CVU Celebrations
December 6, 2024
Dear CVU Community,
This week in Celebrations, you’ll see the many ways our students are actively supporting the community. From the Turkey Trot over break to the ongoing New American Outreach clothing drive, the Together We Rise product drive, and Environmental Action’s film festival supporting Migrant Justice, CVU students consistently demonstrate their dedication to raising awareness and providing practical support. These initiatives reflect the energy, compassion, and generosity of our young adults, who inspire us with their good hearts and commitment to making a difference.
Upcoming Dates
12/12 - CVU Concert, 7:00 Theatre
12/19 - Nexhibition Night, 5:30 Library
12/23-1/1 - Early Winter Break, no school
Student Council
CVU's Student Council kicked off the Thanksgiving break with the third annual Turkey Trot raising money for the Council, Hinesburg Rec, and the CVU event scholarship fund. They also collected boxes of food for the Hinesburg Food Shelf. Thanks to all who came out. There were over 100 trotters this year.
Student Council students writing Turkey Trot thank you notes to our supportive community partners.
Happy Friday, CVU! This is Ariel. Thanks to everyone who participated in the Turkey Trot 5K on the Saturday before break. We had the biggest turnout yet, and everyone had lots of fun! This week, Student Council split into groups to continue working on upcoming events, including the Winter Talent Show, an Anti-Bullying Campaign, and a Turkey Trot reflection crew. The Winter Talent Show will be on Thursday, January 16th at 7:00 pm in the theater. All students and faculty are invited to participate and show off any variety of talent, including singing, instrumental performance, stand-up comedy, dance, or almost anything (school-appropriate) that your heart desires! You could perform in a group or do a solo act. The link to sign up can be found here: Talent Show Sign Up. Don’t hesitate to participate, we want to have as many different acts as we can! Plus, some of your favorite CVU teachers will be judging… Have a great weekend, hawks!
Student Celebrations
Please watch Thanksgiving week's NEW episode of The CVU Show! This special, longer edition for Thanksgiving is packed with interesting segments and the regular CVU news and sports report. Please watch and share!
Thank you for watching and supporting the hard work of the production team.
From Amy Wardwell: Snelling Core students participate in the annual Hand Turkey Drawing contest during their Harvest Fest celebration!
From Naomi Williams: The New American Outreach Club has been busy! We had fun joining with members of our Multilingual Program for an afternoon of bowling and games at Spare Time. Then, later in the week, hosted a fall meal for over 40 people who recently arrived from Burundi, Tanzania and the Congo. We are enjoying making so many new connections!
CVU grad and Harvard class of 2025, Lena Ashooh, has been selected as a Rhodes Scholar. She will pursue postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford in Philosophy considering the question "What does it mean to respect an animal as an individual?" Congratulations to Lena, CVU Class of 2021! Check out the article.
Hello CVU Community! We are Together We Rise, a women empowerment club! We have organized a feminine product from December 6th to January 10th. We would love it if you could contribute period products such as pads, tampons, and menstrual cups to donate to those in need! Please bring all products to the boxes in the house offices or the front office! Any and all donations are highly appreciated!
From Lizzy Fox Lausier: The Friday before Thanksgiving break, members of CVU's Poetry Club and past Poetry Out Loud participants attended Sundog Poetry's Youth Poetry Summit. The annual event brings together professional and high school poets from across the state for a full day of writing workshops and creative collaboration. CVU's group included: Ace Caldwell, Mira Novak, Malashie Tonoki, Abigail Usher, and Karmen Wilbur. They were the first five to share during the open mic at the end of the day--such a great representation of CVU's talented writers & performers!
From Lena Kirillova: The CVU GSA students worked hard this week to spread empathy and awareness for folks who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, in celebration of World AIDS Day on December 1st. Students learned about the importance of destigmatizing the diagnosis, and put their ideas into practice by creating a collaborative art piece. They made red paper ribbons filled with positive affirmations and messages of hope and support (the red ribbon symbolizes solidarity with people who are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS).
From Peter Langella: On Wednesday afternoon, about 40 students participated in a student version of the Vermont Agency of Education's Listen & Learn Tour to help shape the future of education in our state. Special shoutout to 10th graders Olivia Cieri and Ethan St. Amour for being part of the UP for Learning facilitator group.
Outstanding Business Students
From Tamie-Jo Dickinson:
The CVU Principles of Business classes have established an "Employee Recognition Program" to celebrate outstanding achievement. Students collaboratively designed the criteria, outlined the selection process, and determined the award. Here are December's standout students, chosen based on the class-defined criteria:
W1 Winner - Lander Magoon
- Student keeps distractions to a minimum (doesn’t get up during discussions, no side conversations, doesn’t play computer games, listens to those speaking, no phone use);
- Student is prepared for class (is to class on time, has a charged Chromebook, gets breakfast before 9);
- Student actively participates (raises hand, answers questions and asks questions, uses work time appropriately, engages in group work, makes eye contact with speaker, takes on leadership roles);
- Completes work on time and with high quality; and
- Helps peers and has a positive impact on the class environment. Nice to people, flexible, understanding, pushes in chair and cleans up mess, collaborates.
W2 Winner - Braedon Minehart
- Student raises their hand and participates in class discussion. They are willing to share ideas;
- Student helps keep group on task;
- Student arrives on time and doesn’t leave class excessively or during inappropriate times;
- Student respects ideas shared by others and is kind to classmates in and out of class;
- Student is not distracted by phones or other technology during class. Student does not distract classmates with things like side conversations or being off task;
- Student has all necessary materials, like a charged Chromebook; and
- Student takes class notes and is willing to share with classmates who miss class.
