Dear CVU Community: Well, it’s official. I could never be a principal in a K-8 school. I visited one of our sending schools this week and didn’t even make it past the Cafe before I was overwhelmed by the cuteness of the kindergarteners eating lunch. Seriously. I simply popped my head into the lunch room and was greeted by Henry who simply HAD to tell me it was his birthday. Seconds later I found myself singing Happy Birthday with his entire table. Then another table waved me over. Apparently, principals are actually cool to six year-olds! I know because they told me. Like nine times. And they are super open with their feelings. One of the students whispered to me that she was the new kid at school and that she was a little nervous. We had known each other for about 1.7 seconds. I promise I didn’t cry (that much). The cuteness definitely messed me up for the rest of the day because I got back to CVU and realized I could still see those kindergartners lurking in our high schoolers. Those sweet little kids might be a bit better disguised–hidden beneath the exterior of adolescence–but the goodness and light is there just waiting for the right moment to sneak out.

Hello, CVU Community! This is Mira. Despite December being filled to the brim with tasks to check off our to-do lists and filled calendars, your student leaders continue to show up Tuesday morning, bright and early, ready to make CVU a better place. This week the Student Council brainstormed ideas for our next event. After carrying through the second annual Turkey Trot, this group of Student Council seniors are eager to create an event that can be carried out at CVU after they have left. Additionally in the effort to celebrate as a community before we all leave for break, Student Council is planning a spirit week before Winter Break! From the Student Council, best wishes for this busy next few weeks!

CVU's Scholars Bowl team scored a major victory on Friday, 12/1 by winning both brackets of the Pre-Holiday Academic Tournament (aka PHAT) at Essex High School. The PHAT is the most attended event of our Scholars Bowl season, this year drawing 24 teams from 3 states.

CVU's varsity A team ran its record to 27-0 by winning all 7 matches and defeating runner-up Hanover to win the PHAT varsity bracket for the second consecutive season. Our varsity B team finished 7th overall in that bracket. Our JV "C" team went 6-1 to come back and win the novice bracket. This was the 3rd time we have won the varsity bracket of this tournament - a feat matched by only one other school in its 17-year history. We have now won the novice bracket an unmatched 7 times.

On the individual front several team members finished very high in the scoring ranks. We placed 5 players in the top 20 scorers, including Elias Leventhal (4th overall, 3rd varsity), Leah Rauch (7th overall, 2nd JV), Jacob Graham (9th overall, 7th varsity), Charles Redmond (14th overall, 10th varsity) and Clay Nicholson (19th overall, 8th JV). This concludes the 2023 part of our schedule. The team will be next in action right here at CVU for a regional meet on Friday, January 5th.

The following students played for our teams on Friday: 12th Grade - Mateo Dienz-Del Rio (C), Frank Fidler (A), Elias Leventhal (A), Colin Ravlin (A) 11th Grade - Jacob Graham (A), James Haines (C), Zoe Mui (B), Wylie Ricklefs (B), Nolan Sandage (B) 10th Grade - Leah Rauch (C), Charles Redmond (B), Clay Nicholson (C).

From Susie Moakley: Kennedy Desautels has been selected as one of Vermont’s 2024 Presidential Scholars in Career and Technical Education. Students are chosen for their outstanding leadership and service to their communities along with technical and academic achievement, perseverance, creativity and innovation. Students selected at the Vermont level will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) for consideration as a Presidential Scholar at the national level.

Congratulations Kennedy!

From Lizzy Fox Lausier: Last Friday night (December 1), CVU Speech and Debate hosted a tournament for middle & high school students from across VT and NH. This was the largest tournament CVU has hosted in 5 years! We had 86 students from 9 schools participate, giving 271 total speeches to 28 volunteer judges. Congratulations to CVU team members Cassie York and Nolan Ross, who were the 2nd-place novice team of the night!

If you're interested in Speech and Debate, it's not too late to check it out! We meet Mondays after school and Wednesdays during C3. Email coaches Kathryn & Lizzy for more info: kkernoff@cvsdvt.org, efoxlausier@cvsdvt.org.

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The early bird gets……well a hurdle. Alaina T., Mauve S., Maggie L. and members of CVU Indoor Track Team hone their hurdle skills at an early morning practice with Coach Miranda.

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From Coach Steve Francisco: On Wednesday, CVU Alpine hosted the first of two Sports Psychology Training Sessions over Zoom with Coach Doug Lewis! Doug is a former Olympic and World Cup Alpine Skier and Vermonter - and currently coaches alpine athletes around the United States in athletic conditioning, sports psychology, and nutrition. Doug shared several stories and techniques that the team looks forward to bringing to their own training and racing this season. Doug will also be joining the team for the on snow session in January, as they prepare for their home Giant Slalom race on January 8th at the Middlebury Snowbowl.

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From Addison James: A few weeks ago (November 18) Lila Bushey and I (and a few other CVU students who I just don’t know) participated in a First Aid Field Day put on by the Governor’s Institute of Vermont. During the day we learned basic life-saving skills like stop-the-bleed (and got stop the bleed certified) and CPR. This was a very fun and educational experience that we thought would be cool to share.

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The CVU GSA is partnering with the Pride Center of VT and COTS (Committee on Temporary Shelter) to hold a Winter Product Drive all the way up until December 20th. We are accepting donations of the following items: menstrual products (pads, tampons, cups), shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, bar soap, combs, brushes, waterproof winter gloves, winter hats, scarves, warm socks, and handwarmers. All packaged items must be new and sealed! To spice things up a bit and incentivize donations, we are also holding a class competition between the 9th/10th grades and 11th/12th grades - the group that brings in the most items will get treated to a holiday breakfast! Donation boxes can be found in each House Office, the Main Office, and the Direction Center.

From Laura Howard: The food writer and journalist of Seven Days, Melissa Pasanen, wrote a fantastic piece on ACCESS CVU's cooking classes in this week's SEVEN DAYS - pick up a copy for full effect! This is a lovely and lengthy article spotlighting the long running success of ACCESS cooking classes and the draw of global cuisine in Vermont. It has already garnered much attention within the general community, and we look forward to building on this momentum next semester!

https://www.sevendaysvt.com/food-drink/community-cooking-classes-in-hinesburg-introduce-students-to-new-skills-and-global-recipes-39671290