Culture story sections
Monday, January 22, 2024
5:55 am At BMAC – 16th Annual Domino Toppling Extravaganza
6:00 am Around Town with Maria – Jonas Fricke’s Friends Remember Him 12/12/23
7:25 am Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce – BACC Annual Members Meeting 1/16/24
8:00 am Democracy Now! – Democracy Now! Daily Broadcast
9:00 am Energy Week with George Harvey – Energy Week #555 – 1/11/2024
You don’t have to run away to join the Circus, it can come to you! Kevin creates original productions with kids, does Circus Yoga with all ages, and makes everything fun. He shows how anyone can be part of Circus. Kevin is also a writer of essays, poems and memoir. His Circus work has been featured twice in The New Yorker magazine.
WSESU Business Administrator Frank Rucker shared and reviewed a document: “Windham Southeast School District FY25 Proposed Budget Summary.” Highlights included:
• The Finance office recently received some new statistics and information from the Agency of Education.
• There have been some updates Mr. Rucker has received since the prior draft:
◦ The state is essentially requiring the District to “pay itself,” by making Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS) pay the Windham Regional Career Center (WRCC) for the approximately 63 students that will attend. The Legislature is reviewing the funding formula.
◦ An addition of $150,000 for the Oak Grove capital project, due to bids being slightly higher than anticipated.
• The Common Level of Appraisal (CLA) statistics are fiscally unfavorable. If there are no changes, this will have a negative affect on the homestead tax rate.
The board rose from Executive Session at 8:17.
Sherri Keefe commented that she is here to bear witness for all those who are waiting for the resolution to these issues and for the transparency that the board has promised. For healing for survivors, their family members, and all community members that have been affected, and have been waiting for answers, some for over 50 years. She expressed hope that we can achieve this through this process.
Summary:
● Student representative concerns included a question of whether the compost materials are going into the trash and concerns about students feeling inhibited in expressing their identity and differences in learning styles.
● Administrators provided an update on Early Education Services and a proposed new public Pre-K classroom in Brattleboro at the Canal Street School
● The superintendent initiated the search process for two administrative positions, The Director of Curriculum and Principal of Brattleboro Union High School, by inviting board members to select representatives for the screening committees.
● The Board awarded a bid for the Oak Grove heat pump improvement project to BG Mechanical, for $2,453,438.
● The Board did a second review of the FY2025 draft budget. The budget is less than a 3% increase from the previous year but changes in the yield and the Common Level of Appraisal are projected to have a large impact on the tax rate for homeowners making more than $140,000 in annual income.
AGENDA
I. CALL TO ORDER – 6:00 p.m. – Kelly Young, Board Chair
II. Warning Article for School Director Elections – Action Needed
Guilford Center Stage will again this year be staging two productions, in the spring and fall of 2024, at Broad Brook Community Center in Guilford. These will be the 12th and 13th shows since the group was founded in 2015, and both feature the work of Vermont playwrights.
On the first weekend in May, Hardwick, Vt. playwright Marc Considine’s “Love Lost Diaries” will be staged, directed by Julie Holland of Guilford. Considine is a science teacher at Hazen Union School in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. He is coach of the school’s ambitious Drama Club. It was for his student actors that Marc Considine wrote this play, which was the ensemble’s entry in a regional drama festival in the late 1980’s.
Agenda
I. Call to order
II. Approve minutes
III. Discuss budget, review tax rate explanation rough draft
IV. Other business
V. Adjourn
Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present Québécois trad trio Genticorum, with special guests Seamus Egan and Lissa Schneckenburger, at Next Stage Arts on Saturday, February 10th, at 7:30 PM.
Genticorum is among the most distinctive voices of Québécois traditional music.
In French, to describe the chemistry between people, you say they have atomes crochus — literally, that their atoms are interlaced. There’s no better way to talk about Genticorum. The trio’s connection is magnetic. In the filigree of their arrangements, seamlessly melding fiddle, flute, accordion, guitar, foot percussion, and voices, there’s always an organic spark: at its root, this is social music, and audiences can’t help but feel the pleasure these three musicians get from playing together.
