Robotics in Action

We are thrilled to share the positive news about the expansion of robotics in CVSD. CVU's Robohawks have led the way on many levels. First, they garnered well-deserved attention for their own success as the Vermont Robotics Champions, which we wrote about last spring here. They traveled to Houston to compete in the FIRST Robotics World Championship. That was an amazing experience, where they connected with and learned from other robotics teams and represented CVSD well.

Also last spring, the Robohawks were awarded a grant to support robotics teams at our other schools. That grant provided materials for teams from each of our K-8 schools, enabling them to learn about, prepare, practice, and then participate in FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competitions. The Robohawks followed that up this year by visiting the K-8 teams and offered guidance, expertise, and enthusiastic support. 

Early this fall, teams were formed and coaches and volunteers were recruited. Funding for the coaches and some additional materials was provided by a number of district grants including a Rowland Foundation grant awarded to Tim O'Leary and Charlie MacFadyen and a CVSD Innovation grant. Tim O'Leary was especially instrumental in organizing and supporting the effort to get the FLL teams underway.

We are proud to say that every one of CVSD's K-8 schools had a team this year and they all participated in the Vermont FIRST LEGO League competition at the end of January. Some photos from that event and comments from coaches and students can be found below. 

From WCS Coach Allan Miller: 

It was great to see all 4 CVSD schools field successful teams this year and a huge thank you to Tim O’Leary and Charlie MacFadyen for sharing the Roland grant funds to help support the teams and Olaf Verdonk and the CVU Robohawks for their financial and technical support. This is probably the most successful full-district initiative I’ve seen in the past 10 years.

From SCS Coach Joey Adams: 

The SCS RoboCats finished up their first season with a resounding crescendo of teamwork and joy at the First Lego League Robotics State Championships at Norwich University on January 28th. The team was composed of over forty SCS students from grades 4th-7th who participated in the after-school sport from October to January. Their dedication to teamwork, building friendships, and having fun were on full display at the competition and throughout the season. The RoboCats worked hard on building robots to solve complex missions that involved learning and applying computer coding skills while working interdependently. The competition also included an intense judging panel that interviewed the RoboCats about their team roles, challenges, and what they learned as individuals and as a team. A quote from many RoboCats during the judging panel and feedback received about this new sport at SCS is best summed up: "...we worked so hard as a team and we learned so much but we also had so much fun while making new friends..." The RoboCats and the coaches can't wait for next season where we plan to roar with joy even louder together! 

From Tim Holcomb and CCS:

The kids worked really hard in completing several missions and getting their attachments to cooperate. With lots of innovation and creativity, they were proud of (and surprised) at how well they performed at the competition. As a team, we are looking forward to growing and continuing our program.

From HCS Student Jo Reiley:

On January 28, 2023, twenty-six teams gathered at Norwich University for the FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) Statewide Championship. Among the teams was a group of ten HCS students from 4th through 8th grade gathered at Norwich to test their coding skills and teamwork. They raced against another team’s robot to complete a set of missions in the span of two and a half minutes. They had been preparing for this moment since October, starting out by just doing a couple of team building activities then slowly escalating into building complex Lego builds including wind turbines, as well as researching a chosen community problem to face for the Innovation Project.

FLL was originally founded by Dean Kamen in 1998. He worked with the owner of the LEGO group Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen to create a fun, STEM, teamwork emphasizing competition. Since then, teams from around the country have been working to code their robot and figure out what their Innovation Project is going to be about.

The team from HCS, or “Platinum Builders,” chose to do three different missions and got set on making those perfect. Their Innovation Project on the other hand was about turbines and their ability to collect energy. No one knew each other very well in the beginning but throughout the past couple of weeks, they have created quite a bond with each other. They hope that their team will grow next year and can’t wait to partake in the competition again.

- HCS coaches are Stephanie Bruning and Sunshine Ouimette

And finally, the Robohawks did it again and defended their title last weekend as Vermont state champions! Here's a description from coach Olaf Verdonk. 

CVU hosted the annual Vermont FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Championship this past weekend. There were 19 robotics teams from all over Vermont and this is the second year that CVU has entered TWO teams into the tournament; the varsity squad RoboHawks (#5741) and the JV squad RoboRedhawks (#22683). You may recall that last year the RoboHawks qualified for the World Championship...well this year both teams were outstanding!
This year CVU will be sending not one team to the World Championship, but BOTH teams!

