Recently, the members of  Stafford TechnicalCenter’s Vermont Teen Leadership Safety Program Chapter “Tied 1 On” all the vehicles in the student and faculty parking lots at Rutland High Schooland Stafford Technical Center to raise awareness of the dangers of texting while driving. The “Tie 1 On” Project consisted of placing a red card with some texting while driving facts, which was designed by Brian Ward of Fair Haven Union High School and Aaron Hildebrand of the Rutland Area Christian School , and a green ribbon, on each car’s windshield. The card told the driver to tie the green ribbon on the car to remind them and others not to text while driving.  Recent studies have revealed that driving while texting is actually more likely to cause a crash than driving while intoxicated. As a result, the Vermont Legislature outlawed texting while driving for operators of every age.

The project director for this function was Megan Barber of RutlandHigh School; Aaron Hildebrand was the Assistant Project Director. Other members who were involved were Fair Haven Union High School’s Emily Newton, Dylan Goad, Stephen Marcoux, and Brandon Ellis, Poultney High School’s Alison DeRoy, Tyler Manning, and Kimberley Rupe, Otter Valley Union High School’s Kody Baker, Colton Benoit, and Porsche Lowell, Mill River Union High School’s Chelsea Fitzgerald, and Rutland High School’s Logan Clark, Bryan Raiche, Kayla Temple, and Vincent Venturella.

The Southern Vermont Red Ribbon Tree is hosted by the Stafford Technical Center Vermont Teen Leadership Program, in concert with many stakeholder partners, and the Diamond Run Mall. Everyone is welcome to come to the dedication ceremony; those who wish to speak, especially victims and families or friends of victim, are encouraged to do so…

Pictured L-R:  Dakota Harvey (Stafford Forestry & Natural Resources Program), Stafford Pre-Schoolers Allie Powell and Maddyx Eastman, and Parker Lamoureux (Stafford Forestry & Natural Resources Program)

Students in Stafford Technical Center’s  Human Services and Forestry & Natural Resources Programs work with Stafford Pre-Schoolers on holiday decorations. Each Pre-Schooler will take home their own handcrafted Kissing Ball. This is an annual event which takes place in Stafford Technical Center’s Greenhouse.

Fair Haven Union HS: Emily Ringquist, School Resource Officer Sherry Prouty, and Sarah Czarnecki

Three SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) Chapters fromRutlandCountygot together and held a regional conference at the Union Church in Proctor. The three chapters had planned to attend the annual Governor’s Youth Leadership Conference inBurlington, which was cancelled by the group’s funders, and the three chapters decided to hold a small conference on the same day. Thirty students from the three schools attended, along with their advisors- Officer Sherry Prouty from Fair Haven, John D’Esposito fromStaffordTechnicalCenter, and School Nurse Claire Molner, from Proctor.

The Proctor students, led by Proctor SADD leader Taylor Trombley, included Carly Trombley, sisters Carissa, Becca, and Megan Elrick, Colleen Knowles, Keith Piontek, Allyssa Valerio, and Morgan Howard. The Proctor folks, who hosted the event, welcomed their guests and provided training on leadership building for their guests. They also provided lunch and the use of the meeting areas of the Union Church in Proctor.

The Fair Haven Union High School SADD Chapter, which is also called STAND (Students Taking A New Direction) provided their peers with a presentation on the state-mandated “Consent Training” that all faculty and students are supposed to receive. This training focuses on the need to obtain verbal consent from one’s partner every time prior to taking any physical intimacies. A team of students and their advisor from Fair Haven attended the state-mandated train the trainer class, and used the presentation they gave to their peers in Proctor as a “dry run” before presenting to the faculty and fellow students. The student presenters were Emily Ringquist and Sarah Czarnecki from Fair Haven; also attending from Fair Haven was Kaisa Czarnecki. Emily Ringquist shared the fact that when she attended the class, she was outraged that there were laws like this that related to her, but that she was unaware of.

