School news
Students engage in an Equitable Climate Action Project By Ada Mahood
Currently, the Food & Forest systems class is working on an Equitable Climate Action Project with other students in the Upper Valley. Here is the ECAP project described by Hannah Gelroth, Senior Director of VINS as, “Through this endeavor, students have been exploring changes in our local environment while actively engaging in activities designed to enhance their sense of agency “I can do this!” and contribute to making the Upper Valley an even better place to live In.”
The Food and Forest systems class made the decision that for their equitable climate action project they were going to help the riparian buffer by the river that runs through the back of our sports fields where heavy flooding occurred last summer. A riparian buffer is a strip of vegetation along the riverside to help prevent erosion. The students collected data from the riparian zone at our school and researched different plants and other aspects that would help strengthen the riparian buffer along our river.
Each of the students were assigned a different zone and researched which plants would thrive best in that zone. They also came up with a hypothesis of what would happen when they executed their plans. The group also touched upon what climate challenge they were addressing. “A Riparian buffer prevents pollution from entering the river,reduces flooding and the river and trees are a sink for CO2.”
They used their research to build the riparian buffer along the river bank and were thoroughly satisfied with their work. They harvested and planted live stakes of shrub willow and red osier dogwood in the first zone of their buffer. They are going to plan and plant zone 2 in the coming weeks. They planned some more data collection for the future to monitor their zones and if the buffer
is effective.
AP Art History is Awestruck by Hudson River School Paintings!
On Tuesday, Dr. Gravel's AP Art History class went for a tour of the Hudson River School paintings at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. Ms. Piccoli engaged the students in discussions about the landscape paintings using Visual Thinking Strategies which encourages participants to observe, think and feel emotions when looking at art. The students just took their AP exam last week and studied the Hudson River School earlier in the year. They really impressed Ms. Piccoli with their observations, thoughts and use of relevant vocabulary terms like "sublime" to describe the paintings and "divine illumination" when explaining the symbolism the artists incorporated in their use of light. The group had the opportunity to look closely at paintings by Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt and William Bradford. Maeve Roylance stated, "It was very interesting to learn about all the different aspects of the paintings, but to then see how they all came together was really incredible."
Library News
In this week's From the Library newsletter, read about the Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club picking up books for next year, learn about the Faculty/Staff Book Club's discussion of The Fury by Alex Michaelides and see some photos of students in Our Busy Library! Please click here for more information and photos.
Please remember to return your overdue books, renew the books you need more time to read and check out some new reads for spring!
French students enjoy a gastronomic experience!
One way of enjoying the treasures of a culture is to explore the culinary delights of the place. France is well feted for its extraordinary gastronomy, but you don’t need to take a flight to experience the food. La Provence, a French restaurant aptly named for the birthplace of Chef Robert, is located in Brandon, Vermont. For over fifteen years, Chef Robert has welcomed Woodstock French students, preparing a three course meal, preceded by a French lesson in cooking. The cooking lab is located below the dining room and has a taste kitchen as well as a large mirror so that observers can see in detail just how Chef Robert prepares a meal. The “plat” on the menu for Wednesday, May 1st was Cordon Bleu, a filet of chicken rolled with ham and swiss cheese in the center, then topped with a lemon butter sauce. In a lesson that lasted about 45 minutes, students learned from Chef Robert the method of preparing a filet of chicken using a cooking hammer, the correct type of oil to use depending on the dish, the side dishes (mashed potatoes) and the sauce that is poured over the dish. In between the directions, Chef Robert recounted his career path, one that would eventually lead him to Brandon, Vermont. He spoke softly in a melodious French, and students from levels II to Advanced had no problem understanding what he was saying. After the lesson, students went up to the dining room where they ate a 3 course meal consisting of a green salad, and seminal French dishes such as boeuf bourguignon, poulet nicoise, and quiche aux légumes. Dessert was a choice between bombe au chocolat or crème brûlée au sirop d'érable. Students loved the lunch and returned to campus happy to have enjoyed such a great French culinary experience.
Sophomores Check Out Diverse Career Fields on Sophomore Shadow Day
On Thursday, April 25, WUHSMS’s sophomores participated in Sophomore Shadow Day. Students “shadowed” professionals in a wide range of fields, including aerospace engineering, medicine, emergency services, small business management, various science fields, and the building trades. More than 50 businesses, organizations, and individuals hosted students, allowing each student to learn about a career field of interest to them, try out some of the work of that career field, and learn about their host’s career path.
In reflections on their days, students gave high marks for the day and how valuable it was to them. Tucker Filiault, who shadowed at Kedron Valley Garage where he assisted with seasonal tire changes and inspections, as well as an oil change, was happy to have a hands-on, productive day. “It was a great experience!” he said.
Jacob Legayada, who shadowed Darrell Abrico of Nissan of Lebanon, noted, “I really enjoyed joining in the morning conference and see[ing] behind the scenes of a car dealership….” April 25 was actually Jacob’s third day shadowing at the Nissan dealership--and he is happy to report that he has landed a part-time job there this summer.
Alek Cirovic, who shadowed Laurie Beyranevand at Vermont Law School, appreciated talking with many women involved in the field of environmental law and had an opportunity to attend a presentation on the impact of the fashion industry on the environment. She concluded, “I am definitely interested in this field of work! This job shadow gave me more reasons to dive into this career and explore law and the environment.”
Mimi Kanda-Olmstead, who shadowed Jonathan Tuthill at the Hartford Community Restorative Justice Center commented, “What I found most interesting, as well as unique, is how these different organizations throughout the community, with very different goals, all believe in the idea of restorative justice. They all work together to ensure the community is safe….It was overall a very powerful experience, and I am so grateful for it.”
Dominic Palazzo, who joined a group of seven other WUHS students at Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center for Shadow Day, appreciated learning about the many opportunities in health care. “I found the most interesting thing to be the multiple different jobs that there were around the hospital, and how everybody appreciated each person's different expertise.”
Owen Whalen was part of a small group of students who first toured UVM’s College of Engineering College and then visited Beta Technologies, an electric aerospace company. At Beta they had a tour of the company's facilities, spoke with aerospace engineer Riley Giffin (a WUHS alum), and then tried out Beta’s flight simulator. “It was a super cool experience,” Owen commented, “and made me want to become an engineer even more.”
This annual event was organized by the Center of Community Connections (C3) in conjunction with English II teachers Nate Clifford and Martha Perkins, and counselors Sofia Bertocci and Sarah Smith. The organizers and the students are very grateful to all of the community members who hosted students for this event.
Be sure you check out the front page of this week’s Focus Section in the Standard for additional photos and coverage related to this event.