Champlain Valley Union  

High School 
Parent Newsletter
www.cvuhs.org  December 2008 

NEWS FROM THE HOME/SCHOOL OUTREACH

COORDINATORS
COST OF LIVING GETTING YOU DOWN? Have you
applied for food stamps before but been turned down
because you were "over income" (even by just $10?).
Good news is here for many of us - in January, the
income guidelines will be expanding considerably. For
example, right now a family of four must earn $2,297 per
month or less to obtain food stamps. In January, that
amount will increase to $3,269 per month. If your family
receives food stamps then your children will qualify for
free breakfast and lunch at school! Not only that, but
you may be eligible for other financial services, such as
fuel assistance.
If you don’t meet the income guidelines, there may be
another way - if you file for the Vermont Earned Income
Tax Credit you may also receive assistance. For more
information go to vermontoodhelp.org, call 833-7365, or
go to the office of Economic Security at 101 Cherry St,
Suite 101 (in the Burlington Square Mall). You can also
call us, Meg Howard 482-7182 or Meredith Visco,
at 482-07180, here at CVU.
HELP OUT YOUR NEIGHBORS THIS WINTER
Thanks to those who have so generously donated funds
and grocery store gift cards to our Home/School
Home­School Outreach      1 
Eighth Grade Parents      1 
Princeton Model Congress     2 
Direction Center News      3 
2008­09 Yearbook News      4 
Math League Season Underway    4 
“Bring Your Water Bottle to School”  4 
Advisory/PLP Update      5 
Attendance Reminder      5 
School Choice        5 
CVU Redhawk Café      5 
School Calendar        5 
Friends of CVU        6 
CY Aw Shucks Recipients and Great  
    American Smokeout Campaign    7 
CY LEAD (Leadership Education)    8 
Music Program Offers New Programs  9 
Parent for Success Seminar    9 
Engineering Design TASC Competition  9 
Student Store                     10 
Dance Marathon                                           11 
 
 
 

P ARENT
Outreach Sunshine Fund. This includes a very generous
grant and clothing vouchers from SCHIPS for the
C V U in Shelburne, Charlotte, and Hinesburg last
families
year, and we will be reapplying for another grant in Eighth Grade Parents

N EWSLETTER
January. In the meantime, we continue to receive CVU will have the first of several eighth grade
requests from families for winter coats, food assistance, orientations on Wednesday, January 7, at 6:30 p.m.
and holiday gifts for their children, We welcome your We will gather in the CVU gym to begin the evening.
contributions of grocery store gift cards, gas cards, and Please mark your calendars.
cash donations (for us to purchase items) to distribute to
CVU families in need. Make checks payable to the CVU
Home/School fund. Please contact Meg Howard
482-7182 or Meredith Visco 482-7180 at CVU for more
info.

1
. (for the whole group picture) PMCModel
Princeton 2008: Addie Peterson, Alex Hopkins,
Congress
Anika Ades, Anna Allen, Anthony Jordick, Brice Guerrier, Caleb Ladue,
Chris Beaton, Colleen C. McCarthy, Colleen E. McCarthy, Ditra Backup,
Forty-two CVU students attended Princeton Model Congress,
Ellen Muehleck, Ellie Beckett, Emily Loisel, Emily Shaw, Emma Volk,
NovemberLoyer,
Emmaleigh 20-23, in Washington,
Harrison D.C. Jack
Gatos, Henry Haller, this Jesset,
year. The CVU
Jackson
Waller, Jacob was
delegation Hinsdale,
the John
onlyBrooks, Josephfrom
delegation Trotter, Josh Olson,
Vermont andJustin
the
Small, Kameron Clayton,
second-largest Kate Farley,
delegation Kelsey Jensen, For
in attendance. Kendra Haven,
their
Kristina Myers, Margaret
participation Schultz, Mattnine
in the Congress, Metz,CVU
Matt Zahn, Molly walked
students Vatis,
Nate Reese, Quinn Gilbert, Rachel Cross, Ryan Nick, Sidney Hilker,
away with ten awards,
Stephanie Burns, Zach Pete.
including both a gavel (the award for
most effective committee member) and an honorable mention
award
(for won by
the award Jacob
winners Hinsdale.
picture) Highlights of the trip included a
visit with Senator Leahy in the Russell Senate Office Building,
tours of the Supreme Court, and visits to the museums and
monuments on the Mall, including the recently reopened
Museum of American History.

