School news
8th graders head to Bethany Birches to celebrate a great year
The 8th grade class celebrated finishing middle school with their annual Bethany Birches Campout on June 4-5! Students shared two sunny, fun-filled, phone-free days together swimming, taking runs down the water slide, and bouncing on the water trampoline. There was also lots of 9-square, spike ball, and Kan Jam, as well as numerous variety show acts, S’mores, and a spirited game of middle school Jeopardy, where advisories competed for bragging rights. Lots of yummy food and snacks kept the group fueled up and having fun. Congratulations 8th grade students and families!
“It was fun to be with friends and to make new connections.”
“I loved the amazing connecting moment when we all sang “Let it be” during the Coffee House.”
“It was great to reconnect without our phones.”
Spring in the Innovation Lab
Woodstock Union students are wrapping up their semester-long projects in the innovation lab. Work has been divided between two themes: heavy and light. High School students are working with the heavy material of plaster, building custom molds using desktop CNC machines. Middle School students have been working with light wooden dowels, Chinese rice paper, and 3D-printed joints to build kites based on Alexander Graham Bell's tetrahedral kites from the early 20th century.
The 8th grade goes to Montpelier
On May 12 the 8th grade class took their annual field trip to our state capitol to tour the State House and meet some of our legislators. They participated in a mock trial in the Vermont Supreme Court where Woodstock graduate and Vermont Supreme Court Justice Harold Eaton greeted them and answered their questions. Students also had time to explore the Vermont History Museum exhibits next door. The 8th grade class was able to observe Vermont's state government firsthand and interact with some of Vermont's history.
8th grader Norah Wolfe wins 2026 Lincoln Hildene essay contest
Congratulations to Norah Wolfe, who won first place in the annual Hildene Essay Contest this spring! The contest is open to 8th graders around Vermont, and this year's prompt asked students to apply a value from the Declaration of Independence to a current issue in our nation. Norah's essay was titled Frozen Liberty, and it tackled the controversy around ICE, whose "recent actions regarding illegal immigration, including aggressive enforcement maneuvers and unwarranted searches in the U.S. are uprooting the country's founding value of liberty." Norah was honored at a luncheon at the Lincoln Family Home in Manchester, Vermont, last weekend, where she was awarded with $500. Congratulations, Norah!
Equitable climate action partnership at VINS
Middle school and high school students presented at the third annual ECAP\(Equitable Climate Action Partnership) at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science on May 8. Students got to experience some activities, check out the birds and trails, learn about birds and climate change and present their projects.
Middle school students Reese Fenity, Isa Contarino and Annabelle Park presented about their food system project from wellness. The girls gathered local foods from Annabelle’s garden, cooked over 80 healthy meals and served them to people in need in Rutland.
Middle achool atudents Reese Fenity, Isa Contarino and Annabelle Park presented about their food system project from wellness. The girls gathered local foods from Annabelle’s garden, cooked over 80 healthy meals and served them to people in need in Rutland.
High schoolers Pea Richardson, Bethany Thorburn, Sadie Boulbol, Owen Whalen and Brody Allen shared about their immersive semester work at the King Farm this past fall where they created a permaculture design for future use of the land and made and planted air pruning beads with native trees.