CONNECTIONS
BURLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
52 Institute Road, Burlington, VT 05408 802‐864‐8411 www.bhs.bsdvt.org Amy Mellencamp, Principal, [email protected] Find us on Facebook at Burlington High School May 4, 2015 Thanks to the START Group for arranging for the visit of Kevin Brooks to BHS. This moving and inspirational assembly encourages students to stop, think, and make positive choices. For more information on Kevin’s story and message, go to http://www.kevinbrooks.ca. The BHS Drama Club proudly presents the comedy Scapino on May 14‐16 at BHS. Two dinners before the show offer opportunities to support the Drama Club on Saturday, May 16 and Vermont for Nepal Earthquake Relief on Friday, May 15. Please bring a dish to share for the student –organized Community Dinner for Nepal on the 15th; there will be entertainment including dancing, singing, poetry readings, and crafts for sale from 4:30‐7:00. There are over 200 Nepali‐speaking students and their families in the Burlington School District community. These families are both Bhutanese Nepali and Nepali. Members of the Bhutanese Nepali community are ethnic Nepali who lived for generations in Bhutan until they were forced out in the early 1990's. Bhutanese Nepali who left Bhutan spent nearly 20 years in refugee camps in Nepal. Many of the Nepali‐speaking students in our schools were born in Nepal. The students and their families are gravely concerned about friends and family members still in Nepal. Support local efforts to assist earthquake victims through Vermont for Nepal. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to the Red Cross in support of those affected by the earthquake, you can use the following link: http://vermontfornepal.org. Thanks to students and community volunteers building the sets for Scapino! Upcoming Dates and End of Year Calendar Advanced Placement Exams begin this Monday. Seniors also please note the 8:30 meeting on Wednesday morning, May 6th to begin the senior award nominations and selection process for student and faculty graduation speakers. The Junior/Senior Prom is coming May 9th. Tickets are on sale during lunches. Parents and community members, please support the BHS After‐Hours Event. Click here for more information. Given how busy the end of the year is, here are some key dates and times for the weeks ahead leading to graduation.  Monday, May 4: AP Chemistry/Environmental Science; Booster Club Meeting 7:00–All Parents Welcome; HOME Girls Tennis 3:30; V Baseball/Softball 4:30; AWAY Boys Lacrosse at Rice 4:00/5:30; Girls Lacrosse 4:30/6:00 St. Albans; Boys Tennis 3:30 MMU; Boys Golf BCC; JV Baseball 4:30 Mt. Abe  Tuesday, May 5: AP Calculus; HOME JV Baseball 4:30; AWAY VBaseball/Softball at Rice; Track/Field at Milton; Girls Golf 3:00 VT National  Wednesday, May 6: Senior Meeting at 8:30 a.m. in back of Auditorium; AP English; Japan Exchange Meeting 5:00 p.m.; HOME Girls Lacrosse 4:30/6:00; AWAY Boys Lacrosse at Lamoille; Girls Golf 1:00 S. Burlington  Thursday, May 7: AP Physics/Spanish; HOME Boys Tennis 3:30; JVBaseball 4:30; AWAY VBaseball/Softball 4:30 at No. Country; Girls Tennis 3:30 Stowe  Friday, May 8: AP US History; All State Music Festival; Muji Karim Event 3:30 D.G. Weaver Athletic Complex; AWAY Boys Golf Newport  Saturday, May 9: BHS Junior/Senior Prom at the ECHO Center  Thursday‐Saturday, May 14‐16: Drama Club Production of Scapino; Nepali Dinner May 15 4:30‐7:00; Drama Club Dinner May 16  Monday, May 18: 11th Grade Science NECAP Test, Classes Start at Noon. Tutoring and make‐up work support available for grades 9‐10, 12 in the Library 8:00‐11:30.  Tuesday‐Friday, May 19‐22: Final Exams  Monday, May 25: NO SCHOOL – Memorial Day  Tuesday, May 26: Make‐Up Finals/Course Work Day – No School unless Exam/Extra Work Time Assigned  Wednesday, May 27‐Tuesday, June 9: Year End Studies Program; Seniors Must Turn in All Community Service Hours and Pay Fines in order to Get Graduation Tickets  Wednesday, June 10: YES Presentation of Learning Day – All Students Required to Be in School; Last Day of the School Year  Thursday, June 11: Senior Graduation Rehearsal 8:30 – All Seniors Must Attend to Participate in Graduation  Friday, June 12: Graduation! 10:00 SCHOOL NEWS From teacher Erin Robillard: Today (Friday) was an awesome day! We can happily report that BHS took home the GOLD Medal in our Unified Sports Division at the Special Olympics Championships. The final game was a nail biter with Howard Harper scoring the game winning buzzer beater to clinch the game. Final score Burlington 14 Montpelier 12! Thanks to all who have participated in and supported the Unified Sports Program this year. Check it out! Students give tribute to the BHS Drama Club in this UVM article: Future students crave the stage in the Vermont Cynic. The art work of Kevin Huang is being celebrated in the Congressional Arts Showcase in Montpelier this month. Congratulations. The following students participated this semester in a unique, privately‐funded program called Let’s Get Ready to support college readiness. UVM students tutored students two evenings a week for the SAT and mentored connections students to prepare for college. BHS alumnus Andrew Plumley coordinated this program along with Patty Wesley, BHS Guidance Director. Bhima Thapa, Elnur Delahmetovic, Filipe Reardon, Habiba Kassim, Hannah