2017-18: Week 30

A Solon Salute to all of the faculty and staff who made the wonderfully fun and funny spring musical shine this past weekend. MHS presented The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on three evenings and one matinee. Everyone did a fantastic job! Cast: Avi Isaacs-Corcoran, Jaeden Jagemann, Matt Koucky, Jahan VonTrapp, Natalia Volobueva, Juna Nagle, Rehana Nazerali-Ruddy, Angus Frager, and Evie Caserta. Ensemble: Warren Cossett, Nathan DeGroot, Maddie Friend, Andi Evans, Eve Taylor, Grace Carlomango, Mandy Abu-Aziz, Erin Kelley. Crew: Kianna Bromley, Molly Clark, Siiri Pombar, Oskar Neuburger, Juna Nagle, Stella Best, Emma Haught, Hope Petraro, Nadia Scoppettone, Apollonia Tabacco, Althea Torrens-Martin, Saskia Cousins-Joyce, Adam Blair, Lily Fournier, Jackson Markow, Olivia Hennessey, Rehana Nazerali-Ruddy. Pit Band: Eliza Thomas, Rich Magnuson, Joni McCraw, Suzanne Smith. 

Photo from Jeb Wallace-Brodeur in the Times Argus

A Solon Salute to actor and director Mr. Giancarlo Esposito. Giacarlo came to and spoke to Montpelier High School this past week on behalf of #TextLessLiveMore. It was an honor to have you and we greatly appreciated your message! And for any students who want to get involved:

• #802phonesdown!headsup! video public service announcement contest. The contest is open to high school students and is designed to encourage young drivers, friends, and peers to avoid distracted driving. The first-place winner will be awarded $750; second place $500; and third place $250. Contact: Evelyn McFarlane, coordinator VHSA, at evelyn.mcfarlane@vermont.gov

Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

A Solon Salute to the Unified Sports Snowshoe and Basketball Teams. The Snowshoe team had their final event and the basketball team had their first game with an awesome crowd. Great job teams, we are proud of you! 

Photo by Ms. Machnik

Photo by Ms. Machnik

A Solon Salute to CBL Community Partners, Mike Howe and Sean Beatty, at Bear Code. Bear Code is located on Granite Shed Lane in Montpelier. For the past 10 years, Bear Code has been mentoring MHS CBL students in a variety of computer programming, web development and data analytics experiences. Bear Code is a web application developer with over 15 years of experience building enterprise systems for start-ups and other organizations in need of rapid software development. Bear Code has developed expertise across a wide assortment of domains including data mining, healthcare, voter engagement, media intelligence, transportation logistics, and customer relationship management. The team at Bear Code is always eager to share professional knowledge, tools and insights and engage students in authentic ways. This year, MHS seniors Chandra Becker and Andon DuBois have had the opportunity to learn from the Bear Code team through their respective CBL experiences. Thanks, Bear Code!

A Solon Salute to Hunter Thompson, IT Director for the Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets. This semester, Hunter is mentoring Jack Lapera, as part of Jack’s Community Based Learning class.

A Solon Salute to Cricket Basa and Allison Chadwick both made the Lions Cup Twin State soccer game vs. New Hampshire. This game is made up of the best seniors from the state of VT playing against the best of NH. Soccer will not end there for either of these two as Cricket will be attending Holy Cross to play, while Allison will be suiting up for Castleton University. Congratulations! 

A Solon Salute to Dominique Savard who baked cookies for the Level 2 Latin class in commemoration of Caesar's assassination over 2000 years ago on the Ides (15th) of March. Thank you very much! (From Mr. Carroll) 

Announcements

• March 31st: Harlem Superstars Take on U-32, Saturday, 1pm. Click here for tickets and details.

• April 4th: Central Vermont Job Fair 10am to 4pm, Barre City Auditorium. Over 60 employers: (Full Flyer)

• April 5th & 6th: Sign up: Parent/Guardian & Teacher Conferences. (Full Letter)

• April 25th: Wednesday, 6:30pm, MHS library: “Managing College Costs” is VSAC new way of looking at college costs and affordability.

• Athletic Calendar

• Remember to check out our list of Work, Volunteer, and Extended Learning Opportunities website. So many great chances listed there!

• Green/White Calendar (adjusted for last week's snow day)  

2017-18: Week 29

A Solon Salute to science and math teacher Anne Watson. Anne was recently elected mayor of Montpelier! She also recently had this blog post: Perspectives on Curriculum Matter published with the Rowland Foundation. Plus, Anne recently created this science wall of fame and connected all of these important folks in science to our Learning Expectation indicators. Congrats and thank you Anne!

A Solon Salute to Community Partner Karen Dillon, Executive Director of the Green Mountain Film Festival, for engaging so many MHS students in the film screening and festival planning process this year.  And, of course, an enthusiastic Solon Salute to the many students who volunteered throughout the year in preparation for the GMFF: Raffi Hill- Mosher, Izac Raker, Lila Markow, Silvan Avery- Padberg, Tristan Timpone, Isabel Maine-Torres, Julian Stoller, Sydney Adams, Miles Lauderville, and Liam Frey. The GMFF will continue through Saturday, 3/24, and more information can be found here. 