The JV team managed to outplay the varsity team and led the way to the afternoon playoff stages. The JV team created an alliance partnership with the varsity team and together this CVU alliance won the tournament! The best of three finals were SUPER exciting with the CVU alliance winning the last match by only 4 points! The tournament win gives the JV team a berth for the World Championship in Houston, TX. Not to be outdone by the JV team, the varsity RoboHawks team were selected as the prestigious Inspire Award champions as the best team and robot in the tournament which qualified them for the World Championship in Houston, TX in April.

The RoboHawks won several other awards due to their outstanding work in all aspects of the competition. They vastly outscored all teams in the judged presentation, design, and engineering portfolio events of the tournament.

This document outlines all their awards, as well as description of the semi-final and final knockout stage matches.

RoboHawks:
Crawford Phillips, Jared Kennedy, Sam Yager, Violet Fennern, Jack Gourlay, James Haines, Addison Hoopes, Joe Jacobs, Jaden Parker

RoboRedhawks:
Clay Nicholson, Braden Griffin, Will Akerly, Gavin Blackburn, Jacob Graham, with support from Rhett Gardner and Sean Maynard

Congratulations and well done to all students, coaches, and volunteers! 

 

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! 

Williston's Digital Learning Leader Wins Award

 

Williston’s Digital Learning Leader, Jessica Wilson, was presented with VitaLearn’s Frank Watson Award on Friday at their annual Vermont Fest conference in Killington.

The award is presented to a person whose many years of devoted service, vision, and leadership have significantly advanced educational technology at the local, regional, and state level. Jessica has not only served on the board of VitaLearn for many years, Vermont’s ISTE affiliate, but she also served on the board of RETN (now known as the Media Factory) and continues to serve on the board of the Vermont NEA.

Jessica has educated elementary and middle school students at both the Hinesburg Community School and the Williston schools with the state of the art technology through the rapidly changing eras of iPads and Chromebooks. She inspires students and adults to explore new ideas including video production, live-streaming school events, computer animation, coding and more.

Each year, she inspires teachers and their students to participate in the Doodle for Google contest. As a result, an Allen Brook School first grader was last year's Vermont winner.

She is enthusiastic and passionate about digital learning and how digital tools support and enhance learning. Jessica works with everyone in the Williston schools, supporting all efforts that pertain to educational technology. She also serves on Williston’s wellness and safety committees.

Greg Marino, lead principal for the Williston schools, had this to share, 

"The Williston Schools are so grateful for the years of dedicated and expert support of our Digital Learning Leader, Jessica Wilson. Jess is constantly stepping up and stepping in to whatever it takes to advance student learning, especially in areas of transformative and responsible use of digital-age tools in teaching and learning. She serves as a role model to students and adults - not just for what it means to be a good digital citizen, but also a good human being."

We are truly appreciative of all that Jessica does for Williston, CVSD, and others in Vermont.

Congratulations, Jessica!

Allen Brook School Student Chosen as the Vermont Winner in Doodle for Google Student Contest

 

A talented Williston, Vermont, student could soon have his art on the Google homepage for hundreds of millions to see. This week, Google announced the 54 State and Territory winners in its 14th annual Doodle for Google competition, a contest where K-12 students across the United States have the opportunity to create their own version of the Google logo inspired by the prompt “I care for myself by....”.

Kyle Adams, a 1st grader from the Allen Brook School in Williston, Vermont, is one of the 54 US State and Territory Winners with his Doodle, “Mind Over Monsters”. Kyle’s Doodle was selected from thousands of entries received this year. Students at the Allen Brook School helped Kyle celebrate during a surprise assembly on May 25.

When Kyle submitted his design, he wrote, “Meditation is a powerful way to manage hard feelings, troubling thoughts, and lets our mind take a needed rest.”

At the celebration, Kyle was presented with a backpack full of goodies including a t-shirt with his design on it, and he received a Google Pixel tablet. The school was presented with a very large replica of Kyle’s design. 

Jessica Wilson

Every year, Williston’s Digital Learning Leader, Jessica Wilson, has encouraged teachers and their students to participate in Google's Doodle contest. Jessica was recognized at the event as well.

