CVU Celebrations
December 2, 2022
Dear CVU Community: Students, do you ever wonder where all of your teachers are on Wednesday and Thursday mornings? Perhaps you’ve walked down the hall and noticed us working in small groups in classrooms or gathered as a full faculty in the Library. The boring term for these mornings is professional development, but the reality of what we’re doing isn’t much different than what happens throughout your day. CVU is a learning organization, so we are doing our part as learners–trying to better our own skill or working to understand our school and community in new ways. This Wednesday, for example, many of us attended a workshop on dialectical thinking (the practice of looking at concepts/issues/events/interactions from multiple perspectives) and on Thursday we studied the data you gave us on the Engage Survey. Far more important than the content of what we learn is the regular practice of being learners. Educators who adopt a learning mindset are more likely to be learners of their own students and of their own disciplines. When we are at our best, our classrooms (and hallways and fields and courts and internships) are dynamic spaces infused with a sense of exploration, discovery, and growth for students and teachers alike.
Upcoming Events
Student Celebrations
Seamus Rose has spent the semester fixing up bikes for the Old Spokes Home’s upcoming kids bike bonanza (where they give away as many kids bikes as possible).
From Amy Wardwell: Members of the Volunteer Outreach Club worked with the Charlotte Food Shelf to prepare holiday food boxes for families in need. Thanks to Linni Goldsmith, Grace Murray, Libby Manning, Dicey Manning and Claire Lyons (not pictured) for their help on this project!
The CVU Math League team recently traveled to BFA St. Albans for the first meet of the season. We had our best finish in a long time, placing ahead of perennial powerhouse South Burlington and taking 2nd place to Essex. It was close! The final tally was Essex 342, CVU 322, SBHS 299, followed by the 12 other schools at the meet. CVU had perfect papers in Arithmetic by Elias Leventhal, in Geometry by Keaton St. Martin and Sam Yager, in Algebra by Jacob Graham, and in Advanced by Keaton and Jacob. We also had a perfect team paper. All of our competitors earned points on their tests, including Anna Dauerman, Thomas Garavelli, Joe Jacobs, Dan Knight, Georgia Knight, Jacob Medici, David Merchant, Clay Nicholson, and Wylie Ricklefs (who also competed on the team test). As always, the best part was the enthusiasm and camaraderie among the students. It's a privilege to work with such a fine group of young people. Big thanks to Kiran MacCormick for helping out during C3 and at the meet, as well.
We're looking forward to a successful season!
From Michelle Fongemie: This is what happens 4th block on a Friday when a teacher leaves the room for a minute to use the restroom…. I was “ RickRolled”. Kudos to Kayla and Frankie for making us all laugh during a 4th block Friday Practical Writing class!
The RoboHawks have had a busy few weeks. In addition to working on their robot, the team has been helping students in our district's middle schools create their own. Before break they visited Williston Central School and on Tuesday they were at Shelburne Community School. They presented their robot from last season and mentored these FLL (FIRST Lego League) students.
Jack Gourlay, James Haines, Crawford Phillips, and Sam Yager visit SCS.
Also from the RoboHawks: Team Members spent much of thanksgiving break working on redesigning their robot. They completely disassembled the old robot and began rebuilding it. They ended the break with a completely revised chassis and other new systems.The team is also hosting a scrimmage this saturday. Robotics teams from across the state will come to CVU to compete in preparation for the VT FTC Championship at CVU in February. For more info or to reach out visit robohawks5741.com.
Team Members work over break on redesigning the robot.
New Chassis and Odometry.
Sam Yager and Jack Gourlay Visit WCS
Congratulations to Tess Everett and Chloe Pecor in your selections as Players of the Year in your respective sports!
The CVU Photo Club held our first contest of the school year. Congratulations to all of our winners and thank you to all of the participants. Here are the winning submissions. Our next contest themes are vintage, rot/decay/overgrowth, and portraits. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, December 6.
From Abbie Bowker: Iain Mahaffey, one of my/our AP Art and Design students from last year, was selected for the 2022 AP Art & Design Exhibit (now online, view here). This is an incredible honor as he is one of 50 other artists selected from six countries and over 62,000 entries!
