The Woodstock Unified Basketball Team played its first ever game against Hartford last Thursday, April 20th. The team earned a win with a score of 41-40. The stands were packed with smiling and cheering fans for both teams!
The middle school Knitting/Crocheting Club is on fire! These students are making hats, scarves, and blankets, and they've been experiencing first hand how satisfying this craft can be.
Did you know that the rhythmic and repetitive nature of knitting/crocheting actually releases hormones that decrease stress and increase cognitive clarity?
It's been wonderful to observe the calm that comes over the room when the students are all focused and busy, and it's been a pleasant surprise to witness some of the profound conversations that have arisen out of this space.
One example happened last week, when they had a lively discussion on whether or not the U.S. was justified in dropping a nuclear bomb during World War II. They were so thoughtful and respectful of each other as they all wrestled with this challenging topic, while simultaneously wrestling with the yarn in their hands. Wow, and I thought we were just making scarves!
Students in our Stewardship Action Project class, Holden Larmie, Declan McCullough and Cyrus Hawkins are building bird nesting boxes in the innovation lab to sell in the spring sale. These boxes are wonderful nesting sites for bluebirds and swallows and provide a safe haven for returning birds to safely raise their young.
Students in Foundations of Agriculture are hand mowing down the cover crop in the garden beds and pressing it down and covering it to allow it to die back. The advantage of a cover crop is reducing erosion, building soil health and providing necessary nutrients to new plants that we will be growing in our garden. We have 3 student interns working with Ms. Castriotta this summer will help to manage our garden crops which will allow us to plant a wide variety of fresh, local food!
Vera Windish, an eleventh-grade AP Language and Composition student, has won first place in the Vermont Holocaust Memorial Student Writing and Poster contest for her poem entitled “The Cost of Saluting Ignorance,” linked here.
The theme of the contest was: “Why is it important for students to learn about the Holocaust?” and Vera addressed that theme with a moving and vivid narrative poem about the impacts of antisemitism. Her poem was displayed at the Vermont State House in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 18th. Congratulations, Vera!
School Counselor Sofia Bertocci took three students, Kianny Harrington, Anna Robidoux and Keller Pauly, to the Discovery Day at River Valley Community College on Thursday, April 20, 2023. Each student got to shadow three departments and hear from the administration about all the academic programs.
Mayor of Burlington Miro Weinberger, a 1988 WUHS graduate, spoke with about 40 students in AP Government & Politics on Friday, April 28. Students asked about issues related to the city budget, the University of Vermont, and approaches to policing. Mayor Weinberger spoke with junior Tori McNamara about housing in Burlington following the talk.
Middle school students are cooking! Starting with a couple of easy dishes, students are learning some basic skills in the kitchen through a new quarter elective—and they are enjoying the fruits of their labor with some left to share. (Food photography skills may be next!)
Students in Anna Megyesi's 1B Spanish class made traditional tortillas in class today as part of their unit on foods. We have been studying types of food typical to different regions in Mexico. Here students are hand-pressing their own tortillas and grilling them
Congratulations to Lylah Zeitlin, who won 1st place for Region 4 in this year's Hildene Essay Contest. The contest is held annually by the Lincoln Family Home in Manchester, and is open to 8th graders across Vermont. This year's prompt asked students to address censorship; choosing a frequently challenged book to read, imagining that it has been challenged in their school library, and advising the organization on whether to remove or keep the title.
Lylah used her essay to build a compelling argument for keeping Art Spiegelman’s Maus, on library shelves. Maus is a Holocaust survivor's tale that is frequently challenged for violence and sad themes. "Comfort shouldn't take precedence over the truth," Lylah wrote, concluding, "We read harder books to become better readers; we read sadder books to become better people."
Lylah will travel to the Lincoln Family Home on May 21st to receive her $500 prize.
Special congratulations to all the WUHSMS 8th graders who participated in this year's Hildene contest: Nick Cellini, Hailey Dow, Aiden Helm, Philip Holland, Coby McGaffigan, Timmy Moore, Haakon Oates, and Luke Pomeroy.
Out of 198 entries, Luke's essay also made it to the final round, earning a special commendation from the judges.