It's hard to believe, but the academic year is now half way through. It is time for area juniors to begin to considering "life after high school" with earnest. Area juniors will graduate from high school in June 2013 which may seem like a long ways off, but in reality is much closer than one might imagine.

Connecticut College - New London, Conn. Catherine Smith, a member of the class of 2013 at Connecticut College and a resident of Shelburne, has been named to the Dean's High Honors list for the 2011 fall semester.

Over 400 Shelburne Community School (SCS) students in grades 4-8 participated in this year's classroom rounds of the National Geography Bee competition. This year, the following five students scored a perfect seven out of seven points in the classroom round and earned a "bye" into the finals: Weller Henderson, Henry Mohn, Lila Ottinger, Andrew Pitcher, and Emily Ray.

Seventy-five students at Shelburne Community School give up part of their lunch and recess every Monday and Friday. Why? They are part of Mrs. Southworth's 4th and 5th grade chorus.

The Dessert and Dialogue night about Youth Risk Behaviors scheduled for Monday, Jan. 30 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. will be held at the Shelburne Community School (not CVU as published) and is specifically for SCS middle school students and parents. For more information about the event please contact Margo Austin at maustin@cssu.org or call 985-3331.

After two and a half months of careful and detailed consideration, with just one nay vote, the CVU School Board voted to approve a proposed budget of $21,425,188 to be presented to voters on Town Meeting Day in March. The lone dissenting vote was cast by a board member as demonstration that she could not support certain of the included budget cuts.

The Shelburne Community School will be holding a random drawing on Wednesday, Feb. 1, to fill openings for three- and four-year-old children to participate in its inclusive Pre-K classroom for the 2012-2013 school year.

As a parent have you ever wondered, how many kids are engaged in risk taking behaviors such as drinking, smoking, and not wearing a safety belt?

More than 300 students from 30 Vermont high schools shared their thoughts on the major issues facing the United States in Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) second annual State of the Union essay contest. Among other issues, the students wrote about the declining middle class, growing inequality in the United States, the environment, civil liberties, and the burdens of student debt.

Is it already that time of year? Green Up Vermont, the promoter of Green Up Day, held on the first Saturday in May, announces its annual poster and writing projects competition. Any student K-12 may submit one entry each for both of Green Up Vermont's annual poster and writing projects. Entries must be received by Jan. 31.

Prevent Child Abuse Vermont and technology safety program, Technicool will host a parent and community event entitled "Parenting and Promoting Safety in the Digital World" on Thursday, Jan. 26 from 6-8 p.m. at the Essex CHIPS and Teen Center in Essex Junction.

The Shelburne Community School is attempting to locate all children who might be eligible for kindergarten for the 2012-2013 school year. If you have a child who will turn five by Sept. 1 of this year, be sure to call Patty Spagnolo at 383-1119 to pre-register him or her.

Keene State College, Keene, N.H. Marcy Webster of Shelburne was named to the Dean's List for the fall semester at Keene State College.

Need a new mattress for the New Year? Champlain Valley Union High School band students are participating in a music festival in NYC in March and are raising funds to benefit scholarship students and help defray the cost of the trip. The sale will offer new mattresses, box foundations, and frames at discounted prices from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 at the high school.

Good News Garage originator Hal Colston, adult at far left, Governor Peter Shumlin and current Good News Garage Director of New England Operations Michael Muzzy join 11 Vermont Commons School (VCS) students and a local Cub Scout troop from Burlington to volunteer at the Good News Garage in observance of Martin Luther King Jr., Day.

The Governor's Institutes of Vermont (GIV) invites Vermont youth to register and attend Winter Weekend, a special 48 hours jam-packed with positive-learning and fun held at Goddard College, Plainfield on Feb. 10-12.

The Shelburne Community School (SCS) PTO has just begun its annual Red Barn Foods Fundraiser. Every family at SCS will be selling orders for delicious local products such as Lake Champlain Chocolates, King Arthur Flour mixes, Cookie Love dough in tubs, and Lee Zachary's pizza kits.

On Jan. 16, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will be commemorated at the Vermont History Center in Barre at 12 noon and again at 7 p.m. at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier.

The University of Vermont will honor the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. in a series of activities that will launch with a birthday party on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Davis Center atrium.

