Dear CVU Community: The weather didn't exactly shout spring when I peeked at the parking lot this afternoon; however, a second glance provided some evidence that we are headed for warmer, sunnier days. Of course, aside from the blooming of early flowers, another sign of spring is the opening of our testing windows. Please be aware of interruptions to our regularly scheduled classes for SAT, iReady, and Cognia assessments (replacing SBAC). Ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade students will attend on two half days on April 12 and 19. Seniors will not have classes on those days with the exception of Exit Experience interviews. Finally, and most importantly on this day that marks the International Transgender Day of Visibility, we remind our transgender and non-binary students and community members that we see and honor you. Please read below for a statement from the Human Rights Campaign.

April 12 - Half day testing - 11 SAT, 10 iReady ELA, 9 Cognia ELA,

April 19 - Half day testing - 11 Cognia Sci, 10 iReady Math, 9 Cognia Math

In Connecting Youth Mentoring at CVU, mentoring pairs can explore careers and make connections to people in our area who can be resources in the future. On March 29th, CY CVU visited Beta Technologies for a tour, facilitated by CVU alumnus Tyler Seeholzer. At the end of the tour, students and mentors had a chance to fly an Alia simulator.

Kayden made food from his grandmother's recipes and was handing it out during lunch on Monday to celebrate Greek Independence Day - looks delicious!

Dylan and Maddy recently went on a service trip with School the World. They traveled to Panama to build schools for kids in extreme rural poverty.

Congratulations to the following students who have excelled academically and will be inducted into the National Technical Honor Society (NTHS) on Wednesday, April 12th at 7 PM in the CTE Auditorium.

Tucker Babineau

Jeremiah Batres

Destiny Danforth

Trevin Keefe

Madison Kittell

Elise Lavigne

Jay Leuschner

Brennan Militello

Makenna Patrick

Cayden Tucker

Zoe Voth

Meadow Waite

The CVU Robotics teams had an opportunity to showcase their work on Wednesday in an interview with WCAX. They crushed it as usual. Here's the link: CVU Robotics in the news

Speaking of Robohawks, they are beginning their last fundraising push before the robotics World Championships in Houston, TX in April.

CVU Art students Miranda Oppenheimer and Ava Perez worked together with CVU art teachers Emily McLean and Emily Mitchell to create a relief tile of Chittenden County to be part of the Mapping Home collaborative clay mural installation at the Vermont Statehouse. This work is a part of the Vermont Voices exhibit at the Statehouse which is connected to the nationwide Youth Art Month celebration.

Environmental Action Club (EnAct) students led a walkout during morning advisory to protest the Willow Project, a ConocoPhillips oil drilling project on Alaska's North Slope. Student leaders with prepared persuasive speeches, calls to action, and an original poem were Anna Dauerman, Estelle Emmons, Abby Niquette, Merrill Jacobs, Julia Cichoskikelly, and Ruby Opton

The EnAct club is celebrating the announcement of our Girl & A Bike project to purchase bikes for girls in Malawi through Creative Solutions for the Environment (CSE). CSE's Director Taona Makunje worked with CVU's EnAct club in 2019 during her fellowship with 350Vermont. Following Cyclone Freddy earlier this month, Taona said, "We are trying to pick up pieces and come to terms with this. The impacts of climate change on our people and land are getting worse every year and we are doing the best we can to be resilient and hopeful."

EnAct wants to celebrate all the students making friendship bracelets and baking to help raise money for Girl & A Bike! Friendship bracelets will be on sale Thursday, April 6th in the cafeteria during lunch. The bake sale will be held during the Girl & A Bike coffee house/open mic night open to CVU students in the library on Thursday, April 6th from 7-8:30 pm. All CVU students, staff and faculty are invited to participate in solidarity walk during C3 advisory on Friday, April 7th. Thank you to Together We Rise, Art & Activism Club, Poetry Club, Social Justice Alliance, and Volunteer Outreach Club for your collaboration.

Please help us surpass our goal of $1,500 -- or 20 bikes. Taona reports that many girls must walk 7-14 miles to (and from school), and bikes make a positive difference in their ability to continue their education. Donations can be made to CVU's fundraiser using GoFundMe. For more information, please contact our EnAct adviser at kantosketcham@cvsdvt.org.

Last Saturday, CVU competed in our first State Mock Trial Competition at Vermont Law School. The event fields teams from all across the state and asks students to plead their case in front of practicing judges and lawyers. As the prosecution, CVU’s attorneys consisted of Kai Jenkins-Mui, Tabitha Bastress, and Ethan Cook. They were supported by our fantastic witnesses, Tristan Melo, Xander Olszewski, and Gabe Little. Our team was extremely competitive, which made for some intense scenes in the courtroom!

Congratulations to Elias Leventhal for claiming a Gold Medal at the Vermont Stem Fair and becoming the Vermont representative to the International Science and Engineering Fair ISEF in Dallas, TX May 13-19. Elias's project is: Investigating the Role of Exitonic Quantum Coherence in the Light-Harvesting Process of Photosynthesis. Elias has been working on this as his Nexus Project. Way to go Elias!!!!

