October 2021
Principals' Post
Please check out this feature in the Shelburne Farms staff newsletter! I was able to visit and observe both students at work last week and they are really becoming part of the team. At school, we are working on skills related to workplace vocabulary and how to ask questions.
Great job, Sandrine and Bonne-Idee! Keep up the great work.
Welcome Sandrine Babingwa! Sandrine and her older brother, who arrrived in Vermont two years ago, have joined us as part of a pilot work-study program at Winooski High School, designed for highly motivated, multilingual students who need to both learn, earn their diplomas, and support themselves. Sandrine works Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays: early hours in cheese processing, and the remaining hours up at the Farm Store for the retail experience. Their work ties back to and supports their literacy, math, and science curriculum at school. Sandrine says she's "having fun!"
Welcome Bonne Idée Babingwa! Sandrine's brother, Bonne Idée, works in cheese processing Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. "I'm happy," he says. Bonne Idée is a passionate and accomplished musician. One music video that he co-wrote about the importance of education was featured in Seven Days in January 2020, and he later performed it for Rep. Peter Welch. Check out all his music on his YouTube channel!
The Babingwas' work-study arrangement with Shelburne Farms came about because of connections made this summer when Winooski students were learning at the farm. Annie Schneider, a multilingual teacher at the high school, was looking for work supervisors for the pilot program who could be really supportive of students, and we were looking for staff. The match was made. "Dave and Morgan are amazing" Annie said. "They're the best advisors we could hope to work with."
Dear Winooski Families,
Thank you for your participation in our family conferences last week. We value our connection with families and want to remind you to stay in touch with us and your child's teachers. This newsletter illustrates some of the many rich educational experiences our middle and high school students have participated in over the last couple of weeks.
Best regards,
Co-Principals Jean & Kate
Intervale Farm
On Wednesday, October 13, a group of Winooski Middle School students traveled down to the Intervale Community Farm to learn about organic farming and get some hands-on experience participating in the work of an organic farm. Farm Manager Andy Jones led the group of 7th and 8th graders and their teachers through fields of lettuce, cabbage, kale, and broccoli. Andy demonstrated how to harvest carrots and a tractor loosened the ground to make the pulling easier. The group harvested 26 baskets -- about 700 pounds! -- of carrots for the farm. The field trip was linked to the learning students are doing about processed versus unprocessed foods and the health and environmental impacts of food choices.
Global Explorations
On Thursday, October 14, students in Global Explorations celebrated their first unit on the DRC. Students presented their big takeaways from the past five weeks and read excerpts of their argumentative letters-students wrote to tech companies (including Apple, Google, and Tesla) arguing for ethical mining, fair wages, and safe working conditions for all Congolese.
We welcomed a few classes and celebrated with Congolese food prepared by students. Thank you Benelor, Francoise, and Suzana’s family. Suzana said, “I want people to know Congo is a good country.”
On Wednesday, October 27, Ms. Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver's Global Explorations class welcomed our new liaison Mukhtar Abdullahi to our class for a chance to dig deeper into our learning about Somalia. Students asked many questions about the ongoing legacies of colonialism and conflict, the rich languages of Somalia, and the new political outlook for the country. One student said, "Even though I am from Somalia, I didn't know all of this stuff and I had never talked about it in school. I am grateful for this opportunity to learn about the history of my country."
Introduction to History Classes Visits The Mill Museum
Our Introduction to History class went to an exhibit at the Mill Museum on Thursday, October 14th.
We have been learning about different groups of people that have lived in Winooski. Students just finished learning about the French Canadian and Irish immigration to our area. We will continue to explore the push and pull factors that have brought people to Winooski over time, including the present day.
- Nellie Maley, Teacher
Self Portraits From Our Middle School Artist!
Proof of Vaccination
Thank you to everyone who has provided documentation of your child’s COVID-19 vaccination to our district. Last week, the Agency of Education and Department of Health announced that school nurses can now directly access the vaccination registry to get this information. As such, we no longer need you to complete an attestation form or send us photos/scans of your child’s COVID vaccination card. However, if the registry is not yet reflecting your child's covid vaccination status, the nurses may call and ask for you to provide a copy.
Your child’s vaccination status continues to remain confidential, shared only with the parties who need to know. Knowing a child’s vaccination status helps us with our contact tracing, should the need arise, as the guidance differs for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Again, thank you for your continued support as we work to keep our students safe and in school as much as possible.
