On Thursday, February 15, the Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club took Last Night at the Telegraph Club to Boston! Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo is this year's Vermont Reads book. It is a queer love story that takes place in the 1950s in San Francisco's Chinatown. The Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club wanted to learn more about Lily's Chinese American cultural identity and the group experienced that through a food walking tour in Chinatown and the Lunar New Year celebration at the Museum of Fine Arts.

In response to a question about her favorite part of the trip, Sequoia Barbour stated, "While I enjoyed everything on the trip, my favorite part was probably the walking tour. I really enjoyed being able to try a lot of new things that I wouldn't normally get the chance to. My favorite foods we got to try were the egg custard tarts, the barbeque pork bao buns, the noodle dish at dim sum, and the scallion pancake." As we walked the winding streets of Chinatown, we were led by expert tour guide and food critic, Jacqueline Church. She taught us the history of Boston's Chinatown and shared the Chinese American experience in Chinatown with us through Chinese food, art and culture.

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Commenting on connections they made between the book and the food walking tour, Luca Morris stated, "Walking into one of the shops--I think it was either the Chinese medicine shop or the Chinese barbeque shop--I saw a poster for a candidate in a Chinatown pageant, which reminded me of Shirley from the book and her campaign for Miss Chinatown. Also, I saw some foods in the shops or at the dim sum lunch that I remembered reading about in the book. For example, BBQ pork filled steamed buns."

After the food walking tour of Chinatown, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts for the Lunar New Year celebration where we saw a dragon dance for the Year of the Dragon, a Tai Chi demonstration, students participated in Chinese brush painting of bamboo and we saw a lion dance. Pivotal scenes in Last Night at the Telegraph Club take place during the Lunar New Year Celebration and these demonstrations and activities gave students the opportunity to be immersed in those traditions.

The Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club would like to thank the Vermont Humanities Council for the Project Grant that made this trip possible.

To read more about the YADB Book Club's trip to Boston including a day at the Boston Public Library and to see more photos, please click here for the From the Library newsletter.

Please check out our new video created by Aleksandra Cirovic of VTLSP/OVX!

Astrid McFarland from VKAT has created two important projects. One was a mental health campaign. Mental Health flyers were posted in the school, providing ways one can take care of themselves. For example, get enough sleep, stay hydrated, and exercise regularly. The second is a bulletin board of Vermonters who've lost their lives due to addiction. The goal of this project was to show that Vermonters as young as 16 have lost their life due to addiction. Addiction does not have an age requirement.

A resource for parents and family members:

Nic Sick: The Dangers of Youth Vaping can be seen here.

To order free Narcan click here.

For more information on how to use this life-saving medication or to download the NARCAN NOW app, visit www.narcan.com

Aleksandra Cirovic from VTLSP/OVX and Astrid McFarland from VKAT attended the Rally at the State House in Montpelier on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Students from OVX and VKAT groups all over Vermont attended. These groups understand the impact of tobacco and nicotine addiction, along with the tobacco industry's ability to target youth with fruity flavors and attractive technology of the vaping devices. The Rally provides youth a platform to educate and inform key decision makers and fellow Vermonters about tobacco and nicotine related issues, as seen and experienced firsthand. We also met with Senator Alison Clarkson, which was a great experience. Representative Tesha Buss also was attempting to connect with us throughout the day and we greatly appreciate that she tried!

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.

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Members of the WUHS Spanish Club visited Lauren Gagne’s students at WES and shared games and cultural activities. Fifty elementary school students rotated between a quick soccer game, a matching game with fall activities in Spanish, making traditional tissue-paper flowers and learning colors as they colored calaveras. “It was an incredible experience” said Lauren Gagne “the students talked about it all afternoon” after the visit.

WUHS is a member of the national Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica. Candidates and current members of the honor society complete at least three cultural ambassador activities during the school year to promote the Spanish language and cultures of spanish-speaking countries. Anna Megyesi and Luis Villanueva are the advisors of the club.

Students participated in VTLSP's Red Ribbon Week throughout the week. Some of the events included free Red Empire Apples from Woodstock Farmers' Market for Nutrition Day and entering a drawing for four $10 Amazon Gift cards. Students wrote their "Natural High" which included some responses such as: "Going for hikes with my dog", "Horseback Riding", "Soccer, Reading, and Traveling", "Playing Tennis", "Working", "Snowboarding", and "Yoh", plus many more. Winners of the drawing were: Sophia Rosenbach, Morgan Darling, Aiyanna Dawson, and Maggie Mello. On Friday, students participated in a Disk Drop game for prizes plus mints for Empower"mint" Day!

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The Woodstock Unified Soccer team placed first in their division in the Unified Champions State tournament last week at Norwich University. It was a fun day with games against Brattleboro and Rutland. Woodstock came out on top in both games. Congratulations athletes!

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Leading up to the Best Day assembly, last week’s schedule of ‘Spirit Week’ clothing themes generated some kudos for the best costume of the day. Many students dressed in crazy costumes and then each class wore their class color on Thursday, October 5th, for the Best Day assembly. The assembly was held outside in the Bowl under a blue bird sky.

The students enjoyed the musical talent of classmate, Leo Winawer-Stein who played the keyboard and sang Pompeii by Bastille as well as the WUHS band who taught the audience the traditional ‘Fight’ song played at some of the school’s sports’ events. As usual, there were some energetic games such as musical chairs and an intense round of tug o’ war. To be eligible for a prize at the end of the school year, classes are competing for class points by engaging in the games during assemblies.

As a result, enthusiasm was pervasive! Along with the music and activities, there were also student kudos, general announcements and of course some raffles! The event was a great kick off to create some school spirit and celebrate the many aspects of our school community!

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On Wednesday, October 4th, the eighth grade class spent a beautiful day on Mt. Tom. Students hiked enthusiastically (despite the heat), vied for bragging rights in advisory-based challenges, ate lunch at the top by the star, and ended the day enjoying popsicles and shade on the school grounds. It was a great fall day!

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