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School Spotlights

PAHCC Pulse: January 2025 Newsletter – Celebrating Student Success & Upcoming Events!

Exciting news from the Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center! Our January 2025 edition of the PAHCC Pulse newsletter is now available. Dive in to discover the latest updates, student achievements, and upcoming events. Stay connected with our vibrant community and see how we're shaping the future together. Read the full newsletter here:  https://www.flipsnack.com/AC85BD99E8C/january-2025-pahcc-pulse/full-view.html

Winter Ball 2025

This past Saturday, students came together at the Vergennes Opera House for a night of music, dancing, and celebration! From 8-11 PM, the dance floor was alive with energy, and the evening was truly one to remember.

To capture the fun, we’ve put together a Winter Ball 2025 Reel featuring photos and dancing highlights. Be sure to check it out and relive the magic of the night!

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make this event so special!

Winter Ball 2025

VUHS hosted the Math Team meet, on Monday, January 27th.  The Vergennes Math Team placed 8th out of 13 teams. We had a victory over U-32, Lamoille, Rice, MVU, and MMU.

 

Top Category Tests:

  • Arithmetic: Rowan Neffinger, Khanlen Ouimette & Ava Francis
  • Geometry: Noah Smits, Adrienne Smits, Ava Francis, and Sophia Johnson
  • Algebra: Ethan Croke, Quincy Sabick, and Luke Davis
  • Adv. Math: Luke Davis, Ethan Croke, Khanlen Ouimette and Chance Koenig
  • Team Test takers Khanlen Ouimette, Adrienne Smits, Quincy Sabick, Ethan Croke, and Luke Davis.

Top Scores Overall:

  • 5th: Adrienne Smits
  • 4th: Khanlen Ouimette
  • 3rd: Sophia Johnson
  • 2nd: Ethan Croke
  • 1st: Luke Davis

Great Job to all the VUHS Mathletes: Sophia James, Marwan Liebhaber, Rowan Neffinger, Marley Quinn, Ellie Eckels, Khanlen Ouimette, Adrienne Smits, Noah Smits, Isabelle Van Voorst, Kyan Barcomb, Ava Francis, Amelia Giroux, Di Hunt, Chance Koenig, Gina LeBeau, Phoebe Raphael, Libby Ringer, Peter Maneen, Quincy Sabick, Ethan Croke, Rory Couture, Luke Davis, Sophia Johnson, and Mia Kutchukian.

Even though this article from the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) is from school leaders' perspectives, we felt it included some important information for all of us (families, students, staff, and administration) in the middle school. It’s also a bit long, so we’ll include two of the four points this week and the other two next week. Thanks for reading. 

Have a great week.

April & Jay

 

Leading from the Middle: Four Things Middle School Leaders Want Parents to Know

Research is clear that family engagement in middle school is essential for student success. Yet it sometimes feels like schools and families are more divided than ever. Middle school leaders must build strong partnerships that help both constituencies achieve their shared goal: success for the whole student.

In celebration of Middle Level Education Month #MLEM, AMLE sat down with middle school administrators from around the world to learn more about what they wish parents and caregivers knew about middle level education and their role as school leaders. Here, we capture their top four messages for families. This article is part of our #MLEM Leading from the Middle series.

ONE:

We want and need you to stay actively involved in your child’s life and education. Regardless of a student’s family dynamics, research clearly links the involvement of families with higher levels of student achievement, improved student behavior, increased school attendance, improved student emotional well-being, and greater overall support for schools. At the same time, tweens’ natural desire for more independence leads many parents to believe their children don’t want them involved during the middle school years.

Middle school leaders know that, often, parents may be struggling in their own relationship with their kids, says Linda Roth, the Executive Director of Community School in Roanoke, Virginia. That makes it even more important for a positive, ongoing relationship between school staff and families. “The best we can do is to make sure that we have a collaborative relationship,” Linda explains, “When things are not going well, they’re not going to hear us if we have not included them in the past and they don’t feel like you’re on their child’s side.”

Kula Gaugen-Haili, Middle School Principal at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Campus in Honolulu, Hawai’i, builds this trust by starting every year with a “talk story” gathering for parents. “I always tell them I need them to really love and care for their kid during this time,” says Kula, “I need that partnership with them. We try to create a community hub for our parents.”

Parent involvement is even more important as kids navigate an increasingly turbulent world. Phyllis Fagell, school counselor and author of Middle School Superpowers puts it, “For kids, it’s easier to make big mistakes with social media and their combined offline and online lives. It’s no wonder parents are more fearful and kids are more anxious. The stakes in a lot of ways seem higher than in past generations. But all the things that we tend to do in a situation like that (back off, not get as involved, throw up our hands, dread the phase, etc.) are the opposite of what we should be doing. They need us so much right now.”