Respectfully,
Your Co-Principal's Jean & Kate
Family Conferences are October 21st and October 22nd
Applied Mathematics for Our Community
Last Friday, middle school multilingual mathematicians put their geometry knowledge to work in the field-- the soccer field! Students have been studying area, perimeter, and measurement in the context of sports fields. They worked together and in collaboration with the City of Winooski to design a soccer field for Richards Park. They then played a game of soccer on the field that is now a new feature for Winooski residents to enjoy this fall! Thanks to the Parks and Recreation Department for their supplies and support!
Mindful Lunch for Middle School:
Students self-select to have lunch in the East Commons away from the cafeteria. This is a social and quiet lunch with 10 minutes of silent/mindful eating at the start of this lunch club, then opens up for quiet conversation. It is offered twice weekly with a sign up sheet outside Amanda’s office. Lunch Club advisors are Jaycie Puttlitz and Amanda Spencer
Pride Club for Middle/High School:
Students self-select to have lunch with this lunch-time club. Pride Club is a space for LGBTQ+ students/staff and those who are allies to this community to have lunch together, socialize, share information and plan activities, as they arise. Pride Club is offered once a week with a sign up sheet outside Amanda’s office. Pride Club advisors are Amanda Spencer and Amy Loomis
Adult English Classes
*No classes October 22 and 23
Contact Larkin Brown with questions:
(802) 316-6995 or lbrown@wsdvt.org
Winooski Family Center
Fridays 6-7
beginner English and citizenship
Saturdays 5:30-6:30
beginner English and citizenship
Winooski High School
Saturdays 9:30-10:30
reading and writing
Saturdays 11-12
beginner English and computers
Saturdays 4-5
intermediate English
WINOOSKI PUBLIC LIBRARY
Tuesdays 11-12
Adult English Classes - beginner and intermediate
Wednesdays 10-11:30
Citizenship Class
Our Adult Literacy Sponsors:
We are Winooski strong!
This past Tuesday so many community members filled the stands in support of our varsity boys soccer players! Thank you! It was a beautiful night to stand in solidarity with our players and show them the love and support they, and all our athletes, deserve.
By now, we imagine, many of you have read Superintendent Sean McMannon's response to the racial violence our players experienced at a recent soccer game. It remains to be seen whether or not our players will play another game this season against Enosburg Falls. We continue to work closely with Athletic Director Sam Jackson on whether or not this can be done, and we will not compromise on student safety.
PowerSchool Reminder
Last year we began the transition to PowerSchool as our student information system. Every family should have a PowerSchool account. Every family has to go into PowerSchool and review/update your forms. These forms include things like contact information, photo releases, and health information. Right now, the majority of our returning families have not logged in and completed the PowerSchool forms for their students.
Families can find the PowerSchool link on the WSD Website www.wsdvt.org. Go to the parents and families drop down, click on registration forms, and click on returning student. Here is the direct link to the WSD Family PowerSchool Portal https://winooski.powerschool.com/public/
Cell Phones
Families please know that Winooski Middle School is cell phone free from 8-3! Our procedures for cell phones and personal devices can be found here. If students choose to bring a phone to school, they are currently expected to keep them turned off in their backpacks until their lockers are ready.
High School students are expected to respect the expectations set by teachers for a productive and educational learning environment. Students who struggle will be asked to either turn in their cell phones or be asked to leave their cell phones at home.
Mask Ask
Students are still expected to wear masks inside. We are noticing several students are simply not bringing or remembering their masks in the morning. All students who have forgotten to bring a mask have been provided a new reusable cloth mask (some multiple times). Please support your students to remember their mask so we have enough for everyone!
We will provide students with masks who forget them or if their mask gets dirty during the day.
21C AfterSchool Offerings
Classes begin this week!!
MONDAY AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES (begins 9/20) (3-4pm)
Middle School Fun with Ms. Aftaba and Ms. Maeve on Mondays in Rm A174 at the MS ends 12/13
HS Technology Core Support with Ms. Poquette on Mondays in Rm B170E (new gym) ends 12/13
Intermediate Violin for grades 4-8 with Ms. Alpizar and Mr. Argraves on Mondays in Rm 32 ends 12/13
MSHS Restorative Justice Club with Ms. Kayla on Mondays in Rm A111 at the MS begins 9/27 ends 12/13
HERO Orientation will be held: in person on Monday, October 11 from 3:00-4:30pm in Room 10 at JFK OR Wednesday, October 13th from 6-7:30 virtually.
