On the Horizon
VUMHS November 12th, 2022
Principal Message
We have a full week of school left in November. Then we have a week for Thanksgiving Break. Then the week we get back December starts on Thursday! This month has gone by fast. We wanted to remind families that we are aware that this time of year can cause stress (good and tough) on students and adults. From Thanksgiving to New Year there are over a dozen holidays from around the world. Please make sure that you are taking time to take care of yourself and your family. If you need support please reach out to the school.
This week we have a Board Meeting on Monday from 6-8:30, Our Dinner and Discourse(which Dinner(6:45-7:30) and Childcare are full but we would still love to have you come share your thoughts about what makes a strong Middle School) is from 5-7:30. The district is hosting at FCS our first of three events for our Equity Series (poster below). We hope to see many of you this week!
If you have any questions do not hesitate to reach out.
Let's Go, Commodores!
Jody
School Spotlights
This week the 8th graders in their Enrichment courses have started to create from scratch fun and exciting videos. They are working on their collaboration skills. We would also like to recognize that Stacy Raphael and Christine Gingras collaborating and working together to make this happen.
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Shout out to the Math Team and Lynn Kayhart:
Congratulations to the VUHS Math Team for placing 5th out of 15 teams at the meet on Nov 7th at BFA St. Albans. We triumphed over BFA Fairfax, BFA ST. Albans, Burlington, Colchester, Milton, Montpelier, Mt. Mansfield, MVU, Rice, and Stowe.
Top Category Tests:
Arithmetic: Ethan Croke, Xavier DeBlois & Megan Mentzer
Geometry: Parker Kayhart, Jing Williams & Elijah Duprey
Algebra: Parker Kayhart, Elijah Duprey & Finnley Jacobson
Adv. Math: Calder Rakowski, Shamus Rooney & Parker Kayhart
Special Shout to Calder Rakowski for a perfect paper in Adv. Math.
Congratulations to our Team Test Takers Grey Fearon, Neil Brons, Ben Hargett, Calder Rakowski, and Shamus Rooney.
Top Scores Overall:
4th: Finnley Jacobson & Shamus Rooney
3rd: Megan Mentzer & Calder Rakowski
2nd: Elijah Duprey
1st: Parker Kayhart
Great Job to all the VUHS Mathletes: Scout Jacobson, Peter Maneen, Ethan Croke, Grey Fearon, Megan Mentzer, Jing Williams, Neil Brons, Benedict Diehl-Noble, Riley Gagnon, Cal Gramling, Ben Hargett, Calder Rakowski, Xavier DeBlois, Elijah Duprey, Finnley Jacobson, Parker Kayhart and Shamus Rooney.
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Our new inductees into the National Honor Society. On Thursday evening the following students were inducted into NHS. Eli Brace, Claire Hatch, Gideon Palmer, Peyton Paquette, Mackenzie Flint, Madelyn Giroux, Calvin Gramling, Benjamin Hargett, Siobhan Potter, Calder Rakowski, and Zoe Reid-St. John.
School Counseling News
10th Grade Presentation - Patricia Hannaford Career Center: The counselor from the Patricia Hannaford Career Center (PHCC), Brenda Logee, will be here on November 18th to give a presentation to all 10th grade students. This presentation will be about the programs at PHCC for the 2023-2024 school year. This presentation will be from 11:30-12:15 pm on Friday, November 18th in the auditorium (Compass 5&6). All 10th grade students will have the opportunity to visit PHCC on Friday, December 9th. More information about that trip to PHCC will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks. Please reach out to your school counselor if you have any questions.
Senior Families - Need Help with the FAFSA?: VSAC Outreach Counselors are conducting virtual 1:1 FAFSA Friday meetings via Microsoft Teams most Fridays between October 2022 and January 2023. We also have select in-person opportunities at the VSAC Resource Center in Winooski. See details, dates, and sign up now.
Vermont Entrepreneurship Day: This is for students in grades 9-12. The event is virtual and will take place on Thursday, February 9, 2023. All pertinent information regarding this event can be found here.
Visiting Walden - students in grades 10 & 11: The Walden Project is accepting visitors on Wednesdays. If you are a student in grade 10 or grade 11 and want to visit the Walden Project, you will need to get a permission form from the School Counseling Office.
