CVU Celebrations

Dear CVU Community,

I love seeing our community come together to support one another — and that spirit was on full display last night at CVU’s second annual Empty Bowls Dinner. A bright spot in a challenging week. Organized by senior Teryn Hytten, with the guidance of CVU art teacher Emily Mitchell and ACCESS coordinator Laura Howard, the event brought together over 300 community members for a simple meal with a powerful purpose.

All proceeds from the evening will benefit the Hinesburg Community Resource Center — and thanks to the generosity of local businesses and individuals, everything for the event was donated: soup, bread, ice cream, and silent auction items. A huge thank you to sponsors like Lantman’s, Papa Nick’s, Sisters of Anarchy Ice Cream, Red Wagon Plants, and so many others. Because of their kindness, every dollar raised will go directly back into our community to, in the words of HCRC, extend a helping hand.

Events like this remind me how bright our future is in the hands of young leaders like Teryn and the many CVU students who showed up to serve their neighbors — and maybe enjoy a little ice cream along the way.

Check out the WPTZ coverage here.

4/21-4/25 - Spring Break, No School

5/5 - Rising Juniors - Junior Parking Lottery opens

5/9 - Senior Exit Experiences, Grades 9-11 No classes

5/5-5/16 - AP Exams

5/17 - Prom

From Michelle Snow: Unified basketball game in Middlebury last Friday. Ella V. with the first two points of the game. We are off to a great season!!! Coach Sharon and Coach Steve are rocking it as the coaches. GO CVU!!!

From Emily Mitchell: Some Painting 2 Landscape Paintings - on display in the Art wing!

Congratulations to Isabella Rottler who was awarded the Maida Townsend VT-NEA Scholarship. Isabella is pictured her with her parents and VT-NEA President Don Tinney on the left.

From George Schock: This past Saturday, CVU competed in the Vermont State Mock Trial Competition held at Vermont Law School. The team was made up of 3 attorneys and 3 witnesses, played by CVU students. This competition combines a wide range of public speaking/critical thinking skills into a fast paced, and often stressful, courtroom environment led by sitting Federal and VT State judges.

This year’s case focused on the murder of Jude Smith aboard the shrimping boat, The Jodocus. Two business partners with unsettled disputes, and growing animosity, found themselves in a life threatening situation when a last minute fishing excursion was interrupted by a storm. Our team acted as the defense for the character Sam Cunningham, a fisherman trapped by circumstantial evidence, who went down with the ship only to survive to tell his story.

• Ava Nnochiri - (Attorney / 10th grade) led the team with a well crafted opening statement and direct examination of our primary witness - Sam Cunningham.. She also tackled a nuanced cross examination questions of the prosecution’s key witness - A police chief *slash* Medical examiner who overstepped his knowledge and abilities trying to charge his first homicide case.

• Lily Sivo - (Attorney / 9th grade) wore many hats, leading both a direct and cross examination of witnesses. One being our expert witness, Dr. Ruth, a medical examiner who first saw Sam after the incident. She also cross examined “Salty,” a long time friend of the families and witness to the abuse heaped on by Jude during Sam’s childhood.

• Sofiia Hordenko (Attorney / 12th grade) tackled a challenging cross of Al Clark, a witness who thought they heard the mayday call and assured the jury there were enough life jackets. She led a rousing closing statement that reiterated how the prosecution left room for reasonable doubt.

• Kai Maxwell (Witness / 9th grade) played our expert witness. He conveyed the role of a confident, knowledgeable, and well poised medical examiner, standing his ground with strategic responses when questioned by the opposing party.

• Gabe Dartt (Witness / 11th grade) played the likeable deckhand who witnessed key interactions between Sam and Jude. Gabe did an amazing job acting the part and withstanding a challenging cross!

• Nolan Anand (Witness / 9th grade) played Sam, our witness charged with Murder. Nolan played the role perfectly, and even got a notoriously stone faced federal judge to crack a smile during the competition.

