Category Archives: Events

WRCC FBLA Wins Chapter of the Year

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From March 26-28, 17 members from the Windham Regional Career Center (WRCC) Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) attended the state conference in Burlington, Vermont. Most members earned at least one award and many won more. We made new friends and became closer with people we may have only known a little bit. Overall we had a blast. Here’s a recap of our trip…

We arrived in Burlington on Wednesday evening. We went to the mall and got to hang out and get dinner together. When we went back to the hotel we snuggled together in one room and listened to people practice their speeches and presentations for the next day’s competitive events.

On Thursday, we woke up early and got dressed in some very snazzy business attire. We went to a bunch of cool workshops that taught us about things like financial management. All the kids had an interactive, competitive events like Job Interviewing, Public Speaking, Help Desk, Marketing and Business Plans. That evening, during dinner, we won our first award by coming up with the best chapter cheer and earning the Most Spirited Chapter award — a megaphone we add our name to for the second time!

That night, staff from Northern Lights led us in games and team building exercises. We all had a great time getting to know kids from other chapters while participating in team building activities.States13 109

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Our chapter with all of our awards.

On Friday, we started out with an extravagant breakfast. Then most of the kids in our chapter went on the March of Dimes walk-a-thon, while other students had callbacks from events the day before. After the walk and the last round of competitions, we got packed up and headed to the luncheon awards banquet. The food was amazing and overall the WRCC FBLA won or placed more than 45 times in a variety of events!

The grandest prize of all came at the very end… “And the award for Chapter of the Year goes to… WRCC!”  We all ran up and grabbed the huge 3 1/2 foot trophy that we will proudly display in the Career Center office. Ms. Cornell got the Advisor of the Year award, too. Our FBLA chapter is the best in the state… something that hasn’t happened to Brattleboro since 1999.States13 471

This will definitely be a trip to remember. We’re excited for the National Conference that will be held in Los Angeles, California. For those of us who aren’t going to CA, we can’t wait until next year’s State Conference.

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All 17 members from the WRCC FBLA Chapter.

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Biak Chin and Brenda Atwater participating in a team building activity.

Robots Invade Vernon Elementary School

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Students in the Windham Regional Career Center (WRCC) Robotics Program visited Vernon Elementary School on February 26 to show the students how robots work.

This demonstration was part of the Big Brother Big Sisters program, which provided the elementary students a chance to see the kind of projects local high school students are doing. It also gave the students a chance to play with the robots and learn how to control them during a game of robot freeze tag.

Kyle Champney’s, is a senior at the Career Center. His team 7033 has been competing with other schools around Vermont and New England with the goal of going on to contend in the National competition for high school students. Kyle gave a demonstration with his robot, the Brattlebot.

Here are some more awesome pictures from the day!

Students from WRCC gibe a demonstration.

Students play a game of “freeze tag” with the robots.

 

Kyle Champney's Brattlebot

Look at those wheels on Kyle Champney’s Brattlebot.

 

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FBLA Prepares for the State Conference

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Seventeen members of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter at the Windham Regional Career Center (WRCC) have been working very hard to prepare to attend the FBLA State Leadership Conference from March 27-29 in Burlington, Vermont.  We have done extensive hours of fundraising and testing to prepare for this event. Everyone is very excited to attend and can’t wait to return with all of our (hopeful) winnings.

Since the beginning of the year, we ran various sales campaigns to help pay for States. We sold Yankee Candles and Joe Corbi frozen foods. Most recently, we ran a raffle with gift certificates and items that local businesses donated.

On Saturday, (yes, Saturday) March 9, we were sequestered for their first series of tests on Word Processing, Desktop Publishing and prepared documents (resumés, etc.) for the Job Interview event that will take place at States. In the Word Processing test, students had to create documents in a specific format. We will be evaluated by judges on how well we create these documents.

Then, on Wednesday, March 13, we took more tests in various subjects of business such as Sports Management, Accounting, Economics, Computer Concepts, Global Business, Marketing, Cyber Security, Computer Software, Business Math, Business Procedures and more; a total of over 100 tests!

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Matt Anderson works on his Impromptu speech.

Certain tests — Job Interviewing, Public Speaking and Impromptu Speaking — are events that will take place in front of the judges at the FBLA State Leadership Conference. Students have prepared materials at home and practiced with the help of other students so they can perform to the best of their ability at this year’s conference. Some members are even making promotional FBLA posters and a banner to promote the March of Dimes campaign that FBLA is affliated with.