TUESDAY AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES (begins 9/21) (3-4pm)
Middle School Fun with Ms. Aftaba and Ms. Maeve on Tuesdays in Rm A174 at the MS ends 12/14
MS Lego Physics with Jenny Hill on Tuesdays at the MS in Rm A113 (ends 12/14)
HS Writing Core Support with Ms. Schneider on Tuesdays in Rm 8 at JFK ends ends 12/14
Rosie’s Girls for 5th-8th grade girls and gender non-conforming youth on Tuesdays in Rm A128 at the MS
START DATE TO BE DETERMINED BASED UPON ENROLLMENT.
If you have a student interested, please let Suzanne know,
WEDNESDAY AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES (begins 9/22) (3-4pm)
Winooski Above the Influence for MS with Ms. Nugent on Wednesdays in Rm A129 at the MS ends 12/8
MSHS Math Support with Ms. Maeve on Wednesdays in Rm 8 at JFK ends 12/8
Technology Core Support with Ms. Poquette on Wednesdays in Rm B170E (new gym) ends 12/8
MSHS PeaceJam with Ms. Aftaba, Ms Hackett and Ms Mason on Wednesdays in Rm B170F (new gym) ends 12/8
Starbase Rocket Club with Ms. Clark and Mr. Coutts on Wednesdays in Rm A128 at the MS ends 10/27
Starbase Robotics Club with Ms. Clark and Mr. Coutts on Wednesdays in Rm A128 at the MS begins 11/3
THURSDAY AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES (begins 9/23) (3-4pm)
Middle School Fun with Ms. Aftaba and Ms. Maeve on Thursdays in Rm A174 at the MS ends 12/16
Linking Engineering to Life for for 5th-8th grade girls and non conforming youth with Ms. Krol and
UVM Mentors on Thursdays in Rm A113 at the MS DOES NOT BEGIN TODAY. It begins 9/30 ends 12/9
MSHS Instrumental Support with Mr. Argraves on Thursdays in Rm 32 ends 12/16
FRIDAY AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES (begins 9/24) (3-4pm)
MSHS Math Support with Ms. Maeve on Fridays in Rm 8 at JFK ends 12/17
Chill Skateboarding
Students in grade 7 and 8 are invited to sign up for fall skateboarding! Students will be picked up from school by Winooski Recreation staff and accompanied to Talent Skate Park every Wednesday from October 6th to November 10th. While at Talent, Chill Ambassadors will teach students to skate as well as help them build their own skateboard. The program will wrap up weekly around 6:15p at which time students will be driven back to WSD for pickup. All participating youth must be vaccinated or have a negative COVID-19 test result within
72 hours of the session to attend each week. To register please email Jenny Hill at jhill@winooskivt.gov.
Chill Skateboarding
Students in grade 7 and 8 are invited to sign up for fall skateboarding! Students will be picked up from school by Winooski Recreation staff and accompanied to Talent Skate Park every Wednesday from October 6th to November 10th. While at Talent, Chill Ambassadors will teach students to skate as well as help them build their own skateboard. The program will wrap up weekly around 6:15p at which time students will be driven back to WSD for pickup. All participating youth must be vaccinated or have a negative COVID-19 test result within
72 hours of the session to attend each week. To register please email Jenny Hill at jhill@winooskivt.gov.
Friday Night Outing
The Winooski Recreation and Library Teams are collaborating to offer youth grades K – 8 Friday Night Outings! Youth can go to the library anytime it is open with a parent or guardian to complete a challenge allowing them access to sign up for one of our Friday Night Outing experiences.
How to Complete a Challenge & Sign Up
1. Visit the Winooski Library anytime they're open with a parent or guardian.
2. Ask the librarian to help you complete a Friday Night Outing Challenge. You can pick from one of the following:
Sign up for a library card
Read a book aloud to a sibling or parent/guardian
Read a book and give the librarian a summary
Learn 3 other things than a book you can check out from the library
Draw a picture of your favorite book character
3. Once you complete the challenge the librarian will help you sign up for one of the available spots *a parent or guardian is required to be present for this*
4. Receive an email with details on where to meet for your Friday Night Outing!
Current outings include trips to Get Air, Metro Rock Climbing, Flynn Theatre, Burlington Center for Arts, and UVM Gutterson Fieldhouse – with more to come!