This competition is an incredible challenge and requires the ability to manage intense stress while thinking on your feet. I’m incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished due to their dedication and hard work.

From Lizz Lach: Lilly, Maya, Ashley, El, Dash, Paula, Holly and Gavin braved the snow to embrace the Vermont tradition of Free Cone day in Burlington!

From Carly Brown: Zoology students practice their "earthworm grunting" technique to investigate where there might be the most earthworms around the CVU grounds.

RoboHawks II Brings Home Award from FIRST NE Premier,

RoboHawks I Preparing for World’s

On Friday and Saturday last week, the RoboHawks II Varsity White Team (22683) travelled to Springfield, MA to compete in the first ever FIRST New England Premier with 55 of the top teams from New England and abroad, including international teams from Canada and one all the way from Kazakhstan. 22683 qualified for this after competing in the VT State Championship back in February. Despite several challenges, 22683 brought home the 2nd place Innovate award from the DCMP after competing in 12 matches and presenting to 5 judges.

The RoboHawks I Varsity Red Team (5741) is gearing up for the FIRST World Championship in Houston, TX next week after qualifying at the aforementioned VT State Championship. This will be the fourth year in a row that 5741 have qualified for Worlds.

From Lianna Reed: French 2 students (from Duff, Kasti and Reed's classes) spent last Friday, April 4 in Montréal. Students visited Marché Atwater where they refined their French language skills and ordered food for lunch, then we visited the Biodome to visit North American habitats. Finally, we ended the day in Vieux Port, where students wandered Rue Saint Paul and dined on Montréal's finest. A great day was had by all! Special thank you to our chaperones, Genevieve Smith, Rae Bronkenant, and Clarie Thibeault!

From Leanne Morton: On April 2nd, a group of Latin students traveled to UVM for the 47th annual Latin Day. This year's theme centered on Ovid's Metamorphosis and the change from human form to plant form. Students prepared a skit on Pan and Syrinx, created various projects, competed in costume contests, recitations, learned about Roman Army formations, toured the Fleming Museum, visited Special Collections and competed in quiz bowl contests. The day ended in a Promposal? Well, what can we say - the students are all looking forward to their next big event at CVU!

Pictured are Magistra Morton with Karmen Wilbur who won top prize for her recitation and had her homemade stola and palla; Maya DeLuca with her winning drawing of Rome's Colisseum; seniors Kieran Burke, Alize Flore and Rose Destito who battled other high schools in the Roman Army break out session.

Great thanks to all the students who made the day memorable!

From Tyler Alexander: Here's a photo of AP Government & Politics students participating in an interest group speed dating activity.

From Juanita Galloway: This week in Cooking & Eating Well classes, students rolled up their sleeves and dove into the art of pasta-making! From mixing dough to hand-cranking fresh noodles, they created their own pasta from scratch. We topped it all off with a creamy, dreamy homemade Cacio e Pepe (cheese & pepper) sauce—simple, classic, and packed with flavor.

From Jessica Lemieux: Members of the SEEDS club celebrated their individual successes for the year during their annual luncheon at American Flatbread.

Unified Basketball Coach Steve Reinemann with his assistant Charlie Rose!

Screenagers: A Community Screening & Discussion

If you haven't been able to join us, Connecting Youth and their Student Assistant Professionals present another screening & discussion of Screenagers: Growing Up In The Digital Age. In a virtual showing on April 17th, Screenagers will explore the challenges kids, parents, and educators face with screen time, from smartwatches in the classroom to social media pressures to unhooking from and monitoring video gaming. Authors, psychologists, and brain scientists offer actionable solutions for empowering kids and caregivers to navigate the digital world and find balance at home, school, and in their world.

• Screening 7:00p
• Discussion 7:55p-8:30p

After the screening, join us for a community discussion to share experiences, explore practical solutions, and connect on ways to support healthy screen use for kids and families. Don’t miss this meaningful conversation!

Register HERE, and we’ll send you an event invite and viewing information