Scan the QR code for the most up to date list of college rep visits and military recruiter visits.
School Wide Information
Food Services
Nurse Announcements
There are no announcements at this time.
Booster Club Information
Commodore 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
Commodore Friends of Music will once again be offering beautiful holiday poinsettias from Claussen's Florist to purchase in support of the Music Department. Please consider purchasing poinsettias for friends and family this holiday season! A variety of colors to choose from. Either print out the order form below or use the convenient QR code for online orders. All proceeds benefit the VUMS/VUHS Music Department. Thank you and happy holidays!
Opportunities for Students
CBYX is for motivated high school students who want to experience a culture and learn a language through a full immersion experience. Learn about German culture first-hand by living with a host family and attending a German high school. Connect to a dynamic network of U.S. Department of State program alumni. Gain new perspectives on global current affairs and German social, economic and political life. Learn the German language through immersion in the culture at school and at home. When you return after approximately 10 months abroad, you will have a greater sense of independence, empowerment, and global citizenship. You will make friendships through a shared experience that will last a lifetime, and you will become a true member of another culture. https://usagermanyscholarship.org/cbyx-programs/?state=Vermont If you have questions you can reach out to Janet Kepes. The deadline is December 1st.
The Vergennes Partnership is interested in recruiting a student to serve on their board. Their meetings are once a month on Wednesdays from 8-9am. Please reach out to Chamberlin if you are interested.
Fusion
Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center News (interested and current students)
Check out the newsletter here. There are updates and news about some of our programs (Culinary Arts, Diesel Power Technology, Introduction to STEM, Medical Professions, & Sustainable Agriculture), the capital project work that happened this past summer and into the fall, a summary about our summer program, and news from some of our partners. If you want to receive the newsletter directly, please email Jay Stetzel, Assistant Director, at jstetzel@pahcc.org.
The counselor from the Patricia Hannaford Career Center (PHCC), Brenda Logee, will be here on November 18th to give a presentation to all 10th grade students. This presentation will be about the programs at PHCC for the 2023-2024 school year. This presentation will be from 11:30-12:15 pm on Friday, November 18th in the auditorium (Compass 5&6).
All 10th grade students will have the opportunity to visit PHCC on Friday, December 9th. More information about that trip to PHCC will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks.
Community Events
Blood Drive 12/1/2022 from 9am - 2pm
The VUHS National Honor Society is hosting a Blood Drive at our school on Thursday December 1st in the middle school gym from 9am -2pm.
Here is the link to sign up to give blood that day,
https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=vergenneshs
Please share with your family and friends.
Please RSVP by November 10th for the dinner portion and the babysitting services so we can make sure we have enough dinner and babysitters.
Link for QR code: https://tinyurl.com/VUHSMS
JumpRope Information
Vergennes Partnership
Vergennes Partnership seeks to build community, support business and add to the vibrancy of this great community. We invite VUHS students to become involved in some fun and exciting ways!
Holiday mural project - Vergennes CIty Park becomes a winter wonderland during the holiday season. We're looking for a few budding artists to create a mural that will be placed in the Susan P. O'Daniel bandstand. Target date for completion: Friday, Dec. 2.
Vergennes Walk Tour: Looking to help us determine the best way to complete the work we've done on resurrecting the Vergennes Walking Tour. Project is in Power Point, open to some creative energy and techno know-how!
Little City Light Tour: As you may know, the residents of Vergennes love to decorate for the holidays! Help us create an animated map that we can use for a self-guided tour of the lights around the Little City.
Holiday Stroll, Saturday, December 3: Santa, Mrs. Claus and the Partnership could use your help. Help us decorate the Opera House (Fri, Dec. 2); assist with the craft table, letter to Santa table and more that afternoon (1:00-3:30)
Vergennes Opera House - Saturday, December 10: It's Saturday afternoon at the movies! Greet guests as they join us for the best feel-good holiday movie ever - 12 Dogs of Christmas!
Additional opportunities to get involved will come along. Curious? Interested? Give Julie Basol, VP Coordinator: 802.598.7424 or VergennesPartnership@gmail.com.
Upcoming Events!
Vergennes Union High School
Email: JChamberlin@anwsd.org
Website: https://vuhs.org/
Location: 50 Monkton Road, Vergennes, VT, USA
Phone: (802) 877-2938