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.

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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.

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A hidden world, a sunken ship, an abandoned picnic, an immersive web and an abstract expression of moving water… These are just some of the ideas expressed at the Land Trust trail by 16 talented Eco-Art students.

The pieces created are a part of SculptureFest and the community and artists enjoyed an art reception on Sunday. This environmental exhibit is always open to the public, stop by anytime on the trail located between Prosper Rd and the King Farm to enjoy their installations.

An excerpt from Aleks Cirovic’s artist statement about her art piece Stability:

“I wished for this piece to represent a part of myself, a part that I have lost. One that has balance, respect, and curiosity surrounding the past. The surrounding space represents what surrounds me.”

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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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Huge kudos to Aleks Cirovic, Riley O'Neal, Owen Whalen, and Chelsea McDermott who represented the CRAFT program at the Upper Valley Teaching Place Collaborative Conference at the Lake Morey Resort last week! Students presented in front of a group of 25 educators about CRAFT, reflected on meaningful learning experiences, and elegantly answered a number of questions.

They facilitated the harvest and sampling of microgreens and shared everything from Food Justice to EcoArt to Wind Turbine building. Educators were impressed by their articulateness and the interdisciplinary opportunities that they are taking advantage of. We hope that CRAFT can serve as a model for other schools to integrate place-based learning into their curriculum in deep and connected ways.

The focus of this week's From the Library newsletter is on books and book clubs!

• Read about the Young Adult Diverse Books Book Club's discussion of Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

• Learn about the next YADB Book Club book As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

• Read about the Faculty/Staff Book Club's discussion of The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

• Find out more about the next book the Faculty/Staff Book Club will be reading, Trust: A Novel by Hernan Diaz

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

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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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The EcoArt students invite the public to SculptureFest located on Prosper Road on October 22 from 1:00-2:30 to view their newly created sculptures.

The students have collaborated with Peter and Charlet Davenport over the past three weeks. They met local artists, explored the sculptures on the Davenport’s land and learned about how gesture, light & shadow, texture, negative space and place influence sculpture. The students then spent time along the farm trail that connects the Davenport’s land with the King Farm.

They designed and created art surrounding and within unique features of the landscape. The purpose of their sculptures is to bring attention to aspects of the land that might otherwise be overlooked. The students considered how environmental public art is an act of stewardship and how using found and ephemeral materials connects to sustainability.

We hope you enjoy exploring the wonderful art pieces created by these talented artists.

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AP U.S. History students participated in a Patriots vs. Loyalists debate this week in class. Students researched key leaders, politicians, and writers from the time leading up to the Declaration of Independence and played those roles in their class debates. They discussed enlightenment ideas, taxation without representation, and reasons to stay loyal to the crown.

SAP students went to Whitman Brook Orchard in Quechee, VT to glean apples for the nonprofit Willing Hands. Willing Hands recovers fresh food in order to reduce waste, improve health and provide reliable access to nutritious food for neighbors in need.

The collected apples were divided into 2 bins, one for cold storage to be distributed to food shelves throughout the year and the other bin was for Ben Kilham and his black bear research center. The bears eat up to 25 lbs of apples a day!

Through the gleaning process, food that would other wise be completely wasted and left to rot is now feeding people (and bears in need). Willing Hands has 1,000 + individual volunteers, 64 food donors, 82 delivery sites and have delivered 796,202 pounds of food to people in need in the upper valley. The USDA estimated that 30-40% of all food in the US is wasted. People in need go hungry, the energy and resources to grow the food is wasted and we are producing carbon emissions for no reason.

In SAP we are learning how to reduce the many sources of climate change and how to make those sources more sustainable to help our community now and in the future. According to Willing Hands, Dartmouth College Environmental Studies Department found that the work of Willing Hands prevents a million pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year, the equivalent to taking 100 cars off the road. If you have an opportunity, reach out to Willing Hands and volunteer to glean for your community!

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