Swift Flyer~ October 12th

• Thursday, November 10th- Swift House Theater Performances
• Monday, Nov 21st-Friday, November 25- No School - Thanksgiving Break
• Friday, Dec 23- Monday, January 2- No School - Winter Break

We were thrilled to return to our campout tradition at the beginning of September. This overnight trip has been a Swift tradition for decades, providing an opportunity for team building among students, leadership opportunities for mentors, and building relationships between parents and teachers.

Thank you so much to all of you who chaperoned. We so appreciate the time you took for completing the paperwork and being with us. Once you have completed this paperwork you are set to chaperone for all future trips while your child is in Swift House. Thank you, also, to all families for helping your children gear up for the experience. We look forward to returning to Grand Isle next September!

This trip was funded through FAP funds. Click here or see below for information on how to support field trips through the Williston Schools Annual Fund! In the meantime, the photos below provide a glimpse of some of our campout traditions, including the bonfire, the skits, and the egg toss.

Swift House Presents...

Romeo and Juliet & Treasure Island

Thursday, November 10th @ 6:00 pm

As you hopefully have heard by now, we just completed auditions for our annual Swift Theater Unit. We are proud to present Romeo and Juliet and Treasure Island this year! When it all comes together, Swifties will be running the show. Their roles include:

• Speaking roles
• Non-speaking roles
• Lights
• Pinrail and props
• Costuming
• Sound

The cast lists and technical roles are now posted on Google Classroom. Please ask your child about their role! We will be rehearsing daily during our literature block right up until production week-- November 7th-11th-- when theater will take over our schedule. If your child has a speaking role, you can expect to see scripts coming home this week.

Ms. Laberge kicked off 8th grade challenge projects last week during math class. Students began brainstorming and discussing problems they see in the community that they would like to make progress in solving through their project work this year. The kick-off form, including sections for identifying a problem, brainstorming action projects and solutions, and selecting overarching research topics as well as reaching out to potential community mentors is due to the 8th graders' core teachers by Friday, October 28th.

Please check in with your 8th grader for more details!

Greensheets serve as our regular contact between home and school. Please ask to see your child's Greensheet every Friday. You will see either:

• A signature next to the name of the class, indicating that the student is all up-to-date with the work
• A circle next to the name of the class with an assignment listed next to it. This indicates missing work.
  
  

The expectation for circles on Greensheets is that students complete the work over the weekend, bring their Greensheet back to school Monday, turn in the missing work and obtain signatures for those assignments that they missed.

Of course, in a perfect world, all work would be done on time. However, we all make mistakes or fall behind from time to time. If a student is still struggling to complete missing work after these reminders, then a plan between the student, core teacher, and guardians is in order. It is this home/school connection that helps students establish successful routines. Thank you for all of the work you do in supporting your children at home!

We are no longer able to loan headphones for student use other than standardized testing. Swifities should plan on providing their own headphones for classroom activities.

This year's Open House format replaced our traditional Curriculum Night where we talk through Swift programming and traditions. Please see our Curriculum Overview for details on our:

• Mission

• Schedule

• Curriculum

• Traditions/Sustainability/Independent Projects

• Technology

• Communications

• PLPs

See below for photos of:

• Problem-solving in 7th grade math
• The Play-Dough Challenge teambuilding task
• Apple observations in 5/6 science
• Testing for evidence of photosynthesis and respiration in 7/8 science
• Ellie and Governor Phil Scott at the Candidate Forum

School Pictures were taken on the following days:

Williston Central - Monday, October 3rd

Allen Brook School - Friday, October 7th

Stay tuned for make up dates for both schools !

Online ordering is available for school photos at:

Www.bsnap.hhimagehost.com

Event: WCS

Password: wcs322 (case sensitive)

Event: ABS

Password: abs322 (case sensitive)

Hello all,

Garden Club has started and we have had so many kiddos move on to other great activities that are offered throughout the building, that we have plenty of room for new students.

Please see the Participant Information Form if your child may be interested!

Thank you.

Lynn

We shared this earlier this month with all Swifties, and we have some 8th graders who have applied. For parents of 5th, 6th, and 7th graders, keep this opportunity for Vermont 8th graders on your radar!

Each year a small group of young Vermonters are selected to work as legislative pages in the Vermont State House. Pages deliver messages for the members of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the various legislative offices. Serving as a page offers a unique opportunity to observe the workings of the legislature and to witness firsthand the often historic events in Montpelier.

Many Vermont politicians, including members of the current legislature, got their start working as pages. If you will be an eighth-grade student during the 2022-2023 school year, are interested in public affairs, and would like to serve as a legislative page, you and your parents must submit a cover letter with a completed application form and other supporting information to the Office of the Sergeant at Arms postmarked on or before September 30, 2022.