Yesterday the CVU Math League team participated in the final meet of the season, hosted by Mt. Mansfield Union HS. The team placed 2nd out of the 14 teams at the meet (behind South Burlington). Combined with the previous meets, we ended the season as co-champions (with South Burlington), capping off CVU’s best season ever!

Attending the meet (wearing our cool new shirts) were (left to right): Alyssa Hill, Jacob Medici, Jacob Graham, Wylie Ricklefs, Sam Yager, Elias Leventhal, Patterson Frazier, Georgia Knight, Dan Knight, Lily O’Brien, Thomas Garavelli, and Joe Jacobs (not pictured),.

Thanks to Kiran MacCormick for all of his help with the team and congratulations to all of the students who participated in Math League this year! Other team members who competed this season are Anna Dauerman, David Merchant, Veronica Miskavage, Clay Nicholson, Keaton St. Martin, and Julia Shrier.

At the end of the season, individual awards are given to the 1st place finishers in each of the four topics, as well as the top 10 overall finishers. CVU students took home 5 of those 14 awards: senior Keaton St. Martin placed 4th overall in the league, junior Elias Leventhal placed first in Arithmetic and 2nd overall, and sophomore Jacob Graham placed first in Algebra and 3rd overall.

We talk a lot at CVU about taking care of each other. Evan Statton and Alex Provost....thank you for your kindness -- in both words and actions. I felt taken care of today, and I am lucky to know you. Tamie-Jo Dickinson

A shout out to our House Counselors and House Directors who worked this week on CVU's second Data Dive. Here the group is discussing student data in an effort to better know the stories of students in their respective houses and to understand patterns that will help us improve our systems.

What did the ocean say to the beach?

Nothing, it just waved.

Today's humor brought to you on behalf of Leo LaForce--expert in all things nutrition and dad-joke.

Each year on March 31, we honor International Transgender Day of Visibility! We celebrate the joy and resilience of trans and non-binary people everywhere by elevating voices and experiences from these communities.

There are over 1.6 million trans youth (age 13+) and adults across the United States. We are parents and family members. We are your coworkers, your neighbors and your friends. We are a diverse community, representing all racial and ethnic backgrounds as well as all faith traditions.

While we have made significant progress in recent years, with more visibility than ever before, we are still fighting for basic human rights for the community. Today we are experiencing significant political attacks by extremists legislating hate in the states and in Congress. We also face an ongoing epidemic of fatal violence, especially against Black and Brown trans women. Today and every day, we must celebrate all trans and non-binary people everywhere and combat disinformation, discrimination and hate impacting our community." Human Rights Campaign

Here at CVU we are committed to honoring our trans and non-binary students' stories and experiences. All Vermont students deserve the opportunity to participate and thrive free from bias, discrimination, and hate.

The Fletcher Free Library will host the Telling A People’s Story: African-American Children’s Illustrated Literature traveling exhibit April 3-30, in the Main Reading Room of the Main Library. The exhibit will feature 12 panels of 120 reproduced illustrations by African American illustrators and authors of children’s literature. The exhibit highlights cultural, historical, and social components of African American identity while also shedding light on long-neglected African American authors and illustrators. Patrons are encouraged to visit the exhibit during regular library hours and attend the related programs throughout the month. The library will also present two free evening programs with artists featured in the exhibit.

Vermont Caldecott winner Jason Chin will welcome fellow Caldecott winner Ekua Holmes as the keynote speaker at the Opening Reception catered by Country Road Jamaican Cooking, at 6 pm on Tuesday, April 4, in the Main Reading Room of the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington. An artist and arts organizer from Boston, MA, Holmes is the recipient of the Caldecott Honor for her illustrations in Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, the Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. Her program will be Art as Activism.

On Wednesday, April 12, at 6:30 pm, James Ransome will present Stepping into the Studio: A Visit with Illustrator James Ransome. Ransome received the 2023 Children’s Literature Legacy Award from the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. He is also a two-time recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, Illustrator Honor for his illustrations in Uncle Jed’s Barbershop and Before She Was Harriet: The Story of Harriet Tubman.

The Fletcher Free Library is located 235 College Street, Burlington. For more information, visit www.fletcherfree.org.

Partners for Meaningful Inclusion is a forum for CVU parents, students, faculty, staff and administrators to connect and have meaningful conversations around programming and structures at CVU that support inclusive practices. The meetings are designed to be informal and accessible to all families. The meetings are co-facilitated by CVU Principal Adam Bunting and CVU Director of Special Services Jessica Hoskins. Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12 from 4-5 pm at this google meet link.

"Navigating the College Search for Students who Learn Differently" - a webinar hosted by Ferne Borke, Assistant Director of Admissions and Training Coordinator for Landmark College, facilitated by our Director of Guidance, Ry Hoffman, and Director of Special Services, Jessica Hoskins. Tuesday, May 16 from 6-7 PM, at THIS LINK.

This webinar is designed for families, students and professionals who work with neurodivergent students as they navigate the college journey. In this webinar, you will gain the knowledge and tools to effectively assess your needs, evaluate the colleges you explore, and successfully prepare for the transition. Ferne will cover:

The different levels of support available in college
The legal landscape and how to access accommodations
Evaluating the needs of a student vs. what a school offers
The importance of disclosing
Evaluating whether college is the right next step.

There will be time for audience questions!