments. This served as a model of respect and kindness within a heated competition. 

As the final questions were presented to each student on the two remaining teams, things came down to Leo needing a correct answer to seal the victory. To the question On which of the following seas does Iran have a border: the Aral Sea, the Black Sea, or the Caspian Sea? Leo took a moment, inhaled, and correctly responded with "the Caspian Sea".

Scores were announced, students celebrated, and more congratulatory handshakes and kind sentiments were shared. The SCS team held the state championship trophy high, capping off a triumphant return of the Vermont State Geography Bee. The WCS team ultimately finished as runners up by one point.

What an exciting finish. Way to go to both teams and their coaches! Thank you for representing CVSD and for your hard work that led to this great accomplishment! 

The SCS team and state champs

CVU Mock Trial Team Earns Second Place

 Thank you to CVU Business Teacher, George Schock, for this guest post. 

CVU competed in the Vermont State Mock Trial Competition held at Vermont Law School. I’m thrilled to announce that the team (Sunny Francis, Ava Nnochiri, Derek Allen, Xander Olszewski, Lily Gruber, Gabriel Dartt), in only their second year competing, took SECOND PLACE in the competition. The team is incredibly proud of the fact that CVU was the first non-MMU (Mt. Mansfield) team to make it to the final round in 5 years!

In addition to the second place trophy, Sunny Francis took the honors of Best Defense Attorney, while Xander Olszewski walked away with the Best Defense Witness award.

The format of the event includes (2) consecutive trials where teams face opposing counsels from other schools. The (2) top scoring teams from these rounds get to compete in front of a packed house in the main court. Each team is made up of (3) attorneys and (3) Witnesses. Attorney’s are scored on how well they deliver opening and closing statements, as well as their ability to conduct direct and cross examination of witnesses. The witnesses must fully embody their character, by not only delivering credible and convincing responses to direct examination from their CVU peers, but also hold up to the intense cross examination coming from the competing team. Each member of the team is scored by sitting state and federal judges, and each member’s performance contributes to the team’s overall score.

Sunny Francis (Attorney) demonstrated an incredible ability to deliver engrossing opening and closing statements that not only convinced the judges of our defendant's innocence, but kept the spectators hanging on his every word. Ava Nnochiri (Attorney) crafted nuanced direct examination questions of key witnesses, while keeping the prosecution's witnesses on their toes during the cross. Derek Allen (Attorney), displayed incredible confidence and charisma when leading each witness through his line of questioning. His confidence was even more impressive since he joined the team just a week before the competition! Xander Olszewski (witness) played a vital role as the defendant during the trial. His character was accused of murder, and the sincere emotion shown Xander showed on the stand, along with his confidence during cross, was unreal. Lily Gruber (witness) served as a witness who had to convince the jury of the defendant's alibi and showed unflinching poise and composure. Lily’s talent for acting really was on display as she played an actress in her role! Finally, Gabriel Dartt (witness), stepped into the role of a used car salesman, effectively spinning a tale describing his expertise while confidently supporting our side of the story.

This competition is an incredible challenge. It requires the ability to manage intense stress while thinking on your feet - not to mention an insane amount of reading and research. I’m incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished thanks to their focused dedication and hard work.

CVSD Students Share Their Stories and Voices

We posted these two videos earlier on our social media channels and wanted to make it easy for anyone to access them. 

Thank you to all student contributors. You are inspiring!

Current students share their voices.

Past students share their memories and experiences.

CVSD's National Board Certified Educators

Three additional educators in the Champlain Valley School District, all based at the Williston Central School, have attained National Board Certification, a significant achievement in the field of education.

We extend our sincere congratulations to:

Colleen O'Brien - Early Adolescence Mathematics
Courtney Sherman - Exceptional Needs Specialist, Early Childhood through Young Adulthood
Deb Laskarzewski - World Languages, Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood

Two educators maintained their certification, which is also a proud accomplishment. Congratulations to Erin Crowley (ABS) and Andrea Griffin (WCS). 

Colleen, Courtney, and Deb join others in CVSD who have achieved this recognition. At fifteen, our district has the largest number of Board Certified Educators in the state of Vermont! 

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National Board Certification was designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. It is the most respected professional certification available in K-12 education.

Created by teachers, for teachers, the National Board Standards represent a consensus among educators about what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Board certification is available in 25 certificate areas spanning 16 disciplines from Pre-K through 12th grade.