Click here for the application and further details.

We are excited to offer your child an opportunity to participate in Spark Enrichment, an after-school applied learning program for students in grades 5-8. Sessions will run for 5 weeks from 2:50 p.m - 4:20 p.m. The 1st session started on September 29th. These small group classes will be facilitated by school faculty and staff. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities that can be found on the link below. Every student who registers will be assigned to one of their top three choices. No one is turned away from Spark!

Check out the listing of current workshops. The second session of Spark will start in November. Be on the lookout for registration details and contact Julie Rogers (jrogers@cvsdvt.org) with any questions.

What is Intergen?

A multi-age book club that brings together 5-8th graders, parents, and senior members of the community to discuss 5 books throughout the school year.

When

The program will kick-off in October. Thereafter, book groups will meet the 2nd Tuesday of the month from November through March

• Oct 4, Nov 8, Dec 13, Jan 10, Feb 14, and Mar 14
• Grades 5-6 meet 1:10 - 1:50
• Grades 7-8 meet 1:50 - 2:30

The kickoff meeting is on October 4th when the students and community volunteers get their first books and meet each other. The first book group discussion is in November, and continues monthly through March.

Where

Take place at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library (DAML). Each group has 5-8 people: 5 students, 1 parent, and 1-2 senior adults. Each group usually has students in the same grade, so you'll be with friends.

How

Talk to your core teacher. They can send you this Google form to sign up.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeN3G_ZHtBN8xWRen1wO9hF4SDhIfluK0fNIYzy3Mr_oXFKTQ/viewform

A few of our upcoming learning events.... sign up today!

• Teen Science Cafes - next in-person cafe on Oct. 22
• Teen Leadership Weekend - sign up by Nov. 1
• 4-H World Changers: Learn to Code - starts Sept. 29
• TRY for the Environment - apply by Nov. 7
• Science Olympiad - Start a Team Today! (grades 9-12 only)

Go to the 4-H Announcements Page to learn more!

The UVM Extension 4-H program is pleased to offer the following programs this fall. Bookmark the 4-H Announcements page as more opportunities get added all the time!

VTeen 4-H Science Pathways Cafes:

Join us this school year for both in-person and virtual cafes where you will meet scientists, learn about their work, explore different science pathways, and engage in hands-on activities and informal discussions. Our first cafe is on Saturday, Sept. 24 at the University of Vermont to learn about "Behind the Scenes: An In-Depth Look at an Autopsy." Learn more here. Open to grades 7-12; all participants must register. See the full schedule of cafes here.

Sensory Science: The Human Instrument - register by Oct 19

October 22, 2022, 5:00-7:00 pm (In-person/UVM)

Come to this VTeen 4-H Science Pathways Cafe to learn about Sensory Science! During this fun interactive session, you will assess food and other sensory standards to calibrate you to be a Human Instrument. You will then have an opportunity to use your calibrated sensory skills in evaluating products that we are currently researching such as cheese, tortilla chips, and bread. In closing, you will learn how powerful your sensory skills can be when combined with other sciences such as chemistry and microbiology. Learn more and register here; open to grades 7-12. FREE pizza and drinks provided.

Youth Environmental Summit: YES is an annual conference for middle and high school students to learn about environmental issues and get involved in local communities. The mission of YES is to inspire, encourage, and prepare youth for a life of environmental responsibility, service and leadership by increasing awareness and knowledge of environmental issues and fostering leadership skills. At YES participants engage in hands-on workshops, action-inspiring discussions, networking with environmental professionals and like-minded peers, and much, much more! Learn more here. Open to grades 6-12; all participants must register by October 14. YES will be held on October 28 at the Barre Civic Center.

Teens Reaching Youth (TRY) for the Environment: TRY stands for Teens Reaching Youth and is an environmental leadership opportunity for students in grades 7-12. It is an environmental education program taught by teens and designed to increase environmental literacy and responsibility in younger youth. TRY for the Environment connects young people to real-world environmental problems by allowing them to be key change agents contributing to real-world solutions. Learn more here. Applications are due no later than November 7.

VTeen Leadership Weekend: November 18-20, 2022. VTeen Leadership Weekend is a fun-filled weekend developing important skills and traits that will help you stretch and improve your leadership, communication, problem solving, teamwork and other transferable skills to take back and use in your club work, school and community. Learn more here. Open to all youth in grades 7-12.

Wishing you well on the start of a new school year,

Lauren

Lauren Traister

4-H Teen & Leadership Program Coordinator

University of Vermont Extension

(802) 888-4972 x 402