Harwood Middle School Update, May 3, 2019

HUMS Cares and Connects with the Past.  

This past week the 8th grade had the incredible opportunity to hear the story of a child survivor of the Holocaust named Henny Lewin. Her presentation, filled with images, was impactful and heartwrenching as she told of her experience as a young child being forcibly taken from her home with her parents and moved into the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania. Henny's parents, in an effort to protect her and keep her safe, smuggled her out of the ghetto in a suitcase (she was 3 1/2 years old) with the help of a Catholic priest and she lived with a Catholic family friend for the duration of the war. Amazingly her parents also escaped the Kovno ghetto and they reunited with Henny in 1944. 

There is a lot more to Henny's story and I hope that your children came home and told you about it. As part of a reflection we asked students to draw a picture of a part of Henny's story, so asking your child what they drew could be a good entry point to a conversation. I am attaching an article here from the New Hampshire Gazette that tells some of her story if you are interested to learn more. 

There are a couple more presenters coming in to talk to the 8th grade. Next week, Tom White from the Cohen Center at Keene State is coming in to present about Anne Frank and then on May 24th, Ralph Ibson, my father-in-law will be coming to tell the story of his parents escape from Nazi Germany. If you or someone you know might be interested in coming in to present about the Holocaust or WWII please reach out to me or Jacki McCarty. 

Thank you, 

Team 8 teachers

Sarah Ibson, Jacki McCarty, Katelyn Bouffard, Wendy Moore, Jodie Curran, and Jen Dreimiller

Connecting with others about Curious Topics!  
This past week the 7th-grade finalists presented their oratoricals to their classmates and families. 
Topics were varied and super interesting.   Ask your
7th grader about the final competition and perhaps a bit about their topic. 
Congratulations to Jude, Josey, Nicolas, Libby and Mae for their winning presentations!    

Dear 7th Grade Parents/Guardians, Siblings, Friends, Neighbors, and Teachers,  

Middle school can be a time of transition and identity development for students. I am asking for your support around a project for HUMS students aimed at building self-esteem through a demonstration of love and appreciation from those around them. It is my belief that the more confident and happy one feels about themselves, the more successful they can be in creating positive relationships with family, friends, teachers and community members.  This project is referred to as Lift-Up Letters.  To make the project work, I need your help!  But shhhhhhhhhh…...I would like to keep this a surprise for the students so please don’t let them know what you are up to.   

Here is what I need from you:  Write your 7th grader a letter.  Make it personal - spend time thinking about just them. Include stories that make you smile, or special quotes that are meaningful to you.  Point out special qualities that they have that sets them apart from siblings or peers.  You could include such things as a picture that has special meaning, or an inspirational poem. Most important is the gift of your time, thoughts, and love, so make it personal!  Please do not send gifts, trinkets, candy, or other material items.  This is a chance to express your thoughts and feelings in words, pictures, and stories.  Handwritten letters are best or typed and mailed (see address below). Certain exceptions can be made and letters can be sent via email jdreimiller@wwsu.org but please check in with me first for special permission if the letter needs to come in an email instead or it might get missed. Make sure to put the student’s name in the subject line of all mail.

Please share this letter with other members of your family and with individuals with whom your child shares a special bond, and encourage them all to write Lift-Up Letters to their 7th grade student.  Imagine how special our students feel to receive letters from moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, friends, coaches, teachers or neighbors! We want all students to get about at least four or five letters, so please make sure that you take some time to write and encourage other family and friends to do so too!  The submission date is Monday, May 6, 2019.  You may send completed letters/cards in an envelope to:

Lift-Up Letters

ATTN:  Jen Dreimiller

Middle School Counselor

Harwood Union Middle School

458 Vermont Route 100

South Duxbury, Vermont 05660

For: 7th-grade student’s name here

I will compile all letters and distribute them to the 7th graders at a special event towards the end of the school year.  Please make sure that letters are clearly marked for the student on the outside of their envelopes.   I can be reached at 882-1144 or jdreimiller@wwsu.org   

Curious about their learning?
Students led their conferences this past week
regarding progress on learning goals for the year.   
More conferences to come on May 9th.   

