School news
Art students observe and take landscape photographs at the Hall Art Foundation
Students with Back of a Snowman, 2001 by Gary Hume
On December 1, art students took a field trip to the Hall Art Foundation in Reading, Vermont to see exhibits of Joel Sternfeld's photography and Gladys Nilsson's paintings. This trip was inspired by a lesson on the Hudson River School that Ms. Piccoli taught to Ms. Jimerson's painting classes, which led us to the exhibit of American photographer Joel Sternfeld's photos from his American Prospects and Highline series.
Sternfeld was influenced by Hudson River School painters like Thomas Cole. As Molly Fielder ‘29 pointed out, his photograph The Abandoned Uranium Refinery, 1982 on Navajo lands is very similar to Cole's painting The Oxbow, 1836 in how he captures dark storm clouds moving in on one side and the sun breaking through on the other, creating a contrast between dark and light in the sky. Adelle Danilchick ‘27 described the paintings of the Hudson River School and this photograph by Sternfeld as "sublime."
Addison Blanchard ‘28 is doing an independent study in art and she works as a gallery attendant at the Hall Art Foundation on the weekends. After Ms. Piccoli engaged the students in a Visual Thinking Strategies exercise with Sternfeld’s photo titled McLean Virginia, 1978, Addison did the debrief with the students explaining the “artist is like an author” and the photographer “frames the image you are seeing.”
While students were going through the exhibits, the AP Photography class was also working on a photography assignment. Max van der Schoot ‘26 stated about her landscape photograph taken on the grounds of the Hall Art Foundation that, “These footsteps show that winter (the season) makes the natural world change. I remember that Sternfeld wanted to show the seasons and that he felt he was sometimes “chasing” them. I wanted to capture the season, winter, in one of mine and show how the footsteps are chasing after it.”
Thank you very much to the Hall Art Foundation for making this trip possible through their free educational programming and their generous bus transportation reimbursement program.
Molly Fielder ‘29 holds Thomas Cole's The Oxbow (1836) in front of Joel Sternfeld's photograph Abandoned Uranium Refinery, 1982
Addison Blanchard ‘28 doing the debrief of McLean, Virginia, December 1978 by Joel Sternfeld.
Following in Someone’s Footsteps, December 2025 by Max van der Schoot ‘26
CRAFT students sell apple cider waffles with student-made maple syrup at Wassail
CRAFT students Sophia Rosenbach, Aleks Cirovic, Brody Allen, Hannah Lantigne, Ashton Perkins and Lindsey St. Cyr spent several hours in the cold on Saturday selling waffles to the many people at the annual Wassail celebration in Woodstock. People loved the waffles and were pleased to donate to the CRAFT program. Students raised money to help support the different field experiences and speakers we learn from in CRAFT.
Local legislators visit 8th grade American Studies classes
Before Thanksgiving break, 8th Grade American Studies classes invited some of our local legislators—both Democrat and Republican—to visit. Students developed many of their questions ahead of time and shared them with the legislators before their visits. The focus was "taxes in, public services out," the economics and government model we'll continue to build on as we study both capitalism and communism.
Students are shown here with Killington Representative Jim Harrison. Other classes welcomed Senator Alison Clarkson and Representative Charlie Kimbell, both of Woodstock. Student questions touched on a wide variety of topics but especially focused on the Governor's school redistricting plans and the possibility of a new building for WUHSMS.
We also learned last week that Jim Harrison is moving out of state in January and resigning his office. Killington and the other towns he represents will soon have a new governor-appointed State Representative until the next election.
Introducing Spirit Club
The Spirit Club is a newly formed club for the 2025/26 school year. Led by a group of passionate students, their club mission is to encourage support of student activities and create spirit.
Pictured are two of the members who, along with the club created a poster for all Winter Sports and Arts Activities.
There is so much to be spirited about in our School.
WE ARE WOODSTOCK!
We are incredibly fortunate to have Noelle Nunes championing our students and school community. Through Noelle's dedication in organizing Spirit Club, she's empowered students to lead, build connections, and foster the spirit that makes our school special. Noelle's commitment to student voice and school pride doesn't go unnoticed—thank you for all you do to make our school a better place!
Therapy Dog Baxter comes to WUHSMS!
Stress in December? Therapy Dog Baxter came the past two weeks to meet with students. His handlers are Dr. Murrell and Ms. Judy Hills. Baxter comes from the Therapy Dogs of Vermont program, and he also sees children at Dartmouth's CHAD program plus a lot more. This opportunity was offered during ARE time. Students did not need to sign up in advance, it was open to all. Baxter had about 50 students, staff, and faculty each week!
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Annie Luke for her thoughtful coordination of this wonderful opportunity and for bringing Baxter the therapy dog into our school community.