April 17, 2008

By Tim Simard
Observer staff

Does Williston need a community center? Better bike paths? A reduction of its carbon footprint? More than 100 Williston residents gathered at Williston Central School over the weekend to answer some of these questions and discuss the direction in which they want to take the town.

"This is for the enhancement of the community," Tony Lamb, town moderator and event co-chairman, said on Friday. "More dialogue is a good thing. This kind of thing allows for direct participation in your community and it can be very powerful."

The community event, known as Williston Into the Next Generations (WING), was organized by a local steering committee in November. According to Lamb, the Friday and Saturday forum was created to give all residents an opportunity to speak on important town issues.

WING was a continuation of the Shelburne Farms and the University of Vermont's PLACE, or Place-based Landscape Analysis and Community Education, program, which helps residents connect to their community through geography and history. The program offered a series of classroom and outdoor presentations in Williston in the fall.

Delia Clark, the WING facilitator, said the event had two goals — to strengthen vitality and community support and ensure Williston's sustainability in the future.

She told those who attended this was a chance to identify and clarify a shared vision.

"What kind of community do you want to be today?" she asked. "What kind of community to do you want to be in the future?

Residents sought to answer those questions by breaking into nine small groups Friday evening and Saturday morning to discuss various local issues.

Group members had to reach a consensus on how to move forward on certain initiatives. For instance, citizens interested in getting a community center would have to take their cause to the Planning Commission and Development Review Board, said Lamb.

On Saturday, the smaller groups brought their findings to the entire WING contingent, which eventually decided to focus its attention on five items: community-gathering spaces, environmental initiatives, responsible government models, transportation needs and maintaining Williston's rural character.

Clark, director of the Center of Place-based Learning and Community Engagement, was pleased with the turnout and the accomplishments. She has also led Vision-to-Action forums, which are community discussions similar to WING, all over the United States and Eastern Europe.

"I was struck by how much people were invested in the heart and soul of their town," she said. "It seems like the rest of Vermont has their own need for Williston (in terms of shopping and industry). I think this gave a chance for locals to express their own needs and concerns."

WINGing it

WING kicked off Friday evening with a community potluck supper and preliminary discussions on how the event would work. There were presentations from UVM graduate students on the history of Williston and how it could influence into the future.

Gary Hawley, a resident who sits on the town's conservation board, said he hoped the topics for discussion could be solved in the near future. The event would ask tough questions of Williston's residents, he said.

"How do you keep the rural character of the town, but allow for continued growth? Questions like that," he said. "There's quite a bit of structure to (WING), although I'm not sure what's going to come out of it."

Lamb said there was discussion within his groups that Williston is made up of several unique and diverse parts and the town is the sum of all.

"There's always a lot of talk of keeping the village the center of this town's activity," he said. "It's really the symbol of the Williston experience."

Lamb said ideas were put forth to reach out more to residents in the parts of town that are sometimes forgotten, such as the large section of town south of Interstate 89.

"It's important to link all areas of Williston, in terms of transportation, and culturally and geographically as well," he said. "We hope to recognize different parts of town and to not homogenize them, but to celebrate them."

Moving forward

Judy Sassorossi, a Williston Selectboard member and WING co-chairwoman, said she was very pleased with the event.

"It was a wonderful, free flow of thought," she said. "Weaving that social fabric was nice."

Clark said she hopes to see residents work at the initiatives they talked about. She said some residents have already decided how they will proceed, either by presenting to various town boards or forming new citizen groups. Much of what was discussed will be written up and released to the public shortly, she said. The WING organizers also plan to have future follow-up meetings.

"I hope they have come up with some collective dreams that could become a reality," Clark said.

Clark said through current politics and the growing force of globalization, making a difference at the local level is more important now than ever.

"Pretty soon we're going to be hearing about the red state-blue state debate all over again," she said. "We're a deeply divided country right now. At the local level, you don't have the luxury of being divided. You have to transcend the divisive politics."

[Read more...]

Richmond and Williston host action groups

April 17, 2008

By Tim Simard
Observer staff

Earth Day, which is celebrated the world over on April 22, came early to Richmond on Saturday during the town's sustainability fair. Local residents turned up to learn about how to save the earth from the threats of global climate change.