Dear members of our six town community,
At our last meeting on April 24, 2019, the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) Board took action on the four (4) items below (listed in order of the time in the meeting when the vote occurred):

1. Approved the following items as part of the consent agenda: approved past meeting Minutes; accepted Board vouchers equaling $861,774.04; approved an out-of-state field trip for Warren Elementary School students; approved the lease agreement for CBMS Tractor/Mowed
2. Adopted: That the board approve list of challenges/opportunities we are trying to address through the PreK - 12 plan as a working document subject to change.
3. Adopted: That the board approve the timeline for PreK - 12 plan.
4. Adopted: To set aside a longer time for the policy team that has been previously scheduled.

Also at this meeting, Assistant Principal for HUUSD, Sam Krotinger, along with Sally McCarthy and Lisa Therrien, presented on Proficiency-Based Learning. Their presentation can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2uQwDkbPKEVcXFKeXFJa0pIZWdzOG1DSmhUazhRSm4tQ1Br/view

Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 8th, and expected to begin at 6:00 pm in the Harwood Union High School library. No committee meetings are expected to occur. Please confirm time and place of meetings by visiting our website as start times and locations are subject to change. Agendas are posted at least 2 days before the meeting. For more information on the SMART goals that drive the work of these committees, check the HUUSD board web page.

Please visit www.wwsu.org/huusd-board for board agendas and packets  (including committees that are meeting), detailed minutes, HUUSD Smart Goals for the 2018-2019 school year, and to find the link to watch board meetings. The direct link to watch this and past recent meetings is: https://mrvtv.com/category/school-board-meetings/.  There is also an archive of older meetings which can be found here:https://archive.org/search.php?query=Harwood+Unified+Union+School+Board&sort=-date

And finally, please note that the HUUSD board is also hosting multiple “Community Conversations” throughout our district from May 7 through May 23 and we hope you consider attending at least one, perhaps in a location other than your own town! The purpose of the community conversations is to dive deeper into survey results and get to the next level of developing a vision and goals that will guide decisions throughout our district. Stay tuned for specific dates and locations.

Thank you for your continued support and engagement.

Respectfully,
The HUUSD Board:    Caitlin Hollister (Waterbury)  *Chair, Torrey Smith (Duxbury)  *Vice Chair, Hannah Clark (student rep, class of 2019), Jonathan Clough (Warren), Carlton Cummisky (student rep, class of 2021), Gabriel Gilman (Moretown), James Grace (Waterbury), Tim Jones (Fayston), Jake Lynn (student rep, class of 2020), Garett MacCurtain (Duxbury), Maureen McCracken (Waterbury), Theresa Membrino (Fayston), Kristen Rodgers (Moretown), Christine Sullivan (Waitsfield), Alexandra Thomsen (Waterbury), Jeremy Tretiak (Waitsfield), Rosemarie White (Warren)

Community Announcements

Please note that the opportunities/events listed below are not specifically endorsed or screened by school staff. As always, families should use their own standards and review processes to determine appropriate activities.

Free Parent Workshop: Helping Your Kids to Be All That They Can Be June 6th, 6-8pm, Crossett Brook Middle School Cafeteria. Come join us for a night of parenting support and laughter with Charlie Appelstein as we learn positive strength-based approaches to growing our children to be the best that they can be.  We will look at many topics including the decoding of problem behavior, mindset changing, self-esteem building, helping inflexible/explosive children, humor at home, limit setting, logical consequences and so much more. Please RSVP to Moie Moulton LaRock at mmoulton@huusd.org .  Walk-ins are also welcome.  Free childcare will be provided at Moretown School.  Childcare space is limited and slots will be first come first serve so please let Moie know if you would like to reserve a spot.
 

Art Show, Social, and Fundraiser for Waitsfield Children's Center   May 16, at The Mad River Barn, with a raffle drawing at 6:30.  The raffle prize is seven nights lodging in a one bedroom Condo anywhere within the Interval International Timeshare Network with locations worldwide and throughout New England donated by Eagles Resort. All ticket sales benefit The Waitsfield Children's Center. Fifteen percent of food sales will also benefit the Waitsfield Children's Center.

PACE Vermont  Until now, Vermont public health experts have relied on youth surveys done every two years to capture changes in substance use in young people. But we know a lot can happen in two years! Our partners at the University of Vermont and the Vermont Department of Health are launching the Policy and Communication Evaluation (PACE Vermont) research study to understand the impact of state-level policies and communication campaigns on substance use beliefs and behaviors in young Vermonters, aged 12-25. Help us learn more about what’s happening in our state and inform substance use prevention efforts. For more information or to participate in the PACE Vermont Study, visit pacevt.org or @pacevt.