Education

In an unusual move for public school teachers, the members of the National Education Association, the teachers union representing many of the nation’s teachers, voted on July 4 to approve a resolution calling for Obama’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan to resign. This appears to have been a bit of an over-my-dead-body affair with regard to NEA leadership which has been accused of being overly cozy with the Department of Education and Big Ed corporations such as Microsoft and Pearson. Calling the federal policy “a failed education agenda,” a majority of the 9,000 rank and file delegates at this year’s convention declared independence from their own compromised leadership with a yes vote on the controversial measure.

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BUHS District #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, June 30 in the WSESU James E. Kane Conference Room, 53 Green Street.

NOTICE OF MEETING

The BUHS #6 Board of Directors will meet at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, July 7 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room.

The Estey Organ Museum will sponsor a presentation titled “The Estey Organ – Its Place in the Emergence of American Capitalism” at its Engine House Gallery, 108 Birge Street, on Sunday, June 29, at 3:00 PM. Kit Barry, curator of The Ephemera Archive for American Studies in Brattleboro will lead the presentation.

The Estey Company, along with 1,000’s of other 19th century companies, was both a part of, and the epitome of the single driving force determining the personality, the very being of the United States – American Capitalism.

Host a Spanish boy this summer…for just three weeks, starting June 25! Hosting an exchange student is such a great way to expand your family’s horizons, share some summer experiences with a teen who’s eager to learn, and to make a lifelong friend from another country.

We have homes for 23 of these Spanish teens, but are still looking for families who could host these three boys: Aitor, 17 – “friendly, shy, funny.” Likes soccer, basketball & tennis. Has a 14-year old brother who is coming also. Ignacio, 17 – “Friendly and generous,” likes soccer, basketball, tennis, swimming, and animals and has a 14-year old brother. Eneko, 16 (m) – plays rugby, likes music and computer games. “Shy at first but also funny and happy.”

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BUHS #6 Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, June 2 in the Cusick Conference Room.

Dia dhaoibh:

Tosóidh meánrang Gaeilge nua i mBrattleboro i gceann míosa amháin. Beidh sé bunaithe ar an leabhar Gaeilge Gan Stró: Lower Intermediate Level, leabhar atá oiriúnach do dhaoine a rinne staidéar ar Gaeilge lá den saol agus ag iarraidh a thosú aríst. Má tá aon cheist agaibh, bígí i dteagmhail leis an múinteoir, Seáinín. Tosóidh an tsraith Dé Luain, 16ú de Mheitheamh, 17:30 – 19:30.

Greetings:

Students from four countries and three continents are engaged in a pilot life coach training program that is designed to bring about change in people’s lives, one at a time. From Australia to Poland, in Canada and the United States, students are learning the principles of psychosynthesis, a “transpersonal psychology that gives people tools to find purpose and meaning”, according to Dr. Dorothy Firman.

The second in a series of presentations about psychosynthesis life coaching courses will be held on Wednesday, May 28th from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at 73 Main Street in Brattleboro. The program is free and open to the public.

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BUHS #6 Planning and Policy Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 19 in the Cusick Conference Room.

Over the past few weeks or so, comedian Louis C.K. has kicked up some dust by speaking out against the Common Core. His perspective is that of a parent of NYC public school kids, and there has been a fair amount of controversy, and back and forth in a variety of venues as a result of his take on this. Here’s a screen shot of some of his tweets.

Express Fluency is excited to begin a new daytime Spanish class. We will be meeting from 9am-11am on Thursdays from May 8-June 12th. The cost of the course is $190 (includes materials). Alternative payment plans available- including Brattleboro Timetrade.

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BAMS Committee will meet at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, May 5 in the BAMS Conference Room.

The BUHS Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 5 in the Cusick Conference Room.

Got self?

That’s the question that lies at the heart of a new nationally certified life coach training program. “The Will to Grow: Transformational Life Coaching” will be the subject of a free informational session this Sunday, April 27th from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. in Brattleboro.

The new course will be offered in two formats: a “live” training program this summer for local residents and a teleconference training starting in the fall that will enroll students across the U.S. and internationally. Students who complete either program are eligible to become a Board Certified Coach through the Center for Credentialing & Education.

by Chloe Learey

Today, there is a focus at both the national and state level on how best to support early childhood education and services so that our youngest citizens have the best possible foundation to develop optimally. President Obama talked about early childhood education in his state of the union address, Governor Shumlin commissioned an Early Childhood Framework and Action Plan which was published on March 28^th, and the state of Vermont is the recipient of a Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant which will bring $36.9 million dollars to the state over the next four years to bolster the infrastructure of early childhood services and education.

Express Fluency- a new language school offering Spanish classes in Brattleboro and Putney– is offering free intro classes over the coming weeks.

The way that they teach language is so radically different from the way most of us were taught language in school that you have to experience one of these classes for yourself to see what it feels like to pick-up a language easily.

Putney’s Greenwood School received national attention Tuesday night with the PBS premier of Ken Burns new film, The Address. The film shows how students learn to recite the Gettysburg Address, and how that process impacts them. Viewers get to follow along, watch the struggles and triumphs along the way, and see the results. If you missed it, I have it embedded below.

I never had to memorize the Gettysburg Address (it looks like a tough assignment!), but I do know the relief and exhilaration of mastering something difficult. It can be a life-changing experience to do something that seemed impossible. It makes other, future impossibles possible. This film captures that process quite well.

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING

The BAMS Committee will meet at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, April 21 in the BAMS Conference Room.

The BUHS Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 21 in the Cusick Conference Room.

If you travel to skateparks, as I do, it’s impossible to not notice the trend- younger and younger users are appearing in greater numbers. The prevalence of scooters is undeniable. Many scooter users begin their riding careers soon after they get solid on their feet as walkers.

If you travel to a city, it’s striking how many youth travel the sidewalks, often rolling alongside their parents pushing a sibling in a stroller. There are adult scooters too, and it wouldn’t be exaggeration to speak in terms of an army of scooters flooding a street.

Hospice Foundation of America’s Annual National Living With Grief Program, sponsored by Brattleboro Area Hospice and The Retreat, Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014, 1:00-4:30. This educational event is free of charge to attend.

This program focuses exclusively on the issues that adolescents face as they cope with death loss, and explores ways that professionals and other adults who work with adolescents can help them cope. The format for the afternoon is an archived webcast featuring national experts as well as a live discussion led by local professionals who have expertise in this area.

The teleconference will be held at the Brattleboro Retreat Education Center. Refreshment will be provided. Continuing Education Credits are available through Hospice Foundation of America.

Bryn Mawr Decides to Drop Vowels

April 1, 2014

Bryn Mawr College is announcing today that it is dropping the vowels from its name and questioning the use of vowels generally. The college will now be known as Brn Mwr. The move is being described as the first major initiative of the college’s new president, Kim Cassidy. A statement from Cassidy said: “This is the age of Twitter, every character counts. And really, what’s the difference, no one can pronounce our name anyway.” The college also announced plans for an academic conference related to the institution’s new skepticism of vowels. The conference is The Hegemony of the Vowel: Incontinence and Lipogrammatics.” One of the planned sessions is “The Habermasian Response: Communicative Ir-Rationality?”

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING

The BUHS Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 7 in the Cusick Conference Room.

The BUHS District #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 9 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.