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| Caring About Kindness HUMS students arrived to a school filled with their names on hearts placed around the school. A giant poster reminded everyone why kindness is essential in creating a safe and caring community for everyone (it was a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day as well)    |
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Harwood Union middle school students have had unique opportunities this year as a result of a Farm-to-School grant received from Vermont FEED. The goal of this grant was to create permanent systems within the building to advance connections between the classroom, the community, and the cafeteria. This grant has afforded money to support a variety of resources and activities around local food and nutrition. In October, students participated in a school-wide harvest fest. Students pressed cider, decorated locally grown pumpkins, baked with locally-sourced goods, and a host of other STEM-based activities. Middle school students have also taste tested the “Food of the month” during lunch. Taste tests have included beet baba ganoush, beet hummus, winter squash muffins, kale salad, and beef meatballs versus the “Impossible Burger” meatballs.
Students in the Developing Sustainable Habits (DSH) class have connected cafeteria taste tests with classroom learning by preparing the food served during the taste test and considering the impact of local foods on economic systems.
Middle school students have had experiences with local farms by taking field trips to Harwood’s neighboring farm at the Living Tree Alliance in Moretown. These experiences are rich in opportunity to discuss students’ understanding of the cultural, economic, social, and environmental implications of local food systems. Thanks to the dedicated work of the Farm-to-School Committee at Harwood, spearheaded by teacher Paul Kramer, middle school teachers are designing further opportunities that connect students with the farm at Living Tree Alliance for more educational opportunities this spring!
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POETRY SLAM WORKSHOP 2020
This week marked the official 8th Grade Poetry Unit kick-off with a Poetry Slam Workshop! Vermont Poetry Slam Master Geof Hewitt, conducted the workshop which culminated in an in-class Poetry Slam competition with students. Geof is a poetry slam "guru" who conducts poetry slam functions around the state of Vermont, and who has several anthologies of his own poetic works as well - including his latest anthology, “Affordable Poems, Alternative Facts” which was published this month! Geof has worked with HUMS to develop and refine the workshop over the years, and this year Geof was impressed by the creativity and engagement of our 8th graders!
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Middle School Spring Sports sign-ups are open! In the Spring, at Harwood, we will be offering MS Softball, MS Baseball, and MS Track & Field. These options are open to anyone in grades 7 and 8.
The Preseason Meeting, where Students and Parents can meet their Spring Sports coaches, will be held on March 12th in the Harwood Auditorium.
Please sign-up ASAP at this link: MS Spring Sports Sign-Ups. |
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| HUMS connecting during ELO times in our sunny and warm space. |
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| Connecting and Caring about our Community 8th graders experienced a restorative circle simulation during one of their core classes this past week to understand how one works, why they are important and what roles each play. |
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Subject: HUUSD Board Meeting Recap 2/12
Dear members of our six town community,
At our last meeting on February 12, 2020, of the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) Board:
Teacher representatives of the Harwood Union Education Association presented on some possible impacts of the proposed budget on Academic Programs and answered questions from board members.
The board discussed protocols regarding media/public events and/or written communications of both individual board members and the full board.
The first reading of the policy packet occured.
The Board took action on the four (4) items below:
Approved the following items as part of the consent agenda: Approve: Minutes of 1/22/2020; Accept: Vouchers 1177, 1187 and 1189 equaling $592,258.02
Approved: To direct administration to support the Board's public statement from 1/25 that a collaborative transitional team including staff will be convened and meet regularly to discuss staffing issues.
Approved: To add to the 2/19/20 agenda the consideration of a motion regarding a collaborative staff- admin committee that is tasked with reviewing cost-saving alternatives to cutting student-facing positions after town meeting on March 3, 2020.
Approved: To confirm the recommendation of the Superintendent on behalf of the Harwood Principal hiring committee to negotiate contracts to hire Megan McDonough and Laurie Greenberg.
Our next meeting is Wednesday, February 19th at 6:00 pm in the Harwood Union School library. Please visit https://huusd.org/huusd-board to confirm time and place of meetings.
You’ll also find all board and committee agendas, packets and minutes, and the link to board meeting videos. The direct link to watch this and other recent meetings is: https://mrvtv.com/category/school-board-meetings/. An archive of older meetings can be found here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=Harwood+Unified+Union+School+Board&sort=-date
Thank you for your continued support and engagement.
Respectfully,
The HUUSD Board
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