Representatives of local environmental groups and energy-efficient technologies spoke with attendees on the importance of thinking into the future for energy conservation.

At the same time, Williston residents were gathered at Williston Central School to discuss the town's environmental future at the Williston Into the Next Generations (WING) event (see the story on page 1).

Carrie Deegan, Williston conservation commissioner, said the town has already begun taking steps to become more environmentally sound, and hoped the WING event could move residents towards the direction Richmond has taken.

Sustainability in Richmond

The sustainability fair, held at the Richmond Free Library, was sponsored in part by the local Richmond Climate Action Committee. According to committee chairman Steve Bower, the group began a year ago by taking small steps to help the town become more environmentally responsible.

"First, we want to do projects that enable people to take steps to lower their carbon impact," Bower said. "Second, we want to raise the level of awareness of the urgency of the problems we're facing."

He said everyone needs to take steps to change energy intake. Bower admits he's part of the problem — he commutes to Bristol every day for work. Even though he tries to carpool with coworkers in Hinesburg, his carbon footprint is still bigger than he wants, even as he works to offset it.

"I've done what I can to minimize my impact, but I'm not pretending it's not a big effect," Bower said.

One of the first initiatives organized by the Climate Action Committee was a compact fluorescent lights (CFL) campaign, meant to get residents and town offices to switch from regular, incandescent bulbs. In two months, the group sold more than 4,000 indoor light bulbs. Bower said the Change-A-Light Challenge was a success, due in part because the light bulbs were sold for the reduced price of 99 cents at the Richmond Home Supply.

According to the Web site of Energy Star, a program helping businesses and individuals protect the environment through energy efficiency, if every home in America replaced just one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would save enough energy to light more than three million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 800,000 cars annually.

The committee has been working with Efficiency Vermont, a statewide provider of energy efficiency services, to identify which town buildings need to become more energy efficient. Town officials have even pledged to reduce Richmond's carbon footprint by 10 percent.

"The town has been very supportive of what we're trying to do and it's the kind of cooperation we're hoping continues," Bower said.

Bower believes a quarter of Vermont's communities have formed their own climate action groups. He said a community can form its own committee by working with the local conservation commission to set goals, or a town can create a paid energy coordinator position, as Richmond has done.

"Any town can form their own ad hoc citizens group," Bower said. "If you get enough interested people together, you can make things happen."

He said there are 10 members that officially maintain the group, while there about 200 residents on the mailing list.

The committee has only been in Richmond for a year and Bower seems hopeful small community action groups will make a big difference in lowering the danger of global climate change.

"I am very hopeful that as people become more aware of the magnitude of problems we're facing, they'll take action to limit the severity of the outcome," he said.

Williston takes action

One of the main areas of attention for residents at WING was environmental issues. Deegan said in her small group discussions there was a sense the town wasn't doing enough to curb its carbon footprint.

"We're looking at an energy audit of the town buildings," she said. "Hopefully, this will begin the process of reducing the town's carbon footprint."

She said the conservation commission would meet soon to discuss ways to move the town forward environmentally. There was talk about creating a separate climate action committee, something Deegan hopes will happen.

Meanwhile, Vermont Green Up Day is coming on Saturday, May 3. The Williston green up is once again being organized by Kimberly Richburg of the town's Public Works Department. She said she'll hand out garbage bags that Saturday morning for residents interested in cleaning up the town roadways. There were more than 325 volunteers last year and Richburg hopes more will turn out this year.

To participate in Williston's Green Up Day, call Kimberly Richburg at the Parks and Recreation Office at 878-1239 or at [email protected]

[Read more...]

April 17, 2008
By Tim Simard
Observer staff

Does Williston need a community center? Better bike paths? A reduction of its carbon footprint? More than 100 Williston residents gathered at Williston Central School over the weekend to answer some of these questions and discuss the direction in which they want to take the town.

"This is for the enhancement of the community," Tony Lamb, town moderator and event co-chairman, said on Friday. "More dialogue is a good thing. This kind of thing allows for direct participation in your community and it can be very powerful."

The community event, known as Williston Into the Next Generations (WING), was organized by a local steering committee in November. According to Lamb, the Friday and Saturday forum was created to give all residents an opportunity to speak on important town issues.

