The Pool Learning Center, a nonprofit which assists individuals with dyslexia, will host “Proven Interventions for Struggling Readers,” a workshop for teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, and interested individuals on Thursday, May 26, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Marlboro College Graduate Center on Vernon Street.
Young learners need a variety of opportunities in order to learn to read - a combination of guided, shared and independent reading. This is called “balanced” literacy instruction. Struggling readers require explicit instruction in order to develop the skills and strategies to become proficient, according to a news release.
In order to meet the needs of struggling readers, teachers must be able to identify the obstacles standing in their way. They need to be diagnostic in their observation and assessment of a student's reading. Ongoing, daily observations/assessments are what drive instruction.
According to the news release, this workshop will provide attendees with summative and formative assessment tools, methods of analyzing errors, and fun and engaging activities that will motivate and meet the needs of struggling readers.
Spring rains summon an astounding variety of wild medicinal mushrooms and greens, the perfect backdrop for a spring-mushrooming and wild-edibles presentation at The Nature Museum. On Saturday, May 21, mycological guide Ari Rockland-Miller will present “Spring Wildcrafting: Medicinal Mushrooms and Greens,” to introduce participants to foraging safety, strategy, and...
Medicare Boot Camp in Townshend, Brattleboro Senior Solutions staff provides unbiased information about the Medicare system at Medicare Boot Camp. In May this free class will be held in two Windham County locations: in Townshend on Thursday, May 19, 1 to 3 p.m., and in Brattleboro on Thursday, May...
The board and staff of Health Care and Rehabilitation Services of Southeastern Vermont (HCRS) thank town residents throughout Windsor and Windham counties who voted to support HCRS's town-funding requests at their recent Annual Town Meetings. This critically important town funding will help HCRS to achieve our mission: to provide creative, collaborative, and compassionate health-care services that are responsive to the needs of the communities we serve. The broad spectrum of programs we offer help community members struggling with mental illness,
It's been a time of growth at the Women's Freedom Center, and some of the bigger shifts are benefiting our smallest guests. While support of resident kids has always been our collective work, the addition of a children's advocate last fall has dramatically enhanced what we can offer youth during their stay in our shelter. When kids flee domestic violence with their moms, some of their first needs are similar: a sense of safety - clearly - and a chance...
Replacement trees will be planted on Green Street in Bellows Falls this month. The Rockingham Tree Committee has announced plans to plant four crabapple trees on Green Street to replace trees which have been removed. Tree Committee spokesperson Ellen Howard said the Rockingham Tree Plan calls for replacing trees where they have been removed. The town of Rockingham received a tree-planting grant from the Vermont Urban and Community Forest Program in 2015 for the tree planting. The grant is a...
On Earth Day, 2016, a group of campers helped to install a Picture Post near the summit of Heifer Hill at the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC). The Picture Post Project is a part of the Digital Earth Watch (DEW) network. Developed jointly by NASA and six other institutions, DEW is run by the University of New Hampshire. Picture Post was created as a tool for non-scientists to monitor their environment and share observations. DEW supports environmental monitoring by citizens,
College news • On May 7, Colby-Sawyer College in New London, N.H., held its 178th Commencement. Sarah Harlow of Putney graduated with a B.S. in nursing. Harlow graduated magna cum laude as a member of the Alpha Chi National Honor Society and Colby-Sawyer's Nursing Honor Society. Amy Blazej of Windham graduated with a B.A. in Creative Writing, she graduated cum laude. School news • The Governor's Institutes of Vermont have informed Bellows Falls Union High School that eight BFUHS students...
Every family has secrets. Mine had more than its share. If there were a way that my mother could have avoided telling me about Aunt Rose, I am sure that I would never had found out about her. Rose had been in Rockland Psychiatric Center since 1930, when her brief marriage failed and she lost custody of her only child. Now, in 1956, her three sisters (Aunt Fanny, Aunt Yetta, and my mother) were planning a family visit. We went...
FairPoint honors Lillie for 20 years of service in telecom industry SOUTH BURLINGTON - FairPoint Communications recently recognized Local Installation and Maintenance Operations Manager Chris Lillie with a 20-year service anniversary award by Vice President of Northern New England Field Operations Rich Murtha. Lillie oversees the Brattleboro and Bennington offices. He began his career with the company as an installation and maintenance technician based out of the Milton office. He remembers being hired during a time when there was a...
