On the Horizon

Dear Commodore Community,

The news of the budget failure and the news of the reduction in force notices made for a sad end to the week. In the message from our superintendent, it was shared that 33 staff and 3 administrators received notices this afternoon across the district. Some of those educators work regularly with our high school students and will represent a loss to our school that is hard to imagine.

I know that the our staff will need time to process this situation and that they will be in school on Monday ready to be there for all of our students. They will continue to work hard to support students on their academic and social emotional learning progression. I know that our students will show our educators kindness in the face of the uncertainty. As the news is shared and students find out more information they will no doubt feel a range of feelings. Any student that wants to discuss this situation further, please come talk with me. I would be more than willing to discuss the process, what it potential means for our school, and answer any other concerns that you may have. I am making myself available for all high school students during Compass 4 and 5 this week. You will find me in the main office or the front lobby.

We will await next steps from the board and make sure that we are providing the best school experience we can with the resources we have. Thank you for supporting your students through this process and for everything you do for our school. Please see the board meetings for this month below in messages from the district if you want to find out more about the budget.

On Friday April 5th we have two assemblies scheduled into the day. In the morning we have a presentation from VUHS graduate Rob Irion, Class of 1981. He has had a career in science journalism and higher education as a professor and journalism program director at UC Santa Cruz. He will be talking about the Eclipse. That afternoon we will have a special performance by the VYO (Vermont Youth Orchestra). They are in the city for a Friday night Performance at the Vergennes Opera House. They are are doing two afternoon performances, one for the MS/HS and one for the elementary schools. We feel lucky to have these experiences.

Some events that are coming up in the next few weeks are:

• April 3rd: ERD
  
• April 5th: Two Assemblies
• April 8th: ERD for Solar Eclipse
• April 10th and 11th: Panorama Survey
• April 16th: Spring Music Concert at 7pm
• April 22nd through April 26th: April Break

Thank you for all your support!

Jody Chamberlin JChamberlin@anwsd.org

Please see the upcoming April board meetings and the upcoming Community Event around the Portrait of a Graduate work.

The Math Team would like to thank the local businesses who donated to the celebration of our final meet held at VUHS. Their support and generosity for the many Vermont mathletes who compose the Greater Burlington Math League was appreciated by the 14 schools involved. We can not thank these people enough.

• Rocker's Pizzeria prepared 50 delicious cheese & pepperoni pizzas at cost. The time and effort for those to all be ready that afternoon.
• Kinney Drugs supplied gallons of white and chocolate milk and cups.
• Shaws donated paper plates, silverware, napkins and snacks.
• Vermont Discount Store collected & donated cases of bottled water for.

THANK YOU all for your generous support.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Wonderful Walden Crew spent most of the week in New York City. Students got to experience the relationship between built environments and natural environments by visiting natural parks within urban areas, such as Highline, Coney Island, Central Park, Washington Park, Prospect Park, and Madison Square parks, and evaluating their ecology versus Vermont. They also had the opportunity to experience art and culture by visiting Museum of Modern Art and Brooklyn Museum of Art.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A letter for the students and families of the Class of 2024

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A letter for all families and students about the Panorama survey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

School Counseling Office Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, April 2nd, ASVAB Testing 12-3pm

• Tuesday, April 9th, SGT Pelno, US Army & Reserves - in cafeteria blocks 4&5

• Tuesday, April 9th, 3:15pm Local Scholarship Deadline for Seniors

Class of 2024 Local Scholarships - Deadline April 9th 3:15pm

The 2024 Local Scholarships are now available for application. If you haven’t received your book, please stop by the School Counseling Office and pick it up. There are 30 opportunities available for cash awards and/or scholarships. One cash award is available for any VUHS senior – students do not need to be pursuing further education to apply for these cash awards. Students who will be attending technical/trade schools - there are multiple scholarships available for application - scholarships are not just for students pursuing the traditional college route. Applications, a PDF version of the scholarship booklet and instruction sheet are available - click here to access the School Counseling Website and choose VUHS Local Scholarships. Deadline for all these applications is on or before 3:15 pm, Tuesday, April 9th. If there are any questions, please check in with your school counselor (Ms. Edelman or Ms. Oliveira) or Mrs. Vincent.

Free MedQuest Health Careers Expo for Students

Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center (AHEC) in partnership with Come Alive Outside, is hosting a MedQuest Health Careers Expo on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, 3-7pm, at the Rutland Recreation & Community Center, 134 Community Drive, Rutland. Admission is FREE and the event is designed specifically for 14–21-year-olds, but all are welcome! There will be an array of health career-related activities and amazing demonstrations with over 20 different health career pathways represented. There will be music, giveaways, a Nerf battle, and even food trucks.