To help their favorites succeed, everyone across the USA can vote for their favorite Doodle from the 54 State and Territory Winners. Voting will be open soon on this site: https://doodles.google.com/d4g/. The public vote will determine the Five National Finalists (one in each grade group). Google will announce these five National Finalists in June, one of which will have their Doodle featured on the Google homepage for a day.

The National Winner will take home a $30,000 college scholarship and their school will receive a $50,000 tech package towards the establishment or improvement of a computer lab or technology program.

Voting is open through July 12! Vote for Kyle's design. https://doodles.google.com/d4g/  Be sure to spread the word!

The Adams family

ABS students and staff at the surprise celebration

Kyle with ABS Principal, Angela Filion, and Williston Lead Principal, Greg Marino

Credit for many of these photos goes to Kyle's mom, Jennifer Adams @Studio 2N Photography. Thank you! 

Gary Marckres Named CVSD’s Chief Operations Officer

 

Mr. Gerald (Gary) Marckres has been appointed Chief Operations Officer (COO) for the Champlain Valley School District (CVSD). Gary is replacing Jeanne Jensen, who is stepping down as COO to work on special projects for the district. Mr. Marckres will begin his leadership duties on July 1, 2022.

Mr. Mackres comes to CVSD from the South Burlington School District, where he has been the Director of Operations and Financial Management for four years. He also was Chair of the Grand Isle School/Champlain Islands School District’s board of directors for many years. Gary served in the Army National Guard and was Command Sergeant Major, Commandant of the Regional Training Institute, and Operations Lead. He states that “the assignments as Commandant of a regional training and education institute closely correlate to a superintendent role in a public setting. The financial management, accreditation, security, facilities management, food service, and staffing responsibility provided the direct experience which earned me the position I currently hold.” He is a graduate of Post University with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

CVSD’s chief operations officer oversees areas not directly related to academics, including transportation, facilities and grounds, food service, technology, human resources, and finance.

Gary shared this with the district, “I am very excited to join and work with the CVSD leadership team, staff, and students in July! I believe this is a great opportunity to continue my career of service in one of the most respected school districts in Vermont. I am looking forward to getting to know and work with CVSD's dedicated staff and hope that we can continue to advance the work that Jeanne Jensen and her team did so well over the past several years.”

Superintendent Rene Sanchez shared, “Mr. Mackres is a wonderful addition to our leadership team. His previous work in finance and operations in South Burlington will enable him to step into the position and be successful.”

We look forward to welcoming Gary on July 1.

Cookies Are Great... Right?

Who doesn’t want a free cookie? Well, it depends on what kind we’re offering. In addition to chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin, another type of cookie was distributed to some CVU students last week. Read on to learn more.

A few weeks ago, CVU 9th grade student Alex Fox, as part of research about cybersecurity for a Nexus project, shared a survey with all students at CVU. The goal was to see what they knew and thought about a number of topics. Some of the questions included: What are computer cookies? What do you do when you get a cookie pop-up? What is two-factor authentication? Should passwords for all accounts be the same? What do you do when you get spam? What is cybersecurity, why might it be important, and what are the potential benefits and negatives of cybersecurity? Alex reports that they had over 60 responses to the survey and that most people who responded knew very little about cybersecurity.

That survey whet the appetite to help people learn more about computer or internet cookies. Faculty members of CVU’s technology integration committee, led by digital learning leader Charlie MacFadyen, decided to engage students in a related activity to help them learn about internet cookies, using real cookies.

On Monday, May 9, during the lunch blocks at CVU, students were offered a free cookie. All the students had to do to get the cookie was fill out a one-question form. They were asked “Which best describes you?” with options around whether they liked dogs, cats, both, or neither. When filling out the form, it automatically collected their email address. By the way, special thanks goes out to the Redhawk Cafe staff for the delicious cookies!

About 300 students filled out the survey to get a cookie. CVU advisors were told of this activity ahead of time and were asked not to share what it was about with students until later in the week.

On Wednesday, students who filled out the form got an email that looked something like this, depending on their answer to the form.

Hi _____________,

We hope you enjoyed your cookie in the cafeteria!

And since you're a dog person, here's a picture of some adorable puppies. By the way, we also shared your information with dogs.com, so you may be getting their ads soon*.