PMC award winners, from front left: Brice Guerrier, Sidney

Hilker and Anika Ades; from back left, Quinn Gilbert, Jacob
Hinsdale, Matt Metz, Ellie Beckett, Jackson Waller, Justin
Small.

PMC 2008: Addie Peterson, Alex Hopkins, Anika Ades, Anna Allen, Anthony Jordick, Brice Guerrier, Caleb Ladue,
Chris Beaton, Colleen C. McCarthy, Colleen E. McCarthy, Ditra Backup, Ellen Muehleck, Ellie Beckett, Emily Loisel,
Emily Shaw, Emma Volk, Emmaleigh Loyer, Harrison Gatos, Henry Haller, Jack Jesset, Jackson Waller, Jacob
Hinsdale, John Brooks, Joseph Trotter, Josh Olson, Justin Small, Kameron Clayton, Kate Farley, Kelsey Jensen,
Kendra Haven, Kristina Myers, Margaret Schultz, Matt Metz, Matt Zahn, Molly Vatis, Nate Reese, Quinn Gilbert, Rachel
Cross, Ryan Nick, Sidney Hilker, Stephanie Burns, Zach Pete.

2
 Direction Center News
Grade 12 – Julie Dimmock and Jane Krasnow have been working to meet with every senior to help in formulating post high
school plans. Please encourage your senior to schedule an appointment today!

The VSAC Unified Scholarship Application Booklets are now in. Please stop by the Direction Center to pick up this useful
application. It is the key to applying to over 100 scholarships administered by VSAC. All VSAC scholarship applications are due
this year by March 1, 2009.

We’ll also be adding scholarship information into Naviance as we receive it.

Application note: Many application deadlines are January 1, 2009. Counselors will be out of the office during the December
break, so please make sure that all requests come to us before December 15..

The Vermont Student Assistance Corporation was created by the Vermont Legislature to help students and parents obtain
information about colleges, financial aid, as well as to help with the distribution of grants and loans. In January, we will have a
forms night for all senior parents who would like assistance completing the FAFSA (Federal Financial Aid) Form. Some colleges
require the CSS profile forms which can be found on www.collegeboard.com. Please check specific college requirements.

Grade 11 –While Julie and Jane have been visiting Writing Prose classes this fall to talk about selecting colleges, second
semester kicks off our official Junior College Program. Although it seems that 2009 is far away, we have already scheduled our
popular College Night Panel. This night, open to both parents and students, offers valuable information from expert college
admissions counselors. Mark your calendar for:

January 29, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. in the Auditorium

Juniors and parents are encouraged to attend, but the program is open to everyone.

We’re still waiting for PSAT scores to come in as they usually arrive in December. When they do arrive, we’ll send a copy home
and stop into U.S. History classes to present a brief overview to the students. We’ll take a few minutes to meet individually with
students to see if they have questions or concerns.

We encourage all juniors to take the SAT and the ACT in the spring and use the information they receive from the PSATs to
help them prepare. In addition, a few schools may require the SAT Subject Tests. Please check college requirements carefully
and give us a call if you have any questions at all. Registration for the tests is on-line. Please see the chart below:

SAT I & II
www.collegeboard.com

Test Date Registration Deadline Late Deadline (extra fee required)

Jan. 24, 2009 Dec. 26 Jan. 6
March 14 Feb. 10 Feb. 24
May 2 March 31 April 9
June 6 May 5 May 15

ACT
www.act.org
Test Date Registration Deadline Late Deadline (extra fee required)
Feb. 7, 2009 Jan. 6 Jan. 16
April 4 Feb. 27 March 13
June 13 May 8 May 22

Grade 10 – Russ Aceto, Sara O’Hare-Hughes, and Naomi Williams will be visiting the English 10 and/or Making of the Modern
World classes before December break to review the PLAN results and how to interpret the academic and career portions of the
test. The test results will be mailed home in early January.

