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Here Is a Letter I Read To The Brattleboro Town School Board

by Not Signed In | Education

September 4, 2013

To The Brattleboro Town School Board:

I write today to express my dismay at what I have witnessed in the Brattleboro Town Schools lately, particularly in the last three years.

Our town, and the district as a whole, has chosen a path that I believe is stifling the desires of both teachers and students to analyze, reflect, create and explore. Adopting commercial programs (at no small expense) in an attempt to make learning “systematic” not only narrows the curriculum for students but also discourages thinking amongst teachers. The over-emphasis on “data points” from the recently-adopted ongoing assessment system has trumped existing classroom assessment systems that actually give deeper and more comprehensive information about individual students.

Watching Angels Public Art Show – Slideshow

by Lee | Arts

Here is a slide show that Meg Donahue created about the interactive public art show she produced here in Brattleboro during the month of September called “Watching Angels.”

With a very small crew, she installed and maintained two big chalkboards (one on Flat Street and one in Harmony Parking Lot) that asked “What Are You Grateful For?…” And there were over 100 artist created angels scattered around the downtown with uplifting messages on placards next to them.

150 Years Ago (1863 10/10)

by BusyMom | History

Brattleboro, Vt. Oct. 10th, 1863

Dear wife –

I have delayed writing until the present moment, that I might tell you where I was to remain. I suppose that my place is Company B, Capt Brannon. I have been trotting from Company A to Company B and from Company B to Company A without a musket or clothing. This morning I have come to Company B and expect to remain.

BCTV’s Annual Meeting is Wednesday, October 9 – Preview Board Candidate Statements

by BrattleboroTV | Media

BCTV’s Annual Meeting is tomorrow night at 6 PM at the Brattleboro Municipal Center, in BCTV’s 3rd Floor Studio. Public is welcome. Red carpet awards night, food, fun video clips, and member business. Plus, you get to check out our new studio. See you there!

Board elections: . There are four 3-year board seats up for election. Four candidates have submitted statements of interest. Polls will open at 6 PM and close around 6:45 PM. Please arrive in time to vote. To vote or be eligible as a write-in candidate, you must be at least 18 years old and have been a member of BCTV for 30 days prior to the annual meeting. 

Already A Winner – Kurn Hattin’s Lisa Bianconi, Transforming Children’s Lives through Music

by Not Signed In | Education

Recently, Kurn Hattin Homes Music Program Director, Lisa Bianconi received an exceptional phone call from the Grammy Foundation in Los Angeles. Lisa had been waiting for news since last May when she was notified that she was one of 217 quarterfinalists (from 30,000 nominations) for the Grammy Music Educator Award.

For the semifinals, she submitted a 500-word essay describing her educational philosophy, along with a video of testimonials from colleagues, volunteers, and others close to Lisa and the Kurn Hattin music program.

The phone call Lisa had been waiting for for several months was to notify her that after reviewing her materials, the judges had selected her as one of only 25 semifinalists for the award.

Opening This Week… Death of a Salesman Performed by The Apron Theater Company at Next Stage, Putney

by Not Signed In | Arts

The Apron Theater Company and the Next Stage Arts Project present Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Death of a Salesman directed by Carrie Kidd at Next Stage in Putney on October 10,11,12,13, and 17, 18, 19. Evening performances are at 8 pm. The Sunday, October 13th performance is a 2pm matinee.

An attack on the “American Dream” of materialism, Death of a Salesman is a three-act play (two acts and a “requiem”), centering on the main character, Willy Loman, (played by Arthur Pettee.) He dies as he has lived, a failure in the eyes of society. Arthur Miller wrote: “…to me the tragedy of Willy Loman is that he gave his life, or sold it, in order to justify the waste of it.”

Christmas in October? Why? The 3rd Annual Blanche Moyse Memorial Concert

by Pam Lierle | Music

Over Columbus Day weekend, the Blanche Moyse Chorale will again honor the memory of its beloved founder, Blanche Moyse, by performing a favorite selection of J. S. Bach’s choral music. This year’s selection is the “Christmas Oratorio”. But why in October? Simply because Mme. Moyse’s celebrated New England Bach Festival (NEBF: 1969-2004) was always held in early October. Thus the scheduling of her annual Memorial Concert has followed the same tradition. Moreover, while Bach’s oratorio does tell the Biblical Christmas story, this great work of art touches on many aspects of human experience, transcending the specifics of the Christian holiday calendar.

The 3rd Annual Blanche Moyse Memorial Concert will be performed twice: at 7:30 P.M. on Friday, October 11, at the Bellows Falls Opera House, in Bellows Falls, VT, and at 2:00 P.M. on Sunday, October 13, at Marlboro College’s Persons Auditorium, in Marlboro, VT.

A Lifetime of Vermont People: Photo Exhibit & Talk at Brooks Library

by Brooks Memorial Library | Arts

A Lifetime of Vermont People
Wednesday, October 09, 2013, 7 pm – 9 pm


Frog Hollow, the nations first state craft center, presents a traveling exhibit A Lifetime of Vermont People – A bold glimpse of the rural people who gave Vermont its character as documented over 60 years by the photographer-writer Peter Miller. This tour coincides with the release of Peter Miller’s new book of the same title and focuses on Vermont Libraries as community hubs to tell the tale of the writing of the book which explores the changing culture of Vermont over the past half century.