Saturdays are usually sleepy days at Champlain Valley Union High School - except for the second Saturday of the year, when the school comes alive with energy. On Jan. 14, along with a family carnival that CVU hosts for faculty and staff, the school will also host an 18-school debate tournament, the largest one in the state.

The Shelburne School Board and administration has been working on the 2011-2012 school budget for the last several weeks. After four years of level budgets of about $11.1 million, the board anticipates presenting a budget to the voters with an increase of between 2.5-3.5 percent. Even so, Shelburne's Community School per pupil expense remains among the lowest in Chittenden South Supervisory Union.

Applications for the 2012-2013 school year for publicly funded prekindergarten for children between the ages of 3 and 5 who reside in the Chittenden South Supervisory Union (CSSU) district are due March 12, 2012.

CVU's Business Ethics class is hosting its fifth annual Family Formal, a friendly and fun dance that brings families together from Shelburne, Charlotte, Hinesburg, and Williston and other parts of Chittenden County.

Education First (EF) exchange students from CVU and Essex gathered in Shelburne, at the home of John and Deborah Rooney, for the 20th annual International Potluck Party to celebrate the holidays.

Making a list and checking it twice...that is a line from a popular holiday tune that is often heard at this time of the year. And that is something that area seniors should be doing as they finalize their list of college applications.

The seventh graders at Mater Christi School recently performed Shakespeare's comedy "As You Like It." This shortened version of the play was performed in front of parents, grandparents, and the rest of the school. Pictured are the members of the cast with the play's director, Allan Whayland, literature teacher.

Fr. Bernard W. Bourgeois, principal at Rice Memorial High School, has announced the following students from Shelburne met the necessary requirements to achieve honor roll status for the first quarter of the 2011-2012 school year:

At our most recent board meeting on Nov. 9 the Differentiated Instruction (DI) Committee gave a presentation. The DI Committee is made up of a group of SCS teachers who are concentrating on ways to implement DI throughout the curriculum in our school.

Two teams of CVU engineering students recently competed in the University of Vermont Engineering Design TASC Competition. With over 45 engineering teams from all over Vermont competing, both teams had top notch performances continuing CVU's long-standing tradition of success at an engineering competition that has seen CVU engineering teams in past years take home several top prizes.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) launched his second annual State of the Union essay contest to engage Vermont's high school students on the major issues facing the country.

This fall a group of eighth, 10th, and 12th graders from the Vermont Commons School (VCS) worked with Branch Out Burlington! to care for Burlington's urban trees. According to Branch Out Burlington! President Margaret Skinner, "The nursery has never looked this good."

Last week's Republican debate in Iowa did not get much press coverage on issues or solutions; rather, the buzz was on Mitt Romney's $10,000 bet to Rick Perry. Although Romney would have won the bet (Perry was inaccurate), it did not matter. Romney's choice of ideas (a bet), language (a BIG bet), and his tone (over-confidence) all painted a picture that he was disconnected from the average American. This is the power of words: college essays have this potential.

Now is the time for Vermonters to consider running for election to their local school boards. We all have many distractions during the holiday season. Petitions to run for elected offices in most towns will be due by the end of January, so there will not be a lot of time to take action in the new year.

Do you enjoy fine Italian cuisine? Are you devoted to helping others? Have you not yet made dinner plans for Thursday, Dec. 15?

Champlain Valley Union High School will host a statewide debate tournament Saturday, Jan. 14 in Hinesburg.

Last April Molly McClaskey, CSSU Director of Curriculum Instruction and Assessment for Chittenden County, went to China with UVM's Asian Studies Outreach Program (ASOP).

The members of the French Club at Shelburne Community School had a taste of France last week. Each class spent its meeting in the school cafeteria preparing and cooking classic French recipes Nov. 17-22. The young chefs got to sample everything they made...

Robin Halnon, was born in Boston and lived there until she was six weeks old. She and her family then moved just outside of Washington D.C. where they lived until she was 6 years old. After they lived there for two years, they decided to move to Kenya until Robin was 8 years old.

Kindergarten and first grade students from the Schoolhouse were welcomed to Bread & Butter Farm in Shelburne for a hands-on field trip. Gabriel Helak of Shelburne was excited to cut spinach leaves and put them in a bucket for a salad to share with his classmates.