Mountain Times- Volume 48, Number 51: Dec. 18-24, 2019

The Mountain Times • Dec. 18 - 24, 2019 NEWS BRIEFS • 13
Gingerbread houses reimagine holiday sweets
‘Tis the season for gingerbread creations! Chaffee Art Center in Rutland held a gingerbread contest on Dec. 12.
Creators of Chaffee Art Center’s winning house, titled “Good Tidings Farm,” Jill Talbot, Brandy Ellison, Alexandria
Perone and Phoebe Forman said, “[Our] display embodies the spirit of giving exemplified by the seasonal bounties
of the farm. Our local farms are vital to our community and we benefit from the effort of farmers. Their work
sustains our bodies, our community and the landscape we hold so dear. Our barn is surrounded by the four seasons
of giving...winter, spring, summer and fall.
Below, a much larger gingerbread house was erected inside the Woodstock Inn & Resort.
Courtesy of Chaffee Art Center
First place in the Chaffee contest went to “Good Tidings
Farm” from creators Jill Talbot, Brandy Ellison, Alexandria
Perone and Phoebe Forman.
The gingerbread house at the Woodstock Inn is Dr. Seuss inspired this year.
Courtesy of Chaffee Art Center
Second place in the Chaffee contest went to “Fun Times”
created by the Watelet family.
Courtesy of Woodstock Inn & Resort
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New build: Pros of a new high school
from page 11
tion and technical feasibility depends on the “bones” of
the building.
In the case of the Woodstock Union Middle and High
School, the unique features of the current building make
it more cost effective to build new.
Leigh Sherwood, a leading school designer from
Lavallee Brensinger Architects, noted after meeting with
and presenting to multiple committees that represented
parents, faculty and residents from all seven towns in
the WCSU that “it was determined that a renovation/
addition option would be a poor value proposition for a
school that could not be modified to meet the needs of a
modern educational facility. A new school is less expensive
than a renovation/addition option, both in first cost
and future operating costs. A new school is easier and
less disruptive to build, allows for efficient, flexible spaces
for today’s learners, consists of high performance,
durable construction with lower energy costs—all which
would benefit WCSU far into the future.”
In addition to costing less to achieve district goals, a
new middle and high school building will have a number
of immediate short and long-term benefits:
• Lowest total project cost and highest long-term
value.
• High performance (green building) results in
immediate operating cost savings and reduced
maintenance.
• Ideal building and classroom configuration to
maximize efficiency and learning and teaching
spaces.
• Better utilizes the acreage of the site and improves
organization, accessibility, safety of
pedestrians and vehicles, parking and orientation
on site.
• Allows for a new multi-purpose sports field with
track that is capable of hosting meets and events
and extending the practice season for spring
sports.
• Design and layout of new building improves
security of building occupants.
• Design and layout of a new building maximizes
school and community use allowing for collaborations
and partnerships with community-wide
organizations.
• Creates ideal academic spaces necessary for
delivery of 21st Century education.
• Creates a place where all students in the district
can be together for district wide events (such a
space currently does not exist).
• Becomes a source of school and community
identity and pride and communicates Vermont
values.
This would not be the first time that the school
district will have built a new modern facility and razed
an old school to reinvest in the future of the district’s
children and communities. The circa 1854 Woodstock
High School at the base of Linden Hill in the village of
Woodstock was razed with students moving to a newly
built “modern” high school in 1957. That 1957 facility
has served our community well for over 60 years but has
now outlived its useful life and it is time to once again
reinvest in a new facility to house our middle and high
schools.
The class of 2019 provided the first gift toward making
this new building a reality, “They hope their gift will
plant a seed that will grow with the support of many
others in our communities so that someday in the nottoo-distant
future, they can come back to visit a modern,
energy-efficient building that connects to this beautiful
landscape with an abundance of natural light and flexible
spaces to support and enhance the learning of the
future,” said Michelle Fountain in her 2019 graduation
speech.
For more information contact building committee
chairs Ben Ford (bford@wcsu.net) or Bob Coates
(bcoates@wcsu.net).