Students enrolled in Green across the Pacific's (GATP) summer environmental leadership program have really dug into Vermont.

Four of the 321 Vermont high school students honored for completing studies at the Governor's Institutes of Vermont this summer are from Shelburne, and represent Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU) and Lake Champlain Waldorf High School (LCWHS).

In last week's issue of the Shelburne News, readers were introduced to the New Farms for New Americans program, a local effort to assist the area's recent immigrants. The story detailed the cooperative efforts between Shelburne resident Al Gobeille and the Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV). Another Shelburne resident, CVU senior Julia Hughes, has also been working with the AALV this summer and has supplied a report of her experiences below.

The second Grow an Extra Row drop-off and pick-up date is Tuesday, Aug. 3 at Shelburne Community School (SCS).

"How did you spend your summer vacation?" This is a question often asked by admission officers of high school students during a college interview. It is also a requirement on most college applications and an integral part of the college admission procedure.

Although she didn't know it at the time, Shelburne resident Susan Grasso was developing the vision for TeenOpps long before her own children entered adolescence.

Allan Miller and his family moved from Alaska to Shelburne earlier this summer and Miller's first day as Shelburne Community School's (SCS) new middle school principal was Monday, July 12. Miller has a broad background that includes an extensive career in education and teaching in Alaska. He also holds a pilot's license (and almost had a career as an astronaut), and was a ski coach for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan.

Thanks to the efforts of Shelburne resident Eric Morris, the names of Shelburne Community School (SCS) retiring teachers and Principal John Bossange will now be remembered for a very long time. Morris is a custom furniture maker and builds custom homes.

This spring's CVU Entrepreneurship students participated in an Elevator Pitch Competition as their final exam. It is called an "elevator pitch" because the entrepreneur's oral presentation is close to the length of a quick elevator ride.

The Vermont Commons School in South Burlington held its 13th graduation ceremony on Friday, June 11 at the UVM Horticultural Research Center, adjacent to the school's campus.

Rev. Bernard W. Bourgeois has announced that the following Shelburne residents graduated from Rice Memorial High School on June 13.

A sea of red took over the Patrick Gymnasium on the UVM campus as students from Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU) walked to their seats to begin CVU's 46th commencement exercises last Friday, June 18.

Eighty-eight eighth-graders graduated from the Shelburne Community School (SCS) on Tuesday evening, June 15.

A packed audience was treated to selections of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" during the high school commencement ceremony of the Lake Champlain Waldorf School on Saturday, June 12.

Fresh vegetables from Lewis Creek Farm, Leonardo's Gelato, American Flatbread Pizzas, cider from Champlain Orchards, and Alex's spicy pretzels... Although it looks like a list of menu items at one of our local restaurants, it is actually a sampling of the wide array of food choices students have access to in the Redhawk Café, Champlain Valley Union (CVU) high school's cafeteria. When Leo Laforce, CVU's food service director shared the long list of products he and his staff purchase locally for the meal program, my reaction was how fortunate the students are to enjoy good food produced locally.

With summer approaching, it's college road-trip time! As shown in the hilarious Disney film, "College Road Trip," location matters when making an application list and eventually choosing to attend. In the movie, Raven-Symone plays a high school junior from Chicago who does not want to attend Northwestern because it is too close to home. She joins her Dad, Martin Lawrence, on a topsy-turvy adventure to visit Georgetown. Their road trip illustrates the role of location in selecting a college.

Cynthia Shedd began her teaching career 30 years ago and has spent the last 18 of those years at Shelburne Community School (SCS). She will retire at the end of this school year and plans to move to Florida to be closer to family members.

The Shelburne Community School PTO is hosting a community party to honor John Bossange as he retires from his position as middle school principal.

Calling all gardeners...As you plant your vegetable gardens this spring be thinking ahead a bit and plant an extra row of veggies. This is the second year that the Shelburne Community School (SCS) FEED Committee is organizing their "grow an extra row" initiative to provide fresh vegetables for families in our community.

My name is Francesco Ballardini and I'm an Italian exchange student sponsored by PAX. I arrived in Shelburne last August, and have been staying with the Owens family and attending CVU. As the school year will soon be over, I will return home to Italy. I am writing to you to express my thanks to everyone here who helped to make my experience so great.

Just a few days after the Vermont Legislature wrapped up, a mix of six Senators and Representatives were back in business meeting with a group of high school students to discuss the legal drinking age in Vermont.

