Co-Presidents of VTLSP (Vermont Teen Leadership Safety Program), Aleks Cirovic and Eleanor Williams, participated in our annual campaign, Project Sticker Shock. Working together with area convenience stores and grocery store, we address issues related to underage drinking and work to do this campaign before graduation. This project consists of youth placing stickers on multi-packs of alcohol and other appropriate alcohol beverages to thank them for not buying alcohol for minors and keeping our youth alcohol-free. VTLSP would like to thank Cumberland Farms, Maplefields, and the Woodstock Village Market for allowing us to do our campaign in their stores.
Woodstock juniors, seniors, guests, and parents gathered for prom at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel on Saturday, May 18th. Parents looked on as the students promenaded into the Oscar Wilde Grand Ballroom.
Students finished their bowling unit in Wellness and added it to the list of lifetime activities we have practiced this year. By the end of the unit students were able to understand how to score and use the four step approach. Students tested their skills when we took a class trip to Valley Bowl in Randolph, Vermont. Lots of smiles, spares and strikes were had!
Here’s what’s been going on with our amazing student artists at Woodstock:
A trip to Boston: In March students in Advanced Art, Advanced Digital Art, AP Art History, AP Drawing and AP 2D Design visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on March 13th. Students went on a guided tour that focused on several different works of art made from a variety of media and from a variety of time periods and places. The docents engaged the students in meaningful conversations that related to identity, culture, artistic expression and visual stories. Students also had some time to explore the exhibits on their own, during this time the students had the opportunity to sketch inspiring works of art.
Student Art Show Returns!
During the first week in May, the school art show brought creativity and excitement for art to the community. The art show was open during the school days, and many students and staff had the opportunity to visit the amazing drawings, paintings, collages, and sculptures created by our 7-12 students. The art show was open to community members on Friday and Saturday evenings before the YOH performance. Thank you, Steve Stunts, who played music during Friday night's art opening! The interactive art stations were especially popular; we even had students run caricature portrait stations for visitors. The art department looks forward to more pop-up shows in the future!
Students are recognized for their outstanding work at the Congressional Art Show
Each spring, a nation-wide high school arts competition is sponsored by the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982, in Vermont, to provide an opportunity for members of Congress to encourage and recognize the artistic talents of their young constituents. Since then, over 650,000 high school students have been involved with the nationwide competition. The over-all winners from each state are displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol.
Congratulations to the six student artists who were recognized by the art teachers at Woodstock for having their work at this year’s art show in Castleton: Lindsey Bacon, Logan Knox, Delia Morgan, Charlotte Nunan, Clara Shortle, and Joseph Tsouknakis. The students viewed the amazing artwork created by 90 students from around Vermont. Congress woman Becca Balint met the students and presented the awards. Charlotte Nunan won first place for Windsor county, and tied for the People’s choice award!
Charlotte with her winning painting “Under Pressure”
Last week in Integrated Environmental Science (IES), 86 freshmen worked with Karen Ganey from Regeneration Corps to plant native shrubs on campus in order to help transform our outdoor spaces to increase biodiversity, promote ecosystem resilience, and store carbon. The work builds on a design for a pollinator hedgerow created for a 2022 Stewardship Action Project by former Woodstock graduate Wyatt Begin and is one of several service learning opportunities offered in 9th grade. It could not have been possible without our former students or Karen.
Karen has a passion for connecting people to the land and has dedicated her professional life to a variety of organizations including Regeneration Corps, The Upper Valley Apple Corps, Ottauquechee Water Protectors Association, Vt Agroecology School, and the Clifford Park Community Food Forest. Highly energized by work that centers climate solutions and food systems, Karen is currently engaged in various regenerative design consultations, education outreach, and community organizing events.
To prepare for hedgerow planting, students individually researched various herbaceous perennials. Karen also visited our class to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators and stewardship opportunities that create diverse land ecosystems in order to build resilience and increase biodiversity. Our amazing place-based educator Kat Robbins and committed Garden & Greenhouse Manager / CRAFT Teaching Assistant Abbie Castriotta were also integral in preparation efforts by obtaining the tools, equipment and shrubs necessary to complete this project.
