Message from the Principals - Vergennes Union High School

VUHS e-News, Week of April 13, 2015
Brought to you by the Commodore Parent Teacher Group
Message from the Principals
We’d like to take this opportunity to recognize the Commodore Parent Teacher
Group (CPTG). The group started in December 2010 and since that time has
donated more than $6000 to VUHS for a variety of activities and enrichment
opportunities for our students. The annual rummage sale is the group’s main
fundraiser and it is an amazing collection of goods. Be sure to come by the
high school gym on Saturday (tomorrow, if you receive the e-News Friday
April 10)8 am – 2 pm and support the great work the Commodore Parent
Teacher Group does for our school.
Each edition of the e-News is made possible by seven parents who
gather the information, help organize it, and send it to you each week.
Honestly, this communication tool would not be available if it weren’t for the
CPTG.
The group initiated the annual Back-to-School Night at the beginning of
each year, allowing families and faculty to connect at the beginning of the
year. More recently, the CPTG held their first talk/discussion on Tuesday
th​
April 7​
in what they plan to be on on-going “lecture series” focusing on
important topics for parents. There is talk of a follow-up evening to this past
Tuesday’s “talking with your child about dating and healthy relationships” as
well as new opportunities for parents continuing in the fall. Watch the e-News
for dates.
And these are just a few of the contributions the group has made to
VUHS over the last 4+ years. It’s clear to us that our athletic program would
not be what it is without the Booster Club, our music program benefits greatly
from the Friends of Music, and the Commodore Parent Teacher Group
significantly enriches the academic side of our school. Additionally, there are
many parents and community members who donate time and resources to our
school. Thank you to all who help make VUHS a wonderful place to educate our
students.
Sincerely,
Stephanie & Jay
th
Don’t forget to join us on Saturday, April 11​
for the Commodore Parent Teacher Group’s annual fantastic ​
rummage
sale
in the high school gym from 8-2! You won’t believe ​
the deals​
that you can
find while at the same time ​
supporting enrichment opportunities for
our students​
. It’s a win-win situation!!
You don’t want to miss it. ​
J th​
April Vacation​
begins the week of April 20​
. Let’s hope for some real
spring weather to help celebrate the time off!!
Please Vote!​Three of our senior students, ​
Ericka Delisle, Tea Kiefer, and
Ally Stearns​
need votes to move on to the next level of the ​
Hood
Sportsmanship Scholarship​
. ​
Click here​
; this link will take you to the voting
page where you can find all the instructions. Votes can be cast for every
th​
student once a day until April 24​
!
CONGRATULATIONS 2015 BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ STATE
REPRESENTATIVES!
The Vergennes American Legion Post #14 will sponsor four VUHS delegates to
the Green Mountain Boys’ State held June 21-26 on the campus of Lyndon
State College in Lyndonville, Vermont: ​
Aaron Gaines, Tyler Kepes, Xavier
Provencher, and Joshua Sickles.​The boys were nominated by faculty and
staff based on leadership, character and honesty, cooperativeness, community
participation and service, and scholarship.
Green Mountain Boys’ State is a leadership laboratory for rising high school
senior boys. The main focus is Vermont town, county, and state government,
and its organization, policies and procedures. They will work on issues relating
to Vermont, and debate and discuss these issues during a session at the State
House in Montpelier.
The Vergennes American Legion Auxiliary has selected three junior girls from
Vergennes Union High School to attend Green Mountain Girls’ State this year.
The Auxiliary will sponsor ​
Bailey Bissonnette, Emily Martin, and Julia Johnson​
,
as they spend the week of June 14 at Vermont Technical College in Randolph,
Vermont.
The purpose of Girls’ State is to provide citizenship training for girls of high
school age; to afford them an opportunity to live together as self-governing
citizens; and to inform them about the duties, privileges, rights and
responsibilities of American citizenship, in order that they may understand and
participate in the functioning of their government.
German ​
Exchange​
Informational Meeting: ​
​
An informational meeting for
students and parents/guardians on Tuesday, April 14th 7:00 - 8:00 PM
(approximately) in VUHS Room B-1 (Mr. Power's room). Open to VUHS
students who will be juniors or seniors next year. Must have had or be in
German II or higher next year. This is a very important meeting, especially
for parents. Please contact Frau Kepes (​
jkepes@anwsu.org​
) if you have
questions.
Aladdin​
,​
as written by Kathryn Schultz Miller, will be presented at the
Vergennes Union High School auditorium ​
Thursday, April 16 at 6pm​
. The show
is directed by VUHS students ​
Emma Gardner, Kareena Vorsteveld, and Eva
Kamman​
. VUES students make up the cast and crew for this performance,
sponsored by the VUES Community Group. Tickets are available at the door
for $3. We hope you can join us!
Fusion News​
- The middle school Fusion program is wrapping up for the
2014-15 school year. All activities except Endeavor Survival Skills will end
Thursday April 16th.
