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During the Bicentennial Senior Class Day and Final Awards Assembly on Friday, June 14, outgoing Head of School William Bugg presented the 2019 Employee of the Year to Science and Social Studies teacher Len Whitaker. Here follows Bugg's tribute to this remarkable teacher: At this time, it is my privilege to announce this year’s Thetford Academy Employee of the Year Award. This award is given annually to a member of the faculty, staff or administration who is … read moreJune 14, 2019 -
TA held its Bicentennial Baccalaureate ceremony for the Class of 2019 on Sunday, June 9, at the First Congregational Church. There was abundant sunshine for the graduates and a palpable feeling of excitement and emotions in the church. Science faculty member Derek Burkins was this year's presenter of the Baccalaureate address. Below is his speech to the graduates. 2019 Baccalaureate Address by Derek Burkins Good evening and welcome: parents, grandparents, family members, friends; colleagues and … read moreJune 11, 2019 -
The fourth annual Arts Night on Thursday, May 23, featured all six categories of art at Thetford Academy: art, design technology, drama, culinary arts, choral music, and instrumental music. The café was transformed into a gallery displaying dozens of student 2-D and 3-D artworks created in Karyn Neubauer's classes. Tabletops were spread with culinary delights—from spanikopita to pastries—prepared by Jennifer Gernhard's cooking classes. Artworks created out of wood—including furniture, turned bowls, and a chess board—were also on display, products of … read moreMay 27, 2019 -
What does it take to be a nominee for TA’s Student of the Month? So few students receive this special award that you might wonder if you have to possess superpowers in order to be considered. As it turns out, our May 2019 Student of the Month does in fact possess a few superpowers – there are witnesses who can attest that as a ski jumper, this student can actually fly, and land in one piece. And on solid ground, throughout … read moreMay 21, 2019 -
The Thetford Outdoor Program (TOP) is offering three amazing outdoor opportunities this summer. Trail Crew, June 17 - 21 The summer Trail Crew maintains and builds trails on Thetford Academy’s 295 acres of woodlands and surrounding forests. A paid work opportunity and a great experience for students to add to their resume, Trail Crew is open to TA students who will be in the 9th– 12th grades in 2019-20. Planned projects for this summer include improving existing trails, developing … read moreMay 12, 2019 -
Thetford Academy's six areas of art will dazzle the five senses during the fourth annual Arts Night on Thursday, May 23. Visual arts, design technology, drama, and culinary arts displays will be on hand at the TA café beginning at 5:30 p.m., with a choral music and instrumental music performance in the Martha Jane Rich Theater to follow at 6:30. A gallery of student artworks—paintings, drawings, prints, and three-dimensional work—will fill the café walls, courtesy of Karyn Neubauer's middle and high … read moreMay 12, 2019 -
TA Presents "Once Upon a Mattress" The Thetford Academy Drama department is getting ready for its spring performance—the musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress. Opening night is Thursday, May 16, with encore performances scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings. All performances will begin at 7 p.m. in the Martha Jane Rich Theater. Once Upon a Mattress is a modern take on the fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea,” produced in agreement with Rodgers and Hammerstein … read moreMay 10, 2019 -
It's almost here! Thetford Academy's second annual Day of Giving is coming on May 8, 2019. This year, in honor of our 200th birthday, we are celebrating #200ReasonsWhy Thetford Academy is important to YOU. We each connect to Thetford Academy for both universal and personal reasons. We support education, but we also have a teacher or staff member who has made a profound impact on our lives. We love the wide variety of course offerings … read moreApril 22, 2019 -
TA juniors Morgan Busby, Joseph Dunn, Olivia Limlaw, and Bethany Maxfield were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at the River Bend Career and Technical Center. Shannon Hayes ('19), a 2018 inductee, administered the oath. The National Technical Honor Society honors the achievements of top career and technical education students, provides scholarships for higher education, and cultivates excellence in today’s competitive work force. Busby and Hayes are studying Health Science Technology, … read moreMarch 28, 2019 -