Labounty, Iswari Tamang, Kaysi Herrera‐ Pujols, Kelly Huang, Kevin Huang, Kristina Piplica, Naw Ruth Doe, Pabitra Dahal, Radhika Tamang, Ross Herzog, Tar Dah, Taylor Shortsleeve, Yashoda Parajuli, Yasin Malawia, and Zahara Abdi. Good luck taking the SAT’s! 25 French students travelled to La cabane a sucre à La Goudrelle south of Montreal to experience the Quebecois sugaring traditions. Thank you to chaperones Gissele Drpich and Francesca Villella. French students achieved high results on the national French examination called Le Grand Concourse. Gold Medalists Rebecca Bull, Sally Matson, Thelonious Martin, Leena Unger; Silver Medalists Connor Plante, Amila Semic, Robert Treadwell, Liam Farley, Alexandre Siblerman, Georgia Essig; Bronze Taymi Herrera‐Pujois, Linda Nenonene, Lila Flanagan; Honorable Mention Cai McCann, Eva Paradiso, Hermany Diaz, Issac Dodson, Julia Drummond, Eden Forbes, Molly Higgins, Promise Hoffman, Anna Messinger. Thanks to the 51 BHS students and advisers Patty Wesley and Debra Blumberg for participating in this year’s Green Up Day. Students collected a lot of trash on the BHS campus, near the bike path, and across the street by the bus shelter. BHS students, please keep the campus clean by properly discarding your trash! 37 BHS choral students traveled to New York City this weekend to visit cultural sites, attend a performance of the new musical hit Neverland, and travel to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Thanks to the parents and chaperones who made this happen along with Frank Whitcomb and Karen Stewart. Thank you to parents and to Pavel Dvorak, meet organizer, and Dan Hagan, announcer and coach, for organizing the outstanding BHS Invite! BHS finished 2nd overall, just four points behind Essex, including these outstanding performances: Girls 800 Georgia Essig 5th, Katie Barker 6th; 1,500 Sophie Watterson 3rd; 1,500 9th Grade Alida Beste 6th; 3,000 Sophie Watterson 2nd; 300 Hurdles Rachel Horton 6th; 4x400 Burlington 2nd; 4x800 Burlington (Barker, Pardiso, Watterson, Essig) 1st; Javelin Kelly Huang 5th; Boys 100 Ahmed Noor 1st; 200 Ahmed Noor 2nd; 400 Ismail LIban 1st; 800 Daniel Hart 1st; 300 Hurdles Will Lynch 4th; 4x100 Burlington 2nd; 4x400 Burlington (Hart, Lynch, Liban, Noor) 1st; High Jump Will Lynch 1st; Pole Vault Henry Severance 6th; Long Jump Christian Holway 1st, Will Lynch 4th, Blaz Mihaljevic 5th; Triple Jump Christian Holway 1st. Make A Change Projects All BHS 9th graders are pursuing Make A Change projects this fourth quarter as part of their Humanities Studies. Students are interviewing community and school members, surveying students, and developing action programs to make a difference. One example is a project on feminism. Students, please take a few moments to complete this survey: https://docs.google.com/a/bsdvt.org/forms/d/1l9ykAmAc8hZ8YBh9FxmAjqBzW3OlqeBPAyBdUJbgZBs/viewform. Thank you to all who are participating and helping students to apply lessons in Civics and understanding our world to our local community. Looking for BHS Students ‐ Tottori‐Vermont Environmental & Cultural Exchange 2015‐16 From teacher Andreas Nolte: Now that BHS students are safely back home from 10 exciting days in Japan over April break, we are looking ahead to future student exchanges! During the week of October 26th, there will be an opportunity for families in the Burlington community to host Japanese students, and next April, BHS students will be able to travel to Tottori/Japan! An informational meeting will be held on May 6th at 5:00 p.m. in the BHS cafeteria. You may also contact Andreas Nolte in the BHS Business Department ([email protected]) or visit www.gatp.org for more information. Muji Karim BHS is proud to be host Muji Karim, former Burlington High School athlete, University of New Hampshire football captain, and bi‐lateral amputee, on May 8 at 3:30 at the D.G. Weaver Athletic Complex to speak to students and the community about Running to Rio for the World Parlympic Games. Karim has been battling back from a horrific car accident which led to leg amputations three and a half years ago. Receiving his “Running Prostheses” less than six months ago, Karim now throws distances and runs times that could qualify him as an emerging US Parlympic Athlete. A CrowdRise account has been set up to help with travel, lodging and miscellaneous expenses to upcoming competitions. To donate go to: https://www.crowdrise.com/MujiKarimRunningToRio/fundraiser/mujikarim. All are welcome to attend on May 8, 2015 at 3:30 p.m. at the High School’s athletic field to launch Muji’s Run To Rio. Technology Update BHS has been evaluating our 1:1 technology program now in its third year. Three years ago we made a decision to go to iPads, through support of a Nellie Mae School Transformation Grant, given the variety of apps available then to support education, the ease of access to the internet and networks (immediate with iPads), and charging capacity (10 hours iPads vs. 3.5 hours Chromebooks). Overall, our focus has been on ensuring equitable access to technology for all students and giving students regular practice in using the technology applications that are now required and customary in colleges, careers, and in the community. This year we have been looking at more device options given the advances in technology in the three years. We have also been listening to parents who have had concerns about gaming and access to a variety of non‐educational uses of technology. While these non‐educational uses are also present on student phones and other technology devices, we want to be more attentive to ways teachers can supervise use of technology in school and reduce easy access to games and non‐educational applications. We have made the decision to move to a model of Chromebooks instead of iPads for this coming year.  