*Just kidding-- we didn't really share your info with anyone! But guess what? When you accept cookies on the internet, this is often what happens. Cookies are files that save information about your activity on a website. So-called first-party cookies can be helpful so that sites "remember" you the next time you visit (for example, knowing what preferences you chose or what's in your shopping cart). But when you agree to third-party cookies, you allow websites to share your information with other websites (often, for targeted ads). Next time you're asked to "accept all cookies" on a website, try clicking the option to learn more and choose what you agree to.

At the end of the week, ALL students got an email with the general information about this activity. Advisors were asked to show a video (see the first link below) to their advisories and then pose some questions to get the discussion about the experience going. Some teachers reported that these were valuable conversations.

Hopefully, this will help inform more of you about computer cookies, and maybe you’ll think twice before deciding whether or not to accept one next time.

Learn more here:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdVPflECed8
• https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/10/18656519/what-are-cookies-website-tracking-gdpr-privacy
• https://youtu.be/HFyaW50GFOs
• https://cookie-script.com/all-you-need-to-know-about-third-party-cookies.html

Thank you to the CVU technology integration committee for sharing this with us!

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)

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, December 16, 2021

 

Please see the December newsletter for information about a variety of topics, including:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) updates
• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• COVID updates (testing, vaccines, and a guest letter)
• Celebrations

and more!

Non-Credible School Violence Threats on TikTok

December 16, 2021

Hello CVSD Staff, Families, and Caregivers,

I wanted to alert you to information that CVSD and all Vermont school districts and supervisory unions received on the afternoon of December 15, 2021, from Secretary of Education Dan French regarding some non-credible school-based threats circulating on the TikTok social media platform.

These posts with non-credible school-based threats have made their way into Vermont, and other states in our region are reporting similar social media activity. These posts describe the potential for school-based violence on December 17, 2021. We want to stress again that, at this time, there is no credibility to any of these threats. The Vermont Intelligence Center and our law enforcement partners across the state will continue to monitor this situation and keep us updated if anything changes.

If you believe your child is active on social media and you feel it’s appropriate, please have a conversation with them to make them aware of this situation. As always, if you have any school safety concerns, we encourage you to contact your local law enforcement agency to make them aware of this information. We take these situations very seriously and collaborate closely with all of our school safety stakeholders to provide an open, safe and welcoming environment. The safety of your children and our staff is our number one priority.

If you or your child become aware of any potential threat posted to social media or anywhere else, please notify a school staff member or trusted adult right away.

We know that these non-credible threats may increase fear and anxiety in your student, your school, and within your family. As the lead representative of the school district and as a parent with students in CVSD schools, I can understand both of those emotions. We trust the information that we have received from the Agency of Education and the Vermont Intelligence Center regarding this issue. We hope to ease your student’s and your family’s concerns about these social media posts by sharing this letter.

Should we have any additional information presented to the district, we will let you know as soon as possible.

Thank you so very much,


Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

Champlain Valley School District

Leading the Way with Digital Learning

CVSD’s Director of Digital Learning & Communication, Bonnie Birdsall, was recently presented with the Frank Watson Award. This honor was bestowed upon Bonnie at Vita-Learn’s annual Vermont Fest Conference in Killington.

As Vita-Learn stated in their press release, “Bonnie is highly-respected among her peers, and she has demonstrated leadership through her actions in her own district and statewide including championing the student data privacy work,” noted Robert Gervais, Technology Director of the Missisquoi Valley School District and Vita-Learn Board President.

The Frank Watson award is presented to a person whose many years of devoted service, vision, and leadership have significantly advanced Vermont educational technology at the local, regional, and state level.

In the nomination, Bonnie is noted for her work around student data privacy, which she is focused on along with CVSD’s network administrator, Mike Kanfer. We shared information about that work in this blog post from 2019. That very important work continues. In addition, Bonnie collaborates with the district’s digital learning leaders and librarians to ensure that there are equitable opportunities for all students in the realm of digital learning. Those groups helped to develop the district’s Digital Learning Plan, completed at the end of the last school year, which guides the district's efforts for the next three years. She believes that technology and digital tools can enhance and support learning, making it possible for students to create, collaborate, communicate, and think critically.

Bonnie was a classroom teacher in Williston for many years before transitioning to the role of digital learning leader there. She has been in her current district position since 2018.

Congratulations, Bonnie, and thank you for the work you do on behalf of CVSD’s students and schools.

 

This Team Makes IT Happen

Last week we honored the school lunch heroes that provide meals to students in-person and now from a distance.

