SCS Weekly Newsletter 10/8/23

Dear Salisbury Families:

All my life, October has been my favorite month. Watching the leaves change colors, feeling a new nip appear in the air, and seeing the beautiful harvest moons rising over the mountains in the twilight that gets earlier and earlier with each day- it's just a beautiful time.

It's also a great time to get outside, especially after the summer we have had. Cool nights get rid of the mosquitos and many of the ticks, the days are nice and temperate, and the wildfire smoke from Canada and the western US is greatly diminished. Yep, October sure is nice.

And we're going to take advantage of it this week! First, on Tuesday, we are going to hold our second annual FOSCS "Clear the Trails" volunteer event, where we gather from 5:00 until dark (6:30-7:00 or so) to clean up the trails that extend through our 40+ acre property. Although we cut a lot of brush back last year, so the trails will be a lot easier to find and trim, there are some good size blowdowns across our trails, and we want to make sure there aren't any sketchy leaning trees near our outdoor classrooms, so bring tools (chainsaws needed) and work gloves! To help keep track of tools and who is bringing what I've created a volunteer sign-up sheet. To sign up, either click here or on the button down below. Even if you don't sign up, please come on by!

Also, on Thursday, October 12th, we will hold our second annual Fall Foliage Fest from 1:00- 2:30 on our "Secret Soccer Field". We had a blast last year, and we look forward to doing it again! Activities will include: soccer, kickball, hikes on our trails, tug-of-war. egg races, art stations, and more! Parents and caregivers interested in volunteering can sign up here, or by clicking the button down below.

Best,

Bjarki

Look below for:

• A link to include your contact info in our directory!
• News and reminders from SCS
• Some images from when 2-3 went to Button Bay
• Info on "Cooking with NOM"
• Lions Club Daiper Drive
• School House Savings
• ACSD- related info

Important dates coming up:

• Monday, October 9th: Indigenous People's Day: No School
• Tuesday, October 10th: "Clear the Trails" work event. 5:00-7:00
• Thursday, October 12th: Fall Foliage Fun 1:00-2:30.

Monday, October 9th is Indigenous Peoples' Day, a day that celebrates indigenous peoples of the Americas and honors their histories and cultures. ACSD has a day off on this day.

Families have been asking about picture day. It's not for a while! Save the date: October 30th!

Last Friday our 2-3 class went to Button Bay State Park on Lake Champlain, where they particularly focused on the fossils that could be found there. Students enjoyed the park while learning about the natural history of the area. It's amazing how many fossils are visible at Button Bay, even in the very rocks people used in building the structures!

The Lions Club of Middlebury is having a diaper drive for the month of October. All diapers collected are going to the Addison County Parent-Child Center. The Middlebury Lions are doing this along with all 34 Lions Clubs throughout Vermont. The effort is to help offset the 70% reduction in funding to the Vermont Diaper Bank. The Diaper Bank exists to help provide diapers to economically challenged young families.

You may drop diaper donations off at Salisbury Community School, and we will transfer them to the Lions Club. We will weigh the diapers, and announce the total weight in a future newsletter. Then, next year, we'll try to beat that number!

Salisbury 2/3 teacher Jenn Larocque is working with a group of Middlebury College students from Nutritional Outreach and Mentoring (NOM) who will be offering a cooking program.

This student-led organization buys and prepares a meal kit and then facilitates a ZOOM cooking session with Salisbury families. This opportunity is meant to be a fun way to engage and learn about the Vermont harvest food of the month. Apples are the Vermont harvest food for the month of October and the recipe this month is making yummy Apple Cinnamon Bread.

This cooking opportunity will take place Monday, October 16th starting at 5:30 p.m. There are 20 slots available and I will confirm with families who sign up. A bag of fresh produce (meal kit) will be sent home with your child on Monday, October 16th free of charge. These ingredients will be used to make the recipe. A meal kit is designed with enough food for a household to try. If there are multiple kids in a household, the intention is for them to work together on this cooking project. Parents are asked to help with some steps. We will be offering this program to students in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. We hope there's enough interest to offer this opportunity each month. If you sign up and do not get in for the October class, you will automatically have first choice for the November Class.

If your child would like to participate in a cooking class making Apple Cinnamon Bread from home, please sign up here!