This morning we had the wonderful opportunity to invite veterans and their families to come have breakfast with our students as a way of honoring them, and thanking them for their service. Head Cook Pam, the faculty and staff, and our 7th and 8th grade service crew did a great job preparing a big breakfast and welcoming our veterans. Mr. Mike had been working with students the past couple weeks, and students performed a couple songs to honor our country and our vets. PreK handed out key chains that they made and the Kindergarten students also handed out trail mix snacks that they prepared as gifts for our guests. This mornings event was just a small gesture of our appreciation, but it helps our students recognize the significance of the contribution that all the veterans have made to ensuring our freedom!

Students in grades 5-8 who are enrolled in the Survival Skills elective class learned fire building strategies last week with Ms. Russell and Mrs. Curley. This week they used those skills to cook pancakes and eggs in the Dutch Oven over a fire. They then enjoyed eating them with butter and jam!
“The pancakes were delightful.” - Sophie
“The eggs were enjoyable.” - Krystian

Students are really enjoying the hands on, practical, outdoor learning experience that this class is giving them. The electives classes give students the opportunity to step outside of the regular curriculum and explore some new content and skill development that they are interested in.

The First and Second Graders have been studying magnets and the forces of push and pull. We have a science kit with all the materials from the Montshire Museum. We have been experimenting with different materials to discover what is, and what is not, magnetic. Students are experimenting with the strength of different magnets. The students will also be solving real life problems using magnets. This is a great hands-on unit.

Last Friday (11/4/22) LI dancers, led by their instructor, Rebecca McGregor, came to Walden School to perform for grades K-8. The students were a great audience as they learned about the choreography behind the dances that were performed. Students in grades 3-8 then had the opportunity to stay in the multi-purpose room and work with the dancers to learn some moves. At the end, their groups got to share out the dance moves that they learned to everyone's applause. Thank you to Lyndon Institute, Mrs. McGregor and all the dancers for the performance and the dance lesson!

Congratulations, this week's artists of the week are 4th grader Reegan Lumsden and 6th grader Will Andrews for their watercolor paintings. Reegan demonstrated the spatter paint method while Will did a great job using the geometric painting style!

I want to give a shout-out to Cooper Goguen, who has worked so hard on his writing, he continues to impress me. He understands the structure of writing and continues to try and make his writing better by taking my feedback seriously and applying it to his work. Students were asked to write a mini-essay for an audience who has also read Bud, Not Buddy, so it might not make complete sense to everyone. Cooper completed this essay independently with very little help on some grammatical mistakes. Keep up the hard work Cooper!

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During The Great Depression, many people had to overcome problems. Bud, from the book Bud Not Buddy, was being abused so he decided to go on the lam and try to find who he thought his dad was. When he met his dad they took Bud in. Bud faced many hardships during his journey, but now that he has found a safe place, he has become more resilient and trusting.

Bud has become more resilient from his journey. When he joined the band he met Miss Thomas, the singer who was making Bud feel safe, and Bud thinks “I wasn’t sure if it was her lips or her hand, but something whispered to me in a language that I didn’t have any trouble understanding, it said. “Go ahead and cry, Bud, you’re home (174).” This shows that Bud Is more resilient because he never used to cry and now that he is safe he feels comfortable. Another way he showed resilience is when he escaped his abusive foster family and lived under a tree at a library trying to make a plan to find his dad. This suggests that even after bud was facing problems he was still trying to find his dad. He was not going to let anything get in his way of finding his dad. Bud never giving up caused him to become more resilient.

Another transformation is that Bud has become more trusting throughout his journey. Bud says, “For a second I was going to tell her they were vampire bites, but something told me to tell the truth this time(163).” This proves why he doesn't have to lie to survive anymore and how he trusts Miss Thomas enough to tell her the truth. Another example of how Bud becomes more trusting is when he meets Lefty Lewis. At first, he doesn't trust lefty Lewis and tries to steal his car, but later Bud starts to trust Lefty after he helps him. This evidence explains that after he feels safe with someone he starts to trust them. By feeling safe and secure Bud was able to trust people.

November 11th: Early release day (noon dismissal) -P.M. Faculty and staff professional development

November 14th: CCSD School Board meeting at Walden School @ 6:00

November 17th: School picture re-take day

November 18th: PTA Holiday Fair: Auction, Vendors & Spaghetti Night 5pm-7pm

November 23rd-25th: Thanksgiving break (no school)

November 28th-30th: Each classroom will be discussing and practicing ALICE training emergency drill procedures

December 5th: Siskin Outdoor Learning Center coming to Walden School to continue work with the 5th and 6th grade on leadership and executive functioning skill development

Is your child's closet looking pretty thin these days? The lost and found is getting pretty full! Please stop by the lost and found bin located right outside the front doors to claim any of your child's missing items.

2022-2023 Walden Family Handbook can be located at https://walden.ccsuvt.net/ under the Community Resources tab.

Email: anthony.fontana@ccsuvt.net
Website: https://walden.ccsuvt.net/
Location: 135 Cahoon Farm Road, West Danville, VT, USA
Phone: (802)563-3000