In this week's From the Library newsletter learn about the next Faculty/Staff Bookclub pick titled The Fury by Alex Michaelides, see a display of Holocaust memoirs that English 1 students will be reading, enjoy some photos from the Library Easter Egg Hunt and save the date for the workshops with the Dance Theatre of Harlem on April 18.
Please remember to return your overdue books, renew the books you need more time to read and pick out some new spring reads. Have a great spring break!
WUMS QSA students put hours of time and energy into a program they developed called, "Live Your Life". Big goal: To increase empathy and promote positive social interaction in our middle school by helping people get to know each other’s stories. They led a presentation each day during Connections Time this week to address tough topics with group activities. Students in the 7th and 8th grade were mixed into 7 different groups. They also designed and made buttons and a resource brochure. The Woodstock Inn supported our group by helping with the costs of white carnation flowers that were offered at the end of an assembly presentation to students. Three other important middle school QSA members were absent for the group picture.
This week, the library has hosted Middle School advisories and High School English, Spanish and French classes. And, on Friday, there was an Easter egg hunt!
The next Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club pick is We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds and the next Faculty/Staff Book Club pick is The Fury by Alex Michaelides. Stop by to pick up your copy!
Please remember to return your overdue books, renew books you need more time to read and check out some new spring reads.
The Modern and Classical Language Department is thrilled to announce that the following students were recently recognized for creative excellence in the Annual Poster Contest sponsored by the Vermont Organization of Classics and Language Educators (VOCALE, formerly the VFLA).
Clara Burkholder earned 1st Place in the High School division.
Myra McNaughton earned 3rd Place in the High School division.
Isla Segal earned 2nd place in the Middle School division.
Jackson Fellows earned 3rd place in the Digital Category
(Open to all grades!).
All students received certificates and copies of their posters as notecards. Their original posters have been framed and will be hung near the MAC Language classrooms.
The Mountain Views School District Board is hosting three upcoming information sessions about the new high school and middle school building project. You can learn about each event by following the links.
February 12, 2024, · 6:00 PM
February 13, 2024, · 6:00 PM
February 15, 2024, · 6:00 PM
The middle school QSA held two successful bake sales in order to donate the proceeds to The Trevor Project in recognition of Transgender Awareness Week (November 13-19) and LGBTQIA+ Youth.
The Trevor Project is a well-known suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ young people. They provide information & support to LGBTQ young people.
The Safe School Ambassador Program is in its 9th year at WUHSMS. With 45 members in grades 8-12, this nationally recognized program uses socially influential leaders of the school’s diverse friend groups to shape positive social norms and behavior. The students in SSA had the opportunity to participate in a 2 day retreat, where they did some powerful self reflection, and learned and practiced the skills needed to resolve conflict, defuse negative incidents, and support their peers .
Thank you to the returning students, most of whom have been participating since 8th grade, for their many years of commitment to our school, and thank you for the warm welcome you gave to the ten new 8th grade members; Oliver Bennett, Elisabetta Cirovic, Lexi Gebardi, Lucas Geller, Alaythia Lockhart, Sam Molalley, Joey Palazzo, Declan Roylance, and Lindsey St. Cyr.
These students were selected based on an anonymous survey that their peers filled out, and have been identified as people their friends turn to, listen to, and trust. With that respect comes responsibility. We look forward to watching you grow and develop as leaders.
CRAFT classes have been busy! MS students in Gardens and Greenhouses chose a local fruit or veggie to learn about for their final project and then they made a dish with that ingredient to share with the class. In a picture above, Nolan Alberty is proudly displaying his homemade apple pie.
Students in Stewardship Action Project recently worked with Sustainable Woodstock to make window inserts for homeowners. Our SAP students were essential in stretching the plastic over the wooden frame to create the insulating layer that will help the community stay warm this winter and reduce their heating costs.
Students in Foundations of Agriculture are finishing up our fall garden preparation by planting garlic. They have been learning about the value of seeds as an investment in our future. We purchased $100.00 worth of garlic and if each clove turns into 10 cloves, we now have $1000.00 worth of garlic to eat, share and replant!
Students in Food and Forest Systems went to Marsh Billings Rockefeller NHP to learn about the more sustainable tradition of horse logging and the forest management practices employed by the natural resources team at the park. Students got to watch at a safe distance while an ash tree was felled as a precaution to the emerald ash borer which has begun to show its presence in our forests. This foreign pest will have a devastating effect on our ash trees in the coming years and the park wants to be proactive by removing the ones that could pose a danger along the hiking trails.
The WUHSMS mountain bike team captured the Vermont Youth Cycling Championship (VTYC) for the second consecutive year at the Mt. Peg trails. A record-setting number of athletes (239) from 13 teams challenged themselves in this enduro-style race on Peg’s most popular trails including Cloud Drop, Sir Berm’s A Lot, James’ Jungle, and Hardstyle.
The atmosphere at Knox Meadow was festive with team tents, a fire pit, and yard games. The Brownsville Butcher and Pantry sold food, and Vermont Farmstead Cheese and McNamara Dairy donated chocolate milk to every racer.
Adding to the excitement was the reopening of the Sir Berm’s A Lot trail which was masterfully remodeled by the Woodstock Area Mountain Bike Association’s trail builders, Gavin Vaughn and Graham Farrington. Farrington is a WUHS graduate and former captain of the team. The trail's berms, jumps, and flow were a highlight of the day for many. Spectators willing to hike were treated to riders carving high-speed berms and launching trail gaps.
This was the final race in the four-race VTYC series. Woodstock entered the day as the series leader and was determined to earn the win on its home trails, and that is just what they did. The Category A boys and girls nearly swept the podiums with Schuyler Hagge and Pea Richardson taking 1st and 3rd for the girls. The boys took four out of five podium spots with Graham Fox (5th), Zev Wysocki (4th), Averill Stevens (3rd), and Quinn Uva at the top of the podium in first place. Chelsea McDermot finished 2nd on the day in Girls B, and Cole Little earned 3rd in Boys B. Seventh grader Micah Mahood had an impressive day, earning his first podium of the season as the 5th place finisher in the Category C boys race. Every racer on the podium was awarded a bottle of Richardson’s maple syrup.
Racers were also recognized for their overall series’ performance The overall girls’ podium featured Luca Morris (5th), Arden Rossi (4th), Pea Richardson (3rd), and Schuyler Hagge (1st). The A boys were also strong, with Averill Stevens (5th) and Quinn Uva taking 1st overall. Co-captains Hagge and Uva were vital to the team’s success by finishing in either second or first place in every race in the series. Seventh-grade racer Calvin Seman established himself in his first racing season by taking 3rd place overall. Isla Segal continued her consistent ways, securing 5th for the C girls.
Co-captain Ada Mahood was recognized by VTYC with the “Fuel More Fun” award for embodying excellent sportsmanship and positive attributes including “looking out for others, encouraging peers, a commitment to bettering the community, self-discipline and perseverance, and asking for help when needed.” Ada truly embodies these attributes.
This team is young and talented and ready to make an impact at the Northern New England Race Series Championship at the Holderness School on October 28th. Woodstock is currently leading its division in this series and is looking to better its 2nd place finish in last year’s championship.
