Mid Winter Newsletter
Quarter III - Spaulding High School
Supporting Music in Schools: BTEMS, BCEMS, and SHS Students
Poetry Out Loud Participants
Future Flyin' Ryans with the New Memorial Bench
Greetings from Administration
The information below is intended to help you understand the work we are doing in Barre related to Vermont’s Act 46 and merging school districts.
Please note: WE ARE NOT CONSIDERING MERGING OR CHANGING SCHOOL CONFIGURATIONS AT THIS TIME; WE ARE SIMPLY LOOKING AT TURNING OUR THREE DISTRICTS INTO A SINGLE DISTRICT WITH ONE BOARD, BUDGET, AND SET OF POLICIES.
In August, the school boards of Barre City and Barre Town approved formation of an Act 46 Study Committee with 10 members, 5 each from Barre City and Barre Town. The 5 members from each community include preK-8 board members, Spaulding board members, and community members. This committee met several times between September and January, held one public forum, and produced an Exploratory Study Report, which is attached. The purpose of this Exploratory Study was threefold:
(1) Identify opportunities and challenges of merging districts;
(2) Identify essential questions to be answered in making a decision to merge; and
(3) Decide whether to recommend continuation into a more in-depth “Merger Study” per Vermont Statute 16 VSA Section 706.
The report lists the opportunities, challenges, and essential questions identified, as well as the committee’s recommendation to continue with a Merger Study. That study has begun. It will determine whether it is advisable (or not) to bring a yes/no vote to our two communities on whether to merge into a single district. If it is advisable, the Articles of Agreement will be drafted defining details of the new district, so the voters know what they are voting about.
In the end, the decision to merge or not needs to be a decision of the community, not a decision of the superintendent, the school boards, the staff, or the study committee. Keeping the community informed will help them make a well-informed decision.
For more details and meeting times, please click on this link:
BSU Act 46
Student and Parent Resources
Course Recommendations
Tide Pride - School Bulletin
SPOTLIGHT - BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
A Midnight Mountain Experience with Georgie Stapleton
The Transitional Lunch Bunch
The 2015 Fall Transition Group
Supporting Our Students & Creating a Caring Community
We continue to offer a variety of support services, especially in terms of transitioning incoming students to the school as Freshmen by working collaboratively with Midnight Mountain every year.
The goal of Midnight Mountain Transition Program is to build healthier skills for 8th graders transitioning to 9th grade at Spaulding High School. Participating students are challenged to think outside of their usual “comfort zone” by handling horses, juggling, theatre games and group challenges, such as low ropes and obstacle courses. All of the activities are aimed at building self-esteem and relationships as echoed by one participant, Autumn Wheeler, who initially signed up to get out of school for three days... She giggles when sharing this tidbit with Georgeanna, PJ, and Mrs. Portelance and notes how meaningful those three days were for her, especially as her Freshman year neared.
Goals of the program are to assist students in learning self-control, body awareness and age appropriate decision-making skills, while facilitating group cohesiveness between Barre City and Barre Town students. According to Shyanne Chase, "If I didn't enroll in this program, I probably wouldn't be open to other things... my relationship with others has changed and I now have more of an open mind than I did before." Shyanne attributes this to PJ, Mrs. Portelance, and Georgeanna Stapleton from Midnight Mountain who have been working collaboratively for at least seven years. Under their guidance, over 150 students have experienced what it means to be a part of a community and overcoming barriers, such as meeting new people and not allowing this mentality of us vs. you in regards to students entering Spaulding from Barre City and Barre Town.
Hollis Ostrout reiterates the same feeling, "... who cares? it's just a nice way to meet new people" and have a familiar face when entering the building which is echoed by all three students whether it be a peer, teacher, PJ, or Mrs. Portelance. "We have made several connections with people and even though, I am graduating this year, this program has been a positive influence on me and enabled me to connect with others that I normally would not have had the skills to do on my own," as noted by Shyanne.
If you would like to know more about the program, please feel free to contact Mrs. Peggy Portelance, Educational Success Counselor & Co Coordinator of the MM Transition Program at pportshs@u61.net.
Cast & Crew of the Spring Drama Production
SAVE THE DATE - The Wedding Singer
Tickets are on sale for $10/adults, $7/students & Seniors, and $5/children. For further information, you may contact Mrs. Brennan at SBrenshs@u61.net.
Thursday, Apr 7, 2016, 07:30 PM
155 Ayers Street, Barre, VT, United States
SPOTLIGHT - FAB FROSH
Life in the Fast Lane
If the wildly popular “Fast and Furious” movies ever produced a teenage version, freshman Taylor Coburn might be sorely tempted to place her career plans in either sports management or medicine into the back seat.
She’s a natural for a starring role.
One quick look by a casting director at Taylor’s fast and furious resume and she’d be invited to Hollywood.
Item: Go-Kart racing since age five.
Item: Truck racing in New Hampshire for the past several years.
Item: Playing for the past eight years what is often called “the fastest sport in the world” - ice hockey. (And now lacrosse in the spring!)
When asked to characterize herself in one word, the modest, almost shy teenager thought about it and eventually smiled and said, “Fierce, I guess.”
Her fierceness was noticed.
