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.

For six years, Women Writing for (a) Change (WWf(a)C) Vermont has been holding an ever-widening array of circles: weekly classes, weekend workshops, summer retreats, and camp to a growing reach of participants, including incarcerated women and those recovering from abuse, and cancer, as well as girls testing themselves through the written word.

Today's education always includes the three R's: Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. Did you grow-up knowing so much about being green? I know I didn't, but with the amount of trash and industrial waste generated today (4.6 pounds of solid waste per American per day), we realize creative solutions are needed to preserve our eco-systems. One way to do this is to change how we think about trash.

Noah Gamble gave an excellent performance in the state level competition of the National Geo Bee held in Middlebury on Friday, April 9. Noah, the son of Becky and Marc Gamble, was the SCS Geo Bee winner for the second consecutive year, and this year he was extremely successful in the state competition, which included about 90 school winners.

On Thursday, April 8, students from Vermont Commons School (VCS) and Shelburne Community School (SCS) participated in UVM's engineering contests held at the Vermont Air National Guard. As in previous years, students designed and built cars made from edible materials. VCS students submitted two edible cars, and the one shown to the right took first prize in the design category. SCS students received first place for their car in the "edibility" category.

On Sunday, April 11, a group of seven CVU students were found in an unlikely place: the beer coolers of Lantman's Best Yet Market in Hinesburg.

The landscaped pond, located just outside of the Town Center, has been a labor of love. The site has been designed and maintained by the Shelburne Charlotte Garden Club, along with the Town Building and Grounds Committee.

The Shelburne School Board has announced that Allan Miller has accepted the co-principal position in the middle school. Miller replaces John Bossange, who retires at the end of the school year in June.

When the new school year dawns next fall at the Shelburne Community School, teachers, parents, and students will see new and familiar faces. The Shelburne School Board heard about several of the changes at its recent meeting.

Recently, the Shelburne News welcomed four new students from Shelburne Community School who are going to write articles about their school, the activities going on there, and student experiences. These eighth grade students are Erica Issenberg and Sophie Johnson from the Symphony team, and Connor Gobeille and Neel Bose from the Holden House team. The four students are here because of community service, a program at SCS that enriches the eighth grade on what's going on in their community and how to give back to it. The four new students will be here all semester, writing articles about SCS from the perspective of people who know about it the most: the students.

On March 30, CVU hosted a community-wide math information night and provided an opportunity for community members to listen, learn, and converse about math education in grades K-8. Math experts from across the state and from within our own Chittenden South Supervisory Union (CSSU) schools presented current research in the field of math education and its implications for instructional "best practice."

The CVU School Board took a short field trip at its last board meeting to the CVU cafeteria to learn about the school's food service. Food Service Director Leo Leforce explained the food service mission statement to the school board, which is to provide high quality, well-balanced, nutritious meals to the students every day.

Editor's note: the SCS Wind Ensemble's director, David Myers, wrote this letter and it was sent to parents whose children traveled to Disney World two weeks ago to perform. We share it with the readers of Shelburne News for a more in-depth report of the trip's success.

The great shared experience of seniors at Champlain Valley Union High School is the determination of what will be their "Grad Challenge," a project designed by the student, for the student. The half credit course allows young men and women an opportunity to explore an area of particular interest, and in some cases, passionate interests.

More than 30 mentors, mentees and family members in the Shelburne Community School Connecting Youth mentor program gathered for dinner and a juggling lesson on Thursday, March 18 at the SCS cafeteria. After a delicious lasagna dinner and pot-luck dessert, the special guest, Joey the Juggler, appeared dressed in his Ringling Bros. clown overalls and red sneakers.

Among many things that the Shelburne community can be proud of is this: last week seventy members of the Shelburne Community School (SCS) Wind Ensemble performed at Disney World. Under the leadership of Band Director David Myers, the group traveled to Florida to perform two concerts at the Waterfront Stage in Downtown Disney. Myers' Wind Ensemble, including "The Sax Attack" ensemble, performed to a packed house that included more than 20 Shelburne families and friends who also traveled south to share the experience.

Vermont Commons School (VCS) and Very Merry Theatre Company presents, "Thoroughly Modern Millie" on April 2 and 3 at the Black Box Theater at Main Street Landing in Burlington.

A season that actually began in September came to a close last Saturday, March 20, as 13 high school teams from around the state gathered at Champlain College for the 27th Annual Scholars' Bowl playoffs and championship.

This month's Hands on Nature topic reveals the winter adaptations of white-tailed deer, based on their need for food, water, and shelter. At Shelburne Community School, children from grades K-3 discover that fawns are born in thickets in spring.

They've been seasoning their skillets, sharpening their knives, heating up their school kitchens, and on Saturday, March 27, 60 teams of middle and high school students from across the state compete for the title of Vermont's Jr. Iron Chefs!

Congratulations to Emma Pell for her recent performance in the Scripps National Spelling competition's Vermont Regional level held at St. Michael's College on Wednesday March 17. Emma, a fifth grader, and this year's SCS Scripps spelling champion, competed against 45 other school champions, representing students eligible up to the eighth grade, and correctly spelled her words in the first three rounds.

In a gripping and highly realistic way, "Libby Pearce Drinks" examines the issues of responsibility and relationships, as seen through the prism of a teenage alcohol prank gone awry.

The new film "Consuming Kids" is touted as an eye-opening account of the pervasive and pernicious effects of advertising on the health and well-being of today's children.

Caitlin Grasso, Katherine Scotnicki, Will Bernicke, and Kyle Stanley, a.k.a. the SpicyCatS, are well on their way to perfecting their recipe for the Junior Iron Chef competition at the end of March. Shelburne News has been following these junior chefs since they decided back in January to compete in the annual chef competition.

The Tenth Annual Spring College Fair at Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU) in Hinesburg is happening this year on Monday, April 5 from 11:30-1:30 p.m. Representatives from 120 colleges from across the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions will be available to speak with students and parents.

On March 26-27, groups of teenagers, including me, are doing something called "30-Hour Fast for the Hungry." The 30-Hour fast is a fund raising program and also an awareness program. Right now you may be asking yourself, what is the 30 Hour Fast? Well, it is when you do just what it says, you fast for 30 hours.

On Saturday, March 13, at Colchester's St. Michael's College, VSAC is sponsoring their annual College Pathways workshop. There will be selected workshops on essay writing, applying to college, finding colleges that fit, two year vs. four year colleges, searching for scholarships, applying to colleges that are highly competitive and tips on preparation for standardized testing.

A 16-year old boy from Spain will be attending CVU High School this fall as an exchange student, and he needs a host family for the school year. Nana Boffa, community coordinator of the Program of Academic Exchange (PAX), says, "We're looking for families who are interested in the world and in helping an exchange student experience life in America."