School news
Stewardship Action Project class builds bird nesting boxes
Students in our Stewardship Action Project class, Holden Larmie, Declan McCullough and Cyrus Hawkins are building bird nesting boxes in the innovation lab to sell in the spring sale. These boxes are wonderful nesting sites for bluebirds and swallows and provide a safe haven for returning birds to safely raise their young.
Students in Foundations of Agriculture are hand mowing down the cover crop in the garden beds and pressing it down and covering it to allow it to die back. The advantage of a cover crop is reducing erosion, building soil health and providing necessary nutrients to new plants that we will be growing in our garden. We have 3 student interns working with Ms. Castriotta this summer will help to manage our garden crops which will allow us to plant a wide variety of fresh, local food!
Vera Windish '24 wins Student Holocaust Education Competition
Vera Windish, an eleventh-grade AP Language and Composition student, has won first place in the Vermont Holocaust Memorial Student Writing and Poster contest for her poem entitled “The Cost of Saluting Ignorance,” linked here.
The theme of the contest was: “Why is it important for students to learn about the Holocaust?” and Vera addressed that theme with a moving and vivid narrative poem about the impacts of antisemitism. Her poem was displayed at the Vermont State House in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 18th. Congratulations, Vera!
Discovery Day at River Valley Community College
School Counselor Sofia Bertocci took three students, Kianny Harrington, Anna Robidoux and Keller Pauly, to the Discovery Day at River Valley Community College on Thursday, April 20, 2023. Each student got to shadow three departments and hear from the administration about all the academic programs.
C.R.A.F.T. hosts mushroom cultivation workshop
C.R.A.F.T. was super excited to host David Andrews (Class of 2012) and his partner Erin Donahue along with Phil Rice from Cobb Hill to lead our students in a mushroom cultivation workshop.
David first learned how to grow mushrooms as a student at WUHS at Cobb Hill, and has since gone on to own and run his own very successful vegetable and mushroom farm in Maine, Tiny Acres Farm. This was a true partnership venture, as Field and Forest Products donated the mushroom spawn and Pat Bartlett donated the sugar maple logs.
David, Erin, and Phil lead the students in a 'drill, fill, and seal' process to inoculate 60 logs with shiitake and chestnut mushroom spores. We also learned about mushroom varieties, economics, and ecological benefits. We are planning on a big harvest in the spring of 2024, so patience is also emphasized!
A big shout out to Kevin Nunan for helping us move and store the logs too!
Migrant Justice presents "Milk With Dignity"
On Thursday morning, two representatives from Migrant Justice visited our library on their Milk With Dignity tour of New England. The Milk With Dignity Tour was designed to bring awareness of immigrant dairy workers' working conditions and their call for human rights while calling on Hannaford supermarkets to "source its store-brand milk from farms where workers' human rights are independently monitored and protected, and the long-term interests of farm owners are supported."
There were over eighty students in attendance from Ms. Megyesi's Spanish class and Ms. Jimerson and Ms. Piana's middle school Art classes, the largest audience they have had so far on their Milk With Dignity Tour of New England. The presentation by Migrant Justice is part of our programming for the Vermont Reads book, The Most Costly Journey: Stories of Migrant Farmworkers.
The presenters, Madeline and Abel, brought a new awareness to our students today about their work, human rights and activism. Members of the Social Action Club were in the audience including Ella and Farren Stainton. Farren said, "I had no idea of the mistreatment of migrant workers for milk until the presentation. I am really grateful I got to learn about this movement's action." And Ella said, "After learning about Milk With Dignity I was motivated to get involved in the movement, making sure to sign a postcard before I left the presentation."