School news
Spring plant sale in the WUHSMS greenhouse
The Spring Plant Sale will run from May 1st-31st. It will be open from 9 am-2 pm on school days. On the first day of the sale (Monday, the 1st), the sale will be open until 6 pm for WCSU staff!!
The sale is located in the Large Greenhouse (behind/riverside of the WUHS/MS building).
All proceeds directly benefit the Woodstock Union Agriculture Department. Your support helps to ensure that our greenhouse and gardens are thriving spaces where we can continue to teach and learn about agriculture, stewardship, sustainability, and systems thinking through experiential learning.
We will also be holding a plant pot collection drive! Bring your used plant pots and we will either wash, sanitize, and reuse them or sort them by plastic type and recycle them with a company that specializes in horticulture pots! If you bring in plastic pots, you can take home one free 4-inch potted plant! As always, bring cardboard boxes if you have them for transporting your plants to you car.
This year, we are focusing on selling native, perennial plants — specifically, ones that benefit pollinators — and vegetables/herbs. We will still have many of the fan favorites. See the CRAFT website for the list of plants (subject to change). We will also be selling bird houses, No Mow May signs, and seeds.
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.
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!
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!