Grade 9 - During the second quarter, Russ, Sara, and Naomi will revisit the health classes to review CVU graduation
requirements, introduce a CVU transcript, set up an account in the Naviance online educational planning program, and
complete a learning styles inventory.
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 2008-2009 Yearbook News
The 2009 Janus Yearbook is now on sale for $50. Every household should have received a flyer outlining prices
and other items available for purchase. A second flyer will be mailed home to those households who have not yet
purchased a yearbook. After February 2, 2009, the yearbook price will increase to $60, so it pays to order early!

There are three options for ordering a 2009 CVU Yearbook:

o Books can be ordered online at jostensyearbooks.com, and there is also a link to the Yearbook
web site on the CVU home page.
OR
o Mail your check to:
CVU
369 CVU Road
Attention: Colleen Wedge, Yearbook Advisor
Hinesburg, VT 05461
OR
o Send in a check or cash with your son or daughter to the Yearbook Advisor, Snelling House.

Parents of the Class of 2009: Watch your mail for an order form for a Yearbook Recognition Ad for your 2009
graduate. Details on prices, ad sizes, layout, etc. will be included in the order form. To create your own parent ad
online, visit Josten's web site: www.JostensAdService.com The artists at Josten's will help design your ad exactly
the way you want it. There is no charge for this service. There will also be a link to the Web site on the CVU home
page.

January Exam Schedule

January 20–26, 2009
The last week of the semester should be used for formative or summative assessment purposes. The expectation
is that all classes will meet during the time that is scheduled for them. In other words, if your student isn’t having
an exam, s/he will still attend a regular classroom activity during that time. Students will not have a “day off”
because their respective classes are not giving an exam.
Busses will run normal routes in the morning and at 12:40.

Tuesday, 1/20 Wednesday, 1/21 Thursday, 1/22 Friday, 1/23 Monday, 1/26
8:15-10:15 W1 W2 W3 W4 Make Ups
10:30-12:30 R1 R2 R3 R4
Teachers who teach Early Block classes may choose to give their exams at a convenient time for them.

MATH LEAGUE SEASON UNDERWAY
On November 12, the Math League team
journeyed to Vergennes for the first meet of the
year. In one of the closest finishes in memory,
they placed third out of eleven teams, just
behind South Burlington and Essex. It was a
great team effort with some outstanding
individual performances, including perfect
papers in geometry by Andrea Blood, Caitlin
Chirgwin, Anne Bertolet, and Krysta Dummit,
and two perfect papers (in both Algebra and
Advanced Math) by Shirlee Wohl. Ben Bond,
Luke Metz, Luke Dorfman, and Holly Bertolet
also contributed to a great performance.
There are four more meets this year, and new
students are always welcome. The team
meets every Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. in
room 231.
“Bring Your Water Bottle to School Week”
Champlain Valley Union High School hosted its first
“Bring your water bottle to school” week from December first
to fifth. The Thayer model engineering class sponsored this
week and project. The student body learned of the danger
of plastic, disposable, water bottles. Students learned that
three fluid ounces of crude oil is used to produce a single
plastic, disposable water bottle.
Permanent water bottles were sold for discount
prices by students in the CVU Redhawk Café to encourage
the use. There was even a ‘coolest water bottle competition’
that had candy prizes. It was considered a great success,
and the word got out about the destructive nature of
disposable water bottles. However, CVU doesn’t want to
stop there. The thought is that we can attack this as a
community. Tap water at CVU is free as well as significantly
healthier than bottled water.

