Our relationship with Planting Hope dates back to 2009, and we sent groups of students in 2011 and 2013 to Nicaragua to collaborate with them on service projects.

Led by Beth Merrill, the seven visitors gave us a bilingual rundown of their program, talking about the variety of camps and school and health resources they run. They placed special emphasis on the BiblioMovil–their Bookmobile–which brings books to rural communities.

The presentation ended with a dance accompanied by lyrics en Español, supercharging the energy in the room and ending the day on a high note.

You can check out Planting Hope’s website here.

Friday marked the end of ChampBot’s career. During Orientation Term this year, nine students worked for four weeks to design and build a robot for the ChampBot Challenge–a contest at this year’s Champlain Mini Maker Faire to build a robot that could navigate an obstacle course in Lake Champlain. Students split into teams to tackle different parts of the project–construction, aesthetics, and remote control capability.

The group tapped a number of local resources for the job. To solve a problem with their build, they used the 3D printer at the Generator, a maker lab in Burlington, and for help with the RC programming, they enlisted retired teacher Jim Wick.

The date of the challenge came around, and the team headed out to Shelburne. Lake conditions were rough, but they persisted and got a few test runs in. However, in a brutal turn of events, a wave took the ‘Bot and dashed it on the rocks, breaking both propellers. The team scrambled, and two quick fixes later they were more or less good to go. They got Champ back in the water in time for their run–and their fix failed, rendering the robot immobile. Then, in a feat of heroics, Amelia dived into the water, fully clothed, and swam with the robot through the whole course, inciting cheers from the hundreds of onlookers.

ChampBot is now retired, but the team took it on a final tour to the Tech Jam, where they got to represent and promote Big Picture with their remarkable story. We even got a shout-out from Principal Burke on Twitter:

Just bumped into #SBSignificantYouth Amelia at the TechJam where she was presenting her Champ Robot @BigPictureSB pic.twitter.com/jP5SKU6TKn

— Patrick Burke (@pburkevt) October 24, 2014

Keep an eye out for future projects from Team ChampBot. Although the team has formally disbanded, I’m sure we’ll see some amazing projects out of these kids in the coming year. Stay tuned!

The quickest way to learn about yourself is to leave your comfort zone, and last week we took that to a literal place—Niquette Bay State Park in Colchester. The park is a crisscrossing of trails hugging the bay, and in the early autumn it’s spattered chromatic. We rolled in on our bus and had a standing Community Meeting on the lawn—an exercise in discipline under the morning chill—ending in a barbecue lunch. Before we left for the woods, Jim had nine students read in parts this passage by Ester Buchholz—

“Now, more than ever, we need our solitude. Being alone gives us the power to regulate and adjust our lives. It can teach us fortitude and the ability to satisfy our own needs. A restorer of energy, the stillness of alone experiences provides us with much-needed rest. It brings forth our longing to explore, our curiosity about the unknown, our will to be an individual, our hopes for freedom. Alonetime is fuel for life.”

There are many reasons why aloneness can be difficult. For some it’s boredom, but others are harried by their thoughts in ways that make being alone more than just a discipline challenge. Being without distractions allows the problems in our lives to creep into view, and while that can be a blessing for some—an opportunity to face and surpass our challenges—others can find it paralyzing. In all cases, however, one who walks away from a well-utilized period of solitude with a much greater self-understanding.

During the day’s debrief, feedback was mixed. For some students, the experience was challenging, but others observed that it passed quicker than they had expected. A lack of experience with quiet isolation can lead to reluctance, just like we fear any unfamiliar practice. For some this was self-fulfilling, and some fear their own minds too much to surpass that bias. For some, however, it was refreshing—an exercise in mindfulness. And that’s really what we’re looking for.

Rising Big Picture senior, Shelby Reposa (above photo, left), is already ahead of the game, starting her Service Thesis Project this summer around the issue of homelessness in youth and adults, with a focus on families in particular. Shelby’s project is called “Happiness For Homeless” (click to follow the link).  The money raised will go to transporting clothing, books, and toy donations to Boston, MA and Burlington, VT. Shelby will host events to give away the items to the homeless, along with interviewing them about their lives in the homeless community. The money will also be put towards buying gift bags to present the care packages to the homeless (the events will take place during the holiday season) as well as buying gifts for the homeless families with any remaining money.

Olivia Lurie, another Big Picture student (above photo, right), will also be attending this service trip, who is also doing amazing work for the Boston and Burlington communities. Both will be visiting different homeless and low income shelters, safe spaces, and so on, to gain knowledge about the issue. Shelby will be documenting the information from these visits into a research paper about homelessness, and Olivia will be using the information to create a documentary about substance abuse in homeless communities.