A Solon Salute to all of the faculty members who have been working on creating the MHS Flexible Pathways Handbook. It was recently completed and published on our website. We believe it is the first of its kind in the state of Vermont.

A Solon Salute to Izzy Maine-Torres. Izzy recently for winning the High School category of the Vermont Youth Art Month Flag Design competition! The competition was hosted by Vermont Art Teachers Association and Sargent Arts. 

A Solon Salute to Sadie Chase-Tatko. Sadie was recently selected, after a very rigorous nationwide competition, to participate in the U.S. Department of State's Youth Ambassador Program to travel to Argentina and Chile for three weeks in June. Congratulations Sadie, we know you will represent us well!

A Solon Salute to congratulations to Colin Desch, Max Hughes, Eleanor Braun, and Grace Carlomagno on their performance in the New England Music Festival this weekend in Burlington, CT. Their dedication and musicianship are exemplary!

A Solon Salute to Noel Riby-Williams and Danny Bruce. Noel and Danny have been selected to play in their respective Senior All-Star Games on Saturday, March 24th, at Windsor High School. Noel will play at 11am and Danny will play at 5pm.

A Solon Salute to Leo Riby-Williams. Leo has been named to the VBCA Dream Dozen, which honors 12 exceptional underclassmen from D1 and D2.

A Solon Salute to Coach Kylie Cowens. She has been named the girls basketball D3 coach of the year. Congrats Kylie! 

Food Service Survey Announcement: 

• Dear MHS Community, please take a few minutes to fill out the food service survey in the Montpelier School District. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Announcements

• Remember to check out our list of Work, Volunteer, and Extended Learning Opportunities website. So many great chances listed there! 

• March 12th: ELO, PLP and Student Led Conferences prep day in Solon Block.

• March 22nd: There will be an all-school assembly during Solon Block to have a preview showing of the musical. 

• March 23rd: There will be an all-school assembly during Solon Block to welcome actor Giancarlo Esposito. Mr. Esposito will speak to us about a range of topics including Text Less Live More.
  

• March 22nd, 23rd, and 24th: MHS spring musical: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Evening shows begin at 7pm and Saturday's matinee begins at 3pm.
  

• March 31st: Harlem Superstars Take on U-32, Saturday, 1pm. Click here for tickets and details.

• April 4th: Central Vermont Job Fair 10am to 4pm, Barre City Auditorium. Over 60 employers: (Full Flyer)

• April 5th & 6th: Parent/Guardian & Teacher Conferences. 

• Athletic Calendar

• Two Hour Delay Schedule (Just in Case)

• Green/White Calendar (adjusted for last week's snow day)  

2017-18: Week 28

A Solon Salute (again) to 2011 alumni and gold medalist Amanda Pelkey. Amanda was back in Montpelier this past Friday after a two week media tour that included The Tonight Show, Ellen, and many more. Amanda made time to visit MHS on Friday for a short assembly before the parade held in her honor. Thank you for your inspiration, generosity, and positive spirit Amanda! (WCAX Story, VT-Digger Slideshow & Amanda on Twitter )

Photo by Whitney Machnik

A Solon Salute to the MHS Boys' Basketball Team. This team played great in a close and hard-fought game in front of a packed house during Friday night's playoff game. We are proud of the way you play and how you take care of each other! Congrats on a great season! (Times Argus Article).

Times Argus

A Solon Salute to all of our singers and musicians who participated in the Pops Concert this past Thursday and Friday. You sounded great and we are proud of your hard-work! 

A Solon Salute to Joelyn Mensah and Nathan DeGroot. Joelyn and Nathan were recently featured in this week's cover story of Seven Days. Congratulations to Joelyn, Nathan, and all of our young MHS leaders who are making a difference! (Full Article) 

Full Article

A Solon Salute to Havvah Keller, Anja Samsom, and Kailea Silvers who placed fourth in the Girls Go CyberStart competition just behind teams from Burlington High School and Mount Mansfield Union High School. They had a very impressive score of 26,100 points, over 12,000 points ahead of the fifth place finishers and won $500 for their school. We applaud all of you and the other members of the MHS community who took part in this competition. (From Ms. Machnik). 

A Solon Salute to art teachers Barb Austin-Hutchins and Liz Swindell for helping these 21 MHS art students: Izzy Maine-Torres, Hope Petraro, Andy Gasal, Julie Richards, Sophia Currier, Eve Taylor, Quinn Mills, Natalie Volobueva, Chloe Fan, Maple Perchlik, Larissa Schiller, Althea Torrens-Martin, Amanda Adams, Siiri Pombar, Avi Zimet, Bella Luhr, Harley Miller, Violet Tabacco, Sydney Adams, Will Toth, and Alex Smith get their art displayed at the Vermont State House for the month of March. Work can be viewed all month by visit the state house cafeteria. Everyone is also invited to the closing reception Friday, March 30th 5-6:30 where food and drink will be provided. To see images of these pieces and more follow the MHS Art Department on Instagram @mhssolonart.

