Happy Veterans' Day to all our Veterans and thank you for your service to our country. Tomorrow we are lucky enough to be able to learn about and celebrate Veteran's day at the VA hospital here in White River Junction. Please make sure to ask your children what they learned about!

Reminder-- No School Monday November 11th in Honor of Veteran's Day.

Speaking of learning-- thank you all so much for coming out for family conferences this week. Once again we had tremendous turn out and I can't emphasize enough how important these conversations are for our collective work. Beyond just learning from each other about the students, we have the boost that occurs when children see their loved ones value education and are working as a team with their teachers. This simple act has been shown to boost students learning progress. Please take a minute and fill out the exit ticket below and let us know how it went.

Finally, please make it a point to come back out this coming Thursday, the 14th for discussion on our values as a school community and our shared "Vision of a Graduate". This discussion will be part of the PTA meeting starting at 6:30 PM.

Week 9: Gender and sports: Six Myths About Trans Athletes, Debunked

The topic of trans athletes is a hot-button issue. Attempting to exclude trans athletes permits people to maintain a harmfully narrow idea of “femininity” and what being a woman is and is not. This week’s Curiosity Corner is a longer read, tackling six of the top myths relating to gender and sports. They are:

• MYTH #1: The participation of trans athletes is bad for girls’ sports.

• FACT: Policing gender hurts everyone.

• MYTH #2: Trans athletes’ physiological characteristics provide an unfair advantage over cis athletes.

• FACT: There is no inherent unfair advantage that trans athletes have in sports—and there are many reasons why they are significantly disadvantaged.

• MYTH #3: Sports are just sports—it’s not a big deal if trans students are excluded.

• FACT: Playing sports comes with well-known academic, emotional, mental, physical, and social benefits—transgender youth should not be shut off from these opportunities.

• MYTH #4: Trans students need separate teams.

• FACT: Trans people belong on the same teams as other students; open categories for competition where feasible can be beneficial, but only if it is the student’s choice where they compete.

• MYTH #5: Sex is binary, apparent at birth, and identifiable through singular biological characteristics.

• FACT: Trans girls are girls, and the binary was never really only a binary.

• MYTH #6: Most people want bans on trans athletes.

• FACT: Many international sports federations (NCAA, IOC) support trans athletes, numerous athletes across skill level have spoken out in support of trans athletes, and the majority of Americans want to protect trans people’s rights and ensure they are not discriminated against.

To learn why all of these are false, click here!

Kindergarten students learned about Beavers as Engineers with VINS.

Mrs. Flanagan works with 1/2's to practice their listening skills-- how many directions can you follow in a row? Three directions without repeats or prompts is a great baseline measure.

Thanks for coming out! Fun time had by all. Special thank you to Tabitha Clews and her mom for setting up and hosting our first Haunted Hallway! It was amazing!

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