WING was a continuation of the Shelburne Farms and the University of Vermont's PLACE, or Place-based Landscape Analysis and Community Education, program, which helps residents connect to their community through geography and history. The program offered a series of classroom and outdoor presentations in Williston in the fall.

Delia Clark, the WING facilitator, said the event had two goals — to strengthen vitality and community support and ensure Williston's sustainability in the future.

She told those who attended this was a chance to identify and clarify a shared vision.

"What kind of community do you want to be today?" she asked. "What kind of community to do you want to be in the future?

Residents sought to answer those questions by breaking into nine small groups Friday evening and Saturday morning to discuss various local issues.

Group members had to reach a consensus on how to move forward on certain initiatives. For instance, citizens interested in getting a community center would have to take their cause to the Planning Commission and Development Review Board, said Lamb.

On Saturday, the smaller groups brought their findings to the entire WING contingent, which eventually decided to focus its attention on five items: community-gathering spaces, environmental initiatives, responsible government models, transportation needs and maintaining Williston's rural character.

Clark, director of the Center of Place-based Learning and Community Engagement, was pleased with the turnout and the accomplishments. She has also led Vision-to-Action forums, which are community discussions similar to WING, all over the United States and Eastern Europe.

"I was struck by how much people were invested in the heart and soul of their town," she said. "It seems like the rest of Vermont has their own need for Williston (in terms of shopping and industry). I think this gave a chance for locals to express their own needs and concerns."

WINGing it

WING kicked off Friday evening with a community potluck supper and preliminary discussions on how the event would work. There were presentations from UVM graduate students on the history of Williston and how it could influence into the future.

Gary Hawley, a resident who sits on the town's conservation board, said he hoped the topics for discussion could be solved in the near future. The event would ask tough questions of Williston's residents, he said.

"How do you keep the rural character of the town, but allow for continued growth? Questions like that," he said. "There's quite a bit of structure to (WING), although I'm not sure what's going to come out of it."

Lamb said there was discussion within his groups that Williston is made up of several unique and diverse parts and the town is the sum of all.

"There's always a lot of talk of keeping the village the center of this town's activity," he said. "It's really the symbol of the Williston experience."

Lamb said ideas were put forth to reach out more to residents in the parts of town that are sometimes forgotten, such as the large section of town south of Interstate 89.

"It's important to link all areas of Williston, in terms of transportation, and culturally and geographically as well," he said. "We hope to recognize different parts of town and to not homogenize them, but to celebrate them."

Moving forward

Judy Sassorossi, a Williston Selectboard member and WING co-chairwoman, said she was very pleased with the event.

"It was a wonderful, free flow of thought," she said. "Weaving that social fabric was nice."

Clark said she hopes to see residents work at the initiatives they talked about. She said some residents have already decided how they will proceed, either by presenting to various town boards or forming new citizen groups. Much of what was discussed will be written up and released to the public shortly, she said. The WING organizers also plan to have future follow-up meetings.

"I hope they have come up with some collective dreams that could become a reality," Clark said.

Clark said through current politics and the growing force of globalization, making a difference at the local level is more important now than ever.

"Pretty soon we're going to be hearing about the red state-blue state debate all over again," she said. "We're a deeply divided country right now. At the local level, you don't have the luxury of being divided. You have to transcend the divisive politics."

 

[Read more...]

July 17, 2008
By Mal Boright
Observer correspondent

It has not happened often in recent years, but Vermont teams of graduated seniors swept New Hampshire on Saturday in the Merchants Bank-Rotary Twin State Basketball Classic at the University of Vermont’s Roy L. Patrick Gymnasium.
Former Champlain Valley Union High School center Greg Gause scored seven points and led his team with six rebounds as the Vermont boys whipped their Granite State counterparts, 75-66.

It was the Vermont boys’ first victory since 2004. New Hampshire still owns an 18-10 advantage in the series.
Alison Wettstein and Katie Edgerton were key players in the Vermont girls’ 65-58 triumph, only their second victory in the last 11 meetings.

Wettstein chalked up eight points, and hit one of two tries from beyond the three-point arc.
Edgerton hit a single point and chalked up three of the smart-passing Vermont team’s 17 assists.

