Swift Flyer: October 1, 2017

Donate to the FAP Fund

If you have not already, please submit your donation to the FAP Fund. This payment is in lieu of writing checks for each field trip that happens throughout the school year. In the past we collected checks for the Flynn, Sandbar, and Grand Isle State Park; now we simply receive a block of funds from the FAP once a year.

Click here to donate online. Suggested donations are outlined per student on the website.

If you donated already, thank you so much!

Sharing the Swift PLP Model

Kevin Hunt headed to Montpelier this week to share the Swift PLP model with 50+ educators from around the state. Swifties Wyatt Wolpert and Nora Engisch joined him, sharing their own work with a room full of educators. Excellent work, Wyatt and Nora!

PS As you can see, you can follow us on Instagram at the address above!

Google Classroom Invites

Swift facilitators post all assignments and many resources for Swift classes in Google Classroom. Students complete some assignments via Classroom as Google Docs or other attached files. Students complete other assignments on paper and simply mark the assignment as done on Classroom. There are two ways to stay in touch with your child's assignments in Google Classroom.

1) Install the Classroom app on a mobile device and have your son or daughter log in. You will be able to see Classroom as they see it.

2) Accept our invitations for Google Classroom Summaries. All Swift guardians have been invited. If you do not see this invitation in your e-mail, please contact Amanda, Kevin or Amy. Some parents have found the invites in their spam folders. A typical summary will look like this:

To learn more, head to the Google Support Site.

WCS Curriculum Night

Thank you for the great turn out at Curriculum Night on Wednesday. Please see the links below to review our presentations. We discussed the various bullets in more detail at the meeting, so if you have any specific questions, please contact Amanda, Kevin or Amy.

Administration Presentation- Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs) and Standards Based Learning (SBL)
Swift House Presentation

Literature Wrap-Up

All literature groups had their final meeting on Friday. We will all work on the theater unit starting Monday during our literature block. New literature group sign-ups will go out at the end of October.

Ms. Laberge's literature group on Heat by Mike Lupica wrapped up this week by wearing our favorite baseball gear, sharing final projects, and listening to some Cuban jazz music. They also watched the first part of The Sandlot, the best baseball movie ever!

Swift Theater Festival

We launched the 2017 Theater Festival this week. We reviewed these key details with students:

Students will choose between Shakespeare's Tempest or Robin Hood
All students will have a role, whether on stage or behind the scenes (see sign-up here)
Rehearsals will take place during our literature class until the final production week
Mark your calendar for our performance evening:

Thursday, November 2nd @ 6 pm

Homework Club

Snacks and supervised structured work time! Any and all Swift students are welcome to join us for Homework Club, supervised by our fantastic Abby Granoff in Swift House and supported by our administration.

Mondays, 3:00-4:30 (late bus at 4:30)
Tuesdays, 2:00-3:30 (Late bus at 3:30)

Welcome Long Term Subs to Swift

Next week, we bid a fond farewell to Stephanie Bliss as she moves into her new role in the WCS IT department, and we welcome Emily Brewer as Ms. Donnelly's long term sub until Ms. D is able to return. Emily comes to us from the director position at the Part 2 program at WCS, where she has become familiar with some of our students, as well as WCS systems like PBiS. She is certified to teach science and ELA, and is also excited for the opportunity to teach social studies. She is spending as much time as she can with us this week to get to know the Swift students and our team's expectations and structures.

We are also excited to welcome Katherine Cooper as Ms. Laberge's long term sub, starting in mid-November and continuing full time until the February break, then remaining with Swift to teach afternoon classes upon Ms. Laberge's return in March to a part time schedule for the remainder of the school year. Katherine interned with Voyager several years ago, and taught in a full time one year position with Full House last year, so she is very familiar with our school, programs, and systems. She is certified to teach science, social studies, and math, so she is a great fit for this position! Katherine will be overlapping with Ms. Laberge for a few days this fall to learn more about her core and the classes she teaches.

Please join us in welcoming these two teachers to our team, and feel free to direct any questions to Amanda, Amy, or Kevin.

Swift Interns for the 2017-2018 School Year

Megan Bishop
Hi everyone! My name is Megan Bishop and I am a senior at UVM. I am originally from Natick, MA, but I feel lucky to have called Vermont home for the past three years. I am thrilled to be a part of the Swift team, starting the year off interning with Amanda Laberge. My areas of concentration are ELA and Social Studies, and I am minoring in Global Studies. I love to travel and have received credits studying abroad in Nepal and Ecuador.

At UVM, I am a mentor in the DREAM program, a nonprofit organization that connects college students to children from local affordable housing communities. In addition, I am a member of the Slow Food club, which fights for food justice, grounded on the belief of good, clean, fair food for all. After studying the negative effects of oil drilling in the Amazon, I have joined other students to form a club called Unidos Por Ecuador, in which we help raise awareness and funds for cancer victims within indigenous communities. In my free time, you’ll find me outside-- hiking, running, or meandering through a farmers market.

Wynn Poleman

Hello SWIFT families! My name is Wynne Poleman. Ever since I was in middle school, I’ve known that I wanted to be a Middle school teacher myself one day and it’s a passion that I’ve had ever since. My content areas are Math and Science; however, I get excited about teaching all subjects. It is my joy to work with, teach and inspire kids. I feel that teaching is more than just a career it is a lifestyle, one where I never stop learning, one that keeps me grounded, luckily young hearts don’t let you take yourself too seriously, and one that hopefully gives me a chance to make a positive difference and be a resource for as many children as possible. It’s my goal to help kids fall in love with learning and discover what they are passionate about, something I’m still doing today.

Outside of school I love to spend as much time outside as possible going on adventures (I’m the one looking very excited about hiking on the left), often with my sister who is also majoring in middle level education at UVM – it seems to run in the family. I love to stay active and I have a competitive streak when it comes to sports, field hockey being my favorite sport to play for the last 8 years. Spending time with my friends and family, is very important to me – it is these relationships that bring me the so much happiness in my life but also those that I make with the students I work with that get me up at 6am every morning excited to come to school!

~ Ms. Poleman

Sarah Leister

Sarah on the left

Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Leister and I am a senior at UVM in the Middle Level Education program! I grew up in Williston and was a Swift student from 2006-2010! I started my higher education in North Carolina but quickly discovered that I needed to be in Vermont because it is the most incredible place to live. I am so excited to be working with Mr. Hunt this year as his student intern! My areas of concentration are Math and Social Studies but I hope to be certified to teach all four core subjects eventually.

I have known that I wanted to work with middle school students since I first became a summer camp counselor at YMCA Camp Huckins, where I have spent every summer for the past 13 years. The energy and humor these kids have is truly inspiring.

Outside of school I like to spend a lot of time outdoors with my friends. I love to swim and spend time on the lake with my family. Weekends in the winter usually consist of skiing at Bolton Valley or exploring Vermont with my friends.

I am so excited to be back in Swift House and I cannot wait to learn from your students and watch them grow as learners and as people!