Drive for Excellence - Juniors & Seniors - A Chance to Win a New Car or a $1,000 Scholarship

Qualifying students (current Juniors and Seniors who are at least 16 years on or before 7/20/24) have the chance to win a new car or one of three $1,000 scholarships. Important information and instructions regarding this opportunity can be found here.

Job Opportunities For Students

Job opportunities for students are posted on the School Counseling Resources Webpage as well as in Job Opportunities for Students 23-24 document. As opportunities arise, they will be added to this document throughout the year. If you are looking for a job, check one of these two places often. Job opportunities are also posted on the wall right outside the School Counseling Office. Summer job opportunities are starting to come in including one from Goodies Snack Bar for this summer.

Summer Programs 2024

A list of summer program information that we have received in the School Counseling Office can be found here. And also on the School Counseling Resources Webpage. While we are not endorsing or recommending any one program, we wanted to make this information available to students and families. Each opportunity is a link to further information online from the sponsoring organization. Parents and/or students are also welcome to visit the School Counseling Office at any time to look at the information we have on file regarding summer programs. Please contact your school counselor if you have any questions.

Boosters - If you're looking for an easy way to raise money for your child's team or club, the Booster Club has a great opportunity for you! If you have any questions, please contact Kirsten De La Cruz (klh@gmavt.net).

CPTG - Commodore Parent Teacher Group Sign up. Let's work together to ensure that our children have access to a stimulating and nurturing educational environment. Your partnership with VUHS Commodore Parent Teacher Group will help shape the minds of future leaders, innovators, and lifelong learners.

Friends of Music - Consider joining the Commodore Friends of Music for our children, our music educators and our community. Meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:30pm via the Zoom link. For more information please visit our website https://sites.google.com/view/commodore-friends-of-music/home

Lunch Menu

The motto in this kitchen is “to make this the best restaurant in town!”

Over a two-week timespan, our chefs are conducting on-the-ground staff training across 8 schools in Vermont. Among the schools this week, they had the pleasure of working with the amazing foodservice team at Vergennes Union High School in Addison Northwest School District. They focused on skills like practicing knife work, measuring by weight, handling raw protein, and baking from scratch. Our chefs also helped the team launch several new menu items, including this composed rice bowl, featuring ginger and scallion turkey meatballs, garlic aioli, broccoli, and pickled veggies, which sold an extra 20 portions over what the team had anticipated!

We love the kitchen’s motto because, just like in restaurant kitchens, diner preference matters in schools. If anything, the stakes are even higher in the latter where kids don’t have the luxury of choosing a different place to eat if they don’t like the menu and many depend on the meals served there. It’s amazing to work with partners who take this responsibility incredibly seriously and always keep student preference front of mind!

~~~ Brigaid

Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss your child's illness. Jaime Wells at jwells@anwsd.org or 471-2298

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have put together a new Community Health and Wellness site that can be accessed from the ANWSD website. The site is updated as new info becomes available.

Please be sure that you register for spring sports if you have not already. Here is a direct link to the registration site.

Session IV Registration

Please see all of our fun opportunities for our next session.

Check out the new and updated (February) PAHCC Newsletter!

Title Programs ~ Parent & Family Engagement Information

JumpRope User Guide

JumpRope Parent Portal Walk Through

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are excited to announce the formation of the Vermont Tobacco Control Youth Leadership Council!

This is a new youth leadership opportunity designed to bring youth and youth voice to the forefront of tobacco prevention efforts in Vermont. The 12 Members selected to serve on this committee, will meet monthly to make important decisions on youth engagement strategies, areas of focus and statewide activities for the Our Voices Xposed (OVX) and Vermont Kids Against Tobacco (VKAT) youth initiative programs. Council members will also work alongside Vermont Department of Health staff to envision and run the Youth Leadership Summit and Annual Statehouse Rally.

We are also happy to announce that each council member will receive a stipend of up to $1,400 to compensate them for their time, energy and participation in the Vermont Tobacco Control Youth Leadership Council activities. The application and detailed information for youth and their guardians is attached to this e-mail. Please share widely.

This opportunity is open to any Vermont youth entering grades 6-12 in the fall, who is interested in public health and wellness, youth leadership and using their voice to create positive change in their schools and communities.

The application period is open now through May 1st, 2024.

Please reach out to me directly if you have any questions about the application process or the Vermont Tobacco Control Youth Leadership Council.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check out all of the different workshops available at Teen Makery!

There is transportation available if needed. Please reach out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you have a community event, a student opportunity, or any other information that you would like featured in the newsletter please email Jody Chamberlin (JChamberlin@anwsd.org). We need the information and images by Thursday afternoons at 3pm so it can be in the Friday Newsletter.

Email: JChamberlin@anwsd.org
Website: https://vumhs.org/
Location: 50 Monkton Road, Vergennes, VT, USA
Phone: (802) 877-2938