 

[Read more...]

Parent group asks officials to release detailed audit info

July 17, 2008
By Tim Simard
Observer staff
 

The Vermont Department of Education released a report Tuesday reinforcing the Williston School District's internal audit that calculated the hours of instruction students receive in science and social studies.

In a letter addressed to the parent group Williston Schools Re-Configuration Campaign for Change and copied to Chittenden South Supervisory Union Superintendent Elaine Pinckney, DOE Acting Commissioner Bill Talbott wrote, “Based on all of the information that the Vermont Department of Education has within its possession, and based upon the above investigative steps, I do not find a basis, at this time, to conclude that the Williston School District is materially out of compliance with the School Quality Standards … and the State Board of Education Rules and Practices.”

The DOE issued the letter in response to a complaint, lodged last month, against the school district by Campaign for Change. The group asked the state to look at four areas: the hours of instruction in science and social studies in the upper houses, the hours of instruction in all subjects in the lower houses, whether or not teachers in the district are instructing subjects they've been licensed for, and if Williston students are receiving an equal and adequate education as detailed in Act 60.

A state law, Act 60 is the Equal Educational Opportunity Act, part of which requires schools to comply with School Quality Standards. The DOE monitors compliance.

The news is a victory of sorts for the administration, which has said the district uses integrated learning to help meet or exceed the state mandated 120 hours per year in each core subject — English, math, science and social studies. Campaign for Change has argued the hours of instruction for science and social studies, which meet half the year in most upper houses, is not meeting state requirements.

“We kind of expected it,” Nardelli said of the DOE's findings. “I don't know if that report is going to satisfy everybody, and I think there are still some questions that will come up with the Frameworks Committee.”

The Conceptual Frameworks Committee is a recently formed group of administrators, parents, teachers and students that will develop a plan for the future of the school district.

Ann Smith, a member of Campaign for Change, said she was disappointed by the DOE's findings, stating she had hoped the department would have done more investigating.

“They didn't do their own audit,” Smith said. “They just took (the administration's) word for it.”

Jeff Smith, Ann's husband and another member of Campaign for Change, hopes to explore an appeal process with the state.

“We're not going to let this go,” he said. “Ethically, I just can't. Our kids are being left behind.”

Fighting for information

Last week, Campaign for Change invoked Vermont's Open Records Law asking the administration to provide a more detailed audit report on hours of instruction in science and social studies, as well as in English and math. Also requested were reports on gender equality per house per grade.

The administration released a report on science and social studies in the upper houses on Friday, but the parent group is still awaiting word on the rest of its request. According to the Open Records Law, the administration has two days from the date of the request to release the information.

Jeff Smith believes there's “no way” the school is meeting grade level expectations in science and social studies. According to Smith, his son, a student in Phoenix House last year, did not receive the 108 hours of direct instruction in science the administration said he did. Based on his son's schedule, Smith figures only 80 hours were taught.

“To put it bluntly, I'm not very happy,” Smith said. “I just don't trust anyone associated with that school anymore.”

Sarah Hibbeler, a parent and member of Campaign for Change, believes the difference in hours of direct instruction and integration for each house will bolster the opinions of parents who believe there is inequality between teams.

“Would you rather be in the house in the very low end of this range?” Hibbeler asked hypothetically.

Nardelli believes the houses are fair and equitable, even with the different hours of instruction. He said each house tailors its teaching to student strengths, and to have the same standards for all could be a large mistake.

“We can't box kids in,” Nardelli said. “It would lead to a tremendous failure.”

Kevin Mara, another member of the parent group, is becoming impatient with the administration for not releasing the rest of the requested information, especially the information on gender equality.

“I'm kind of at a loss,” Mara said. “I'm trying to stay communicative and objective, but it feels like road blocking.”

Nardelli said the administration is checking to see if it can release the gender information requested. He said there's no report per house compiled for gender equality. He said he believes there may be lines the school can't cross in releasing information, since it could compromise the identity of students.

Mara, a community member of the Frameworks Committee, looks forward to having discussions within the group.

Hibbeler is also waiting to see where the committee takes the conversation.

“Frameworks is where everything is sitting right now,” she said.

[Read more...]