School news
Two Woodstock Union students win Liberty Art & Poetry Contest
Winners Genevieve Williams ‘30 and Lylah Zeitlin ‘27
On Thursday, September 17, 2026, two WUHSMS students were celebrated for submitting winning poems to the Vermont Student Expressions of Liberty Art & Poetry Contest.
Lylah Zeitlin's poem "A Note on Evolutionary Optimism" won first place in the high school poetry contest, and 9th grader Genevieve Williams won first place in the middle school contest for her poem "Freedom Will." Sponsored by Middlebury's Town Hall Theater, the contest — part of America 250: Expressions of Liberty — challenged students across Vermont to honor our nation's 250th anniversary by responding to the question, "What does freedom mean to me?" Genevieve worked on her poem in the spring, using rhythm and meter to paint a variety of rich and diverse images of freedom.
The celebration of the winning submissions took place on Constitution Day in the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury, Vermont. Program participants included Vermont Poet Laureate Bianca Stone, performer Bill Wiles, judges, and lawyers who read selections from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Lylah and Genevieve both recited their inspirational poems to an audience which included their proud parents, community members, students, and English teacher Ms. Hagge.
Congratulations to both students on this well-deserved honor!
A Note On An Evolutionary Optimism
I love my country I do I admit it, I love it I love these gnarled roots And these forests of mine These people of mine That swallow kings whole And spit up the dust of freedom We don’t live in a dystopia Least no more than we did before We do not advance towards a future Of the aphonic poet Least no more than we did before Because this our composition; this our Constitution Establishes that: We the People establish this justice By spitting in the face of tyranny On sleepy, sweet-tea sort of mornings On moss-laden pine-coated duvets I swear the ground rising and receding beneath me in welcome Is the shuddering breath Of an unyielding nation An America in search of her New Colossus
Freedom Will
Freedom is the sound of bells ringing through the air. Freedom is first learning about our country of despair. Freedom is society controlling us with string. Freedom is the golden dome for which we learn to sing. Freedom isn’t always free. Freedom means something new to you and me. Freedom never tells us what is right or wrong. Freedom is a composure That sounds like a song Freedom is confusing For someone who is 14. Freedom is something that’s Never really seen. Freedom is green mountains Rolling up and down. Freedom is the spelling to a complicated noun. Freedom is not knowing What the world holds. Freedom is watching the trees grow old. Freedom will die and freedom will live But freedom will always give and give.
AP Environmental Science long term data collection
AP Environmental Science students have been putting their fieldwork to good use across the school forest, river, garden, and beyond.
Between soil sampling at these three sites — now with six years of data collected — and a collaboration with National Park Service staff to gather dragonfly larvae from the Pogue at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller, students are contributing to real, long-term environmental research.
For the dragonfly project, students learned about different families like Gomphidae and Cordulidae, and how, as predators, dragonflies bioaccumulate mercury up the food chain — making their larvae useful bioindicators. Samples will be sent to a lab for mercury analysis and added to hundreds of other data points gathered nationwide over the project's 12-year history. Check out The Dragonfly Mercury Project for more information.
Advanced topics in Spanish to present at Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park
On Wednesday, September 30, 27 students from Advanced Topics in Spanish will present at the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park. Following a tour of the park, students selected a topic of interest and developed an essential question to guide their research. These pictures show students getting their tour and then meeting with topic experts from the National Park Service. On Wednesday, they will present the answers to their initial questions in the form of a guided tour of the mansion and grounds in Spanish.
Any parents who speak Spanish are welcome to attend. Please contact Elaine Leibly at elaine.leibly@mtnviews.org for more information.
Aquaculture expert visits AP Environmental Science
Eva Douzinas from the Rauch Foundation visited AP Environmental Science to present about fish farming. Students are studying land use with a focus on food production methods.
We learned that there are both unsustainable and sustainable methods of doing aquaculture. When people are using open aquaculture systems in the ocean to grow carnivorous fish, there are huge amounts of pharmaceuticals, fish food and other chemicals that must be pumped into them and there are huge amounts of waste that they are releasing. Essentially, open aquaculture systems for carnivores convert natural efficient food systems into less efficient ones because you have to make so much fish meal to feed them. Thank you to Eva for visiting us! We learned so much!
What happens when a photographer can’t see?
This week, photography students traded their eyes for their other senses!
We began by learning about Pete Eckert, a professional photographer who is completely blind, and exploring the idea of the mind’s eye. His work challenged us to think differently about photography. Does a photographer actually need to see to create an interesting photograph? And is a great photograph always about making a “pretty picture”? Watch the video about his work with Volkswagen here.
Then it was time to find out for ourselves! Students worked in pairs and took turns being blindfolded while their partner served as a “seeing-eye human” to help them safely navigate the school campus. The photographer, however, was on their own when it came to making the art. Instead of looking for something interesting, students had to listen, feel, smell, and even taste their surroundings, using those sensory clues to decide where to point their cameras and when to press the shutter. The lesson challenged students to experiment, take creative risks, and experience familiar surroundings in an entirely different way.
Most importantly, students discovered that photography is for everyone. Pete Eckert's work reminds us that having a disability does not prevent someone from being an artist. There isn't just one way to experience the world, and there isn't just one way to make a photograph.
Afterward, students looked at what their cameras captured, selected their favorite images, and reflected on what it felt like to photograph without relying on sight. During our critique, we'll even identify which sensory experiences seem strongest in the resulting photographs.
Sometimes taking away the ability to look helps us learn how to really see.