Big Picture student Olivia Lurie recently completed a fantastic short documentary about how the media affects our self-image. In “Our Changing Media,” Olivia interviews students and staff in Big Picture and from the larger high school.

Follow this link to view the documentary on YouTube: http://youtu.be/89rxMUhNwog

This workshop is designed for women to support each other in learning about the connection between body-image development, with a focus on the mother-daughter relationship.

The FREE workshop will be held at The Wellness Collective on Saturday, May 10 from 10:30am – 12:00pm. See the flyer below for details on registering:

The conference is designed to help students create relevant and exciting Service Thesis Projects (STP) and help educators improve on how to implement service/project based learning into their setting. Everyone will be able to share their ideas and see some examples of successful projects.

Come help Big Picture South Burlington student Olivia Decell and Ella Downey complete their STP as they help you get a head start on yours! If enough interested, college visits may be arranged to nearby universities including: University of Vermont, Champlain College and Burlington College.

Click here to see flyer and to register.

Big Picture South Burlington engages students and their families in the educational process.  As a result, our application is designed to seek information from the student and his or her parent(s)/guardian(s).  We want to learn about your reasons for choosing the Big Picture Academy.   The application will assist us in learning about your interests and needs through your perspective and that of your parent(s)/guardian(s).  It will also assist us in insuring that what we’re offering is consistent with what you’re looking for.  Please be sure to answer the questions honestly – you will not be denied admission because of difficulties you’ve had in the past.  Honest self-awareness is a key trait for success in Big Picture, so we want to see your honest self-reflection around successes as well as challenges.  Thanks for your interest in applying!

Linda Barnes
School Counselor – Big Picture South Burlington
550 Dorset Street
South Burlington, VT  05403
libarnes@sbschools.net
(802) 652-7195

Application Process:

BPSB General Application ’13-’14 (word doc.)
BPSB General Application ’13-’14 (PDF)

If you will be a senior, consider applying for our Exceptional Senior Program.
BPSB Exceptional Senior Application ’13-’14 (word doc.)
BPSB Exceptional Senior Application ’13-’14 (PDF)

On Wednesday, November 6th, BPSB staff and students went to the University of Vermont for the Rowland Conference, which is co-sponsored by the Rowland Foundation, UVM, and Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center.

We were especially interested in bringing all our students there so that they could hear a keynote address by Dennis Littky, co-founder of Big Picture Learning. Dr. Littky asked for some of our BPSB students to present with him on stage, and we were so proud that Ceal Giordano and Lucian Norrell moved the audience with their entertaining and very heartfelt speeches. Many participants said that their speeches were the highlight of the day and asked for copies of their speeches.

Dennis Littky noted that the speeches given by the students was all he heard about in the afternoon sessions, and he said that many of our Big Picture South Burlington students approached him to thank him for Big Picture, as they have found that Big Picture South Burlington has revitalized their own interests in school and beyond. It is quite heart-warming to have had Big Picture South Burlington featured so positively at the conference!

CLICK HERE VIEW THE ROWLAND CONFERENCE KEYNOTE. (Lucian’s speech begins at 47:40, Ceal’s begins at 49:57)

You also can click these links for a transcript of Ceal’s speech and Lucian’s speech. 

Additionally, a group of our students co-led one of the workshops, “Start with the Student: What Do Students Really Want in Their Schools” along with Jason Cushner. Thanks to Aly, Amelia, Brittany, Ella, Halle, Justin, Leah, Olivia D, Shelby, and Toni for presenting at that workshop!

View the blog for our 2014 Nicaragua Service-Learning Trip Here!

From January 5th – 15th, a group of our Big Picture students will travel to San Ramón, Nicaragua for Explore Week on a service-learning trip with the Montpelier, Vermont-based non-profit Planting Hope /Sembrando Esperanzas.

Students will work with the children of coffee workers, who are busy around-the-clock during the coffee harvest (December and January). This is a fantastic opportunity for cultural exchange, learning language, and exploring the social and environmental aspects of coffee-growing regions.

Our students will work with the children of coffee workers, who are busy around-the-clock during the coffee harvest (December, January, and February). We will be running “Coffee Camps” for the children, where they are fed two snacks and a healthy lunch each day, prepared by a local cook and a parent volunteer.

They also receive healthcare checkups by a local nurse, day care and a chance to participate in organized alternative educational and recreational activities, all facilitated by a teacher and assistant. Coffee Camps provide less formal, more accessible educational experience for these children, in an attempt to bridge the gap between the children who do not usually attend school and the formal educational system in Nicaragua.

The Coffee Camps provide a pathway to formal education for those children who have slipped through the cracks in the education system. Meals, medical care and learning materials are provided to participating children at no cost. By creating a positive educational experience, it is hoped that parents are enticed to enroll their children in school and that based on their positive experience at camp, and children are motivated to study throughout the year.