New England Youth Theatre's Theatre Adventure Wednesday Troupe will present Alice in Wonderland on May 19 and 20, at 10:30 a.m., at the West Village Meeting House, 29 South St. Alice's adventures in the nonsensical topsy-turvy Wonderland are a smorgasbord of theatrical surprises. An “Alice-Dance” will spiral the audience into suspending all preconceived notions about “up is right and right is down,” according to a news release. English author Lewis Carroll wrote “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” in 1865. More than...
A new sign directs residents to the prescription-drug drop box at the Bellows Falls Police Department at the Rockingham/Westminster Recycling Center. Leftover medicine poses a serious safety threat in the U.S., with more people dying each year from overdoses involving prescription painkillers than from heroin and cocaine combined, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seventy percent of people aged 12 and older who misuse prescription drugs get them from family or friends, according to a news...
The Brattleboro Farmers' Market's midweek market will be at a new location at a new time this year. Starting May 31 and continuing through the summer until Sept. 26, the Downtown Evening Market will be held Tuesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. on Flat Street, next to the Boys & Girls Club, according to a news release. The Downtown Evening Market will bring fresh and local food into the heart of Brattleboro at a time of day that fits well...
The Brattleboro Music School's Annual Spring Showcase, one of its major fundraisers of the year, is set for Saturday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the River Garden on Main Street. The Spring Showcase includes student performances and a bake sale, plant sale, 50/50 raffle, and CD/DVD sale. As the Music School's annual “thank you” to the greater Brattleboro community, admission is free, but this fundraiser also provides support for the school's scholarship fund and donations are...
Women in the U.S. continue to be underrepresented in careers related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), despite some recent strides in these areas. Although women make up 47 percent of the total U.S. workforce, a 2015 Department of Labor report indicates that they constitute only 15.1 percent of workers in all architecture and engineering occupations as well as just 24.7 percent of all workers in computer and mathematical occupations, for example, according to a news release. The Windham...
Good questions can be a major part of a due-care plan for a business owner. Elizabeth Baldwin, environmental compliance officer at Metropolitan Hardwood Floors, provides the following examples: • What kind of legal wood compliance program do you have? How long has it been in place? Do you have a compliance officer? If not, how is the program supervised? • Where do you buy your products? How do you control that purchasing? • Do you, as an importer, have people...
After reading the sadly misguided piece by Bill Conley, I felt compelled to respond. No, Bill, it is not the producers of products who are responsible for the disposal of their packaging - that is the responsibility of the person purchasing the product. In other words, I assume if you are able to afford a Big Mac at McDonald's, you will walk past a place to properly dispose of its wrapper (multiple plastic garbage cans). Even poor people cannot pretend...
As the 2016 legislative session began, Rick Fleming's goal was to start a conversation about changing Vermont's alimony laws. The Brattleboro businessman accomplished that and more, though the conversation ended differently than he had hoped. The Legislature has asked a state Supreme Court oversight committee - made up of attorneys, judges, and court staff - to report back on its study of Vermont's alimony guidelines by Jan. 15, 2017. That report “shall include any legislative recommendations for changes” in the...
When it's time to remove spent nuclear fuel from Vermont Yankee, it appears likely that will happen via rail - not trucks. That was the takeaway last week for local officials and for plant administrators after meeting with a visiting team from the Department of Energy. That team was in town to begin planning for the eventual transport of 3,880 radioactive fuel assemblies stored at the Vernon plant. There still is no national, permanent storage site for that material, meaning...
It was 1942. My father joined the Navy and moved my mother, my sister, and me from New Jersey to Rhode Island to be near my mother's family. All I knew was that everything I knew simply disappeared: friends, school, playground, and neighborhood. I have a vivid memory of walking into a new school, staring with my scared eyes at a blackboard filled with gibberish. New Jersey schools did not, at the time, teach cursive to second-grade beginners. And my...
Some comments/questions about the interview with the owner of Cultural Intrigue: • What kind of revenue-sharing system, if any, does Cultural Intrigue have with the local population producing the crafts? Does it pay them more than the going rate (of $1/day per worker)? In other words, what separates Cultural Intrigue's import model from the Wal-Mart one? • What kind of environmental impact do these chemical-intensive activities, such as dying, have in the areas where production is happening? • Does Cultural...
