Catamount Times
February, 2016
School Budget Vote
is March 1
Vermont‘s Town Meeting Day is
held the first Tuesday in March, which
this year is March 1. In St. Johnsbury,
community members vote on the
school budget on Town Meeting Day.
The school budget is used to pay for
Pre-K through 12th grade students to
go to school.
So, it pays for this school but it
also pays for 8th through 12th graders
to go to high school. Ninety percent
of high school students go to the
Academy, but not all do.
Town voting on March 1st happens
at the school. Students, make sure
your parents are registered to vote so
they can vote on the budget!
The town will also vote on two
more
school
board
members
(governing board.) The school board
makes important decisions about our
school‘s philosophy and direction. Dr.
Deane Rankin and Christopher
Wenger are the two gentlemen who
are running to be on our school board.
So make sure that you check with
your parents and remind them to vote
on March 1st at the school!
By Emma P.
Catamount Staff Reporter
Town Meeting is on Monday, Feb. 29
at 6 p.m. in the school auditorium.
Voting is on Tuesday, March 1 from
10 a.m.-7 p.m. at the school.
Catamount
Times
Volume 2, Number 3
Editors
Cybele Hantman
chantman@stjsd.org
Tom Huntington
thuntington@stjsd.org
Jon Morris
jmorris@stjsd.org
The Catamount Times is produced by
the St. Johnsbury School newspaper
club. We accept submissions from all
students at the school.
6th Grade Project Connects Students to the Community
When we finished
In November, the 6th
our projects, we pregrade Trailblazers team
sented them to the
did a community prowhole class. We then
ject. We interviewed a
had a family night in
firefighter and a police
December, when we
officer. We also intershowed our projects to
viewed Mr. Redmon,
our families. It was also
our Upper School Prinopen to the public, so
cipal, and Ms. Lufkin,
everyone could see
our Director of Student
what we did.
Support Services. The
I think the Trailblazthree topics were the
ers family night was a
fire department, the
success, because lots
police department and
of people came and adcommunity education.
mired our work. I am
We were put in
especially proud of the
groups of 18-20 stuteachers for coming up
dents. Lexiss H. was
with this idea of family
interviewed by student
night, because it let
reporters from Lyndon
people see what we
State College, about the
have been doing in
time that Detective
6th grade students interview Phil Hawthorne of the St. Johnsbury Fire
school. It also allowed
Lester Cleary saved her
Department, as part of a community project designed to connect St.
people to see and hear
and her dad‘s life when
Johnsbury School students to their community.
about their police and
their house was burning
fire departments and
down.
ment do for the community?‖ When
There were two groups in public we received our answers, we wrote also their schools. The community
education, and one group in the police them down on scrap paper. After all project not only let us learn about our
and fire department. In public educa- the interviews were done, we typed up community, it also taught others about
our community.
tion, one group interviewed Mr. Red- our questions and answers.
By Sergei S. and Lily S.
mon and the other interviewed Ms.
Every student organized the inforCatamount Staff Reporters
Lufkin. The police department group mation as an individual project that
interviewed Detective Cleary. The could be shared with the class. We
next day, the Fire Department group could choose a method of presenta- The LSC News7 story about the prointerviewed firefighter Phil Hawthorne.
tion; options included a slideshow, ject can be viewed online at http://
The students asked questions like, poster, video or website, etc. We were www.news7newslinc.net/index.php/
―what is the purpose of the depart- given a list of what we had to do for around-the-nek/st-johnsbury/1486community-education.
ment?‖ and ―what does the depart- our project to qualify.
Principal’s Corner
I cannot believe that the 20152016 school year is already halfway
over!
At the beginning of the school
year, I visited each classroom in the
Upper School and said, ―I want to
present a challenge to you this
school year. I challenge each of you
and your classmates to do something
great, something awesome, and/or
something amazing this year.‖
I told the students that I wanted
to know when it would happen, because I wanted to be there to see
what they accomplished and celebrate their successes. I cannot tell
you how many of these wonderful
things have happened as a result of
this challenge.
We have had students engineer
and design koozies to maintain the
temperature of hot chocolate, and present them to an employee from Green
Mountain Coffee. We have had students author and illustrate a series of
―Twisted Fairy Tales‖ and share them
with their buddy classes. We have had
students raise money and donate it to
end Alzheimer's disease. We have
sponsored two students in Uganda by
fundraising schoolwide in various
ways to provide them with food, shelter, clothing and an education.
We have seen many wonderful
performances in which students have
demonstrated their talents as actors,
2
musicians and vocalists. Additionally, we have had so many studentathletes represent our school in
powerful and positive ways. There
have been so many great, awesome
and amazing happenings this year.
As the second half of the year
begins, I w ould like to remind everyone of the challenge presented to
them in the fall. I strongly urge you
to continue to work hard, take risks
and surpass your goals. I cannot
wait to be invited to the next great,
awesome and amazing success.
Go Catamounts!
Mr. Redmon
Upper School Principal, Grades 4-8