 The Proctor students, the Fair Haven students, and the Stafford Technical Center students (Rutland High School’s Megan Barber, Vincent Venturella, Bryan Raiche, Kayla Temple, and Logan Clark, Otter Valley Union High School’s Colton Benoit, Kody Baker, Porsche Lowell, and Zachary Field, Mill River Union High School’s Chelsea Fitzgerald, Rutland Area Christian School’s Aaron Hildebrand, Poultney High School’s Tyler Manning and Alison DeRoy, and Fair Haven Union High School’s Brandon Ellis, Dylan Goad, Stephen Marcoux, and Brian Ward) looked at the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey statistics for Rutland County. The students voted on which statistics they found most illuminating, and then voted on the top three. They were surprised by the fact that 18% of the respondents reported having used drugs or alcohol prior to their last sexual intercourse. Of course, the role of alcohol and drugs in sexual encounters, both consensual, and non-consensual, is well documented. The students were also amazed by the fact that 30% of 8^th graders reported ever having consumed alcohol. The students discussed this a bit, and decided that this might be including sacramental wine and small amounts of alcohol furnished by parents during holidays. The last statistic that the students found intriguing is that in high school, more girls than boys report being non-virgins. A possible explanation for this is that girls often date older boys, who may not be included in this survey. This disparity in ages often makes for an unequal relationship; the relationship, if sexual in nature, may be completely illegal.

The next step for the students is to take one or more of the statistic, and for the students to develop strategies to reduce the incidence of these negative behaviors. This process has already begun.

Stafford Technical Center Hospitality & Entrepreneurship Students 

Students GIVE BACK to Stuff-a-Bus Effort

 On November 14th, students from Stafford Technical Center’s Hospitality and Entrepreneurship Management Program supported the local Salvation Army by helping to organize the food donated through the community Stuff-A-Bus program. The students, along with other community volunteers,  helped to organize the food, which was distributed to local residents for Thanksgiving.   This is the 11^th consecutive year that the Hospitality students have helped to organize the Stuff-A-Bus baskets.

Students who participated in this community service event included:

Shelby Blackmer       FHUHS

Marisa Chamberlain  OVUHS

Alicia Hill                   RHS

Nick Sweet                RHS

George Berry             RHS

Alayna Billings         MRUHS

Lexi Champine          WRHS

Breeauna Frazier        RHS

Kiley Gagnon             RHS

Carolanne Greene      WRHS

Teresa Isabelle            PRHS

Brandi Kapitan           OVUHS

Rob Peterson              RHS
Sierra Quenneville     OVUHS

Alyssa Ruiter             MRUHS

Lindsey Ruiter           MRUHS

Jackson Smith            OVUHS

Katelyn Young           MRUHS

Photo: Kody Baker (Brandon) , member of Brandon PD Police Cadets, Logan Clark (Rutland), member of Rutland PD Police Cadets, Tyler Manning (Poultney HS), member of Middletrown Springs Volunteer Fire Dept., and Brian Ward, son of Fair Haven Fire Dept. Chief David Ward

Seventeen students in the Stafford Technical Center Public Safety Services Program recently were trained in the area of “Highway Safety for Emergency Personnel” by a trainer from theVermontFireAcademy, Matt Trombley. Mr. Trombley is a full-time firefighter with the Burlington City Fire Department and is a resident of Pittsford. The principles behind this training deal with the proper way of positioning emergency vehicles- fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances.

   When these vehicles are placed in the proper spot, crashes caused by gawkers are less likely to occur. Crashes involving drivers who focus on the incident rather than the road are far too frequent- they become victims themselves, or in other circumstances, they kill the rescuers at the scene. If the inattentive driver hits the emergency vehicle instead of a person, an improperly placed apparatus will become a lethal weapon; a properly placed one will block the vehicle from doing any harm to the rescuers.

  The ten students who successfully completed the program were Rutland High School students Megan Barber, Kayla Temple, Logan Clark,  Bryan Raiche, and Vincent Venturella, Otter Valley Union High School students Kody Baker, Porsche Lowell, Colton Benoit, and Zachary Field,  Mill River Union High School student Chelsea Fitzgerald, Poultney High School students Tyler Manning and Alison DeRoy, Fair Haven Union High School students Brandon Ellis, Dylan Goad, Stephen Marcoux, and Brian Ward, and Rutland Area Christian School student Aaron Hildebrand. The students were very appreciative of Matt Trombley’s excellent instruction, which resulted in each student achieving 100% on the exam at the end.  Tyler Manning, a member of the Middletown Springs Volunteer Fire Department completed one of the requirements for attaining FireFighter1 certification by passing this course. Kody Baker, Logan Clark, Brandon Ellis, and Dylan Goad are all members of police cadet organizations; this training is also applicable to police science.