Grand Re-Opening Benefit for Latchis Theatre Renovations

by Not Signed In | Entertainment

Ken Burns to appear October 19, 7:30 p.m.

For Immediate Release – Latchis Arts invites the community to a Grand Re-Opening Benefit at the Latchis Theatre in downtown Brattleboro. This event will mark the public’s first glimpse of the renovations that have taken place since the theatre was closed for construction on August 1, 2013.

Ken Burns, long-time friend of the Latchis, will celebrate the re-opening by screening Episode 5 1933-1939 “The Rising Road” of The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.

A Year In Southern Mongolia – Gobi Desert – Slides and Intro To The Music

by ACCVT | Culture

Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents ‘A Year in Mongolia and the Gobi Desert’ by Ben Boettger, a slide lecture with an introduction to listening to a range of traditional and contemporary Mongolian music.

Boettger, a former Peace Corps volunteer, will present a narrative of his first year in Mongolia accompanied by images. He first trained for three months in a small northern village living with a Mongolian family and then moved south to the southern mining/industrial town of Dalanzadgad in the Gobi Desert where he lived and taught for the rest of the year. He will talk about his students, Mongolian music, camel racing, and food, concluding with the celebration of Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian Lunar New Year Festival.

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 10/7/13

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 10-7-13

Monday October 7

12:00 a.m.  Downtown Action Team presents findings– 9/11/13

1:35 a.m.  Long Trail Bridge Ground-Breaking

2:00 a.m.  FSTV Overnight

4:00 a.m.  No Film Film Festival 2: 80’s Remake – Pt 3

5:00 a.m.  The Birth to Three Program and it’s Importance to Vermont

5:30 a.m.  For the Animals: Ep. 126

Weekend Concert Series: The Gaslight Anthem “Live on David Letterman”

by scrispe | Music

The Gaslight Anthem are a band that formed in the early 2000s from New Jersey. They are heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen and the Clash. They are also influenced by legendary soul and blues musicians such as Miles Davis, Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke. They rock hard and know how to masterfully craft a great song. Their songs almost invariably have memorable melodies. They have 4 LP’s out at this point and all of them are solid with tons of excellent tracks. ’59 Sound is probably their best. Check it out!

BCTV Video Calendar: 10/3/13 – Bratt Lit Fest, Buddy Walk, Source to Sea, Button Up VT Day

by BrattleboroTV | Media

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With four straight days of authors and entertainment, the 2013 Brattleboro Literary Festival headlines this edition of BCTV’s Video Calendar, with an episode that also includes spotlight video from the Governor on Button Up VT day, and a testimonial from Y-ASPIRE alumn Kayli Nicholson on why you should join her and thousands of others across the region and the nation for this year’s Buddy Walk.

Poetry 180 at the Brattleboro Literary Festival

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Poetry 180 at the Brattleboro Literary Festival 
Thursday, October 03, 2013, 7 pm –  9 pm

On Thursday, October 3, at 7 PM in the Library’s Main Room, Guilford poet Ken Hebson has organized local published poets Arlene Distler; Barbara Benoit; Charles Butterfield; Wyn Cooper; Ed Rayher; and Tim Mayo, to read their favorite poems from Poetry 180; and which will be paired with their own poetry. There will be several students from Brattleboro Union High School who will be invited to read as well. Copies of Poetry 180 are available at the Library’s main circulation desk. 

The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library Seeks Donations of Books

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library seeks donations of books for the fundraising December holiday book sale. Proceeds from the book sale help support the First Wednesday lecture series, computer access services, free museum passes and Children’s Room materials.

The Library needs books donated that “look like new.” Book donations can be hardcover, soft cover and mass-market paperbacks in fiction and non-fiction. In addition, the Library accepts coffee-table books, children’s books, CDs, DVDs and rare first edition and signed books.

Creating a Royal French Capital: Paris As We Know It

by Brooks Memorial Library | History

First Wednesday Lectures return for 8th Season with talk on 16th-17th Century Paris. 
Wednesday, October 2, 7 PM, Brooks Memorial Library

Amherst College History of Art professor Nicola Courtright discusses how 16th- and 17th -century French kings, seeking national political unity, created a new image of Paris, building the magnificent residences, squares, gardens, and boulevards that endure today.

Nicola Courtright is the Professor of the History of Art and Chair of European Studies at Amherst College. She has taught at Amherst for the past 14 years. Her publications span a wide range of areas within sixteenth and seventeenth-century European art history, including the art and architecture of the Vatican, Bernini sculpture, Rembrandt drawings, and most recently the art and architecture of French royal residences. 

Discovering Conducting – An Exploratory Seminar

by Pam Lierle | Music

What does a conductor do? Why? How?

What’s actually going on during music making?

How and why do we respond to music? Create music?

Can music and our responses be controlled, and is that desirable?

What is it to listen? To hear? To rehearse or practice? To participate? To lead?

Brattleboro Union High School Board Meeting Agenda

by Not Signed In | Education

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

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BUHS Planning and Policy Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, October 7 in the Cusick Conference Room. 

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

The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.