On Saturday, May 21, the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) is welcoming anyone who wants to test out the flying trapeze for only $5 a flight between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. “Fly for $5” is open to anyone age 7 and up, and there will be other activities for younger kids, including hula hooping and juggling. First-time flyers are invited to see what all the excitement is about. What might a student expect from trying the flying...
Vermont General Assembly Democratic and Republican support for Senate Bill S.241 legalizing recreational marijuana evaporated during nearly 10 weeks between Senate and House voting. Only Progressives stood firm. The 150 House seats and 30 Senate seats are apportioned by population. If House support had equaled Senate support for S.241, about five representatives would have supported it for each senator who did. In Windsor County, just three representatives per senator supported S.241: 60 percent of Senate support. Similarly, in Windham County,
As I was doing my annual Route 35 Green Up beat, I got to thinking. The writer says he feels like a “sap.” For me, I'm going with “chump.” It seems real easy for me to connect the dots between drinking/driving and beer cans on the side of the road. Shouldn't our neighbors who have been dinged with a DUI be doing this work? I am not sure we've got the right people cleaning up on the first Saturday in...
How do nearly 100 participants at the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont 29th annual downtown Walk for Life raise $27,000 for area treatment and prevention efforts? Julie van der Horst Jansen collected almost $500 by posting a photo on the internet of the back of her cat with the caption, “If we reach our goal, Lucky will turn around and show you his belly and his sweet smile.” Howie Peterson came up with more than $1,500 by emailing several dozen...
As town officials continue mulling over how to pay for municipal trash pick-up, some new information presented by the Recycling Committee spurred the Selectboard to call a special meeting with the Recycling Committee, the Town Treasurer, and town trash hauler Triple T Trucking Inc. of Brattleboro. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24, in the Selectboard room in the Town Hall basement. The public is encouraged to attend. At the May 2 regular Selectboard meeting,
Strolling of the Heifers will offer up to 16 people a chance to enroll in a paid apprenticeship program designed to help them start culinary industry careers. The Stroll's Farm-to-Table Culinary Apprenticeship program is a 12-week program offering training that can lead to permanent food-preparation positions at restaurant and institutional kitchens. The program is free to participants who meet income employment status qualifications, including veterans. It includes classroom time, as well as on-the-job experience at restaurant and institutional kitchens, for...
A state inspection found multiple violations of patient rights and emergency services standards at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, including an instance of “unnecessary force” used when police were summoned to subdue a mental health patient, new documents show. The state Division of Licensing and Protection also found that the hospital's Emergency Department staff prematurely resorted to physical restraints - and then failed to remove them in a timely manner - when treating another patient diagnosed with mental illness. State documents show...
In less than a month, it will be here. My favorite weekend of the year. Bellows Falls will be alive with music June 3–5 as enthusiasts gather for the 17th annual Roots on the River music festival. “Roots” music, sometimes called “traditional” or “Americana,” is a musical style that incorporates early blues, bluegrass, country, folk, rhythm and blues, gospel, and rock. Each June, the festival celebrates the genre. In 2014, Acoustic Guitar magazine picked this “little gem of a festival”
Several days after the end of the 2016 legislative session, Windham County Sen. Jeanette White still sounded tired. That's no doubt due to the normal wear and tear of the session's frantic final debates and deliberations. But the Putney Democrat also acknowledged deep disappointment about the failure of one of her key causes - marijuana legalization. White is seeking an eighth term in this year's elections. But if she returns to Montpelier, she's no longer sure she wants to lead...
Visual artist Karen May Sorensen will be easy to recognize at ArtRageUs1 during June's Brattleboro Gallery Walk. “I will be the one wearing a handmade papier-mâché stag horns and mask,” Sorensen says. “Already I had to get started on the papier-mâché early, since these things need time to dry and paint.” For the month of June, Karen May Sorensen will be the featured artist at ArtRageUs1, an art collective that carries unique and affordable art and crafts by area artisans,
Spring is here, and registration is open for the seventh annual Going the Distance Bike Ride benefiting the Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro. The June 25 event is a family-friendly ride, not a race, that attracts cyclists of all abilities. Riders can choose a 40-, 60-, or 100-mile route, each of which is fully supported with rest stops, delicious food, and support vans, according to a news release. All routes begin and end at the Marlboro College Graduate Center...