Lander Magoon
Brandon Minehart
From Jill Kiedaisch: ASAAP Hosts The Safety Team for Self-Defense Training
Our training with The Safety Team on November 21 was a huge success! Ten CVU students worked with four trainers to learn the fundamentals of personal self-defense. After 2 ½ hours of instruction, practice, and role playing, Team ASAAP came away with life-saving skills and countless strategies for navigating difficult and dangerous situations. Most impressive, however, was the confidence, awareness, readiness, and sheer strength of the students who participated. If you’d like to learn more about this training, future workshops, or other ways to get involved, stop by room 105 on Tuesdays during C3 or ask anyone you see in the halls wearing a teal blue bandanna on their backpack.
From Katie Antos-Ketcham: I would like to thank the EnAct leaders for all their work to organize the 2nd annual Patagonia Film Festival, especially Kate Sayre and Lilly Palmer for all their work making the raffle happen. We had a great turnout last night to support Migrant Justice, an organization that advocates for migrant farmworkers, many of whom have been displaced from their homes as a result of climate change. Thank you also to Shrubbly, Palmer's Sugarhouse, Skida, Darn Tough, and Ben & Jerry's for supporting our event.
From Nick Canaday: Snelling Humanities students heard from Amnesty International student leaders today about the Write for Rights campaign. Maddie Morris and Maya Girard presented several global case studies and inspired 9th grade students to write letters in protest of authoritarian practices and oppression in other countries.
Williston FLL:
With continued coaching and mentoring from James Haines, Clay Nicholson, Gavin Blackburn, and Lydia Eshete, the past few meetings with Williston FLLs team (The Wired Cats) have been very productive with students becoming fully immersed in their innovation project, dedicating time to come up with a creative solution to help clean up oil spills in Lake Champlain. Eric, a local representative from the Lake Champlain Basin Program, came to talk to the students about pollution in the lake, and what the students could do to help. Students worked with this new information to finalize their project solution.
RoboHawks Invade Montpelier High School 11/16
The RoboHawks participated in a robotics scrimmage in Montpelier to test the performance of their robot prototype and see what other teams from across Vermont have been working on. It was a great opportunity to evaluate the robot's functionality and troubleshoot any issues as well as gaining some insights into innovations from other teams.
Check out the RoboHawk website for more information about our team and club activities.
Faculty/Staff Celebrations
Community Celebrations/Notes
The CVU campus was full of energy, 150 vendors, and over 3000 shoppers last weekend at the Winter CVU Craft Fair, hosted by organizers Carol Fox and Access CVU, the districts non-profit adult educational program.
This year, together with many CVU student volunteers, students were given the opportunity to showcase their Clubs, and fundraise to support their respective missions. One of these clubs, Backcountry Sports Safety ran a bake sale, and raised $650 to support their mission of outdoor safety education and avalanche training. Shout out on WCAX.
From organizer and CVU Senior, Pat Frazier: “CVU Students, you do not want to miss this...
We, at Backcountry Sports Safety, are kicking off our largest fundraiser of the year. Starting today, we will open the linked submission form to purchase tickets for our holiday season raffle. Tickets are as cheap as $5, and will leave two winners each with over $1000 of equipment and goods. Check out the form, scan a QR code in the hallway, or come talk to us in the Cafeteria. Take a chance, and maybe you'll do the best holiday shopping your family has ever seen. Thanks for the support!” Pat, Annika, Luke, Eli, Jacob, and Afton
❄️ ⛄ NAOC Winter Clothing Drive is Still On! ❄️⛄
The New American Outreach Club is continuing to collect winter clothing for local New American families. We are specifically looking for all sizes of winter coats, snow pants, fleece, sweaters/sweatshirts, winter boots, hats, and mittens/gloves. Collection boxes are in each of the house offices and the main office. Thank you for your support!If you are interested in learning more about the technical programs at Burlington Technical Center (BTC) and Center for Technology - Essex (CTE), please note the following dates below:
- BTC and CTE will have an informational table set up at CVU during all lunches on Friday, December 13th
- Please sign up for C3 to get more specific information
- BTC - Tuesday, 12/17 in the Auditorium
- CTE - Wednesday, 12/18 in the Auditorium
- Pre-Tech presentations in the Cores on Wednesday, 1/29 and Friday, 1/31
- CTE program visits on Tuesday, 1/21 and Tuesday, 2/4
- BTC program visits on Thursday, January 23rd
Questions? Please contact Susie Moakley at smoakley@cvsdvt.org or 802-482-7128.
News from Around the District
A forthcoming administrative restructuring is set to take place on January 1 at Shelburne Community School and Charlotte Central School. Made with great collaboration, thought and excitement, this transition moves our system in a dynamic direction that addresses current needs and demonstrates the flexibility and creativity that CVSD seeks to achieve in the coming years. While this restructuring most likely doesn’t impact you, we wish to make you aware of what’s happening elsewhere in the district.
Read more about these changes in a recent letter to staff and faculty from Interim Superintendent Adam Bunting.
-----------------------------------
Celebrate the Arts + Community Night
Save the Date: January 9, 2025, 5-8 p.m. at CVU
Join students from across the Champlain Valley School District for an evening of entertainment and celebration, showcasing performing and visual arts from the district’s six schools. After a six-year break, this annual tradition returns to CVU on Thursday, January 9, 2025, transforming the high school halls and theater into a vibrant gallery of learning, innovation and inspiration. The 13th-annual Celebrate the Arts Night brings together art, music, theater, media arts, foods, business, design and technology in a one-night-only exhibition of student creativity.
More details to come.