News & Events

On our first day back from winter break, Victoria Pearson, the Statewide Youth Organizer from Outright Vermont, came to work with students about creating inclusive school communities. Victoria described ways in which LGBTQ+ students are vulnerable to struggling in schools, and helped us discuss ways we can all be more aware and more inclusive. We discussed our own experiences in the world, and times we had been affirmed or had struggled. We then discussed how we might be better allies for people in need of our support. We left feeling invigorated, and with our intentions set on being even more intentional and supportive in the new year.

This fall a group of students at Rock Point applied for and were accepted into Teens Reaching Youth for the Environment (TRY). The TRY program was developed by UVM Extension and their environmental partners, and the goal is to coach teens how to teach elementary students about environmental issues. Besides getting to learn a lot about a particular environmental issue, these students will be developing mentoring and leadership skills, while increasing environmental literacy and responsibility in younger kids.

Since its inception in 1995 by Jake Burton Carpenter, The Chill Foundation has worked with over 25,000 young people to help them overcome challenges through boardsports. Rock Point School has been participating in Chill, almost since the beginning. This past year, the program selected four of our students to participate in a leadership program and be featured in a film, "Built on Boards."

On October 15, our whole student body went to the Rock Point Center for our fourth annual participation in Sundog Poetry Center's "Share Your Heart, Share the World" poetry day. We were joined by three other Vermont schools in a day of poetry workshops, writing time, a presentation by local poet and artist Tina Escaja, and a reading of student work.

This year our students started the year reading the graphic novel March: Book One by civil rights leader and congressman, John Lewis, in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and award-winning graphic artist Nate Powell. Teachers selected this book, not only because it is an inspiring and compelling historical narrative, but also because it was the Vermont Reads selection for 2019. Vermont Reads invites people across the state to read the same book and participate in a wide variety of community activities related to the book’s themes.

Most science classes include instruction in scientific methodology and discussion of the advantages this system of problem solving presents. However, it can be a challenge to keep this topic fresh and relevant. In Chemistry, our class has tackled scientific methodology from the ghoulish and fascinating perspective of toxicology.

On June 8th, we held graduation for the class of 2019. These exceptional students inspired so many people to speak on their behalf during the ceremony, with moving stories of their growth, strength, and talents. We are forever grateful to their families for sharing these wonderful students with us.

Over April vacation, five students and two staff members from Rock Point School traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico. The trip was in coordination with SURCO, a non-profit grassroots organization combining consulting, academic programs and local activism. While they were in Oaxaca, students did a homestay with local families, visited historical and cultural sites, and connected with local artists and educators.

As part of our ongoing visiting writer series at Rock Point School, we invited Rachel Lindsay, local artist, writer, and cartoonist, to share her expertise with our students. Lindsay is the author of RX: A Graphic Memoir about her experience working in the pharmaceutical industry and coping with mental illness. She also writes a weekly comic strip called Rachel Lives Here Now in Seven Days and was named an "Artist to Watch" by the Comic Report!

For the second year, students participated in a day of poetry called "Share Your Heart, Share the World" with the Sundog Poetry Center. This year, the event featured Vermont Poet Laureate, Chard deNiord. Currently, deNiord is a professor at Providence College and lives in Westminster, VT. He is the recipient of the Pushcart Prize (1998) and was included in Best American Poetry (1999).