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Rissa Smith working on a poster for the State Conference.

Last year, WRCC-FBLA returned with 71 awards in all different categories. Just about every single person won at least one award and many people won two or more. This year, we hope to set a new record. We can’t wait to attend the FBLA State Leadership Conference, see old friends and make new ones from around Vermont. Check back in the beginning of April to hear about how well we did!

FBLA Holds Annual Blood Drive, March 19

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SAVE THE DATE: Donate blood on March 19.

Every year FBLA holds a blood drive in conjunction with the American Red Cross. By donating just one pint of blood, you could be saving the lives of 4 people. Last year, we had 45 staff and students participate and collected a total of 45 pints (or 720 cubic ounces) of blood. This year, our goal is to fill 60  pints during the blood drive. If you’re 16 years old, you can donate with parental permission. If you’re older than 16, you don’t need permission to donate blood. Join us in helping save lives by donating blood.

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HOW:
You can sign up to donate any time this week in the cafeteria during your lunch period. For more information, you can visit the sign-up table. The blood drive will take place on March 19th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. in the BUHS multipurpose room.

WHY:
By donating blood, you could be saving somebody’s life. Not only is that a great feeling and something you can feel proud of. Plus, in years to come, it’s a pretty awesome story to tell your kids.

Theresa Glabach and Brenda Atwater from FBLA help to sign kids up to donate.

Theresa Glabach and Brenda Atwater from FBLA help to sign kids up to donate.

Winter Sports Start Sunday, January 6

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Weekends are about to get a whole lot cooler, literally! The ski and snowboard club at Brattleboro Union High School and the Windham Regional Career Center starts this Sunday, January 6, 2013.

This marks the fifth year the high school has had this club. We start fundraising in the fall from October to just before Christmas break. We have bake sales at the local co-op and sell raffle tickets. All the money helps to pay for our passes at Stratton Mountain in Stratton, Vermont.

The students go up to the mountain every Sunday for the whole day. Although some people ski and snowboard alone many people go together and it’s a great way to make new friends. The club is open to anyone in the high school so it’s a big confidence booster for a freshman or sophomore to be able to hang out with juniors and seniors .

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The ability level of the kids in the club range from beginner all the way to expert. The club is a great way for people to bond since often, instead of taking lessons from someone at the mountain, beginners are taught by more experienced members who are also in the club.

Stratton’s a great place to go because they have a little (actually a lot) of everything. If you’re into skiing or riding on easier trails they have many trails to begin on. If you’re looking to go really fast on more difficult terrain they have that too. Interested in going into a terrain park to work on tricks? Stratton’s got you covered.

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Whether you ski or ride, are a beginner or an expert, in the ski and snowboard club you’ll have a great time. You’ll make good friends and best of all you’ll be in the beautiful outdoors snowboarding and skiing . See you on the slopes!

2012 Items for Project Feed the Thousands

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For nineteen years, Project Feed the Thousands has been helping to raise money and collect items for local food banks. It’s a statewide project that helps over 10,000 people get food each year. This is the largest annual food drive in southeastern Vermont and southwestern New Hampshire. Every year, The Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter at the Windham Regional Career Center (WRCC) and the student council co-host Project Feed the Thousands at the high school.

This year, we’re trying to collect 2012 items. So far, students have brought in about 1000 items and close to $250 in donations. Project Feed, as we call it at the high school, runs from a little bit before Thanksgiving to about a week before Christmas. The final date you are able to bring in food is December 31. To help, you can go to your local food bank and donate items there. You can also check out Project Feed the Thousand‘s official website, find where your local food bank is and donate money.

There are multiple collection boxes in both the high school and the Career Center building. If you have a child who attends Brattleboro Union High School you can send items such as canned goods, pastas, cereals, personal care items, or any other non-perishable good to school with them. You can also send money for the collection jars at both locations. Any amount makes a difference, whether it’s ten cents, one dollar or five dollars; every little bit counts!

The community goal this year is $100,000 in cash and about 25 tractor trailers full of food; that’s about 63,000 bags of food and personal care items. Project Feed the Thousands helps the community, but can’t succeed without your help and support. So in this season of giving, give something to your community!

-Kobi
WRCC student and FBLA Vice-President of Social Media

Vermont Women — What CAN’T They Do?

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We all know that the Windham Regional Career Center does its best to prepare students for the real world.  Many students continue climbing the ladder into a career once they have finished their time at the Career Center, and at this year’s Women Can Do conference students took an opportunity to literally climb the ladder. On October 11, twenty-one female students from Brattleboro Union High School attended at the conference.

