'I never thought about how forests can provide answers for us" remarked one ninth grader as they gazed upward through a leafy canopy on a brilliant October day.

Students were lucky enough to visit Gifford Woods State Park in Killington at peak foliage to explore the one remaining stand of Old Growth forest in Vermont. They noted characteristics of bark and topography, measured girth and height, responded to a piece of text and engaged in a conversation with park staff about how to manage different groups of trail users like mountain bikers and hikers.

These activities are grounded in a unit of study about forest biodiversity in students' Integrated Environmental Science class that are a natural extension to students' more local exploration of our 3.5 acre forested parcel of land across the Ottauquechee River.

Yoh Theatre Players will present Argonautika by Mary Zimmerman on October 20 and 21 at 7 p.m.

We are proud to present our first Vlog episode documenting our work, created with the help of our new Assistant Director Claire McKey Berkman.

The Superintendent's Advisory Council is hosting their third annual Leadership Summit on Social Action on Wednesday, October 11. WUHS students are encouraged to sign up for this day-long event hosted at the Killington Grand Hotel.

This year’s summit will include student-led activities, discussions, and breakout sessions, along with speeches and activities from guest speakers. Food and transportation will be provided, and students will return to school in time for sports, buses, and other after-school commitments.

The deadline for all applications is Wednesday, October 4. If you have any questions, reach out to any of the emails listed on the application form.

We hope to see you at the Leadership Summit this year!

Ms. Hagge’s AP Language and Composition class have been learning about rhetorical situation and rhetorical devices as they explore the essential question of the first thematic unit: “How do we reflect on humanity’s place in the natural world?”

After watching the film An Inconvenient Truth, discussing Al Gore’s rhetorical choices, doing presentations on rhetoric in a variety of texts concerned with the topic of climate change, we are now turning our attention to Emerson’s classic transcendentalist essay “Nature.”

We took the opportunity of fair weather, on a warm September afternoon to read and study “Nature” outside.

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In Integrated Environmental Science, students recently completed a multi-day experience immersed in our outdoor forested classroom. Students worked collaboratively to identify the various species of trees present in the Northern Hardwood Forest.

Students will also have the opportunity to teach their peers how to identify a single tree species using important identification characteristics, as well as sharing a song, poem or watercolor painting.

In the future, students will combine their observations with the long-term monitoring data from our AP Environmental Science class to calculate the Simpson’s Index as one way to measure biodiversity. The study of our forest includes opportunities to develop an increased appreciation for the natural landscape and to discuss the importance of being a forest steward. Our work also serves as a foundation to understanding the beautiful complexity of old growth forests.

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The 9th grade Integrated Environmental Science students also engaged in a unique service learning opportunity as part of the course’s alignment to WUHSMS’s CRAFT program, which connects students, teachers, and community patterns through food and forest systems to empower people to be engaged in place-based solutions. Students helped to remove a fence that was damaged by flooding this past summer and helped to clear the garden in preparation for the installation of lasagna garden beds.

The school garden was under 6 feet of water back in July. Our Agriculture classes have been working hard to clean up and rebuild.

We will be able to use some of the (very resilient) crops that survived the flooding; such as garlic, corn, carrots, amaranth, tomatoes, and ground cherries; as seed for next year.

Luckily, we grew produce in a new permaculture garden behind the bus barn that Josie Cross designed for her Stewardship Action Project in the spring. We have been making zucchini bread, salsa, kale chips, and zucchini tots with the produce.

Freshman students participated in the annual tradition of running for student government positions at WUHS this past week. The students submitted an application to communicate their enthusiasm for a robust school community, competing for class officer positions (president, vice president, secretary and treasurer), as well as for one of the five seats available on the WUHS Student Council.

There were some tight races and energetic voting took place on Wednesday. The following results were announced at the end of the week. Thank you to all who participated and congratulations to those who won!

Class of 2027 Officers

President: Nick Cellini
Vice President: Pippa Shaw
Secretary: Jake Blackburn Treasurer: Lucia Beckwith
Student Council Representatives: Piper Pauly, Matilda Richardson, Addy Tucker, Charleigh Parker and Anna Young.

In this week's From the Library newsletter, you'll see we had a busy week with the Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club meeting to discuss The Words in My Hands by Asphyxia and the Faculty/Staff Book Club meeting to discuss Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.

Please remember to return your overdue books, check out new ones and let Ms. Piccoli know if you need help with anything.

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WUHSMS is excited to welcome twenty Spanish students and their sponsors, Jaime Martínez and Juan Fernández to our school this week. The students arrived Friday, September 8th and were picked up by their host families and students. Their school, Colegio Salesianos Paseo Extremadura, will be hosting WUHS students in April as part of the Woodstock-Madrid Exchange.

Students met with WUHSMS Co-Organizers Luis Villanueva and Anna Megyesi for an orientation and campus tour on Monday before joining their host students in class. Their time here allows them to immerse themselves in American culture and language and develop connections with our school community.

In addition to attending classes with their host students, Mr. Villanueva organized a number of excursions for them to take in some of the highlights of Vermont. Students visited UVM, Ben and Jerry’s, Burlington, and had a tour of Billings Farm. They went kayaking to experience firsthand the rich tradition of recreational tourism in the area. Teacher Steve Smith presented a history of Woodstock and Vermont during ARE time which was very well received.