After coming up through the various Barre youth hockey programs, Taylor was invited two years ago to play for the elite Hanover Wild team, comparable to Vermont Stars.
“I didn’t want to leave my Barre friends,” she said, “but this was an offer that doesn’t come around every day.”
This past hockey season, now that Taylor is at Spaulding, was split, she said. “First it was Spaulding,” she said, “then Wild.”
Taylor, a straight A student, has another one word answer to a question about the common denominator skills needed in her various “fast and furious’ racing activities and team sports: “focus.”
“It’s really all about focus,” she elaborated. “There are multiple threats coming at you at top speed, you really need to be focused.” - Jim Higgins
What's in Your Playbook?
Parker became involved in this organization during 7th Grade at BCEMS and soon discovered the program was good because it taught people how to lead a healthy life, but more importantly he realized what a positive impact he could have upon others, especially within in his own state. He participated in a national summit in Chicago during the Summer of 2015 and since then has acted as an ambassador by visiting schools in Vermont. Under the guidance of Mrs. Poitras and other FUTP representatives, Parker has been able to travel and meet others who are doing the same good work.
Recently Parker spent a morning at the Morristown Elementary School where he engaged in conversation with Duron Harmon who plays safety for the New England Patriots and a local dairy farmer, Les Pike. Their goal was to kick off Fueling Greatness with Vermont’s Breakfast After the Bell Challenge and help 'schools make sustainable, healthy changes and meet wellness goals' as stated by the organization. According to Parker, this has been a great opportunity for me because I get to meet new people with the same philosophy and make a difference in their lives.
Writing and More Writing
Imagine this, if you can. It’s your first year in high school and you have just finished writing a 50,000-word novel. That’s precisely what freshman Lilly Riddle accomplished during the month of November as a participant in the National Novel Writing Month challenge.
What do 50,000 words look like? It’s about 175 pages, or the length of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
“My novel,” she said, “is a story about family and that family is dealing with hardship of the supernatural accord.”
Four characters dominate the action of An Impossible Occurrence (working title): a ten-year-old boy who discovers his destiny by helping his sister remove a curse, but who became cursed in the process; his sister who wants nothing more than life to be normal; a woman warrior in search of a friend, but who ends up helping the family; and a nemesis who pretends to help the family.
"It could need a lot of editing before it’s even self publishable,” Lilly acknowledges, “because I focused on story building rather than plotting.”
Regardless of what becomes of this first effort, Lilly already has her eye on the big picture. “I plan to keep writing through high school and college, maybe get some stuff published along the way.” Ultimately, she says, “I plan on becoming a novelist.”
In the meantime, Lilly is doing what all aspiring writers must do: She reads -- lots. “I read about three hours every day,” she says, “lately it’s been fantasy, humor, sci-fi, and supernatural.”
Read anything by Stephen King? “Nothing,” she said, “I really don’t like horror.” -Jim Higgins
HEALTH TIPS FROM OUR SCHOOL NURSES
Start Your Day Off with a Nutritious Meal
Since 2010, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act recommends students eat fruits and vegetables every day, consume more whole grain rich foods, drink low fat or fat free milk, limit the number of calories, and reduce the amounts of trans fats and sugars in our diet. They know this may be a challenge for some of us, but their goal is for us to live a long and healthy life.
Both nurses urge everyone to eat a nutritious breakfast and they hope your daily meals include a colorful palate of fruits and vegetables. If you can't eat breakfast at home due to time, then start your day off in the cafeteria because under the direction of Mr. Locarno and his staff at Fitz Vogt, our school's meals provider, they are continuously preparing nutritious and delicious meals for us to eat, which is important to one's learning. Mrs. Noyes also notes if your family's income fluctuates throughout the year, she encourages families to apply for the National School Lunch Program at Spaulding High School enabling our students to eat a 'nutritionally balanced free meal.' You can contact Mrs. Noyes at LNoyeshs@u61.net for further information or go directly to this link that provides you information on the program:
http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/applying-free-and-reduced-price-school-meals
SAVE THE DATE - SBAC Testing
Monday, Apr 11, 2016, 08:30 AM
Spaulding High School, Ayers Street, Barre, VT, United States
SPOTLIGHT - MEET an AUTHOR Series
Carpenter's Creative Culinary Chefs provide Snacks for the Book Event
Zero Day Proudly Displayed in the Library
In the center, author, Jan McCormick Gangsei, Class of 1988
Jan currently resides in northern Virginia with her family and she has been writing for some time, but still travels home to see her mother and friends. She was delighted when her agent reached out to her on behalf of Disney Hyperion to write a young adult thriller. "It's been a wonderful relationship working with Disney and talking about the book with others." Knowing this, Ms. Smith, our school librarian, thought it would be a great opportunity for Spaulding High School students to actually meet an author who has published a book and be inspired. Thus Jan would be the ideal candidate to participate in the launch of Meet an Author Series because not only is she is an author, but an alum of Spaulding High School.
What advice did she leave with our aspiring writers? "Get out there and experience life, soak things in, and be a part of the world because those experiences can inspire you to write." Don't let rejection define you as she chuckles when noting the 13 page editorial critiques on Zero Day. "Persevere, write and rewrite, and write again."
For more information on Zero Day, feel free to click on this link to Jan's website:
http://jangangsei.com/