Earth Beat hosts Earth Week workshops, Heather Wolfe '99 visits

As part of Earth Beat activities, students engaged in plant-forward cooking classes with Heather Wolfe (class of ‘99 and author of Sustainable Kitchen), as an important and delicious way to care for both personal and planetary health.

Thanks to a grant from the Woodstock Endowment Association that was received in 2020, Earth Beat successfully hosted over a dozen interactive workshops for the entire school to engage in hands-on environmentally based workshops in honor of Earth Week. Student leaders paired with staff to lead workshops to make reusable beeswax wraps, construct reusable bags out of t-shirts, make soap, cultivate micro-greens, learn about bee conservation, green up the school campus, write letters to the White House, create art, explore vegan cooking and more! A huge shout out to Earth Beat members and the staff who devoted their lunch and ARE times two days in a row to engage students in hopeful activities.

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!

Middle school knitting and crocheting club stays busy

The middle school Knitting/Crocheting Club is on fire! These students are making hats, scarves, and blankets, and they've been experiencing first hand how satisfying this craft can be.

Did you know that the rhythmic and repetitive nature of knitting/crocheting actually releases hormones that decrease stress and increase cognitive clarity?

It's been wonderful to observe the calm that comes over the room when the students are all focused and busy, and it's been a pleasant surprise to witness some of the profound conversations that have arisen out of this space.

One example happened last week, when they had a lively discussion on whether or not the U.S. was justified in dropping a nuclear bomb during World War II. They were so thoughtful and respectful of each other as they all wrestled with this challenging topic, while simultaneously wrestling with the yarn in their hands. Wow, and I thought we were just making scarves!

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!

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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!