Here is this week's episode of The CVU Show: https://youtu.be/vvFqJlqFkBs
From Emily Mitchell: Students in Intro to Art combined photocopies of two different projects into a third- a handmade sculptural exploding pop up book!
From Katie Mack: Chittenden Core Homework Club has been having a fantastic second quarter. Former Chittenden students serve as peer tutors during C3 to current ninth graders, helping them with class content, homework, and assessments. A big thanks to our peer tutors: Silas Cohen, George Francisco, Aaron LaRose, Lily Posner, Evan Greenfield, Catherine Congalton, Rhett Gardner, Jocelyn Kaplan, Libby Manning, Julia Rowles, Olivia Santos and Nina Zimakas.
Once again CVU Rowers bring home some hardware from Boston! CVU had an incredible day on Saturday in Boston for the IceBreaker - The NorthEast Regional Youth Open Water Rowing Championships. Over 150 rowers competed from 11 schools across New England. Crews competed in a sprint obstacle course which tests both agility and strategy, and the Nautical Mile, where all crews (~ 20 boats) row out into Boston Harbor and then race back past spectators to the finish line.
Special shoutout to Project Hoeppner for supporting the team with CVURowing Sweatshirts and Row On t-shirts for our final race. Such a great effort from a great group of supportive teammates!Race results:
CVU 1 - Experienced (aka 1st 6-oared): Winner Crewmaster Sprints - 1st 6's
CVU 1 - Experienced: Winner Nautical Mile 1st 6's (receiving both a plaque AND overall trophy)
CVU B - Intermediate (aka 2nd 6-oared): 2nd place Crewmaster Sprints - 2nd 6's and 5th place Nautical Mile
CVU A - Intermediate: Winner Nautical Mile - 2nd 6's and 4th place Crewmaster Sprints.
CVU 1: Coxed by Burgess Gove: Rowers: Lucas Barton, Mitch Niarchos, Emmitt Hayes, Cassidy Fleming, Jack Gourlay, Keaton St. Martin
CVU A: Coxed by Max Zinner; Rowers: Anna Ulager, Jaden Ballard, Gabe Little, Charlotte Tyler, Logan Masson, Ahron Leibowitz
CVU B: Coxed by Jaden Ballard: Rowers: Jacob Graham, Kayden Metropoulos, Lila Carr, Greta Friesen, Victoria Chyra, Oliver Foster
Faculty/Staff Celebrations
Thank you to Gary Lambert who set us up for some World Cup action this week. Gary, should we do a community viewing party if the US advances?
Seth Emerson (who really doesn't like this attention), I promise this is the last time we talk about you as Person of the Year, but I had to include this photo. Thanks for all you do to build community.
Community Celebrations/Notes
CVSD invites all community members to learn about and join in on the budget development process by attending upcoming School Board meetings. All members of the CVSD community are always welcome to attend Board meetings. See the topics and schedule in the image above and on the Budget page of the district's website. https://www.cvsdvt.org/budget
Links to join the virtual meetings will be available on that page and on the website calendar. We will also post the presentations on the Budget page afterward for those that cannot attend.
The Charlotte Central School (CCS) Holiday Market is back and we hope you can join us on Saturday, December 10th! The holiday market will be open from 9am to 3pm. We will have two gyms filled with artisans, as well as several on site food options. There will be a kids zone with free art projects for kids to create while you shop. We are excited to welcome back former CCS art teacher, Mrs. B, who will be leading spin art projects for kids.
New this year is our silent auction! The auction will open up online Saturday, December 3 at 8am. The auction features a week-long stay at Claybrook, Sugarbush, VT and artwork by Jessica Scriver. We have many other items from local businesses including, Elli Parr, Saratoga Olive Oils, Red Barn Kitchen, Mysa, The Gilded Elephant, and many more. To access the silent auction, please go to ourschool.auction/CCSholidaymarket
Silent auction and raffle proceeds will go directly to the CCS PTO to support a variety of student enrichment programs including STEM, Theater, Athletics, as well as our community Emergency Care Fund. We look forward to seeing you on December 10.