The certification process requires that teachers demonstrate standards-based evidence of the positive effect they have on student learning in alignment with the Five Core Propositions. They must exhibit a deep understanding of their students, content knowledge, use of data and assessments and teaching practice. They must also show that they participate in learning communities and provide evidence of ongoing reflection and continuous learning.

WCS Engineering Design Challenge

Middle school students at Williston Central School recently participated in an engineering design challenge. Students chose to create designs for either the rampball or catapult challenge and then competed against others to determine which had the greatest success. 

Students discuss ideas during the planning and building process.

Engineering in middle school sometimes means lots of glue, tape and recycled materials!

So how does the incline of the ramp affect the distance a ball will travel? Students tested it to find out!

Students compete with their catapult, which earned them a 3rd place finish at the Engineering Challenge!

Putting their catapult to the test!

What is Harkness?

Recently, CVU's 10th and 11th grade Harkness Building Coaches traveled to Harwood Union High School to participate in Harkness discussions with their counterparts at that school. The pictures below show a trust-building warm-up activity and then discussions completely led by students. In particular, CVU and Harwood 11th graders - who have a bit more training than the 10th graders - facilitated the discussions for the 10th graders. As is typical in high-quality Harkness, all the teachers had to do was sit back and observe. Magic only begins to describe it.

CVU will host Harwood's Harkness Building Coaches for a similar summit on Thursday, December 14.

We asked Brad Miller, a CVU social studies teacher to help our community learn more about Harkness. Here are his responses in a question/answer format. Thank you for your leadership on this valuable work, Brad! 

What is Harkness?

The Harkness Method began in 1930 at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH, and is still their primary mode of instruction today. It has since become very popular in the private school world, in large part due to Exeter’s renown.

In short, The Harkness Method asks that students be responsible for their own learning. Instead of the teacher being the sole deliverer of content, students are taught to engage with each other using the tools of civil discourse, taught to engage with content through annotation and questioning, and then taught to make sense of that content together ‘at the table’ (pictured above) using those tools of civil discourse. The teacher’s role is more to steer discussion and collaboration towards key understandings rather than leading them to those understandings through lectures.

Does Harkness at CVU look the same as Harkness in private school?

No. CVU - or any public school - can’t replicate the private school model. Instead, we teach a Harkness curriculum that operates within our capacity. We use highly scaffolded steps to bring our students ‘to the table,’ so to speak. While our version takes more time and has more steps, many CVU students at this very moment are skilled enough that they could sit down at the table with Exeter students and you wouldn’t notice a difference.

What’s the difference between a Harkness discussion and a Socratic Seminar?

Think of Socratic Seminar as one of the final steps along the Harkness process. Socratic Seminar is a discussion in which the teacher comes prepared with questions for the students to answer in order to achieve an understanding about content. Harkness pushes one step past that and instead asks the students to be the ones preparing questions. They would then engage each other in discussion, with the teacher there to provide direction and quality control.

Are Harkness discussions just freewheeling, dorm room-style riff sessions?

No. Successful Harkness teachers prepare vigilantly beforehand to make sure that their discussions are ones in which there aren’t interruptions, there is clear direction, content is the driver, and every voice matters. A student won’t be successful at Harkness simply by talking the most. The quality of their comments and their active listening are more important than their ability to talk a lot.

Is Harkness just meant for the Humanities classroom?

No, but Harkness does look different in different disciplines. For example, it’s totally reasonable for Humanities teachers to expect their students to be able to sit in circles of 10-12 and have discussions about content. That might not be applicable to, say, a math or science classroom. Instead, in that context, Harkness might look like groups of 4-6 collaborating on problems or labs. One is not more valuable than the other, especially since the same skills of civil discourse can be taught and assessed. The teacher’s goals, how students reflect, and what’s being assessed are all potential commonalities between Harkness in different disciplines at CVU.

What’s the difference between Harkness and a debate?

Harkness isn’t a setting in which students seek to ‘win’ or ‘own’ each other, as they might say. It’s a setting in which students are asked to unpack complex content together through civil discourse. Sure, disagreement is a natural part of Harkness, but ‘winning’ is not something that’s prized within the pedagogy. Perhaps a teacher might use a Harkness discussion to help their students prepare for a debate.

What's the current status of Harkness at CVU? 