   This course was developed by the Glatfelter Insurance Group both as a public service and as an attempt to reduce the costs to communities that these deaths and injuries to emergency services workers entail. In addition to the obvious costs in death benefits, medical costs, and workmen’s compensation claims, there are significant additional costs due to the loss of expertise. It takes years to become proficient as an EMT, police officer, or firefighter, much less an officer or specialist in these fields. When these professionals are lost to a community or organization, the loss is enormous. This course is required by many departments in the fire, police and rescue services.

Photo: Stafford Health Careers Students and Instructor, Dianna Bassett raking leaves for local senior citizens

Stafford Technical Center’s Community Service theme this year is “Give Back”.  They launched this effort on October 26th by raking and cleaning up the lawns of local senior citizens and several recreational parks within the Rutland area.  The entire student body (over 200 students) , faculty and staff participated in this project. Everyone wore bright orange T-Shirts with the logo “Give Back” emblazoned on the front. The logo was designed by the Stafford Technical Center Digital Arts Program. Each senior who had their leaves raked were also presented with a homemade apple pie courtesy of Stafford’s Culinary Arts Program. This initiative is Stafford’s way of thanking the Rutland Community for their continued support .

Stafford would like to acknowledge the Southern Vermont Council on Aging and Grace Congregational Church for their support. We would also like to thank the following businesses and organizations for their help with donations of supplies and equipment.  Without them, this project would not have been successful.  A special thanks goes out to Casella Waste Systems, Home Depot. Aubuchon Hardware-Rutland, Gilmore Home Center, Noble True Value, LaValley’s Building Supply, Rutland Public Schools Transportation Department, Rutland County Transfer Station, and the Department of Corrections.

Several students in Stafford’s Video Production Program-Zach Hampl, Jordan McClure, Logan Greeno, and Soleil Bosley put together an amazing video capturing the event.  It can viewed on youtube by accessing following link….

http://youtu.be/m6i7FMTqz_I

The following students were installed as officers of the Stafford Technical Center chapter of  Family, Career and Community Leaders of America during a ceremony on October 25, 2011. The mission of FCCLA is to promote personal growth and leadership development through Family and Consumer Sciences Education.  These students are also enrolled in Stafford’s Human Services Program.

The ceremony was followed by a pot luck dinner that was shared with family members, friends and school personnel. Pictured left to right are treasurer -  Molly Nickerson (RHS); vice-president/parliamentarian – Angela Jeffrey (OV); President – Emily Booska (OV); secretary/reporter – Erin Kenny (RHS); historian – Morgan Vincent (RHS).

Stafford Technical Center DECA  Chapter Inducts New Students

On the evening of October 18, 2011  students, parents, friends and staff gathered to participate in the induction of new members to the Stafford Technical Center Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) chapter.  DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Students in the STC chapter participate in local, state and national DECA events and conferences. Their store, Campus Common Grounds has been Gold level certified for the past two years through DECA’s School Based Enterprise program.

Nick Sweet was recently elected as the Vermont DECA Vice President for the 2011-2012 school year. 

The following students were inducted to the STC DECA Chapter for the 2011-2012 school year:

Marisa Chamberlain, OVUHS-President

Nick Sweet, RHS-Vice President

Shelby Blackmer, FHUHS- Secretary

Alicia Hill, RHS-Treasurer

New members include:  George Berry, RHS

                                       Alayna Billings, MRUHS

                                       Lexi Champine, WRUHS

                                      Breeauna Frazier, RHS

                                      Kiley Gagnon, RHS

                                      Carolanne Greene, WRUHS

                                      Teresa Isabelle, Proctor HS

                                      Brandi Kapitan, OVUHS

                                     Sierra Quenneville, OVUHS

                                     Alyssa Ruiter, MRUHS

                                    Lindsey Ruiter, MRUHS

                                    Jackson Smith, OVUHS

                                    Katelyn Young, MRUHS