School news
SAP students gleaning apples with Willing Hands
SAP students went to Whitman Brook Orchard in Quechee, VT to glean apples for the nonprofit Willing Hands. Willing Hands recovers fresh food in order to reduce waste, improve health and provide reliable access to nutritious food for neighbors in need.
The collected apples were divided into 2 bins, one for cold storage to be distributed to food shelves throughout the year and the other bin was for Ben Kilham and his black bear research center. The bears eat up to 25 lbs of apples a day!
Through the gleaning process, food that would other wise be completely wasted and left to rot is now feeding people (and bears in need). Willing Hands has 1,000 + individual volunteers, 64 food donors, 82 delivery sites and have delivered 796,202 pounds of food to people in need in the upper valley. The USDA estimated that 30-40% of all food in the US is wasted. People in need go hungry, the energy and resources to grow the food is wasted and we are producing carbon emissions for no reason.
In SAP we are learning how to reduce the many sources of climate change and how to make those sources more sustainable to help our community now and in the future. According to Willing Hands, Dartmouth College Environmental Studies Department found that the work of Willing Hands prevents a million pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year, the equivalent to taking 100 cars off the road. If you have an opportunity, reach out to Willing Hands and volunteer to glean for your community!
Club Fair was a success
Student Council recently coordinated a Club Fair to encourage students to explore new opportunities this school year.
Student Council recently coordinated a Club Fair where fifteen clubs were represented by student members and advisors, including but not limited to: French and Spanish, Chess, QSA, Social Action, Future Farmers of America, Scholars Bowl, Outing Club, VTLSP, Creativity Club, and more!
Art at the Clark!
On Friday, September 29th the Art Department took a field trip to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA.
On Friday, September 29th the Art Department took a field trip to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA to see the exhibit “Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth”.
Ms. Gravel’s AP Art History, Ms. Jimerson’s AP Art and Ms. Piana’s Advanced Art classes went on this trip to see an exhibit of Munch’s landscape and nature inspired paintings. Prior to the trip, Ms. Piccoli gave presentations on Edvard Munch, his work and the exhibit to prepare students for their docent-led tours while at the museum.
A real highlight of the visit was seeing students make connections between what they learned in class and what they were observing in person. Of the experience, Joey Sluka said, “The trip was awesome because students don’t actually get the opportunity to apply their learning in museums. It was amazing to see Munch’s lesser known work. It was super helpful to expand my knowledge of Munch, his art and his techniques.”
One of Munch’s paintings that made an impression on Sadie Boulbol was The Yellow Log, 1912. It shows felled trees highlighted in yellow in a Norwegian forest. Sadie explained that it “represents what’s happening today environmentally.” And she said, “Munch was ahead of his time.”
After the tour, students had free time to explore the permanent collection. Ms. Gravel’s AP Art History class visited “Printed Renaissance” for a special presentation by Sophia Nisimblat ‘24, Teaching Assistant, on an Italian Renaissance woodcut on paper by Niccolo Vicentino which she compared to a German Renaissance engraving by Albrecht Durer. Then, AP Art History students visited the Manton Collection of British Art to see a wonderful collection of Turner and Constable paintings.
Thanks so much to the Clark Art Institute for their free educational programming. “Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth” is at the Clark until October, 15. This is the only US venue before it travels to Germany and then back to Norway.
Woodstock represented at the Women Can Do! conference
Our Center of Community Connections (C3) organized a field trip to the annual Women Can Do! Conference and Expo in Randolph, Vermont on Thursday, October 5th.
Our Center of Community Connections (C3) organized a field trip to the annual Women Can Do! Conference and Expo in Randolph, Vermont on Thursday, October 5th. Women Can Do is an annual, statewide career exploration conference for high school girls and gender-expansive youth.
At Women Can Do, hundreds of students from across Vermont explored careers through hands-on activities and conversations with Vermont employers. WUHS students who attend Hartford Area Career and Tech Center were out in force and leading exhibitions on welding, auto body repair and building trades.
Woodstock students who attended the conference as participants had the opportunity to interact with professionals from a variety of STEM-related careers such as aerospace, medical technology, engineering and more.
Tenth grader Quinn Eckler attended the conference for the second year in a row. Quinn shared, “It was amazing to be surrounded by so many women from all over the state. We were all excited to learn about a wide variety of different jobs, careers paths, and opportunities with a bunch of hands-on stations and lots of information about options for after high school.”
Ninth grade class explores old growth forest
Students were lucky enough to visit Gifford Woods State Park in Killington at peak foliage to explore the one remaining stand of Old Growth forest in Vermont.
'I never thought about how forests can provide answers for us" remarked one ninth grader as they gazed upward through a leafy canopy on a brilliant October day.
Students were lucky enough to visit Gifford Woods State Park in Killington at peak foliage to explore the one remaining stand of Old Growth forest in Vermont. They noted characteristics of bark and topography, measured girth and height, responded to a piece of text and engaged in a conversation with park staff about how to manage different groups of trail users like mountain bikers and hikers.
These activities are grounded in a unit of study about forest biodiversity in students' Integrated Environmental Science class that are a natural extension to students' more local exploration of our 3.5 acre forested parcel of land across the Ottauquechee River.