An after school class to help educators learn about Harkness is now in its third year and I’m proud to say that my co-teacher, Kathy Cadwell, (from Harwood) and I have trained 27 CVU teachers in the Harkness Method. Over and over again, I have seen that Harkness allows students to be heard, to take risks, and to experience a much more equitable version of classroom discussion than I had used in the past.

How many CVU students have been trained in Harkness?

Every single 9th grader received training last year. Additionally, most current juniors participated in some degree of Harkness training during their 9th-10th grade years. The ripple effects that teachers are seeing in their 10th and 11th-grade class discussions are profound.

What do CVU students like about Harkness? 

The responses below come from anonymous surveys given to 9th graders last year.

• I liked the emphasis on including everyone in the discussions.
• I liked the passionate discussions, how it was so polite without any interruptions and I loved the vibe of the room.
• We didn't interrupt, like, at all, and that was great, as that's something I get mad at my friends for doing. I think we all had great points to share too.
• I think I did a good job listening to others and letting others talk. I have a tendency to talk for a long time, and I think I did a good job holding back and letting others have the floor.
• We had a lot of really good connections to things you would never think of connected to what we were talking about. Hearing these made what we were talking about easier to understand.
• I think it gave me some new ideas and a deeper understanding of the units than I would have learned on my own.
• I liked to hear everyone's ideas, and I liked to see my classmates growth.
• It was a good way to get ideas for the LEAF formatives and summatives. I also think it was a good way to get comfortable with sharing your ideas to a group and potentially disagreeing with others.
• I felt like I was heard and my opinions were valued. I didn’t feel embarrassed when I messed up or stumbled over my words. I felt very included.
• It is really hard to be actively in the discussion if you are not prepared.
• I really liked how we had a lot of control as the students.

HCS Awarded An Exciting Grant

 

HCS is One of Ten Schools and Districts Selected for the Second Cohort!

Hinesburg Community School (HCS) was selected as one of 10 schools nationally to partner with the national education nonprofit organization, Transcend, to be a part of their second cohort of the Rural Schools Design Community. This is a ten-month program where school administrators and faculty will prioritize reimagining their school model to better serve students and families.

At the start of the ten-month program, each school community will identify a core team to lead the process in their communities. Through this program, teams work locally to enlist their broader community in shaping the vision for their reimagined school. Throughout the 10 months, the groups will also engage in convenings, exploring high-impact topics such as generating a community-led school design process to achieve equitable results for all students, understanding the skills and mindsets needed for young people to thrive in and transform the world, learning how to ensure community aspirations and needs are reflected, and understanding school & district design.

The 2023-2024 Transcend Rural Schools Design Community includes:

• Calistoga Joint Unified School District in Calistoga, CA
• East Range Academy of Technology & Science (ERATS) in Mt. Iron, MN
• Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools in Elizabeth City, NC
• Hinesburg Community School/Champlain Valley School District in Hinesburg, VT
• Lasara ISD in Lasara, TX
• Los Lunas Schools in Los Lunas, NM
• Riverhead Charter School in Calverton, NY
• Rugby Public Schools in Rugby, ND
• Southern Berkshire Regional School District in Sheffield, MA
• Warren County Schools in Warrenton, NC

The Rural Schools Design Community will take place at no cost to participants thanks to a grant and will commence in August of 2023.

We will provide updates when the work gets underway. Congratulations HCS!

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.

The Return of RISE

It was four years ago that we last wrote about RISE at CVU. You can learn more about the origin of RISE and see some highlights of the 2019 program. CVU took a hiatus from RISE after 2019 due to COVID and the many adjustments to school and schedules. Happily, it has returned and it is off and running as of June 1! 

Given that it's been four years, it's likely new to most students and families in our district. Here's a bit of a refresher.

RISE stands for Reflective Interest-based, Student Experiences and is taking place during the last two weeks of the school year. Students attend either two sessions a day, morning and afternoon, or choose to participate in a full-day session each day. Students may also explore an Independent Learning Seminar. RISE is a part of the academic school year and attendance is a graduation requirement. It culminates on June 14 with a Presentation of Learning Day. 

Peter Booth, a Nexus teacher at CVU, is also the coordinator of RISE. Thank you Peter, and all CVU staff, for your incredible efforts to make this experience a reality once more! 

Here's a small sampling of some of the varied offerings this year followed by photos from some of the sessions.