Today we want to recognize another group that is doing so much behind the scenes to keep things functioning smoothly. During the school year, and in fact year-round, the IT staff provides support for everyone in all buildings - students, faculty, staff, administrators, foodservice, facilities - well, everyone! They set up all devices, organize them in an organized, logical manner, track and assess damage, offer repair services, and troubleshoot better than any. They support us not only with computers, but also iPads, our networks, phone systems, document cameras, interactive boards, and much, much more!

Many in this group are mentors to students, forging strong personal relationships. Others support faculty and staff through wellness programs and lead by example. They are more than members of one team, they are truly valuable and contributing members of our community. They welcome everyone with a smile, a positive mindset, and a can-do attitude. They are connected to all of us.

As we transitioned to remote learning, they helped us. They spent countless hours dismantling meticulously-wired carts that housed and charged Chromebooks to ensure that the devices would be available for students to take home. They are on call supporting everyone who works in our buildings, but now they are doing that from afar. They're supporting families with devices that are at home.

Here's one piece of what they've been doing to assist families, from Mike Kanfer, the CVSD Director of Network Services:

Since March 18, we have processed over 450 Helpdesk tickets along with email requests and phone calls. When we receive a family request, we either ask them to try a couple of things (and these often work) or we arrange to swap out devices. This communication is done either by phone or email through the Helpdesk. The turnaround time- from when the ticket is submitted until the problem is resolved is almost always less than 24 hours, most commonly less than 12 hours and often the same day within just a few hours. We disinfect and repair all devices, getting them ready to go back out.

This is no small feat. Our IT team is an underlying backbone of the district, making things possible all of the time,  and especially in this time of crisis. They function quietly and don't ask for or get a lot of recognition. We want to be sure to acknowledge the work they're doing and all that they offer to support our schools and the district.

Thank you, thank you! 

Mike Kanfer              Nancy Colbourn     Matt Vile       Matt Kihm
Nancy Myrick           Nick Clark                  Stephanie Bliss     
Annette Hebert      Joanne Conroy       Jeannie Yocum     

Cracking the Code: Computer Science Gets a Boost

The Champlain Valley School District congratulates both Tim O’Leary (SCS) and Charlie MacFadyen (CVU) on being named fellows by the Rowland Foundation. Tim and Charlie are both Digital Learning Leaders in their schools.

Tim O'Leary and Charlie MacFadyen

The 2020-2021 Rowland Foundation fellowships provide Vermont secondary school educators with a unique professional development and leadership opportunity and resources (through a one-year, $100,000 grant) to positively affect student achievement and the culture and climate of their respective schools. The Foundation supports proposals which:

• will lead to systemic change in the school, particularly in its culture and climate
• are visionary and comprehensive (what percentage of the population will they serve)
• are sustainable after The Rowland Foundation completes its funding
• are exportable to other schools. The Rowland Foundation is keenly interested in affecting change throughout Vermont.
• have the complete support of the principal or head of school. This will be a key element of the interview process by the Executive Director prior to the selections.

Tim and Charlie, on behalf of SCS and CVU, have been awarded this Rowland Fellowship as co-applicants who, together, represent a PreK-12 continuum of instruction in the largest district in Vermont. The project aims to address the inequities and marginalization of females, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming youth that occur within Computer Science (CS) education and the workforce. It envisions a world where all can become creators, change-makers, and leaders. Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace prize winner and educational activist, is quoted in their proposal saying, “every girl deserves to take part in creating the technology that will change our world, and change who runs it.”

From their proposal, titled, “Cracking the Code: Closing the Gender Gap in Computer Science,” Tim and Charlie state:

"Over the coming year, the project will support the development of a K-12 computer science program because we believe schools must assume a critical role to create computer science learning opportunities. Otherwise, students will continue to develop identities informed by a world where males far outpace female participation in this area. Nationally, only 28% of the students who have taken an AP Computer Science exam over the last three years identified as female. And, the disparity is 8.5 % greater in Vermont. We bear a responsibility to dismantle this inequality by creating new systems, and we plan to develop a program to do just that."

SCS and CVU are uniquely positioned to engage in this work and embrace an awesome responsibility to share innovative teaching and learning practices as it develops. The school district looks forward to supporting the partnerships and collaboration that Tim and Charlie will lead over the coming year to create a more equitable future for our students.

