CVU Celebrations

Dear CVU Community: Debbie Seaton and I really tried to not send out Celebrations this week. I even announced "the final Celebrations of 2023" last week. But...there were too many bright spots. Enjoy the final installment of Celebrations for 2023, and may you all find as much joy as Zoe does in Olaf!

12/25-1/1 - Early Winter Break, no school

1/5 - End of Snapshot Q2 (Semester 1)

1/8-1/12 Wrap Up Week

1/15 - MLK Day, no school

1/16-19 - Add/Drop for Semester 2

Hello CVU community! This is Mira. We had a fabulous spirit week, starting with PJ day and ending today with our 9th annual Silly Sweater Competition! Students really showed up, and their efforts to dress festively during such a busy week shows just how much we all care about our school community. Student Council worked on a few projects including the upcoming 8th Grade Parent and Student Night and this year's legacy project (a project that will go on for the first time this year and become annual). More on that in two weeks. In the meantime, have a fabulous vacation!

From Anthony Spagnolo: The annual Spags Advisory “Gingerbread” construction contest was won this year by Reese K, Lark M, and Luisa S! Some TikTok inspiration and a homemade frosting piping bag did the trick!

The junior class of the Hoskins/MacDonald Advisory (Libby, Lucy, Aiden, and Lily) used teamwork and fierce concentration to emerge as the winners of this year advisory chain making competition!

Members of the CVU Volunteer Outreach Club helped out at the Charlotte Food Shelf packing and distributing holiday boxes over the last week. This semester the club has given over 300 hours of service to various projects and organizations around Chittenden county. If you have a need for volunteers to help with a one time event or if you have a regular community service opportunity, please reach out to Amy Wardwell at awardwell@cvsdvt.org

From Sarah Strack: The Nordic team took advantage of Monday's rain to try out a new sport - the CVU Surf and Swim team! Video link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z54ebGHkOFyZYMfxaXyME7C6J118ue9I/view

From Katie Kuntz: More AP Human Geography classes participated in a speed dating activity where they had to dress up as terms like Capitalism, Nation, European Union, Socialism, Theocracy, Centripetal Forces, Balkanization, Republic etc., and try to find other terms that they were most interested and connected to.

From Jen Marriott: PFIT students had the opportunity to share their knowledge of fitness and lead a buddy through a workout! Thank you to faculty and staff who volunteered! We appreciate you taking the time out of your day to support both the students and YOUR mental and physical wellbeing. A win-win for everyone!

From Nick Canaday: Tomi and Nick’s advisory had a Pancake Loving Party (PLP). Special thanks to our advisees for being awesome planners and to Tomi’s amazing griddle skills!

From Genevieve Smith: French 3 enjoyed using reflexive verbs and passé composé in mini-skits!

From Sarah Francisco: Kayla K. organized a dance party during a free block on Thursday. Everyone said we should do this more often - thanks Kayla!!

Leanne and Charlotte festiving it up!

From Karen Kirkland: Some fun moments during advisory, including our carollers!

From Gary Lambert: It's the last episode of The CVU Show for 2023! In this week's episode, there is an interview with Amy Wardwell about the upcoming Nexhibition, an interview with Adam about the Wrap-Up week in January, and a look at the CVU Fitness Center. Don't miss this last CVU Show of the year!

https://youtu.be/GvHoCx8jARo

Eloise D, Cecilia M and Yvonne M celebrating cookies in the Reed/Morton Advisory!

Nichols Core students worked in groups to create gingerbread houses!

Community Skills Friday Outing Group putting treats together to spread holiday cheer!

Kirkland's math students never quit! 3:16pm on the day of break and going strong!

Superintendent Sanchez and I got a tour of metals this week. Thank you!

Happy Birthday Arthur!!

True Friends of CVU!

From Heidi Beaudry: Thank you CVU!! Because of your help I was successfully able to fill 20 Winter Comfort Bags and will be dropping them off to Spectrum this evening!

Redhawk love from the Main Office!

From TJ Mead: A group of CVU Core Teachers got together Thursday evening for a Trivia Competition. We took 1st place! Thanks Anthony for organizing and motivating us to have a fun evening testing our collective knowledge!

Colleen makes sure that Bring a Mug day has the proper amount of cocoa.

Kevin brought the spirit this week!

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 Tuesday 1/9/2024 from 4-5 pm at this google meet link.

From the Direction Center~

Add/Drop for the second semester will begin with the release of a Google Form (sent to students via email) on Monday, January 8th. Students may fill out the form to request changes until the end of the day on Thursday, January 11th. Counselors will communicate with students over email to follow up about their scheduling requests.

In addition, our in-person Add/Drop period will take place from Tuesday, January 16th until Friday, January 19th. No appointments are necessary during the Add/Drop period; students may come to the Direction Center before school, during a free block or lunch, or at the end of the day, between 8:30-3:30 pm. Add/Drop will not take place during advisory or C3 times.

All requests for schedule changes need to come from the Google Survey or during the in-person Add/Drop period.

Parents and students are invited to our Virtual College Panel Night for Juniors on Wednesday January 10th from 6:00-7:00pm. College admissions representatives from a variety of colleges including UVM, Middlebury, St. Lawrence, Champlain, Vermont State University and Saint Michaels will provide a panel discussion. We will offer a question and answer session about the college application process, campus life and more. Hope you can join!

Here is the YouTube link for our presentation (1/10 @6pm):

https://youtube.com/live/eQot_pVMtDM?feature=share

Join us for a free Financial Aid Forms workshop. At this informal, small-group workshop, VSAC will assist seniors and their parents as they file the FAFSA and Vermont state grant application.

Very important! This year, students and at least one parent, need to sign up for an FSA ID in advance of forms night – in the past, people could apply for an FSA ID the day/night of the workshop and still file a FAFSA. This year, the FSA ID has to be applied for and verified by both the social security administration and homeland security before being able to be used, which takes at least 3-5 business days. Yes, our handout says 5-7, largely because we are uncertain – with so many people needing to sign up in a condensed amount of time, we are uncertain if the heavy use will cause delays.

What this means is that people really cannot sign up for Forms Night and expect to get the FAFSA done if they sign up the day of or day before the event. At that point, if they believe they still need help, they will need to schedule help through our VSAC Resource Center in Winooski – they will be offering in-person and virtual meetings after the start of the new year.

VSAC forms night is Wednesday January 24th from 5:30-6:30pm in room 152. Please click on the link to sign up or more information. Space is limited.