• Empowering Women in Business
• In this session, we will explore the challenges and rewards women face as they enter the workforce. Topics around gender equity, finding your leadership voice, balancing work and life, self-care, and the importance of self-advocacy will be the focus of our class time.
• What participants will gain from this session is confidence in their thoughts and ideas, the skills to implement ideas, a knowledge of the resources available to support women in business, a deeper understanding of what it is like to work in business, and strategies for self-care as they balance the demands of work and life.
• Strategies to reach these goals will include guest speakers, field trips to local businesses, a job shadowing opportunity, and a potential trip to New York City to meet and network with women in business leadership positions.
• Wilderness Leadership and NOLS Wilderness First Aid
• In this full-day offering, students will develop their self-reliance, group-work, and leadership skills in a wilderness setting. They will come to understand the CVU motto of “Take care of yourself, take care of each other, and take care of this place” in a whole new context. 
• Students will become NOLS Wilderness First Aid and CPR certified, do their own leadership inventory and training, hike the trails in the region, and do community service for the Green Mountain Club and Vermont Youth Conservation
• Fractals, Ferns, & Formulas
• In this session, we will explore fractals, the infinitely complex mathematical shapes that are found all around us! After an introduction to fractals and their creation, we’ll investigate the connections to geometry, nature, art, architecture, technology, and more.
• The Science of Happiness
• Based on the most popular course at Yale, The Science of Happiness will focus on the question, “Why do I feel the way I do?”
• In this RISE session, students will grapple with strategies designed around how to increase their own happiness and build more productive happiness habits. We will examine misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the brain that guide us to think the way we do, and the research/strategies that can help you change. By the end of the session, students will be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity (or more) into their life.
• Come join us for a RISE focused on finding happiness and joy!
• Painting and Poetry
• Painting AND Poetry? It’s a win/win combination! The focus of this school-appropriate twist on the “Paint & Sip'' phenomenon is to encourage all students, regardless of artistic or writing ability, to engage in activities where they will be asked to think about varied subject matter, paint it, and then write about it using multiple forms of poetry. The culminating activity will be to participate in an in-house "Paint & Sip" (on age appropriate beverages, of course) class by a local artist who will guide students through a class-selected painting.
• Cooking for Independent Living
• Do you love a home-cooked meal? Do you have a sense of what you love to eat, but you are not sure how to prepare it? Would you like to leave this course with a menu of meals you have already prepared once, and are prepared to make again?
• In this course, we will work collaboratively to prepare meals (some in one pot preparation!) that you can return to time and time again once you are living independently, or for your current living situation! Impress your friends and parents with these go-to meals. Designed for first-time cooks, you will learn some basic techniques for preparing some main meals, paired with sides of vegetables and starches. Important- Many or most of these dinner entrees will not be vegan or vegetarian friendly…Please consider this course only if you are comfortable preparing and consuming fish, beef, pork, and chicken.
• Celebrating Culture and Diversity: A Project-Based Learning Experience
• Are you fascinated by the beautiful diversity of human cultures? Do you want to learn more about your cultural heritage, or are you curious about other cultures?
• In this RISE course, we’ll explore, celebrate, and experience the range of elements that make up culture: language, food, clothing, art, music and dance, spirituality, gender roles, etc. We’ll also open up avenues for you to explore your own cultural interests more deeply.

Click on the three vertical dots below the slides for a larger view/full screen.

Celebratory Events at Charlotte Central School

Last week there were two events that took place at Charlotte Central School (CCS) on the same evening. In the gym, about 150 people came to enjoy a math night. There were a variety of games and activities run by both adults and students. 

In another space, seventh and eighth graders shared their Personal Interest Projects (PIPs) with families and friends. There was quite a variety! 

Please enjoy this short video which captures a few elements of each event. 

CVU Math League Accomplishments

 Thank you to Charlie MacFadyen, CVU's Math League coach, for providing this update. 

The CVU Math League Team has wrapped up a very successful year! We tied with South Burlington High School as co-champions of the Greater Burlington Math League, capping off CVU’s best season ever! And we did it in style with our new T-shirts! Of the 14 awards given out for individual performances in the league, 5 of them went to CVU students.

Team members who competed this year included Anna Dauerman, Patterson Frazier, Thomas Garavelli, Jacob Graham, Alyssa Hill, Joe Jacobs, Dan Knight, Georgia Knight, Elias Leventhal, Jacob Medici, David Merchant, Veronica Miskavage, Clay Nicholson, Lily O’Brien, Wylie Ricklefs, Keaton St. Martin, Julia Shrier, and Sam Yager.

