District Communications

Digging into their Digital World: The Impact of Excessive Screen Time on the Adolescent Brain

A Team Nexus Learning Expedition

Students kicked off their learning expedition by visiting the Fleming Gallery at UVM, where they did a print-making workshop, and a tour of an exhibit, Resist! Insist! Persist!, exploring the theme of art as a tool for communicating ideas. Following the Fleming visit, students spent time collecting data on screen usage in the UVM Student Center and Library.

On January 10th, groups of students will present to elementary classrooms on the impacts of excessive screen time. Parents of Middle School students presenting are invited to attend. Details have been sent home. 

The students also produced artwork as their primary learning product of the unit. A selection of work will be exhibited at Scout & Co. in Winooski from early January through February.

Winooski High School Math Teacher, Tom Payeur, 2018 Outstanding Teacher of the Year, celebrates the 2019 cohort of Outstanding Teachers in this speech at University of Vermont. Watch it here. (His speech starts at 15:26.)

“This should be a day that inspires you to stand out even further. To take action that you and others can be proud of. You are a beacon of what is possible.”

Courtney Bryan (Elementary teacher), and Rebecca Savage (High School teacher) were Winooski School District’s 2019 candidates.

What is your background?

My work in education began in Northern Thailand 15 years ago. That year, I took the GRE in chemistry and planned to start a career as a chemist, but I appreciated the relationships with my Thai colleagues and students so much that teaching science seemed like a perfect fit – and it was! I completed my master’s degree and teaching credential at Stanford and taught high school science in the San Francisco Bay Area. Eager to learn more, I went back to graduate school and completed my PhD in education, during which I worked on a project-based curriculum for middle school students. After graduate school, I helped to develop a new, proficiency-based master’s program for pre-service teachers in Cambridge, MA. My partner is an assistant professor at UVM, and in order to be together and live in Vermont, I settled here full-time in June. Just before joining Winooski MHS, I was working as a research associate for the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education at UVM. 

Why are you excited to be in Winooski?

My cultural curiosity and social justice orientation have been drivers for all the places where I have worked, Winooski included. I share the school district’s appreciation of cultural diversity, commitment to preparing all students for college and careers, and developing proficiencies like critical thinking and well-being that are needed to thrive in a democracy. I am excited about the inspiring examples of community-based learning that I have already heard about: student Iron Chefs hosting a dinner at Waterworks, students getting marketing advice from professionals in the Winooski community, and an interdisciplinary project with Circus Smirkus. There is a strong and innovative foundation on which to build a program.

What is Community Based Learning?

Community-Based Learning (CBL) includes all types of learning that connect to the community, including, but not limited to internships, projects with community partners, job shadowing, feedback from community members, etc. All of these learning experiences break down barriers between school and the community, which makes for more authentic and meaningful learning than many of us might have experienced when we were in school. Whether CBL be internships that lead to unimagined career trajectories or community-based projects that solve real problems, I look forward to working with students, teachers, and community members to provide inspiring learning experiences for Winooski Middle High School students!

Monday, November 18th, Attorney General Donovan will meet with the fifth-grade class at JFK Elementary to discuss the legacy of Susan B. Anthony on the anniversary of her arrest for voting in 1872. During the event, the Attorney General will read students the book, “Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass” and discuss Susan B. Anthony’s legacy as a civil rights activist and the history of women’s voting rights in the U.S.