4
 Advisory/PLP Update
November has been a busy month in Advisory. A host of school-wide initiatives, sponsored by a variety of
organizations, has had students providing non-perishable food items for local food shelves, collecting winter
clothing for refugee resettlement programs, and creating posters in conjunction with Connecting Youth’s (CY) “red
ribbon” week. These activities and many others are all part of helping us achieve our Advisory purpose statement
which is, “Advisory provides the opportunity for every student to develop meaningful relationships, focusing on
personalized academic, civic and social growth.”
November also saw the third annual Advisory Pride Emblem (APE) project. The project asks each
Advisory to make a visual representation of their Advisory and what is important to them about Advisory. The
emblems are all made on similar six-sided sheets of poster board and are hung on a wall. The emblems all
“tessellate:” symbolically showing that while each Advisory is unique to itself, we are all part of the larger CVU
community. The completed emblems are on display in the “Four-Corners” stairway and are an impressive sight.
The talent and creativity of our students is amazing and these emblems are just one more example of that!
During October, time was provided for 10th grade students to meet one-on-one with their Advisor to
complete the MAPS 10 questionnaire. Not all Advisors were able to complete that process during the time given,
so those meetings may still be taking place. Parents of 10th grade students will soon be receiving a similar
questionnaire. We ask that you complete and return the questionnaire either electronically or by mail. During the
next few weeks, we will begin the groundwork that will eventually lead to creation of schedules for next year.
During Advisory, we will start with next year’s seniors to complete MAPS 11. We will review their credit sheets and
graduation requirements as well as review “where they are at” and “what their future goals might be.” We will be
encouraging all juniors to meet with Julie Dimmock or Jane Krasnow in the Direction Center as they are the “future
planning” counselors. As we move into December and January, the scheduling process will begin in earnest. We
encourage you to discuss scheduling of classes with your child. General questions about courses and your child
may be directed to your child’s Advisor; however, specific questions about course requirements, prerequisites, or
other similar type questions are best handled by the Direction Center.

Attendance Reminder School Choice

Please remember that when your student is out due
to illness, appointments, or any reason, a call to
his/her house office is required on the day of the
absence. Please call if your student will be arriving
late, leaving early, or even if s/he is leaving and then
returning. (If your student is leaving during a free
block, a call is still needed). Calls should be received
in the house office by 9:30 a.m. whenever possible.
If your student will be missing school due to extended
family vacations, etc., please notify the house office
in advance so the proper paperwork may be filled out
and early notification given to the teachers.
Cyndi Labelle, Chittenden House
482-7130
Deb Seaton, Fairbanks House
482-7140
Vicki Roberts, Nichols House
482-7160
Susannah Erikson, Snelling House
482-7150
CVU participates in a school choice agreement with
South Burlington H.S., Burlington H.S. and Winooski
H.S. Spaces for students who reside in the CVU
district and who wish to attend one of those other
schools are allotted on a space-available basis in a
lottery in early February. Students who are interested
in participating in the school choice program need to
obtain an application form at the CVU Direction
Center, complete it, and return it by the deadline:
February 6, 2009. Results of the lottery will be
available, and students will be notified by February
13.
CVU Redhawk Cafe
Please check out the most recent issue of the CVU
Redhawk Café newsletter. To view, please click on
the link provided.
http://www.cvuhs.org/Cafeteria/newsletter.pdf
uhs org/Cafeteria/newsletter pdf

CVU School Calendar for 2008-2009

Please check out the CVU School Year Calendar on our homepage. This calendar has the Red and White day
schedule, early dismissals, vacation days, sporting events, etc. Please check it on a regular basis. We will update
it as needed. You can also access it by clicking the following link:
http://www.cvuhs.org/Calendar/CVUSCHOOLCALENDAR.html

5
 Friends of CVU
The mission of the Friends of CVU is to foster a sense of unity among parents, students, staff,
and the community involved with Champlain Valley Union High School. Friends of CVU is a
parent-run organization that provides grants supported by funds raised through membership,
concession stand sales, and clothing sales. Last year’s grants awarded totaled $3500. Our 2009
goal is to support the renovation of the auditorium.

Last week, a meeting was held as a follow-up to the well-attended “Dessert

with Principal” meeting held in November in which over 60 parents discussed the
issues surrounding student safety with Sean McMannon and other CVU
administrators. Student safety is a priority issue, and we need parents to be involved
to ensure all our children learn and practice safe behaviors. If you were not able to
attend one or both of these meetings, please feel free to contact me if you would like
more information.

