Mary Hogan Family Newsletter
May 9, 2025
Dear Mary Hogan Families,
May is the time at school when things are busy and full of moments of connection and joy. The 5th graders found these moments this week while they were at KEEC, exploring the natural world around them while challenging themselves and building connections. At school, we found this joy when a calf came to visit school on Wednesday. The number of adults and kids who smiled and giggled when they saw and talked with the calf was incredible!
All of these moments of joy are possible because of the hard work that teachers and staff do each day to plan the events, find the resources, connect with students, and collaborate with each other. This week is officially Teacher Appreciation Week, and I want to take a moment to just recognize all of the time, energy, thought, care, and passion that teachers and staff bring to Mary Hogan each day. We are so very lucky to have each and every one of them at Mary Hogan!
In May, ACSD accepts nominations for awesome teachers and staff. These folks then get your notes and some are nominated for Teacher of the Year or Barbara Whittemore Award. I hope you take a moment to jot some notes about the amazing staff. Share an appreciation HERE.
💙, Jen
We had an AMAZING Green Up and Garden Celebration last Saturday. Despite the rain, about 100 people came to green up around Mary Hogan, to get our garden and grounds ready for the year, to remove invasive species, and enjoy some of Steve's food!
We got a ton done and students from the Forest to Frame Winter Term class at Middlebury College came with Will Gusakov to put together the timber frame they built for Mary Hogan's garden. It looks great. Next steps will be working through it being finished and turned into a shed for us.
Many thanks to the Middlebury Natural Foods Coop, Addison County Solid Waste District, Middlebury Knoll, NOM, Will Gusakov of Goosewing Timberworks and the college students, and YOU for coming to help make Mary Hogan look great and be ready for the garden.
KEEC was a blast this week! The students met the wet weather with enthusiasm for being out in a beautiful place. The KEEC staff adjusted based on the weather a little, but students were still out and about - from hiking in the mountains to fishing during rec time. There will be more photos over time from the week, but here are some to show a bit of camp life thanks largely to Caleb Kenna.
First graders had a chance to really dig deep into cows and dairy farming this week with the Dairy in the Classroom program from Shelburne Farms! They started the week learning about farming, the anatomy of dairy cows, nutrition and dairy foods. They also made butter with a Butter Making song. Want to make butter at home and learn more, check this out.
Then, as a bit of a surprise, Mrs. Wisnowski brought a 5 day old calf to Mary Hogan on Wednesday. It was such a joyful experience for all of our students, who had a chance to see the calf. So many wanted to say hi, chat with it, give it a gentle pat, and just watch it in the pen. Some students in 1st grade also had a chance to feed the calf with a bottle!
We encourage all community members to attend the upcoming K-12 Education Community forum on Saturday, May 10th at 10:00am-noon at the Vergennes High School. Guests will include Senators Ruth Hardy and Steve Heffernan and Representative Peter Conlon. They will present information about the current status of the K-12 education transformation bill H.454 and its potential impact on the Addison District. There will be time to hear concerns and ideas from the community and answer questions.
You can participate:
1) In person – RSVP HERE
2) Watch the MCTV livestream
3) Submit your questions in advance HERE