With all the weather postponements this spring, the Brattleboro Colonels baseball team is scrambling to make up games and build some momentum heading into the second half of the season. But as the late, great Orioles manager Earl Weaver used to say, momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher. In other words, string some good pitching performances together, and you'll have a winning streak. For the Colonels, momentum is named Leif Bigelow and Sam Ognenoff. They are the Colonels' top two pitchers...
Music of the Civil War is the topic of a program Sunday, May 22, at 7 p.m., at Main Street Arts. Singer and researcher Linda Radtke will share songs from the Vermont Civil War Songbook based on a sheet music collection in the Vermont Historical Society archives of songs that were popular in Vermont during the 1860s, according to a news release. From sentimental songs about the girl back home to satirical ballads, Radtke will trace how the popular song...
Stone Church Arts will present a concert performance called Trash To Tunes on Friday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m., in the Chapel at Immanuel Episcopal Church, the stone church on the hill, at 20 Church St. Dr. Dennis Waring uses handmade and homemade musical instruments inspired by instruments from around the world. Interesting sights, sounds, and stories about the instruments give audiences new insight into folklore, music, craft, science, and world perspectives, according to a news release. Waring has presented...
In a “rare and exciting collaboration” between Jokers Wild and Peter Amidon, an evening of community contra and square dances will take place at the Evening Star Grange in Dummerston Center on Saturday, May 21, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m,, according to a news release. Jokers Wild features three local young musicians: Aidan Murphy on fiddle, Everest Witman on guitar and Alden Witman on penny whistle. Peter Amidon will call the dance and tell a traditional folk tale midway through...
Main Street Arts presents a contemporary folk and bluegrass twin bill featuring Antje Duvekot and The Stockwell Brothers Band at Main Street Arts on Saturday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. Duvekot is a German-born, American-raised singer/songwriter whose songs have been critically praised for their “hard-won wisdom, dark-eyed realism, and street-smart romanticism,” according to a news release. Her bicultural upbringing and relative newness to English have helped shape Duvekot's unique way with song, giving her a “startlingly original” poetic palette. She...
Friends of Music at Guilford (FOMAG), now in its 50th anniversary season, has been presenting a series of programs with Baroque-era works from Bolivia that have been hidden away for centuries. The third and final event in the series is on Sunday, May 29, at 3 p.m. in the intimate barn at Tree Frog Farm, where FOMAG now hosts concerts on both Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends. Since presenting the new, the unusual, and the underperformed is a central...
Your shiny new oak flooring took habitat from the endangered Amur tiger. That ream of paper you just brought home? It included fiber from trees stolen from a U.S. National Park. And the cedar decking you just installed was felled in a protected rainforest, with proceeds from its sale used to fund the illegal drug trade. Or was it? If you don't know whether those scenarios could apply to you or your business, it's time to take a look at...
Wind, rain, and neglect have stolen most of the names. The Brattleboro Retreat's former Asylum Cemetery rests to the side of one of the many trails once walked by patients to assist their therapy and healing. There, circled by granite posts, stand the few remaining gravestones, worn nearly smooth where names, birth dates, and the dates of death once were visible. In the cemetery used for the first 70 years or so of the psychiatric hospital's history, those gravestones marked...
Members of the West Dummerston Fire Department submitted a petition to the Town Clerk on May 11 to call a Special Town Meeting to decide if taxpayers will help fund construction of a new firehouse. Although Selectboard members all agree they support their local volunteer fire department, how to pay for the project was the subject of extended debate at the April 13 and 27 regular Board meetings. Last year, Fire Chief Rick Looman told the Selectboard his department is...
Eight years ago, Dot MacDonald applied one of the things she loves, long-distance bicycling, to another love, her job as schoolteacher at the Neighborhood Schoolhouse. She organized the first annual Dot's Ride, a 100-mile-plus bicycling event to raise scholarship money for parents who wanted to send their children to Neighborhood Schoolhouse but couldn't afford it. Every year since then, the event has raised about $10,000, sometimes more. This year is MacDonald's last as a teacher - she is retiring after...
At their annual meeting, residents of the Westgate housing community unanimously approved creating a new partnership with the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust. The new partnership will be between the tenant-led nonprofit Westgate Housing Inc. (WHI) that owns and manages the property and the Housing Trust. Westgate will remain a tenant-owned property, said Westgate board President and resident Julie Maloof. The Housing Trust isn't taking over ownership or management of the property. Instead, the organization is stepping in as a...