School news
James T. McLaughlin co-curricular award
Martha Perkins is the recipient of the 2023 James T. McLaughlin Co-Curricular Award for her work as the Cross-Country coach and the organizer of the Poetry Out Loud competition at WUHS.
On her coaching, Assistant Cross-Country Coach Abbie Castriotta said, “Martha cultivates a love of the sport so that it can become a life-long endeavor. She brings her athletes together in a way I can say firsthand, I have never seen before.”
Regarding her work organizing the Poetry Out Loud competition, School Librarian Susan Piccoli said, “She not only coaches students on how to run cross-country, but how to run their lines of poetry. Martha Perkins's work as the cross-country coach and the organizer of the Poetry Out Loud competitions embodies the meaning of the James T. McLaughlin co-curricular award. She does all of these things outside of the classroom in addition to her work as a dedicated teacher in the classroom.”
And, Danny Smith ’23 added, “I could not have asked for a better English teacher and cross country coach.”
Student Council, advised by Marie Anderson and Peggy Boylan, voted to honor Ms. Perkins with this recognition and Jim McLaughlin attended the last Best Day to present the award to Martha Perkins.
C.R.A.F.T. wraps up first official year
The first official year for the CRAFT program is wrapping up! Current and rising CRAFT students gathered at Springbrook Farm in Reading to tour the cheese making operation and dairy barns. We also reflected on the first year of classes and experiences and set some good structures and excitement in place for the 23-24 school year. For a closing reflection, students completed this phrase: "CRAFT IS" with: hands-on, community, helps you get outside, fun, an adventure, a lot of trees, community building, creative, gardening, fun, cool, awesome, amazing, great, exciting, building resilient systems, not boring, creativity, our future, growing and eating a lot of good food, learning, an experience, outdoorsy, interesting, and crucial for our future. Couldn't say it better!
Food & forest systems field trip
Students in Food and Forest Systems worked with the U.S. Forest Service and the Green Mountain Club to learn about and remove invasive species from the Appalachian Trail on Rte. 12. They also viewed a cabin that has been there since the 1930"s to make suggestions for what it might be used for on the trail.
The field trip finished their field experience by visiting the Kiss the Cow Farm in Barnard to learn about their agricultural practices, meet the cows and enjoy some of their incredible ice cream!
AP Environmental Science spring field trips
AP Environmental Science has had a few spring field trips to explore things that most people take for granted, wastewater treatment and electricity. First in April we visited the Woodstock Wastewater Treatment Plant that is located near East End Park. We learned that there is a lot of science to wastewater treatment including the use of microbes, chemical disinfection and water quality monitoring.
For our second spring field trip, we toured the McNeil Biomass power plant in Burlington and the Winooski One hydropower generating station on May 18th. Students learned about how electricity is generated and about how these two renewable stations try to minimize their environmental impact.
Woodstock Unified basketball team plays first game
The Woodstock Unified Basketball Team played its first ever game against Hartford last Thursday, April 20th. The team earned a win with a score of 41-40. The stands were packed with smiling and cheering fans for both teams!
The Woodstock Unified Basketball Team played its first ever game against Hartford last Thursday, April 20th. The team earned a win with a score of 41-40. The stands were packed with smiling and cheering fans for both teams!