School news
December library news and book club festivities
In this week's From the Library newsletter, learn about the Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club's winter party and book swap, see a snow-themed book display and read about Red Stars, the new Middle School Book Club book by Davide Morosinotto.
Young Adult Book Books Book Club
On December 9, members of the Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club gathered for a festive winter celebration during ARE time. The cozy event combined delicious treats, literary discoveries, and the joy of sharing favorite reads with fellow book lovers.
Schuyler Hagge brought a homemade hot cocoa cake, while Maya Sluka contributed tasty toffee for everyone to enjoy. As students sampled the sweet treats, they dove into discussions about this year's National Book Award finalists and winner in Young Adult Literature, exploring what makes these books stand out in contemporary teen fiction.
The group also looked ahead to Teen Lit Mob in April, an event that celebrates young adult literature and brings readers together around powerful stories. Students shared enthusiastic book recommendations with each other, highlighting diverse voices and perspectives in YA literature, before participating in a book swap where everyone could take home a new-to-them title.
The Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club continues to create a welcoming space for students to discover stories that reflect a wide range of experiences and identities while building community around their shared love of reading.
Middle School Book Club
The Middle School Book Club is just finishing up The Lost Year by Katerine Marsh and looking forward to their next book Red Stars: The Case of Viktor and Nadya's Notebooks by Davide Morosinotto. During the first quarter students have been reading The Lost Year, discussing Russian and Ukranian history during the 1930s and journaling in their notebooks about the characters' experiences and their own. With this background knowledge, students will be learning about Russian history during World War II in the 1940s through the notebooks of Viktor and Nadya. Red Stars is translated from the Italian into English and is told through journal entries, photos, maps and documents. The publisher's note states, "... this fictionalized account of the Nazi siege of Leningrad during the Second World War, this heart-stopping story of danger, courage and bravery emphasizes the power of truth and what it means to be a hero."
Library news: Middle School Book Club reads The Lost Year
In this edition of From the Library, read about the Middle School Book Club's book The Lost Year, learn how to access to The Atlantic magazine for free, discover how the Mona Lisa vanished from our library, make time to check out the Middle School Art endangered species clay tile exhibit, discover how the Faculty/Staff Book Club immersed themselves in spycraft during their discussion of Book and Dagger and there's an event reminder for the Book Swap and Winter Party the Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club is hosting on Tuesday, December 9 during ARE time! To read more and see photos, please click here.
LIBRARY NEWS!
April is National Library Month and to celebrate we had some exciting programming going on in our library and a field trip that included a tour of one of the most famous libraries in the world! In this week's From the Library newsletter, read about Dr. Ambros's visit and inspirational talk on his Nobel Prize winning discovery of microRNA, the Middle School Book Club's trip to New York City to visit the Anne Frank exhibit at the Center for Jewish History, get a reminder about the next Faculty/Staff Book Club meeting on May 1 and mark your calendars for two upcoming Vermont Book Festivals! Click here for more information and photos.
Please remember to return your overdue books (notices went out on Monday), renew books you need more time to read and check out some new spring reads!
Pictured to the left: Students standing in front NY Public Library
Middle School Book Club Trip to New York City
The Middle School Book Club's trip to New York City to see the Anne Frank exhibit at the Center for Jewish History was inspired by Alice Hoffman's book, When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary.
Genevieve Williams wrote in her accordion journal, "The exhibition walked you through almost each year of Anne Frank's life and the journey Otto Frank took to get home. The exhibition included a mock up of their house including each room and furniture. It included many features that made you stop and think. Overall, it was an amazing experience!"
Pictured above: Anne Frank exhibit
In addition to going to the exhibit, the MS Book Club went to the Eldridge Street Museum to learn more about Jewish history, culture and religion and they took a food walking tour of the Lower East Side to enjoy some traditional Jewish foods like knish, rugelach and pickles!
On the second day of the trip, the MS Book Club toured the New York Public Library, saw the Rose Reading Room and saw Christopher Robin's stuffed animal collection including Winne the Pooh in the Treasures of the New York Public Library exhibit.
Pictured above: Genevieve's Accordion Journal
Dr. Ambros, Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine, Visits WUHSMS!
On April 2, Dr. Victor Ambros, Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine 2024 visited WUHSMS, his alma mater, to talk about his life, career, and the experience of winning the Nobel Prize! Dr. Ambros graduated from WUHS in 1971 and reflected back fondly on skiing in the winter. He opened his presentations to the Middle School, the Ninth grade, and Ms. Cramer's AP Biology classes with a takeaway for everyone from his presentation. He said he hoped everyone would think, "That's a job that I could do. I want to be a scientist." His presentation on his discovery of microRNA was accessible and inspirational. One of Ms. Cramer's science students stated, "Dr. Ambros noted how all people are scientists. I never thought of it that way before. Science is driven by curiosity which we all exhibit from a young age. I feel invited to stay curious and wonder how the world around me works."
Students came prepared with questions and one student asked Dr. Ambros where he gets his inspiration from when things get difficult. Dr. Ambros recommended:
talking with other people - you are not alone
convince yourself that what you are doing is important
change your thought process - reassess and drop things if they're not working
Dr. Ambros was so kind, gracious, and generous with his time. In a letter of thanks, he stated, "I can't tell you how incredibly exciting and rewarding the experience was for me! The students were so alive, present, inquisitive, and thoughtful. I needed that jolt of reality -- i.e. the reality of the powerful promise of the youth."