Tim and Charlie’s proposal to research and implement a framework for the Shelburne Community School will be closely observed so that we can explore this as a model for all of our district PreK-8 schools. Our school district values innovation, design-thinking, and the personalized pursuit of excellence. We are committed to determining ways in which computer science education is provided to all students, PreK-12. The proposal to Crack the Code for SCS and CVU ensures that we’re on the path to success, for all of CVSD. 

CCS Recognized for Digital Citizenship

Charlotte Central School has received an award of distinction from Common Sense Education for their work around digital citizenship with students. This is an award that Williston earned a few years ago. All of our schools are striving to receive this recognition, but most importantly, all of our faculty and staff are committed to addressing this topic in many ways and in many realms every day with our students. We are focused on developing digital citizens who contribute positively to the community. Digital citizenship may be defined as the continuously developing norms of appropriate, responsible, and empowered technology use. In other words, how to be safe, kind, and responsible online. 

If you are not yet familiar with the many resources offered via Common Sense Media's website, we strongly encourage you to visit the site. You will find reviews of books, movies, websites, games, and more. There are posts and forums about many topics that we all face today with our children, such as screen time, setting limits, Fortnite(!), and the impact of media.  https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Congratulations to CCS!

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Official Press Release: 

Digital media and technology are evolving at a dizzying pace, both unlocking extraordinary opportunities and posing real risks for young people. Students are using the immense power of the Internet and mobile technology to explore, connect, create, and learn in ways never before imagined, both in and out of the classroom. But issues that emerge from this 24/7 connected culture such as cyberbullying, privacy lapses, and uncertainty about which information to trust online, are surfacing both in schools and at home.

Charlotte Central School sees these as teachable moments. We believe that digital citizenship skills have become essential for students in the 21st century, especially in schools like ours that are using technology to transform learning. That’s why we are committed to teaching our students how to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly. CCS has just been approved as a Common School, an honor that recognizes our efforts in teaching digital citizenship to young people and engaging the entire school community in this important discussion. The recognition acknowledges our school's commitment to helping students think critically and use technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate.

This honor is provided by Common Sense Education, part of a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology.

We are one of the more than 50,000 schools across the country that use Common Sense Education’s groundbreaking education resources. As a result, our students are better equipped to navigate the digital world and use devices for learning.

To learn more about Common Sense Education, visit www.commonsense.org/education.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Sumner and Jen Roth - CCS CoPrincipals

The Power of Voice: From Parent Concern to Practice

The Champlain Valley School District has a story to tell, one that describes how speaking up can bring about change. The spark was lit by one parent sharing her voice and asking questions. 

In the fall of 2017, a parent of a CVU student came to a School Board meeting. That parent had recently filled out forms online for her child to participate in school activities and for the health office. After submitting the forms, the parent wondered what just happened to their personal family information. Who had access to it and what will they do with it? She raised these concerns to the School Board. She then went on to share her concerns at Vermont’s Agency of Education. They were good questions and she had a valid point. What did we know about what that website was going to do with personal family data? 

A group within the district began examining not only that website, but all of the websites and online tools that are in use. What were their Terms of Service? What did they say in the Privacy Policy? That’s the small print that most people don’t read. In fact, many of us check the box to say we agree to the Terms of Service without actually reading it. The district took a close look at all of them for the various tools in use in the district. 

From there, the Director of Network Services, Mike Kanfer, met with all of the district’s Digital Learning Leaders. A Request for Technology process was put in place for all adults in the district to use. When educators wanted to use a new digital tool or resource, they submitted an online form. The team met weekly to review requests and then review privacy policies and terms of service on behalf of the educators making the requests. It was time-consuming at first, as not only was the team looking at new requests, but also reviewing online tools that were currently in use. There are many digital tools in use in the district’s schools and classrooms and the list changed every day. It also took time and energy to help educators know about this process and to actually follow it. 

At the same time this was happening, a few other events were taking place. The big security breaches with Facebook, major retailers, and other sites became public. Everyone grew concerned about their private information. And rightly so. The focus on keeping private information private was not an abstract idea anymore. 

During the summer of 2018, Vermont’s Agency of Education joined a consortium focused on student data privacy. This grew out of work initiated by the Cambridge, Massachusetts Public Schools and has since spread to 20 other states in addition to Vermont. The Student Data Privacy Consortium has developed and shared a consistent privacy agreement with online sites and vendors. Now, instead of our state and school district following their terms of service, they agree to ours.

