Catamount Times
November, 2015
Mr. Redmon:
Principal and
Passionate Educator
Not only is Michael Redmon the
Principal of grades 5-8, but he is also
a passionate educator.
Mr. Redmon has been working at
our school for a total of six years. For
the first four years, he worked with the
lower grades as a special educator.
Last year, he was an Assistant Principal for grades 5-8, but this year he is
the Principal of the upper school.
Mr. Redmon says his favorite part
of working here is being able to work
with the other staff and students, and
he also enjoys helping others. He
doesn’t feel like he’s going to “work”
every day; he’s just going to do something that he loves.
Mr. Redmon doesn’t feel like he’s
going to ‘work’ every day; he’s just
going to do something he loves.
Outside of his work life, the University of Rhode Island graduate has a
lot of hobbies. He enjoys spending
time with his wife, playing games and
being outside.
But it’s no secret that one of his
favorite things is hockey. Hockey has
played a huge role in his life in many
ways. Not only does he enjoy the
sport itself, hockey also taught him a
lot of important life skills like teamwork, leadership and communication,
which he still benefits from today.
By Emily R.
Catamount Staff Reporter
Meet Our New Band Teacher, Mr. Hamel!
Mr. Hamel is our new band teacher. Before coming to our school, he
taught music to grades 6-12 in Connecticut, and also taught five years of
vocational studies at a private school
in Montpelier.
During a recent interview, he said
he looks forward to building a music
program that is “strong in fundamentals, and exploratory in students’ musical interests.” He is teaching students how to listen, how to be respectful of peers and teachers, and
also
encouraging
students
to
“completely immerse/enjoy any facet
of the art, at anytime, for any reason
at all.”
Mr. Hamel has a very musical family and had inspiring and understanding teachers. He feels he couldn’t
have done anything “besides study
music.”
Mr. Hamel’s favorite instrument to
play is the electric bass or any percussion instrument; his second favorite
instrument is the trumpet. He started
playing music when he got a drum kit
at eight years old. He began to play
the flute in 4th grade.
If the opportunity arose to meet a
famous musician, he would choose
John Lennon, who would “probably
take the time to chat; everyone else
would be too busy.”
He has multiple other interests outside of school. He watches baseball,
basketball and football and reads a lot
in his free time. He also writes music
and studies new music.
He is in a rock band called Main
Street Syndicate. They write about 85
percent of the music they play. He
says
they
“play
any
style
we
want at any
given
time
and
write
about bizarre
topics such
as
“The
Planet of the
Apes.”
Mr. Hamel is a very
interesting
person. We
are all glad
to have him
as a teacher, and we welcome him to
our school with open arms.
By Sophia H.
Catamount Staff Reporter
The Real History of Thanksgiving and the Discovery of America
Thanksgiving
gave thanks, the day turned into
“Thanksgiving.” The name stuck. The
cheesy story that claims the Pilgrims
gave thanks with the Pequot Indians
over a huge meal is just a myth.
Although the story we all know as
Thanksgiving is not true, it is still a
great time to give thanks for all that
you have. I know that I’m going to
keep celebrating Thanksgiving the
way I usually do, and I encourage you
to, also.
By Isidora D.
Catamount Staff Reporter
When people think of Thanksgiving, they think of Pilgrims helping Native Americans and happiness all
around. Really, that st ory is only 120
years old. This story was made up
after World War I and smeared over
unsuspecting school children in the
1920s.
The true story starts with Governor
Winthrop having a joyful feast with his
gang of volunteer hunters. They had
just returned from murdering roughly
700 Pequot Indians.
The real story has been forgotten
by the people who are descended
from the Pilgrims, but not by Native
Americans. Every year, a group called
the United American Indians of New
England gathers at Plymouth Rock
and mourns the way we do for 9/11.
They devote the day to remembering,
and they don’t laugh and celebrate the
way we do on Thanksgiving.
We think that we are celebrating a
truce between these groups of people
but, really, we are celebrating a mass
murder. The Pilgrims’ first meal is normally thought of as a feast full of turkey, potatoes, corn and cranberries.
Actually, their first feast was a
weak meal. Thanksgiving was just the
day after the Days of Fasting that happened when they would sometimes
run out of food. When the Puritans
4
Discovery of America
the influence of plagues, crusades,
and other worldly problems during
that time period.
There also may have been other
discoveries of North America that nobody knew about. Plus, the Native
Americans were already settled in
America and living reasonably well
before Columbus barged in and
claimed the fame.
Columbus has no right to the honor of having a day named after him! It
really should be Leif Erikson Day on
Oct. 9! People worked way harder
than Columbus in the past, and he
gets a day named after him!
Christopher Columbus
was not the first one to
discover America! If you
did not know that, here's
the truth.
In 1001 AD, Leif Erikson, an Icelandic Viking,
sailed to North America
and explored a large area
of it and called it Vinland.
He was almost 500 years
before Christopher Columbus.
The only reason that it continued
unexplored was because after that
discovery he stopped traveling as
much, which meant that the word didn’t get out about his discovery - especially because everybody was under
So, instead of celebrating Columbus Day next year on Oct. 10, we
should celebrate Leif Erikson Day on
Oct. 9.
By Tristan M.
Catamount Staff Reporter