A Solon Salute to the MHS Debate Team. On Saturday, four MHS teams debated at the State Tournament at the VT State House in Montpelier with other 20 teams. Angus Fraser and Omeed Fallahi made it to the championship final and placed second. It was a very civil final round among MHS and CVU that ended with a big hug among senior debaters that had known each other for four years. Two of them had debated against each other their first round ever as freshman and now faced each other again for their last round four years later. Both teams will be traveling to Washington DC for Nationals in May. Great performance also by Violet Tabacco and Basil Humke who won the first novice team award. (From Marijke Russo). 

A Solon Salute to Hope Petraro, who was a finalist this year in Bernie Sanders' State of the Union Essay Contest. Her essay focused on money's influence on politics, and the threat that money poses to our democracy. The essay will be included in the US Congressional Record. 

Announcements

• Remember to check out our list of Work, Volunteer, and Extended Learning Opportunities website. So many great chances listed there! 

• March 12th: ELO, PLP and Student Led Conferences prep day in Solon Block.

• March 15th & 16th: New England Music Festival

• March 23rd, 24th, and 25th: MHS spring musical: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

• March 31st: Harlem Superstars Take on U-32, Saturday, 1pm. Click here for tickets and details.

• April 4th: Central Vermont Job Fair 10am to 4pm, Barre City Auditorium. Over 60 employers: (Full Flyer)

• April 5th & 6th: Parent/Guardian & Teacher Conferences. 

• Athletic Calendar

• Two Hour Delay Schedule (Just in Case)

• Green/White Calendar

2017-18: Week 27

Town Meeting Day: Tuesday, March 6th
Thank you to any and all Montpelier-Roxbury voters. Here is the 2018 Montpelier Public Schools Annual Report. The FY19 budget and proposed bond will be on the ballot. The budget and bond will result in a 1.3% per pupil increase which is below the governor's request of 2.5% for districts with increasing enrollment. Here are the details of the proposed budget and bond. There is also one more informational meeting open to the public, Monday, March 5th in the cafeteria at 6pm. If you are interested in learning more you can read this full article from The Bridge as well.

Times Argus Article on the Budget and Bond

A Solon Salute to all of the MHS winter sports teams. The MHS Girls' Basketball Team had their most wins of the past five seasons, our Nordic Ski Team had a great year, the Gymnastics Team finished 3rd in the state in just their second year as a program and the Boys' Basketball Team will host a playoff game Tuesday night (3/6) at 7pm as the 4th seed in division two playoffs. Congratulations and thank you for representing MHS with great sportsmanship and hard work.

Photo by Brian Gallagher. MHS Boys' Seniors.

A Solon Salute to Hana Nazerali-Ruddy, Matt Koucky, and Hope Petraro for their courage and professionalism in testifying in front of the state education committee recently. These students testified on Bill H.794 regarding ethnic and social equity standards in Vermont schools. And thank you to parent Karen Songhurst for her support of these students

Photo by Karen Songhurst

Announcement:

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday there will be a box in the main office to collect donations of school supplies. Four MHS students will be traveling to Haiti next week with local doctors to volunteer in an elementary school, an orphanage, and a medical clinic. Suggested donations include pencils, markers, crayons, scissors, glue, colored and lined paper, chalk, coloring books, small (four function) calculators, watercolor paints, paint brushes, and spiral notebooks. Cash donations can be placed in an envelope in the main office, all cash will be used to purchase medicines and medical supplies only available in the US.

Thank you,

Brynn Bushey, Meredith Stetter, Isabelle Boutin, and Ruby Bryant

Announcements

• The Times Argus is looking for student opinions. “High school students: We are building a Perspective section around your thoughts on the #listentome movement and the state of the world today. Email your letter to the editor or op-ed to news@timesargus.com. Your voice matters; show us how much.”

• Wednesday, March 7th is a white day, returning from winter break. (Green/White Calendar)

• March 8th: We will hold our Spring Sports meeting at 6pm in the gym. (Full Letter)

• March 8th & 9th: MHS Choir Annual Pops Concert. "My Favorite Things" starting at 7pm in the auditorium. Entrance is by donation and supports the MHS choral activities fund.

• March 10th: Capital Soccer will bring U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer, Kristine Lilly to Montpelier High School Auditorium (Full Announcement). 7pm, Free to the Public.

• March 31st: Harlem Superstars Take on U-32, Saturday, 1pm. Click here for tickets and details.

• April 4th: Central Vermont Job Fair 10am to 4pm, Barre City Auditorium. Over 60 employers: (Full Flyer)

• Athletic Calendar

• Two Hour Delay Schedule (Just in Case)

• Green/White Calendar