In addition to our league competition, students also participated in the American Mathematics Competition, the UVM High School Prize Exam in Mathematics, and the Vermont State Mathematics Coalition Talent Search Contest (coordinated by CVU math teacher, Kiran MacCormick).

The results for the UVM Prize Exam just came out and CVU had three students in the top ten statewide (Elias Leventhal in 2nd, Jacob Graham in 3rd, and Keaton St. Martin tied for 8th) and six students receiving Certificates of Merit. Earlier in the year, Elias and Jacob also qualified and sat for the prestigious American Invitational Mathematics Exam, based on their scores on the AMC.

Most importantly, this is a fun, collegial group of students who just love to solve problems and it's a pleasure to work with them.

Thanks again to Kiran MacCormick for all of his help with the team and to the CVU math department for all you do!

Congratulations math superstars!

Students Shine at the VAMLE Conference

Here's a guest post submitted by Lynn Camara. Lynn is a student assistance program (SAP) counselor at Williston Central School (WCS). 

Students from Charlotte Central School and Shelburne Community School also attended the conference.

On Thursday, March 16, WCS sponsored a group of twenty-six 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to participate in a day-long conference at Champlain College. The event was hosted by the Vermont Association for Middle Level Education (VAMLE) and featured workshops relevant to adolescents. It was an incredible conference with 350 middle school students from all over the state. Our students were very engaged in the learning opportunities, they took positive risks, and were terrific ambassadors of WCS.

Jared Bailey, a 5th & 6th grade Sterling House teacher at WCS and the president of VAMLE, gave an opening welcome speech to all of the conference attendees. Then WCS Sterling House 6th grader Eisley Devitt read the Land Acknowledgement to the large crowd. Later in the day Mr. Bailey, Eisley, and other Sterling House students, Anna Thorley-Doucette, Annika Scott, Teague Flattery, and Varian Theriault facilitated a workshop on “Implementing Social Courage.”

The guest speaker was Bennett Townley from Special Olympics Vermont. Bennett is a graduate of WCS and Champlain Valley Union HS. He spoke of his experiences being treated unkindly and being excluded as a middle school and high school student. He found a wonderful sense of community in the Unified Sports program at CVU and shared his excitement about being part of a basketball team. Audience members found his talk to be inspirational and heartwarming.

Later in the morning students participated in a variety of workshops relevant to middle school students. In addition to the “Implementing Social Courage” workshop presented by a group of WCS students, other workshops included: Alternatives to Hazing in Athletics, Creating Change in Your School, Responding to Social Media, Unified School Communities, Organizing Against Racism, Learning About Gender, Pronouns, and Sexuality, among others.

The students returned to WCS excited to share what they have learned with their peers.

               

Nora Brady, a WCS 6th grader, said "It was a really fun experience. It was amazing to see students from all over Vermont. There were a lot of people there all learning from each other.” "This conference was a great learning experience," said 8th grader Malashie Tonokie. "It reinforced that when students can express themselves, they can become leaders. Student voices make student leaders!"

Seventh grader Orion Power-Freeman said of the day at Champlain "It was really great to see the diversity of students from all over Vermont. I loved knowing students all over are working on the same issues we are here at WCS." These students were terrific ambassadors of WCS and did a great job jumping in and participating in the conference!

Note: VAMLE is the Vermont chapter of the Association for Middle Level Educators (AMLE). WCS educator Jared Bailey, the president of VAMLE, added this perspective, "It was our largest conference ever. It's also the only AMLE chapter conference that is run by students for students. It was great to see students from all over the state come together to share concerns, learn from each other, and leave with ideas on how to make their communities better! We hope to see many of this year's attendees back as presenters next year!"

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

An Award Winning App for a CVU Student

Congratulations to Jaden Parker, this year's Vermont Congressional App Challenge winner!

 
Jaden, a senior at CVU from St. George, created an app called Hollow Valley using JavaScript and HTML programming languages. 