Endeavor Survival Skills will be available until May 21st from 3:00-4:00 PM
with the following schedule.
Mondays- Social Studies
Tuesdays - Science
Thursdays - Language Arts and Math
The afterschool activity bus will NOT run after Thursday April 16th.
st​
Save the date for Fusion Summer - July 6th - July 31​
- ​
​
Program
brochures will be sent out right after the April vacation.
3rd Quarter Grades have been posted​
under Grade History in Power School. If
you have any questions regarding student grades, please call teachers directly. You may continue
to check Quarter 4 progress under Grades and Attendance.
ANNOUNCING the new BROADWAY DIRECT MUSICAL THEATRE
CAMP:​
Augu​
st 3 – 7 (9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m) Ages 13 - 18 (limit 20 students) $285 per
student. Broadway veterans Bill Carmichael and Sue Burk Walsh are thrilled to announce their
first annual musical theater camp at the Vergennes Opera House, alongside one of Boston’s
finest Musical Directors, Scott Nicholas. Guest artists will also be involved to round out the
experience. This 5-day camp features singing, acting and dance/stage movement in a loving and
nurturing environment, with a fun showcase performance for friends and family on the final day
(August 7). Experience: It is highly recommended that students have had ​
some ​
theater
experience (i.e. a high school musical, theatrical and/or dance classes). Registration: email
broadwaydirectvt@gmail.com​
or call us at 802-989-2129. More information can be found on the
Vergennes Opera House website here: ​
http://vergennesoperahouse.org/home/camps_classes​
.
VERMONTIVATE - ​
Are you up to a challenge? Students and family
members are encouraged to participate in the 4th annual on-line/real-world
game happening March 23rd - May 2nd. Join the Vergennes Union High School
Team and begin tackling the serious and important work of climate change in a
fun and creative way. On-line gaming!
HOW DOES THE GAME WORK?
Visit the Vermontivate website at ​
www.vermontivate.com​
and create a personal
profile.
●​
​
Act 1 is about getting to know the site, setting up your personal profile,
and creating or joining a team. Please consider joining the Vergennes Union
High School team. Once you select your team, the moderator of the team will
greet you with a welcome email and you can begin the second act.
●​
​
During Act 2 you and your team will take on a host of challenges on food,
energy, transportation, and team-building. There are also some bonus point
challenges, a few events, and a video contest!
●​
​
Act 3 is about setting meaningful goals for each of our main topic areas.
All the challenges encourage you to take some kind of action, and when you
do, you write about it, and often post a photo or video, creating a Moment of
Play (MOP). You get points for your MOP, which goes to an overall team tally.
Challenges have been created to align with Vermont’s highest-level climate
goals, and are designed for maximum real world impact. At the end of the
game, there's a celebratory ice cream party hosted by Ben and Jerry’s for
the winning teams and prizes for many, many players.
For more information visit w
​ww.vermontivate.com​
or email VUHS team
moderator Lynne Rapoport @ l​
rapoport@anwsu.org​
.
Champlain Discovery: A summer adventure opportunity for 13-16
year olds​
-The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is again offering Champlain
Discovery to area teens. Come build your own sea kayak and spend ten days on
the adventure of a lifetime. After completing your kayak you will learn
paddling skills as well as wilderness camping and safety skills. The ten-day
kayak trip starts in Whitehall, New York and ends in Burlington a distance of
sixty-five miles. You will explore the rich cultural and natural history of Lake
Champlain as you paddle over half the length of Lake Champlain. Dates for the
program are June 22-July 25. To apply or get more information call Nick
Patch at 475-2022 or email ​
nickp@lcmm.org​
. Scholarships are available based
on need.
Adventure Camp​
- Even though it is still cold and snowy, many parents are
starting to think about summer camps. Ed and Sarah Cook will be offering
Adventure Camp on the VUHS ropes course the week of June 22nd for
students going into grades 5-8. See ​
www.vuhs.org​
for more details.
Are you looking for a way to get involved at VUHS?​​
The Commodore
Parent Teacher Group ​
is looking for members to help with our growing list of
initiatives including the annual Rummage Sale, funding enrichment grants for
staff and more. Please let us know if you would like to join us in our efforts.
We would l​
ove​
to have you. Contact Carla Mayo at ​
cmayo@anwsu.org​
, if you
are interested.
Please let us know if you have ideas to help us in our mission to promote family
involvement in the school, improve communication between parents, teachers
and administrators and provide enrichment programs for the students. We
welcome your input! ​
Our
next meeting will be on Wednesday,
May 6th in the VUHS library. ​
New members are always welcome!
The Class of 2016​
will hold a car wash at Gaines Insurance on Saturday,
April 11 from 9-12. We are looking for parents and students to help with
the car wash....washing cars, holding up signs, etc.
The Class of 2016 will have a bottle drive on Saturday, May 30. Please save
your bottles for us.
