CVU Celebrations

Dear CVU Community, Well, here it is–our final Celebrations of the 2022-23 school year. In these fleeting days of the semester, I’m always challenged to name my feelings. Sure, there’s celebration and joy and pride and excitement, but those feelings are accompanied by something more bittersweet and nostalgic…maybe even a sense of sadness and loss for time passed and the many wonderful people in our community evolving to what’s next. We feel the mix of emotion for Andre, Chris, Denise, Norm (50 years!), and Tica, our retirees, and we feel it for our seniors–the class of 2023.

There’s a depth and richness in that blend of emotions–a balance. Thankfully, we are ending with RISE (read more, here) and not just an exam week. In RISE, we conclude with the opportunity to honor relationships and seek new learning–a life-long mindset we wish for Redhawks. RISE is more than a name of a program; it’s also the verb we carry with us. So, thank you to all of our students, faculty/staff, and families. We rise together. We rise to meet challenge. We rise to embrace all that is next.

This Celebrations wouldn't be complete without thanking two important members of our community. Debbie Seaton, you've taken on a substantial role as Celebrations creator and editor. Thanks for seeing all the good. And finally, we say farewell to our amazing Maggie who loved and supported us for so many years. You truly were a best friend to students and faculty alike.

June 10 - Make-A-Wish Family Fun Day

June 14 - RISE Presentation, Half Day

June 14 - Senior Convocation - Ira Allen Chapel 6:30

June 15/16 - Connect Days

June 15 - Senior Breakfast, Graduation Rehearsal and Senior Picnic

June 16 - Graduation - UVM Patrick Gym 2:00

And good luck to our Baseball, Girls Lacrosse, and Ultimate teams tomorrow!

School Year 2023-2024 schedules for current CVU students will be available in House Offices on June 1st for pickup. In the past, these schedules were not available to students until late Summer. Our scheduling team has worked incredibly hard to make these schedules available to students prior to the summer break, allowing for a Spring Add/Drop process and better planning opportunities for students in their next academic year. Please read this letter explaining this Spring's Add/Drop Process.

If you happen to see Chris Robinson, Sasha Miller, Cory Wemple, and Jim Cusick, please congratulate them on being newly certified EMTs! They passed their written test last week, and passed the practical/clinical last evening. Chloe Kuhn is only one assessment away, too!

From Nexus: Junior Kali Nulty has been studying careers in animal care as her Nexus project. Last week she met with Karen Dagostino owner of the Happy Dog Grooming Shoppe and the Happy Dog Hangout (daycare) in Williston to learn about owning a small business.

From Volunteer Outreach Club: The CVU VOC wrapped up another successful year last Wednesday! Together the Volunteer Outreach club members contributed over 600 hours of community service both in and out of school. We are so appreciative of our CVU "VOC Stars"!

From Julie St. Martin: Thank you to our amazing Peer Math Tutors: Grace McNally, Addi Hunter, Erin Fina, Sloane Roy, John DaSilva, Maddie Connery, & Aiden Blevins. These busy seniors volunteered their time and talents this semester to staff a full-time help desk in the Learning Center. On behalf of many, thank you for your contributions to the CVU community.

CVU Softball Seniors: Shelby Companion, Elise Ayer, Kate Boget, Juliette Chant and Lily Mincar

CVU Boys Ultimate Seniors: Victor Colon, Thomas Garavelli, Zach Spitznagle, Sam Yager, Tyler Davis, Tom Roberts and Sawyer Falkenbush

Six CVU seniors celebrated their Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Sunday, 5/21. Dylan LeBlanc, Jacob Medici, Jim Cusick, Logan Vaughan, Alec Blevins and Aiden Blevins. Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), and is achieved by only four percent of all scouts nationally! Congratulations to all!

From Sarah Malcolm: Upon completion of the national AP Chemistry exam, students in AP Chemistry were divided into teams to compete in a group challenge, which included creating a plastic cup, a heat source, a dyed flag, a hygiene product, and food involving molecular gastronomy techniques. Congratulations to the winning team: "The Sunkissed Scientists" (Samara A, Elise B, Ruby O, and Nina Z)! Besides their home-made sunscreen, they had color-changing lemonade, mango noodles, deconstructed sushi with gelatinized soy sauce, and edible candy wrappers. The entire class was very creative as they applied chemistry in a new way.

From Tamie-Jo Dickinson: Over the past semester, CVU Principles of Business students have worked in micro-business teams applying the management, marketing, financial, and entrepreneurial skills we discussed in class during the first semester. Highlighted below is each group, the members, the business name, and the amount donated to the organization the group chose. Over $869 was raised by the teams. Please note, the donation was determined after the team paid back all costs to start and maintain their business. Business ranged from Falco Designs selling t-shirts, to Ping Industries’ stickers, to personalized doggy bandanas for a good cause…..and even something as simple as chewing gum!