When asked about how it feels to have won this challenge for Vermont, Jaden said, 

"If I had to summarize my feelings about winning down to one word I'd choose empowering. Computer programming is a fiercely competitive sector. While the coding itself is difficult, creating something of your own design requires a different level of creativity than I'm used to. With my app, I put some of my best work forward and a lot of hours. Winning this award makes it all feel worth it. I'm incredibly thankful to my mentors who pushed me to submit my app to this challenge, without the guidance of people like Charlie MacFadyen I wouldn't have been able to have this opportunity."

Jaden provided the following information about his app and the development process.

Please briefly describe what your app does.
My app is a platforming game consisting of three levels. Each level operates on a canvas with platforms drawn using a series of intervals and functions. Each level is re-playable and is accessed through a level-select screen.

What inspired you to create this app?
I was introduced to HTML files and canvases during a computer programming class I took at CVU during the spring of 2022. For my final project I chose to create a simple game. The game I submitted for that class was used as a building off point for the app that I submitted for the contest.

What improvements would you make if you were to create a 2.0 version of your app?
I am currently working on the next version of the app. I will be adding more levels, improving the textures of the platforms, and adding a life-counting system that will make it possible to lose each level.

Where did you do most of the coding for your app?
I did most of the coding on the program VScode, with most of my time spent at home. However, I did spend some time at school in a CVU computer programming class where I am a Teacher’s Assistant, debugging with assistance from some of my students.

Did you create this app as part of a project for school, a coding club, or a similar organization?
The app began as a project for school, and is now a personal project that I hope to improve as I become a better programmer. One day I may even be able to publish the game as a playable app.

Jaden submitted this video describing his app as part of the application process and gave us permission to share it here. 

The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host contests in their districts for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app to Congress during our annual #HouseOfCode festival. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from Omidyar Network, AWS, theCoderSchool, Facebook, Replit, Accenture, and others.

We remain hopeful that Vermont students will continue to have this opportunity as Becca Balint joins the House as Vermont's representative. 

The 2021 Vermont winners of the Congressional App Challenge, Addison and Max, are also CVU students. We are very proud of the accomplishments of CVU students and are thrilled that their work is being recognized by others.

On a somewhat related note, Jaden was also one of three CVU students who visited Shelburne Community School recently to judge and provide feedback on 5th-graders' app concept presentations.

Congratulations to Jaden, and again to Addison and Max! 

Math and Music Are Connected

The information for this post was shared by Lori Marino, music teacher at Shelburne Community School. 

A fourth grade class was learning musical notation. Specifically, the associated number of beats each note is “worth” in a 4/4 measure. I drew the diagram shown in the pictures below. The last student to leave class had left the class line and drawn a note with multiple flags with a number written beneath it in the first picture. The student knew to increase to the power of 2 each time a flag was added to the eighth note which is valued at 1/2 beat in a 4/4 measure.

Curious when I saw the large number written below the note the student had drawn, I called a colleague, Jodi Sanders, in to see if we could verify. Sure enough after we worked through each power of 2 (we did have to resort to a calculator!) we verified that the student (who did not have a calculator!) nailed the value!! 

This was a remarkable accomplishment! After acknowledging the student's achievement later this afternoon, they told me that they had memorized all of the powers of two through 300 something million and proceeded to rapidly rattle off all of the numbers Jodi had worked to figure out earlier in about 5 seconds!

I thought this was a great academic/artistic connection to share!

Note: The excitement spread to others and students continue to make these connections. Here's another photo of what they worked on 2 days later. 

Wow, thank you for sharing this with us, Lori!

SCS Students Present to State Board of Education

 This guest post was provided by Lashawn Sells, DEI coach at the Shelburne Community School. 

Photo with newly-elected US House representative, Becca Balint

In late September, a group of 22 students from the Shelburne Community School went to Montpelier for the Day of Anti- Racial Equity and Education. The event was sponsored by Vermont Student Anti- Racism Network (VSARN). Students were chosen by teachers and some students self selected. Students from Charlotte Central School and Hinesburg Community School attended the event as well.

More recently, six SCS students presented virtually to a committee of the State Board of Education . These students shared about the day they went to Montpelier with other students across the state to learn more about Anti- Racial Equity and Education. The students discussed how much they enjoyed connecting with students from other districts and how they want to use this information to help make change in their school community. They also took this moment to share some things they feel we need to work on across the state such as hiring BIPOC teachers, diversification of curriculum, and opportunities for students to learn outside the traditional classroom. 

The committee was elated to hear from our students and are taking their suggestions into consideration.