Paul Destino, Principal of Mayfield Middle School in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, advises parents to pay attention to the surroundings that kids live in today. “Kids are doing and seeing stuff that probably isn’t the best for them at this age,” says Paul, “It’s really important for parents to monitor kids.” Of course, parents must delicately balance monitoring their kids while still providing space for them to grow and mature as they seek increased independence. Steven Hauk, Principal of West Hollow Middle School in Melville, New York, tells parents that if they’re not going to manage what their kid is doing online, at least pay attention to how much time they’re spending on it. “I have a 13-year-old student who goes to bed at 4:00 am every night because TikTok told him it’s a myth that humans need more sleep than that,” he recalls, “Kids are on their phones so much it’s limiting actual social interaction and their development of real-life social coping skills.”

Despite the natural push against adults and their parents, tweens want the safety of rules and routine, advises Robert Caplinger, Principal of Laveen Elementary School in Laveen, Arizona. “They want an adult in their life that guides them, without ever acknowledging that they want that,” he says. To help families, Cedrick Gray, author of The Successful Middle School Leader, recommends providing a concise checklist to make monitoring their child’s education feel more manageable. He calls it the ABC’s. “I want you to check your child’s attendance, behavior, and course performance,” says Cedrick, “Those are your indicators. If something isn’t right, give us a call. Let’s sit down and talk.”

TWO:

Grades may not “count” for college or career choice quite yet, but middle school is a critical time in your child’s education. Despite the fact that 10–15-year-olds are experiencing the most rapid and significant changes of their lives other than infancy, middle school often remains typecast as a time to simply endure or to “get through.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Research tells us that the quality of students’ middle school experience greatly affects their sense of well-being and their later chances for high school completion and post-secondary success.

Unfortunately, there is a documented, significant decline in youth engagement in school during the middle grades. Higher levels of academic engagement in fifth grade are followed by precipitous drops in sixth through ninth grades, and finally level off in tenth through twelfth grade grades. For this reason, Stephanie Patton, an Area Superintendent in Columbus City Schools in Ohio, continues to prioritize the middle grades even as a district leader. “Sixth grade specifically is when students decide they may drop out, even if they don’t actually drop out until high school,” says Stephanie, “It’s important to have a strong foundation in middle school so students successfully transition to high school and then onto post-secondary or career readiness.”

It can be a challenge to adequately impress the importance of the middle grades on parents, cautions Todd Brist, Principal of Watertown Middle School in Watertown, South Dakota and author of The Successful Middle School Advisory. “I don’t think people really recognize the lynchpin that middle school is for our kids,” Todd explains, “We know early literacy is so important in elementary school. And we know being college and career ready is so important in high school. But giving kids a firm social-emotional bedrock at the middle level can really be a make-or-break point for our kids.

A key role parents can play is in supporting the development of these social-emotional and executive functioning skills – and knowing there are going to be ups and downs along the way. “At orientation, we talk a great deal about resilience and grit,” says Steven Hauk, “I invite parents to understand that their kid is going to hit some kind of stumbling block, whether it be academic or social. That’s natural and they should support their kid – but don’t solve it for them.”

While every day is different and full of unique challenges, the middle school leaders we spoke to wouldn’t trade it for the world. “I feel like being a middle school principal is a walk in the park,” said Todd Brist, “It’s just whether on any given day if it’s an amusement park or Jurassic Park.”

6th grade scientists have been learning about weather this month. You can ask your students about convection currents, the coriolis effect, global winds, clouds, low pressure, high pressure, the four weather fronts, and the water cycle for starters! We decided to try and harness some of the wind to do some work (lift a cup of pennies) by engineering wind turbine blades. Lots of ideas, lots of conversations, and lots of improving designs were all part of the engineering process.

 

Career Center Open House

On Thursday, February 6th, from 4:30-6:30 PM, PHCC is hosting an Open House! Come learn about all the programs they offer.

At the North Campus, explore:

  • Automotive Technology
  • Diesel Power Technology
  • Sustainable Agriculture

At the Main Campus, discover:

  • Performance and Technical Theatre
  • Construction Technology
  • Culinary Arts
  • Design and Illustration
  • Engineering and Architecture
  • Human Services
  • Industrial Design and Fabrication
  • Medical Professions
  • Natural Resource Management
  • Welding

 

 

The current logo, a blue wave as the letter C, for the student newspaper

I am thrilled to announce that the very first edition of our 100% student-run newspaper hit the stands this past Friday! 

These talented students have poured their creativity, time, and effort into crafting a publication that truly reflects their hard work and passion. Their dedication is nothing short of inspiring, and I couldn't be more proud of what they've accomplished.

Take a moment to dive in and enjoy the fantastic work they’ve put together—you won’t want to miss it!

Happy reading, and congratulations to our student journalists for this amazing achievement!

 

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1732541650/anwsdorg/bzycdtyjknpk8s7ybszt/TheCurrentNovemberEdition1.pdf

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