The meeting also included information regarding the CVU Student Council
Dance Marathon on February 7th and 8th to support the auditorium renovation.
Once again, we need parental volunteers to get involved to make the auditorium
project a reality.

For more questions, please contact Lori Smith at 985-9415/ friends@cvuhs.org or visit
cvuhs.org

6
CY Honors Volunteers
at Annual Aw Shucks
Celebration

"Aw Shucks! Who me?

I haven't really done
anything special!" This is
what people often say when
they are nominated for CY-
Connecting Youth's annual
volunteer recognition award.
But in truth, they have given
countless hours of volunteer
time to support youth and
families in the Chittenden
South District. On November
18, CY honored many
unsung heroes from our
communities. Recipients of
the "Aw Shucks" award for
2008 include: Chris Davis, Kay
Gault and Tracy Simmons from Charlotte; Ann Thomas and Kristy Johnson from Hinesburg; Tim O'Brien and Ruth
and Charlie Magill from St. George/Williston; Randy Sweeney and Gabriela Meyer from Shelburne; Rahn Fleming
from CVU High School; SCHIPS from the CSSU business community; and Micaela Wallace for the Brian O' Regan
Mentoring Award. Please join CY in thanking these volunteers for helping to create a safe, healthy
environment where youth can thrive!

CY Promotes "Great American Smokeout" and "Your Quit, Your Way" Campaign

Throughout November and December, CY is working with the Vermont Department of Health to support
smokers who think of themselves as "independent quitters," interested in giving up cigarettes in their own way, on
their own terms. Most of the 50,000 Vermonters who tried to stop smoking last year wanted to quit on their own, so
local and statewide organizations are providing a variety of tools to help these self-directed Vermonters.
Overcoming tobacco addiction can be a big challenge, and almost everyone needs some sort of support to
be successful. People who are trying to quit smoking say what works is encouragement and great tools. The new
"Your Quit. Your Way." products offered by CY and the Vermont Quit Network were designed to be accessible where
quitters live, work and play (online and offline), and are available with no obligation. As part of this smoking
cessation campaign, CY LEAD students also led Great American Smokeout activities on November 20th, soliciting
stories from former smokers to serve as inspiration to those who might want to quit. Look for displays with these
stories throughout Chittenden South or visit the website at www.seewhy.info.
Smokers thinking about quitting can get quit tips, free quit tools, or sign up to have free nicotine gum,
patches or lozenges delivered directly to their homes, by visiting VTQuitNetwork.org and clicking on "Your Quit.
Your Way." Those interested in extra help or advice can call 1.800.QUIT.NOW (784-8669) to setup an
appointment with a phone or in-person quit coach.

7
CY LEAD

Students from CY LEAD (Leadership Education the Anti

Drug), worked hard and put together another successful
fall retreat. Twenty six students from CVU got to spend the
night at the Round Hearth in Stowe on November 14.
The major themes of the weekend were stress management
and understanding substance use problems, specifically
binge drinking. Students met other students from CVU that
they did not know, learned, and had fun in a supportive
environment. Thanks to the amazing adults that chaperoned
the retreat: Dayna Scott, Jen Bickel-Hayes, Seth Emerson,
and Rahn Fleming. CY will host another retreat in the spring;
if you missed out on the fun this time, we hope you can join
us in the spring.

Eleven students from CVU attended the Governor’s Youth Leadership Conference at the Sheraton Hotel in
Burlington on November 24th. Along with approximately 500 high school students from all over Vermont, students
attended workshops that focused on important safety issues like impaired driving, distracted driving, and
understanding the teenage brain. Once again the CY Improv troupe was asked to perform at the conference. We
offered a workshop focusing on media literacy and tobacco advertising. Students that attended the conference are
excited to come back to CVU and implement some of the ideas that learned about at the conference.