The charging life of Chromebooks has now advance to 11 hours, there are multiple educational applications now available including the full Google suite, a full keyboard is built in, and the cost is very affordable.  It is more difficult to access games and other non‐educational applications on Chromebooks.  At this point, we anticipate that all 9‐10th graders will use Chromebooks next year, and possibly 11th grade.  Seniors will continue with iPads, and we will also have iPads available in strategic areas of the school to support specialized applications.  We are developing a transition plan to the Chromebooks, but I wanted to let students and parents know of this upcoming change now. Parents, at this point there will be one key decision we need your help with at the end of the YES Program – do students return their iPads in June or keep their iPads this summer. Students have two options:  return their iPads to the school in June and pick up their new device in August, or  parents can give signed permission (assuming responsibility for appropriate use) for students to retain their iPads over the summer and then exchange in for the new device in August. Either way, students must return their iPads or be accountable for their replacement cost. We will provide more information on how this will all work in a couple of weeks. STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES Husky High School Summer Apprenticeship Applications are now being accepted for a paid internships at the Husky Summer Institute in Milton! This unique CNC Machining internship program allows students to earn while they learn! Key features include: • Full‐time Paid Internship (8 weeks) • Planned vacation (1 week) • Education program with 17 college credits • Hands‐on applied learning • Job shadowing and mentoring • Registration into a pre‐apprenticeship • Funded in part by VT Department of Labor WETF grant Click on the link below to learn more and apply! https://apply.vthitec.org/HUSKYSI2/SmallForm/steps/program_announcement.asp Leader/Ship Sailing Program Starts May 5! Join the Community Sailing Center and Burlington High School’s Afterschool Program this spring, summer and fall to learn how to sail and solve issues facing the Burlington waterfront. The spring and fall sessions will be afterschool from 3:30 to 5:30 while the summer session will be during the day from 9 a.m. to noon. The purpose of Leader Ship is to engage BHS students in meaningful projects to solve issues along the waterfront. Projects will focus on conservation, stewardship, or sustainability of our waterfront, Lake Champlain, or the natural world. Students will work on projects during spring and fall; during the summer session students will participate in a week long leadership program with the SOAR Summer Program. In addition to solving waterfront issues and crafting leadership skills, students will learn to sail throughout the program becoming competent sailors with the opportunity to utilize the CSC’s fleet for personal recreation. Students who complete the program receive an expanded learning credit or a 0.5 elective credit. Contact Amy Mills ([email protected]) or Ryan Robinson ([email protected]) to register or for more information. Project SEED at UVM – Summer Opportunity 11th graders: Several openings are still available for an 8 week summer research project in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Vermont that encourages high school students to pursue career opportunities in the sciences. Students receive a stipend of $2500 for the project. Additionally, students who complete at least one summer of research are eligible to compete for a $5000 college scholarship through Project SEED. These new students will join our returning Project SEED student in pursuing summer research projects at UVM. Students are requested to submit a resume with a cover letter that explains his or her interest in science, presents future plans, and gives the name and contact information to [email protected] by May 15. BURLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL: OUR VISION AND MISSION
Burlington High School is an innovative, equitable, and collaborative community of learners inspiring and
shaping a dynamic and sustainable future for Burlington.
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We build on the diverse cultures, experiences, and interests of our students and community to support
student-centered learning and foster intellectual growth.
We partner with families and the community at large to help our students develop the skills to become
independent, self-directed, and lifelong learners who contribute responsibly to our world.
Our mission is to challenge all students to achieve at their highest levels and to demonstrate Critical
Thinking and Problem Solving, Effective Communication, Cross-Cultural Understanding and Civic
Engagement, Personal Development, and Curiosity and Creativity.