EVENTS Lost and Found Announcement

December 13, 2011
UPCOMING
EVENTS
December 15 December 15 December 19-30 January 5
January 11
Holiday Concert
6 PM
Second Quarter
Ends
Teacher
Appreciation
Luncheon
Winter Break!
Alumni Event
One Act Performance 12/13
Choral Holiday Concert 12/15
The One Act Club is performing an original
interpretation of The Tempest, by William
Shakespeare. The first performance will be next
Tuesday, December 13th, at VCS. This version of the
Tempest incorporates an abundance of comedic
characters with a mixture of modern language and
Olde English and a twist of the circus life. The play,
adapted by Don Wright, will be performed by
students from each grade level. This version of The
Tempest promises to be a fantastic show! Please join
us in the Commons Room at 6 PM for a delightful
evening of one acts. Submitted by Maggie Homer
Please join us on Thursday, December 15th for the
2nd annual Vermont Commons School holiday
choral concert! The concert will feature 17 students
singing seven different selections of music, ranging
from classic pieces like “Sweet Caroline” by Neil
Diamond to contemporary music by Adele. The
concert will be held at 6:00 p.m. in the Commons
Room at Vermont Commons School with
refreshments provided.
Submitted by Willie Strausser
VCS Water Bottles for Sale –by Suzanne Mantegna, PACS Co-Chair
Looking for a last minute stocking stuffer for your VCS student or Alumni? Thinking
about the next Encounter Week and wondering where you child has left his water
bottle? Look no further, PACS has Aluminum Water Bottles with the Vermont
Commons name and logo available for the low price of $7. The bottles will be for
sale prior to the Evening of One Acts (tonight) and prior to the Holiday Concert
(Thursday).
Not attending either event but would still like a Water Bottle? Then please contact
Suzanne Mantegna (sdmantegna@comcast.net) to set up delivery prior to Friday.
Lost and Found Announcement
This Friday at 3:15 PM marks the start of our two week vacation, hooray! But,
before we take off to relax, visit with family members and celebrate the holidays,
we ask that you take a look in the Lost and Found for your belongings. We plan
to donate everything in the bins (located in the lunch room by the ping pong
table) just before break so that we may return to school with a fresh start.
Thank you!
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College Corner –by Sarah Soule
The Vermont Commons Class of 2012 has been busily applying to
colleges! Over fifty colleges sent representatives to VCS this fall to meet with
our students and to share information and the process of applying to college. I
was impressed with the thoughtful questions our students asked of the
admissions officers as they considered the various colleges and universities
during their visits to our school.
Our eighteen seniors will be submitting a total of 182 applications to 109 different
colleges across the country and Canada. We utilize an online college
counseling partner, Naviance, to process the submission of transcripts and
letters of recommendations for our students. Naviance has enabled us to greatly
streamline the process of sending out our student’s documentation to colleges
and universities as it is all done electronically. In a future edition of Turtle Tracks
I will include a complete listing of the colleges and universities that have
admitted our seniors as well as listing of where our Class of 2012 ultimately
decides to attend.
In early February, the juniors will be introduced to Naviance and will begin the
process of searching for colleges. Juniors and their parents should mark their
calendars for the College Planning Session with Sarah and Liz on Tuesday,
February 7th at 4:00 p.m.!
Research and Service Class Receives Award! –by Ruth Heindel
This semester the ‘Greening Our Cities with Trees’ R&S class has partnered with the local volunteer
organization Branch Out Burlington! in order to care for trees along city streets and in the Burlington
Community Tree Nursery. This past Thursday evening, 8th grader Eli Hinds and I attended the Branch Out
Burlington! annual meeting. Unbeknownst to Eli, we were there to receive the ‘Volunteers of the Year!’
award, given to our R&S class “in appreciation for [our] efforts to make Burlington green and help supply the
city with healthy trees to plant along our streets and in the parks and greenspaces.” According to Margaret
Skinner, Branch Out Burlington!’s president, the tree nursery has never looked so good, and she never
believed that high school students could accomplish so much! Eli accepted the award certificate, along with
tree identification booklets for each member of the R&S class. The final installment of the award will come in
the spring – a tree to be planted somewhere on the Vermont Commons campus! Congratulations to Eli,
Justine, Christian, Phineas, Oban, Amber, Lutes, Lauren, Ben, Lyn, Miles, and Josh for your hard work and
dedication this fall!
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Common Hour Update –by Sarah Soule
We were fortunate to have Karen Taylor Mitchell of the Vermont Governor's
Institute as our featured Common Hour speaker on Wednesday, December
7th. She spoke to our students about their summer offerings and the upcoming
"Winter Weekend" which is scheduled for February 10-12 at Goddard College in
Plainfield. The registration deadline is January 20, 2012. They will have special
program that weekend in the arts, current issues, engineering and information
technology. For further information: penny@giv.org or see Sarah for an
application.
On Wednesday, January 4th at 9:40 a.m. Vermont Commons will welcome Out
of the Blue, an a capella singing group from Yale University to our school. They
will entertain our students, faculty, and staff with a variety of tunes including
Steve Winwood, Guster and Lady Gaga. All members of our community are
invited to join us for this very special event.
Sign up for the Ski Club! –by Ben Patrick
Hello Skiers, Boards and Parents,
Winter marks the beginning of our ski club! We will be skiing/boarding at Bolton
Valley this year and will be leaving at 3:30 PM and arriving back to VCS at 8:30
PM on Friday evenings.This should allow for almost four hours of exercise and
fun. All abilities of skiing/boarding are welcome to join us. Our group is
all-inclusive, and everyone rides/skis with a group of peers. The only
requirement is that you bring a helmet and be prepared for cold weather
conditions.
This year, the cost for transportation is $120.00 per student for six rides to and
from the mountain. This pays for a large bus and a driver and allows all of us to
be together with plenty of room for our gear. If you do not have a Bolton Valley
Ski Pass, the cost for skiing will be $120.00 per student. If parents want to join
us, there is plenty of room on the bus, and we receive three chaperone passes
every time we visit the mountain. These chaperone passes will be given out on a
first come, first serve basis.
I look forward to having a safe and fun skiing and boarding season. Below is the
list of dates that we will be at the mountain. Please make checks ($120 if you
only need transportation and have a ski pass, or $240 for both tickets and
transportation) payable to Vermont Commons School and deliver them to the
front desk by Friday, December, 19, 2011.
Ski Dates: Jan 13, Feb 3, Feb 10, Feb 17, Feb 24, and Mar 2.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions,
Thank you,
Ben Patrick
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The Unconscious Landscape, New Works by Ben Patrick
An exhibit of oil paintings by Ben Patrick, artist in residence, is currently
showcased at Stephen and Burns, 116 Church Street, Burlington, Vermont.
The unconscious, restless landscapes of our surroundings become the
occasion for this new series of compositions: purely pigmented, lucid, and
questioning. There is an exploration of what is underneath here, a gaze into the
reflections that we too often forget to look at.
Please visit Stephen and Burns Salon located on Church Street for these new
selections of paintings. All works are currently installed, and there will be a
reception on Tuesday, December 20th from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm.
We look forward to seeing you there!
This Week in Photos
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