In addition to having fun and being outside for the afternoon, our 9th grade students worked to increase the number of pollinator species, the number of interactions and exchanges between organisms, and the health of the ecosystem! Students were highly engaged and reported feeling very successful at the end of the day. When prompted to share a favorite highlight of the day, this is what our students said.
My favorite highlight was…
“Finally getting the plant in the ground and preparing it to flourish under our combined care.” - Luke Hecker
“The vivid green after the storm.” - Tee Miller
“Getting my hands dirty.” - Khloi Bruso
“Learning about how Kat uses the plants.” - Marshall Sommerville
“The feeling of making progress towards a goal.” - Liam Wheeler
The MAC Language department at Woodstock Union High School honored inductees into two national World Language organizations on Friday, May 23,2024. The ceremony was held in the Rhoda Teagle Library. Membership in the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica for Spanish and Société Honoraire de Français for French requires academic commitment and excellence and demonstrated service in promoting the language and culture.
Woodstock Union High School’s chapter of the Société Honoraire de Français inducted the following seniors as well as several underclassmen: Phoebe Anderson, Tess Belisle, Amelie Fabre, Leah Kuhnert, Chloe Masillo, Delia Morgan, and Clara Shortle.
Woodstock Union High School’s chapter of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica inducted and celebrated the following seniors: Lila Beckwith, Amelie Fabre, Brooke Hecker, Maggie Mello, Sophia Nisimblat, Ella Stainton and Farren Stainton.
We are truly proud to recognize the achievements of this group of students.
Pictured up above: Newly inducted members of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica and Société Honoraire de Français
Seniors from Left to Right: Chloe Masillo, Leah Kuhneret, Phoebe Anderson, Clara Shortle, Delia Morgan, Amélie Fabre, Farren Stainton, Ella Stainton, Maggie Mello, Sophia Nisimblat, Lila Beckwith. Not pictured: Brooke Hecker and Tess Belisle. Photo: Susan Piccoli
Senior Amélie Fabre was inducted into both the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica and Société Honoraire de Français
Below: Ninth graders view the Holocaust Torah with Art Skerker
Poster featuring Eta Wrobel, a famous Partisan during the Holocaust, and grandmother to field trip speaker Corinna Dodson.
This spring, the ninth graders have been engaged in an interdisciplinary unit in their English and Modern World classes. In Modern World History with Mr. Wolfe, students learned about the historical background of the Holocaust, studying the escalation of hate that led up to the atrocities. In English with Ms. SJ, they explored the individual stories of people who endured the Holocaust, chronicling their lives and legacies before, during, and after the Holocaust.
The unit culminated on May 7th with a field trip for all ninth graders to Shir Shalom Woodstock Area Jewish Community in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. There, we were privileged to hear from Mrs. Fran Malkin, who shared her incredible story of survival during the Holocaust. This field trip was especially memorable and powerful because Mrs. Malkin is 9th grader Jessica Pierce’s grandmother. It was so special to see the three generations of Fran’s family–Fran, her daughter Debbi, and her granddaughter Jess–share the same stage at Shir Shalom.
Students also heard hopeful, poignant remarks from Ms. Corinna Dodson, granddaughter of famed Partisan Eta Wrobel, and they had the unique opportunity to view Shir Shalom’s Holocaust Torah Scroll, which likely dates back to the 1840s. Finally, students were treated to delicious pizza and popsicles, which were generously provided by Shir Shalom.
This field trip was made possible by the generosity of Mrs. Malkin and her daughter, Debbi Schonberger-Pierce, and of Shir Shalom leaders and congregants, including Rabbi Haigh, Lois Fein, President Mike Brown, Roni and Art Skerker, and others. Lois Fein was especially instrumental in planning this field trip and unit, and we owe her many thanks!
Jessica Pierce stands on stage with her mother, Debbi, and her grandmother, Fran. Art Skerker holds the Holocaust Torah.
With the help of Corinna and Art, Jess, Debbi, and Fran pass the Holocaust Torah, symbolizing the passing of Holocaust remembrance from one generation to the next.
Above: Lois Fein plays guitar and sings throughout the field trip.
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.
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."