Now in its 13th year the Women Can Do conference manages to serve up to 400 teachers and students from over 60 schools each year. The conference is held annually at the Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont.  Most of the workshops that take place throughout the day focus on careers in trades and technology as well as a few others.  The goal of the Women Can Do conference is to expose the girls to all of the career options that they have available to them through non-traditional programs.  Most of the workshops are run by women who are professionals in their fields, and involve everything from designing a web-page to investigating a crime scene.

WRCC students Lou-Lou Terwilliger and Heather Privee (pictured above) are looking tough after completing their fire services workshop.

Every year many students, freshman to senior, comment on the great experiences that they have had through the conference. Those that are soon to graduate reflect on their 4 years participating, while younger students still get to look forward to their next chance to participate.  Every year the conference organizers make sure to listen to feedback from both students and chaperones into the planning of the next year’s conference.

“I always come back pretty impressed by the enthusiasm and positive attitude expressed by all the girls whether it’s their first time or fourth,”  said WRCC Career Counselor Anne Doran.

Theresa Glabach cheers on Skyla Harvey as she busts a pile of rocks with a sledge hammer.

Watch Heather push herself to new heights at this year’s Women Can Do Conference.

2012 Senior Celebration Evening

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The 2012 WRCC Senior Celebration Evening was held on Wednesday, June 6. The Brattleboro Area Middle School multipurpose room was filled with parents and seniors who enjoyed a terrific meal, prepared by the Culinary Program students and then followed with a special recognition of the WRCC Ambassadors, National Technical Honor Society induction ceremony and scholarship presentations.

It was a wonderful evening celebrating the accomplishments of our seniors with their families. We wish the best of luck to each of our graduates!

Here’s a sideshow of some photos from the evening.

FBLA State Leadership Conference

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On Wednesday, March 28, a group of 29 FBLA members from the Windham Regional Career Center headed to Burlington for the State Leadership Conference.  The first night we explored downtown Burlington and got some dinner.  Afterward, back at our hotel, we all met up to rehearse our speeches for the following day.

Thursday morning began the conference.  The first session of the day featured an phenomenal keynote address by motivational youth speaker Quentin Whitehead. He inspired all of us to achieve our greatness before we began our competitions. Thursday night was the second opening session.  This session was for all the candidates for state office.

Following this session was “Winter Wipeout” with Mocean365.  Winter Wipeout was a chance to compete and get a little exercise. Check out the video they made!

Friday was the big day!  There was a walk for March of Dimes followed by the closing session. At the closing session, our Chapter won 72 awards based on events that cover all aspects of business; from public speaking to accounting, word processing to ethics,  job interviews and more. Also, I was elected Southern Vermont Vice President!

Everyone who went had an amazing time.  We all had a chance to bond and meet people that we might not have ever talked to if it weren’t for this trip.

Now, the stage gets bigger as we prepare to attend FBLA Nationals in San Antonio, Texas, June 26 – July 3.  We’ll compete in one event against the best of best in the country and attend amazing workshops.  We will be flying there and are currently working on getting local businesses to help sponsor fourteen of us who placed at States and will represent WRCC at Nationals. To be continued…

Future Business Leaders of America, WRCC Chapter, at the State Leadership Conference.

 

It’s a Wrap! — 2012 Expo at the Career Center

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On Saturday, February 11th, the Career Center showed off their courses at the Expo. Many students spent their free time sharing their experience at the Career Center with parents and potential students. The common theme being discussed throughout all the programs was how the Career Center gives you the tools and skills needed throughout life and not just the facts that you need to know for the test and then forget.


WRCC students get interviewed by the local radio station during the Expo.

In the business program, we took people through our day to day routine, displayed the work that we are able to produce, showed them an FBLA promo video, and really focused on what the students were looking to get out of the program.


Henry Weisel dancing with the skeleton from the Dance program.

At the end of the day, as everything started to slow down, the business room became a place of dancing and bonding for the business students that came to help out. As the day came to a close, the question on everybody’s mind was, “Do we have to leave?” I believe that question is one that most Career Center students will ask once they take just one course.

Check out this video recap from the 2012 Expo.

WRCC Expo Coming February 11

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It’s February and aside from being the coldest month of the year, typically anyway, it also means the annual Windham Regional Career Center Expo is just around the corner. This year’s event will take place Saturday, February 11 and it’s going to be packed with excitement. So grab your parents, friends and grandma too, and don’t miss this great opportunity to visit programs, meet instructors, tour classrooms and learn what WRCC is all about.