Did you know that December is National Drug and Drunk Driving Awareness Month? Sadly, impaired car crashes
continue to be the number one cause of death for young people ages 15-24. Yet the real tragedy is these crashes
are 100% preventable. Any time of year crashes can happen, but with the holidays upon us and road conditions
often more treacherous this can increase the risks. During December, we ask drivers to place a red ribbon around
side mirror to show support for sober drivers that always wear their safety belt. If you are reading this and have not
had a conversation with your child about what they would do if they were in a situation where the driver was
impaired, check out the web site www.sadd.org. (Students Against Destructive Decisions). Under the heading
resources are great tips to starting a conversation and a great document called the contract for life. For more
information about any CY program, please contact Margo Austin at maustin@cvuhs.org or 482-7156.

Top Photo
Pictured with Governor
Douglas is: Alison Giroux,
Shannon Ryan, Max
Danis, and Kathleen
Leach

Photo Left: Lauren

Sheidegger, Tim
Williams, Ross Glore,
Callan Suozzi-Rearic,
James Neiley, and Julie
Ho.
 

8
 Music Program Offers New Classes
CVU's music program now includes classes for more
than band and chorus. The school offers an
ensemble for string orchestra. The new program
started this fall and welcomes new string students at
any time during the semester. It is not too late for
your child to take advantage of this new offering.
String orchestra occurs four days a week during
Early Block. If your child is an aspiring string player,
have him/her take advantage of this additional
opportunity to hone playing abilities. In addition to
string orchestra, the school has also added a piano
playing/music theory class. This is a chance to learn
piano without extremely expensive private lessons
and delve into music theory in an academic setting.
Please encourage your student to take advantage
of this class and the brand new piano keyboard lab
that has been invested in to musically benefit the
students of CVU. If you have any questions or want
further information about either of these classes,
please feel free to email Deanna Smith at
dsmith@cvuhs.org.
Parenting Tips for Success Seminar
CY-Connecting Youth will offer a one day seminar to
help parents polish their parenting skills and give
them tips on how to face some of the more
challenging adolescent issues. This seminar will be
held on Saturday, January 24 from 9:00 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. at CVU High School. The snow date will
be Saturday, January 31. Throughout the day,
parents will learn how to strengthen their family
bonds; improve communication amongst all members
of the family; set clear expectations and guidelines;
express and control anger in healthy ways; increase
children’s participation in the family; and help their
children make healthy choices.
The day is open to all parents and guardians,
of children in grades 5-10, in the Chittenden South
District and includes lunch and snacks. The cost is
$30 per parent, and some scholarships are available.
Childcare may be available upon request. Pre-
registration is required and space is limited, so sign
up soon! For more information or to register, please
call Jen Bickel-Hayes at 482-6951 or e-mail jbickel-
hayes@cvuhs.org . Additional information on CY and
its programs can be found at www.seewhy.info.

Engineering Design TASC Competition

Congratulations to Olak Verdonk, CVU teacher, and the following students for their participation in the 2008 UVM
Engineering Design TASC competition that took place on December 6. The 15 CVU students (in three teams) from
the Design TASC Engineering course competed against 40 other engineering teams from all over the state and
beyond. The students did a marvelous job representing our school. These students took home some $1,600 in
prize money! See the website for more info about the competition:
http://www.cems.uvm.edu/TASC/2008/index.htm

Team Albatross: Second Place in Uphill course, and Second Place in the Design Notebook category
John Dixon (team manager)
Cyrus Schenck
Tommy Powers
Christopher Ghazi
Nick LaFrance

Team Slice: Second Place in Down Range course, and Second in the Display Table category
Eric Kolibas (team manager)
Robert Pelletier
Elliott Lutton
Peter Neu
Arles Netherwood-Schwesig

Team Iron Shot: First in Chutes and Ladders course, and Third in the Design Notebook category
Matt Mainer (team manager)
Jack Heaslip
Newton Hausermann
Mike Bonfigli
Jordan Vogler

9
 The Pasture
CVU Student Store

Kids love….
Snow days, lunch break,
and
Holiday gifts from CVU’s school store!

Shop Today

Block 1: 8:15—9:45
Block 2: 10:00—11:30
Block 4: 1:30—3:00
The store is also open during all home basketball games

10
11