Stone Soup at SCS

 Here's a guest post from Shelburne Community School: 

We had lots of smiling faces last week as we collected ingredients and made stone soup. If you're not familiar with the story that sparked this activity, check it out in our library or see this short, animated video version. Hopefully, the kids will have taken the enthusiasm and some new skills home!

It was really impressive to see how attentive they listened, and how focused, and enthusiastic the kids were when peeling, chopping and cleaning up. With all the chatting, it really felt like friends preparing a meal together. They showed resourcefulness (how about using scissors for the herbs?) and flexibility (substituting tools if needed). They willingly shared and swapped stations to try something new. Many parent helpers and teachers commented on the value of these life skills.

Here is Stone Soup by the numbers; our recipe for success:

230 kids helped prep
150lbs of chopped vegetables
75 gallons of soup
40 adult helping hands (some multiple times)
23 different vegetables and herbs
12 classes and cohorts
4 days of fun
3 donated stones
2 visits to the nurses
1 amazing community

Thank you to the parent/caregiver community, teachers, our food service staff, and our wonderful students. 

Williston Candidates' Forum a Great Success

Last Friday, the middle school students at Williston Central School hosted their biennial Candidates' Forum. The teachers and their students invited the Republican and Democratic candidates for US Senate, US House of Representatives, Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General.

Various candidates for federal and state offices were invited and nine were able to attend. This is a great opportunity to inform students and educate them about the political issues facing voters in the November elections. These are the offices our 7th and 8th students were busy researching and preparing questions for. The 5th and 6th grade students also studyed the candidates, political parties, and issues of the election. They created posters that lined the walls in the school and auditorium. Following the forum, students will use the evidence from the forum for a writing assignment.

“The Williston Candidate Forum is an authentic way for our students to learn about democracy. It encourages students to thoughtfully engage in the process of educating themselves about relevant issues and asking questions to further their understanding of the topics,” said Jackie Parks, Williston Central School Building Principal. “Ultimately we want students to become active in their communities and this learning experience provides them with the foundation to build on as they grow into responsible and involved citizens.”

The following candidates and the office they're running for attended this year's forum: 

• Gerald Malloy (R), US Senate
• Peter Welch (D), US Senate
• Becca Balint (D), US House of Representatives
• Phil Scott (R), Governor of Vermont
• Brenda Siegel (D), Governor of Vermont
• Joe Benning (R), Lt. Governor of Vermont
• David Zuckerman (D), Lt. Governor of Vermont
• Michael Tagliavia (R), Vermont Attorney General
• Charity Clark (D), Vermont Attorney General

In addition to posing challenging questions to the candidates, some students were behind the cameras livestreaming and recording the event. They had support from the Media Factory. The complete recording can be seen at this link, thanks to the Media Factory. 

This was the 12th candidate forum sponsored by the social studies committee at WCS. Thank you to this exemplary group of teachers for preparing your students so well!

Here's a small sampling of photos taken at the event.



View additional coverage of the event from local TV stations.
WPTZ: Vermont Students Meet with Candidates During Forum
WCAX: Students Questions Vermont Candidates on the Issues

WFFF: Vermont Candidates Discuss Major Issues in Middle School Hosted Forum

It's Time to Take An Access Course!

We are excited to pass along this announcement from our friends at Access CVU. If you haven't had a chance to take a course (or teach one!) please explore the many offerings. 

Greetings from Laura and Jen 

at Access CVU!

Fall/Winter 2022- Registration Is Now Open!

Access CVU, your Community Education Program, is back in action with another semester of amazing enrichment for both in-person and online learners. In-person classes take place at CVU High School and start after 4pm, Monday-Thursday. Online classes are offered through Zoom.

Over 200 classes (new classes added monthly!) 

and 89 local instructors.

Enroll today! Popular classes fill quickly and low enrollment leads to canceled classes. Invite your family and friends!

New classes and instructors are added every month! Don't miss out; sign-up for the weekly Access CVU Newsletter.

• Follow us on Instagram @accesscvu for class announcements and PROMOS!

• Looking to teach a course at Access CVU? Complete the New Instructor Form (also located on our Homepage)

• Visit us at https://cvsdvt.ce.eleyo.com/ or Google, Access CVU. Questions or to enroll via email or phone, contact us at access@cvsdvt.org / 802-482-7194.

Thank you for supporting Access CVU and keeping community education thriving in CVSD. We hope to see you soon!