Throughout the day there will be lots of chances to view student demonstrations of class projects and ask students and instructors questions about their programs. You can even tour the house that the Building Trades students are constructing and see the process in action. Plus, community and college resources will be on hand to assist you in planning for the future. After all, that’s why it’s called the Career Center.

Here’s an idea of some of the workshop you can attend.

10:00: Knife skills; What to do in an Emergency
11:00: Invasive Pest Management; Wood Joinery; Kitchen Design
10:00: Dual Enrollment Seminar – Earn college credits while in high school

Did we mention, there will be great raffle prizes, including a flat screen TV? But the only way you can win is by being there. RSVP now on Facebook and let us know you’re coming. While you’re at it, why not “Like” us?

Still have more questions? Give us a call at 802-451-3586.

Feed the Thousands Food Drive

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Andrea Petrie, 11th grade student in the  Marketing Fundamentals class counts food donations. 

‘Tis the giving season and the Windham Regional Career Center is giving back to the local community by collecting food donations during the Feed the Thousands food drive. These donations will help local families who do not have enough food. WRCC students donated food and helped to deliver the donations from Brattleboro Union High School, Brattleboro Middle School, Vernon Elementary School, Dummerston Elementary School and Green St. School to Hannafords Supermarket on Thursday, December 22 during the Fill the Bus Event.

The donations will go to the Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center to be distributed to local families in need. We are honored to be involved in this worthwhile project.

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Distributing Food

Project Feed the Thousands is the largest annual food drive in southeastern Vermont and southwestern NH, helping thousands of local people in need. More information and online donation forms are available at Project Feed the Thousands.

To Philly and Back – An FBLA Adventure

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Story and pictures by WRCC Business Student and FBLA Vice President Theresa Glabach.

Future Business Leaders of America members learned that five days in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania can change lives.

Conference-bound FBLA members at the airport.

The nine members attending the National Fall Leadership Conference got on a plane Thursday morning on November 3 and flew towards something greater than they could have imagined. The five days were spent attending FBLA events, seeing the city and trying new things. Upon returning to Brattleboro everyone was buzzing about the trip.

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Jack LaPorte was incredibly vocal about his experience saying, “This trip was one like no other. I can safely say that I learned more in that five days than I could have hoped for.”

The group ran up the infamous steps from “Rocky”, dined on authentic Philly Cheese Steaks, listened to speakers and screamed “VERMONT” in a crowd of thousands.

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“I honestly cannot think of one time when I wasn’t having fun,” said LaPorte. “The people were great, the workshops were great and the experience was life changing. Seeing so many kids just like you all gathered together because they’re all passionate about the same things that you are is beyond extraordinary.”

“The best part about it though is that this is only the beginning. I can’t wait to see what FBLA has to offer next.”

A Visit from Shepard Racing

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Students in the Automotive Technology program were studying suspension systems and alignments. Sheriff Dana Shepard and his dad Charlie Shepard, from Shepard Racing, were very kind to bring in their race car so the students could see how castor, camber, toe, and the geometry of suspensions and steering are applied to racing. Charlie Shepard stayed all day with the car and was very helpful in answering questions about the set-ups and how they are applied to the different tracks.

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Check out more pictures of Automotive Technology on Flickr.

 

WRCC Actors Tour NYC Theater Scene

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The WRCC Acting class traveled to New York City November 11 and 12 to experience the New York theater scene up-close. The group saw three shows: the musical “Bonnie and Clyde” by Frank Wildhorn, “Asuncion” written by and starring Jesse Eisenberg, and “Private Lives” by Noel Coward. They also visited the Drama Bookstore, got to tour Circle in the Square, a professional acting school, with former WRCC Acting student Taylor Patno who attends classes there.

Here’s what the students had to say about the trip:

“It was a wonderful experience seeing professional theatre. It was something to motivate me and convinced me that this is what I want to do in the future.” – Henry

“I developed a deeper understanding for all of the aspects of theatre, from writing to directing to acting.” – Rachel

“I enjoyed the exposure to the theatre, and the opportunity to discuss my thoughts with others.” – Irene

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“I learned that there are many different theatre resources accessible to new actors in NYC.” – Amanda

“It was interesting to see such a variety of shows. I learned to critique the shows with a more educated eye.” – Willow

“I enjoyed seeing theatre that wasn’t just well-known Broadway offerings.” – Annie