Since then, the Champlain Valley School District has collected signed agreements from more than 30 vendors and plans to add to that list in the coming months. A list of those vendors may be viewed here but know that it will continue to grow. Mike Kanfer and Bonnie Birdsall, Director of Digital Learning & Communication for CVSD, met with faculty in all of our buildings to ensure that everyone knows about the Request for Technology process and the Student Data Privacy Consortium. As of the start of the 2019-2020 school year, CVSD will begin the shift to work only with vendors who have signed the Vermont privacy agreement.

One example of this work in action is with a company called Informed K12. This company will support the district’s efforts to make more efficient the process families use for sharing annual student information, health information, and permissions with their schools. In the past, most of the district’s schools mailed home a packet of papers for families to fill out and return to the schools. Ensuring that everyone completed and returned those forms in a timely manner was challenging. That also meant hours of manual data entry for the administrative assistants. This year, the district will work with Informed K12 to streamline the process. In August, families will receive an email with links to fill out the various forms online. The Shelburne Community School has been doing this for a few years and is helping the other district schools get on board. Informed K12 was one of the first companies to sign a privacy agreement with the district.

This is great progress toward keeping student, family, and educator data safe and secure. Transitioning to this new process and obtaining signed agreements will take time, but the district is confident that this is a move in the right direction. The Champlain Valley School District thanks the parent who spoke at a School Board meeting for getting it started.

We invite all community members to attend CVSD School Board meetings and share your voice. They take place on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, excluding December and January. (budget meetings) 

All meetings are held at CVU at 6:00 pm. Check the district’s website and specifically, the School Board’s page for more detailed information.


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"Microphone" flickr photo by Bruno Belcastro https://flickr.com/photos/argen/7094368529 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license

Empowered Learning for All

CVSD was well represented earlier this week at the Dynamic Landscapes conference in Burlington. This annual conference is co-sponsored by Vita-Learn and the Vermont School Library Association. In addition to educators interested in educational technology and library-media, many teachers and administrators attend and present at this conference. But one of the best elements is that students are welcome as presenters as well. 

The theme of this year's conference was Empowered Learning for All and CVSD certainly had a lot to share on that topic. Looking through the program, we see about 19 CVSD educators that presented at this conference! Their roles in our schools include digital learning leaders, librarians, classroom teachers, and essential arts educators. At least four of the sessions included students from either Shelburne, Charlotte, Williston, or CVU. 

Over the two days we heard student voices, we learned, we shared, and we reflected. We want to recognize and celebrate the many CVSD educators and students who represented our district so well. 

Peter Langella     Leah Joly     Christina Deeley       

Jeff Tobrocke     Olaf Verdonk     Corinna Hussey     Tasha Grey     Allan Miller

Anne Pius     Jessica Wilson     Marley Evans     Sam Nelson     Sharon Davison

Shannon Baird     Maggie O'Toole     Ellen Arapakos     

Aron Merrill      Charlie Macfadyen      Gary Lambert 

SCS students learn a little while on the Champlain College campus.

CVSD's Challenge to Unplug

The National Day of Unplugging is a “24-hour, global respite from technology. It highlights the value of disconnecting from digital devices to connect with ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities in real time.”

The National Day of Unplugging happened from sundown on March 1st to sundown on March 2nd. Because this was during our school vacation week, CVSD is creating a district-wide day to replicate this Day of Unplugging in ways that are critical, thoughtful, and give teachers the autonomy to determine how that best works for them in their classrooms.

The Champlain Valley School District encourages all educators and students to take the challenge and unplug in various ways on Friday, March 15. Contact your child's teacher to see how they may be taking part. 

We invite families to join in as well! Extend the challenge into the weekend. Afterward, share how you participated as a family as a comment below or on our Facebook page.

"ALMOST EVERYTHING WILL WORK AGAIN IF YOU UNPLUG IT FOR A FEW MINUTES, INCLUDING YOU."

- ANNE LAMOTT

Here are a few resources about Media Balance and Well-Being from Common Sense Education:

• Have a conversation about device and media use. Incorporate this Family Media Agreement into the discussion. 
• New Healthy Media Habits for Young Kids
• 5 Signs Your Kid Has a Healthy Media Relationship with Screens (video)