Questions can be directed towards Recreation Programs Manager Jenny Hill /jhill@winooskivt.gov/
Dear Families,
We wanted to give you an update on our current transportation issues. Due to serious labor shortages, Green Mountain Transit canceled all bussing for Middle School extracurricular activities. This includes all Middle School sports at 8 different schools. Unfortunately, this had lead to many delays and cancellations of games.
High School sports have also seen a ripple effect of this lack of bus drivers. We will continue to monitor the situation and be creative in solving our ongoing transportation issues. I hope this will have a minimal impact on our student-athletes.
If you can help transport reach out to your coaches. If you want to drive a bus or have a CDL, Mountain Transit needs you!
Thank you,
Sam Jackson, Athletic Director
Soccer game schedule (Boys Varsity)
Coach Jackson
WSD Athletic Director
802-363-5856
Middle School Artists Shine
To kick off the 2021 school year, Winooski’s middle school artists flexed their creative muscles and showed off their personal artistic styles. Students were given the freedom to draw anything they chose, in their personal favorite drawing style, so long as they included a great deal of detail, filled the page completely, and demonstrated high quality craftsmanship through careful outlines and coloring. Some students took this opportunity to create imaginative Surrealist images. Others practiced drawing characters of all kinds; and still others chose to explore abstract designs and patterns. Across all of these artistic modes, our students’ creativity and craftsmanship shines through brightly.” — Emily Jacobs, WMS Visual Art
Artists work below: Hue V. / Eliza W. / Mapenzi S. / Iris P. / Jesse M. / Asheera T. / Destin E. / Issahia C.
College Fair
St. Michael's College
Tuesday, October 12th
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
A college fair is your opportunity to meet several colleges and learn what they have to offer for programs and scholarships. Plan on speaking with admissions counselors about your interests and gathering materials from many different colleges. Below is the list of colleges who will be in attendance. Grab your friends or parents and go to St. Michael's College on Tuesday, October 12th from 6:30 to 8:30. If you have questions please let me know!
Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Alfred University Assumption University Bay Path University Beloit College Bennington College Bentley University Bridgewater State University Bryant University Castleton University Cazenovia College Central Connecticut State University Champlain College Clark University Colby-Sawyer College College of Mount Saint Vincent College of the Atlantic Community College of Vermont Curry College Dean College Eckerd College Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Emmanuel College Endicott College Fitchburg State University Franklin Pierce University Hartwick College High Point University Hofstra University Husson University Ithaca College Keene State College Keiser University Lasell University Lees-McRae College Lesley University Lincoln Tech Loyola University New Orleans MCPHS University Merrimack College Middlebury College Montserrat College of Art Nazareth College NEBHE Tuition Break New England College New England Institute of Technology Northern Vermont University Norwich University Paul Smith's College Plymouth State University Regis College Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rivier University Roanoke College Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Roger Williams University Sacred Heart University Saint Anselm College Saint Joseph's College of Maine Saint Leo University Saint Louis University Saint Michael's College Salve Regina University Seton Hall University Sewanee: University of the South Simmons University Southern New Hampshire University Springfield College St. Lawrence University Sterling College Stetson University Stonehill College Suffolk University SUNY Cobleskill College of Agriculture and Technology Syracuse University Thomas College University College Dublin University of Connecticut University of Denver University of Hartford University of Maine University of Maine at Augusta University of Maine at Farmington University of Maine at Fort Kent University of Massachusetts Amherst University of Massachusetts Boston University of Massachusetts Lowell University of New England University of New Hampshire University of New Haven University of Rhode Island University of South Carolina University of Southern Maine University of Tampa University of Tennessee University of Vermont Ursinus College Utica College Vermont Technical College Verto Education Wentworth Institute of Technology Western New England University Westfield State University Westminster College Wheaton College Massachusetts Wheaton College Massachusetts Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester State University
Public Hearing on Student Weighting Factors Report
On Wednesday, September 29th, Winooski parents, staff, and a high school student, Don, spoke at a public hearing about the Student Weighting Factors Report. They all spoke passionately about how important the full implementation of the recommendations of the report would be for Winooski students and families. Watch the hearing here.
Global Explorations Class!
On Tuesday, Cleophace Mukeba came to speak to students in a new Global Explorations class about the Democratic Republic of Congo. Students heard about the history of colonialism and conflict in the country, as well as learned about how to raise awareness about what is currently going on in the Congo with regard to resource extraction. One student said, "It is great to have a chance to finally learn about my country in school."