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.
8th Grade State House Field Trip
On May 2 the 8th grade class took their annual field trip to our state capitol to tour the State House, participate in a mock trial in the Supreme Court, and tour the Vermont Historical Society Museum exhibits. We were also able to see Addison Blanchard, 8th grade student from Woodstock who is serving as a Legislative Page during this final 6 weeks of the legislative session (photo below). Some of us were lucky enough to catch our 3 Windsor County Senators during a break in the Senate chamber where students had the opportunity to ask them questions. Before leaving the State House students were able to watch the House of Representatives begin their session from the galleries. The whole class was recognized from the House floor by Woodstock Representative Tesha Buss to a round of applause, before exiting for a class photo on the front steps and then boarding the buses to return home.