During their exam block, the teams presented their final projects, highlighting key takeaways and recommendations for next year’s classes. Key highlights from these presentations were to start early, be proactive versus reactive, don’t underestimate the power of building trusting relationships with customers, personal selling works, finding good vendors can be hard, use your time well…it is a valuable resource, and pay attention to the financial details from the beginning. It was a pleasure to work with these budding business leaders!

From Deborah Newell-Robinson: Spanish 3 students brought in a wide variety of items for our end of the year Show and Tell/ Final Presentations. Students had to speak for 3 minutes in Spanish and tell us about their object and why it was special to them. !Muy buen trabajo, chicos!

From JP Benoit: First ever Fairbanks squad games concluded after six weeks of various activities involving art, math, trivia and more. Congrats to the Flyers!

Clarkson University offers an Achievement Award for juniors. Selected students will have an academic interest in Business, Engineering, Liberal Arts or Science. They will have demonstrated leadership and have been recognized as a positive contributor to school and the community. In addition, the selected students will have taken rigorous courses. This award is worth $12,000, renewable for up to 4 years, if the student is accepted and chooses to attend Clarkson University.

CVU's nominee for Clarkson University's Achievement Award is Kyle Stewart.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute offers the RPI Medal Award for juniors. This award is for an outstanding student who has excelled in advanced math (taking four years before graduating, including Pre-Calculus or beyond) and science courses (chemistry and physics must be taken prior to graduation) and who has exhibited significant involvement in extracurricular activities. The award is worth $120,000 over four years if the student is accepted and chooses to attend RPI.

CVU's nominee for RPI's Medal Award is Alaina Tyler.

Aidan Aumand is the 2023 recipient of the Vermont Automobile Enthusiasts Golden Wrench Award. Congratulations Aidan!

The CVU Bring Change to Mind Club (BC2M) was honored to participate in a panel discussion in support of May’s Mental Health Awareness Month for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, Vermont Service Center (VSC). BC2M members and Club Advisor, Sarah Francisco traveled to Essex for a special presentation facilitated by VSC Director Laura Zuchowski. Club members discussed how to raise awareness around mental health and fight the mental health stigma. Over 225 employees attended the event, and BC2M members fielded questions from DHS employees regarding teens and mental health. Congratulations to the BC2M panel participants Luke Allen, Poppy Eaton, Kenzie Schnitzlein, Ryan Sleeper and Natalia Stever for sharing your voices and helping to inform our community about the importance of mental health awareness.

From Helen MacAndrews: Our last race was one for the record books! With wind speeds of 15 knots, we managed to survive our last race of the season with no broken bones, no broken oars, and no one ending up in the lake! If it weren’t for a broken thole pin at the very end of the race, we definitely could have clinched 2nd place. Regardless, you all showed grit, perseverance and grace in the face of some of the toughest conditions I have ever seen!

Great job!! You all rock!

From Magali Simon-Martin: Rachel brought delicious meringues to share with our class. It was not for a project, a grade or Rise, just for us! Merci.

Congratulations to Ronald Spivack for passing his Board of Review last week and is now officially an Eagle Scout. Only 4% of scouts attain this rank, which is the highest - great job Ronald!!

Check out Fiona L's adorable baby whale creation made in Greg Conk's Paper Mache RISE!

From Jason Reed, Director at BTC: Congratulations to Chris Robinson, Sasha Miller, Corey Wemple and Jim Cusick on being newly certified EMTs! They passed their written test last week, and passed the practical/clinical last evening. Chloe Kuhn passed the practical last night, and will retake the written at some point in the near future. She's almost there!

Our Admin Assistants make this place run! Thank you!

All of our faculty get a shout out this week for their work to re-launch RISE. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

From Jessica Hoskins: Webinar Link for the webinar Ry Hoffman and I did with Landmark - "Navigating the College Admissions Process for Students who Learn Differently"

We have been nominated as a finalist in the Daysie Awards!

But, it's not over yet...

Please VOTE for ACCESS CVU in the FINAL round and support community education!

CLICK the below links to cast your final vote before June 11th- Thank you!

*BEST PLACE TO TAKE AN ARTS CLASS

*BEST COOKING CLASSES

CVSD's DEI Shared Vision

CVSD is pleased to announce the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Shared Vision at Champlain Valley School District (CVSD).

To create and sustain safe, diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning ecosystems

that meet individual needs, foster belonging, acknowledge histories, and cultivate
and celebrate identities and stories.

Please visit the Shared Vision DEI page for more information, including a glossary of terms.