Every year, seniors at Vermont Commons School spend their last six weeks of high school exploring a passion or interest of their choice. This usually involves doing an internship with an adult mentor in the community. At the end of the internship, each student makes a presentation about his/her Senior Project to the entire VCS community. Below are descriptions of the senior projects for the Shelburne students in the VCS Class of 2010 written in their own words.

As the school year draws to a close, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on some of the different ways that the Shelburne Community School (SCS) has succeeded in educating and enriching its students over the course of the last year. The scope of learning at SCS goes beyond the traditional "3Rs." During the school day and after regular school hours, our children are given a variety of opportunities to expand upon different areas of interest.

Four students from the Shelburne Community School (SCS) will soon experience international travel. At the end of June, fourth grader Dylan Palmer-Mercier, fifth grader Lea Berger, sixth grader Bridget Kerr, and sixth grader Camille Bartsch will all travel to a small village in the Alps to visit their French pen pals with whom they have been exchanging letters for the past couple of years.

This week we feature a public "thank you" letter from French exchange student Camille Freycenon, in her own words. Next week we will feature a thank you from Francesco Ballardini, another exchange student who lived with a Shelburne family.

The Shelburne Community School (SCS) children enjoyed a gorgeous and fun-filled day last week for the PTO's 17th Jogathon fundraiser. In the morning, the K-second graders ran around the flagpole circle at SCS, while the third-fifth graders ran the Davis-Fletcher loop in the neighborhood behind the school.

Hands-On-Nature wraps up its year studying eco-systems with the stream. In this wet and muddy workshop, students learn that the stream is a dynamic environment that constantly changes size and speed; and that different creatures live in the stream according to the landscape and water quality.

Four teachers at the Shelburne Community School (SCS) are finishing their final weeks and are preparing for retirement. The teachers have given Shelburne its due; they have taught at SCS for a combined total of 123 years. Here are some facts about their time teaching in Shelburne and where they go from here. Share your stories of how these teachers have touched you or your children's lives. Go to www.shelburnenews.com or our Facebook page to comment.

Last Friday, May 14 marked the culmination of 2010 Grad Challenge projects at CVU with senior student presentations before a panel of judges. Each senior is required to conduct a Grad Challenge course of study in order to graduate, but the subject of study is of their own choosing.

With a score of seventy four, The Shelburne Geo-bee team came in second in the Vermont Regional Geo-Bee competition. The competition took place at the Charlotte Central School, on Saturday, May 8.The three teams competing, Charlotte, Shelburne and Christ the King were fighting for a spot in the States competition.

As the academic year comes to a close, the Shelburne School Board voted on proposals that will affect the make-up of faculty at the facility.

I am often asked how my position as the director of college counseling at the Vermont Commons School differs from my work as an independent educational consultant. In reality, there is no difference. In both instances, my complete commitment is to assist each student

The DUI "Mock Trial" program held at CVU last Thursday featured a cast of local dignitaries and law enforcement personnel. The trial was geared to an audience of CVU juniors and seniors and told the continuing story of a mock crash that was presented at CVU the previous year.

This year, on Town Meeting Day, voters in Chittenden South found another survey next to Bill Doyles' - one developed by the CVU school board. The CVU board constructed this instrument to help us understand the sentiments of the voters on a variety of issues that will likely confront the school in the near future.

The Early Childhood "Mayfest" hosted by Lake Champlain Waldorf School in Shelburne will be postoponed this weekend due to the stormy weather forecast. In the hopes of more sun and less rain, this fun-filled annual spring event has been rescheduled for Sunday May 16th from10AM-2PM.

On the way to Norwich University from The Renaissance School in Shelburne, none of the students expected their projects would garner major awards at the competition. The fifth and sixth graders were excited and nervous about presenting their work at the Vermont State Science and Mathematics Fair held on Saturday, April 17; however, all six students won awards.

Vermont's Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) conference is an annual event that recently took place at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington. Students from Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU) had a chance to compete with business students from around the state in a variety of business-related competitive events. This year, 21 students from CVU attended the conference and several won awards.

Neel Bose is one of the Shelburne News interns for this semester. He is an eighth grader at SCS and is on the Holden House team.

Connor Gobeille is one of the Shelburne News interns for this semester. He is an eighth grade student on the Holden House team at SCS.

Every year on Green Up Day eighth graders from Shelburne Community School grab their rakes, lace-up their boots, and take off for different sites around Shelburne.