Monday, January 15, 2024
5:00 am All Things LGBTQ – Interview Show: Lydia Stryk and Emma Mulvaney-Stanak 1/2/24
6:00 am Hooker Dunham Presents – Vermont Suitcase Company presents The Feeble Fantastical
7:00 am Seasonal Specials – A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols
8:00 am Democracy Now! – Democracy Now! Daily Broadcast
There is also a separate, concurrent “Challengers” tournament featuring young rising stars. Winning the Challengers tournament gets you an invite to the next Masters tournament.
Putney, VT – Renowned violinist and former member of Silkroad Ensemble, Johnny Gandelsman, invites audiences to a unique musical experience, “This Is America: Part II,” on Wednesday, February 7th, 7:00pm at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, Putney, VT 05346, USA.
In response to the tumultuous times of the early pandemic and the tragic murder of George Floyd in 2020, Johnny Gandelsman initiated a profound musical project. Collaborating with a diverse group of American and US-based composers, Gandelsman sought to reflect on the current state of society in a personal and intimate way.
Mark introduced Rebecca, Jean and Nicole, who gave a presentation around the Wellness Programs available in our SU that promote healthy lifestyles for our employees, both physical and mental. An interesting statistic provided was that $1 spent on wellness can reap a $5.81 return. The full presentation can be found here:
The Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) has 5 open seats and the Vernon School District (VSD) has 2 open seats up for election on 3/5/24 — petitions are due by 1/29/24! Please consider running for the WSESD or VSD Board. Here’s a press release from the district central office.
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Empower Your Community: Run for School Board Seats in Windham Southeast and Vernon School Districts
Brattleboro, January 10, 2024 — As the Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) and the Vernon School District (VSD) seek dedicated individuals to serve on their school boards, community members are encouraged to consider running for open seats to make a meaningful impact on local education. The WSESD Board is comprised of ten (10) members from Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford and Putney, with each board member governing the schools in all four towns. The VSD Board is comprised of five (5) members and governs the Vernon School. There are open seats on the WSESD and VSD Boards, which require residents of each town as follows:
AGENDA
I. Call to Order / Introductions / Recognition of Visitors
II. Review of minutes
III. Focus item for discussion:
a. Food Services in the district: how can the board assess equity in food access across schools in the district? (review of recent conversations at board meetings)
Due to anticipated poor weather/driving conditions, the following meetings of the Windham Southeast School District have been re-warned as remote-only for this evening, January 9, 2024.
WSESD Board Meeting 6:00 pm
The Windham Southeast Supervisory Union Board will meet at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 in the WRCC, Cusick Conference Room, and remotely via Zoom.
Monday, January 8, 2024
5:30 am Sing Nowell – Songs & Carols for Midwinter and Christmastide 2023
7:55 am At BMAC – 16th Annual Domino Toppling Extravaganza
8:00 am Democracy Now! – Democracy Now! Daily Broadcast
9:00 am Energy Week with George Harvey – This Week’s Energy News
Next Stage Arts presents world-recognized percussionist George Lernis and his quintet, performing the music from his latest album “Between Two Worlds” at Next Stage on Saturday, January 27 at 7:30 pm.
The name of the album was inspired by the 15th century Turkish mystic Hacı Bayram Veli’s poem “Between Two Worlds” and depicts Lernis’s journey as an immigrant originally from Nicosia, Cyprus who eventually moved to the U.S. The music showcases Lernis’s bi-musicality, blending Jazz and Middle Eastern music in a tasteful and respectful manner to both of these rich musical traditions. Lernis’s quintet features a stellar group of musicians including the wonderful Turkish vocalist, Heiraza AKA Burcu Gülec, Swedish born bassist Bruno Råberg, American trumpeter Emiel De Jaegher, and Turkish piano, oud, and ney player Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol.
Eva Nolan called the meeting to order at 10:09.
The committee welcomed a visitor, Claire Halverson from the NAACP Education Committee. This committee has recently re-activated and is reaching out to strengthen connections with other local organizations with a related mission.