Hannaford Career Center
For Career Center news, follow the link below: http://www.hannafordcareercenter.org/
Upcoming Events
April 11: Treasures and Trinkets Rummage Sale sponsored by the Commodore
Parent Teacher Group
April 13: VUHS Board Meeting at 6:00 in the library
May 6: Commodore Parent Teacher Group meeting at 6:30 in the library
May 16: Junior Prom
st​
**​
Commodore Booster Club Meeting – 1​
​
Tuesday of the month in the
library**
Guidance & School Counseling Office
Please use the Guidance link below to find out more about ​
underclassmen
career exploration opportunities​
as well as dates and information for
SAT and ACT testing.
https://sites.google.com/a/anwsu.org/guidancedepartment/
Music Department
The High School Symphonic Band and Concert Choir are in Boston,
MA to participate in the Heritage Music Festival​
April 9 - 12. The
highlight of the trip is the adjudicated performances by the band and chorus
for a panel of collegiate music educators. The students will be rated, given
comments and have a clinic after the performance. Other exciting activities on
the trip include attending performances by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
and The Blue Man Group. Students will visit Flutistry, a business created by
VUHS alumnus, Adam Workman, which is visited by flute players from all over
the world to perform, try, buy, repair and sell flutes. Visits to the Museum
of Fine Arts, Durgin Park, and Salem, MA will round out the trip. The
performance and trip is the culmination of months of hard work by the
students. The VUHS musicians will be awesome!!!
For more music department news, follow the link below:
https://sites.google.com/a/anwsu.org/vuhs-music/
Sports News
Time to sign up for Spring Rowing! ​
Spring is in the air and the
Vergennes Middle and High School spring rowing season is scheduled to start
as soon as the ice is out on Otter Creek and Lake Champlain. The most likely
start date is April 27. Our spring race (Spring Wave) will be at the Lake
th​
Champlain Maritime Museum on Saturday May 30​
. Rowing is co-educational
th​
th​
and is open to 7​ through 12​ graders. No tryouts. All you need is motivation
and a positive attitude. If you haven’t tried rowing and want to get an idea of
what it is about, check out the photo board opposite the guidance office or
speak with students who row. See Mr. West to sign up. We are looking
forward to a great spring season!!
“TODAYS PREPARATION DETERMINES TOMORROWS SUCCESS”
The Vergennes Summer Workout Program is open to any student-athlete in
grades 7-12!
Dates: June 15 – July 17, 2015 (five weeks)
Time: 5:00-6:30pm at VUHS Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Cost: $55 donation to Friends of Vergennes Football. This money is raised so
Vergennes student-athletes can participate in the Mount Abe-Vergennes
cooperative football program.
Workouts consist of speed and agility drills, including speed ladders,
plyometric boxes, hurdles, drag and pull sleds, running chutes and cones. The
workouts will also include strength exercises such as tire flipping, farmers
walk, tug of war contests and the prowler. There will be work done in the
weight room at VUHS.
Athletes need to bring cleats and sneakers and plenty of water. Depending on
the weather we may be in the gym. Program runs Lombardi Time which means
if you are ten (10) minutes early you are five (5) minutes late.
Any questions contact Lee Hodsden at 759-2222.
Summer Tennis in Vergennes!​SoJo Tennis will be running weekly tennis
camps at the courts next to Vergennes Union Elementary School from June 22
through August 7. Children of all ages and abilities are welcome. Registration
details will be forthcoming, but please note the dates as you begin planning
your summer. Contact Franz Collas at 349-7794 or ​
sojotennis@gmail.com​
for
more information.
VERGENNES CHAMPS SWIM TEAM​
- Information & Registration Night on
Wednesday, April 29, 2015 from 6:00-7:30pm in the Vergennes Union
Elementary School gymnasium.
We welcome and encourage NEW swim team members who want to participate
in a FUN and SUPPORTIVE team atmosphere. Swimmers will be placed in
practice groups based on ability—beginner, intermediate, or advanced. Meets
are encouraged but optional. Your level of participation is up to you!
Swim team begins in early June and ends in early August. Practices are
Mon-Fri 7-8am/8-9am depending on practice group. Swim meets are Tuesday
& Thursday evenings. The 2015 swim team calendar is coming soon.
Swim Team Fee​
: $75 per swimmer (family max $200)
Pool Pass Fee​
: Vergennes resident single $50/family $100; Non-resident single
$65/family $130
In addition to the swim team fee, all swim team members must purchase a
pool pass to the City of Vergennes pool ​
before​
the first day of practice.
Team swim suits will be available to try on and order (​
optional​
) at registration
night. We are part of the Champlain Valley Swim League: ​
www.cvslvt.com
Please contact us with any questions or if you need more information
vergennesswimteam@gmail.com​
.
For a schedule of upcoming events and practices for this week, go to…
http://vuhs.org/Calendars/SportsCalendar.html