In February, Thetford Academy’s Elle Dixon ('20) was among the more than 10,000 international scientists who flocked to Washington D.C. for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2019 Annual meeting. Elle was there to present her own scientific research at a special American Junior Academy of Science (AJAS) poster session. Elle’s poster session was the culmination of weeks spent on data gathering and analysis that began last summer when Elle joined the … read moreMarch 26, 2019 -
Eloise Silver Van Meter placed third in the Vermont Poetry Out Loud State Championships held at Vermont PBS Studios in Colchester on March 18th. To reach the championship, Eloise first won TA's contest, then advanced from the semifinals at the Barre Opera House, and finally performed at PBS. Pictured: Eloise reciting Lani O'Hanlon's "Back up Quick They're Hippies," while delivering the line "long-haired men and women / curled around each other like babies." Eloise also … read moreMarch 20, 2019 -
In his over 44 years of service in the United States Senate, Vermont’s Senator Patrick Leahy has played a role in many iconic moments in American history. A prolific photographer, Senator Leahy has often used the lens of his camera to capture his personal perspective of these events. In an intimate evening in the Martha Jane Rich Theater at Thetford Academy, Senator Leahy will share some of his favorite photographs and reflect … read moreMarch 18, 2019 -
Scott Shipman, MD, MPH, will speak at Thetford Academy on Thursday, March 28, as part of the school's Bicentennial Speaker Series. Shipman, who serves as the Director of Clinical Innovations and Director of Primary Care Initiatives at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), also holds faculty positions at Dartmouth Hitchcock and the Dartmouth Institute. Shipman's talk, titled "The Future of Primary Care: Transforming to Meet the Needs of Our Communities" will explore the challenges … read moreMarch 13, 2019
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Congratulations to the cast and crew of "Who Am I This Time" for their performance at the Regional Drama Festival on Saturday, March 9, at Mill River High School in Clarendon, VT. Their production was selected to advance to the State Finals on April 5 and 6 at Essex High School in Essex, VT. Individual awards for Excellence in Acting were given to Alden Nichols and Morgan Gaffney. The One Act Club would like to thank everyone who attended the community performances and offered such … read moreMarch 11, 2019 -
At the Vermont Semifinal Poetry Out Loud contest, held at Barre Opera House on March 7th, Eloise Silver Van Meter advanced to the State Championships, along with nine other students. Thirty-one school winners recited two poems each. Eloise recited Lani O'Hanlon's "Back Up Quick They're Hippies" and Brenda Cárdenas's "Zacuanpapalotls" (which means "Butterflies" in ancient Aztec). Eloise is now the third TA student to move on to the championships in the ten years that TA … read moreMarch 8, 2019 -
TA parent, Thetford resident, author, and soil health expert Didi Pershouse gave a presentation to Mr. Whitaker's Horticulture class about the "soil carbon sponge." With a simple experiment, she demonstrated the importance of healthy soils in our ecological communities. In the experiment, Pershouse invited students to "rain" onto flour (a stand-in for degraded soil) and then onto bread (a stand-in for healthy soil). Pershouse then showed them a photo of a rain simulator (below), demonstrating … read moreMarch 14, 2019 -
Vermont Governor Phil Scott, Attorney General TJ Donovan also speak Three hundred students listened intently during a special assembly program on Tuesday, Feb. 26, as former New Hampshire Chief Justice John Broderick addressed Thetford Academy students on the topic of mental illness. Special guests for the presentation included Vermont Governor Phil Scott and Attorney General TJ Donovan, both of whom spoke briefly following the judge's remarks. Also present were Dan French, Vermont Secretary of the Agency … read moreFebruary 26, 2019 -
On Friday, Feb. 8, Thetford Academy turned 200 years old! Students celebrated the school’s birthday in style, with an all-day Founders’ Day and Founders’ Night extravaganza. Other posts describe the school's Bicentennial Gala on Feb. 9 and Vermont Historic Marker dedication on Feb. 8. Chico Eastridge ’05, Studio Producer & Education Outreach Coordinator at CATV in White River Junction, VT, produced an outstanding Founders' Day film for Thetford Academy. Click here for the YouTube video. Despite … read moreFebruary 15, 2019 -
At noon on the day of Thetford Academy's 200th birthday — Friday, Feb. 8, 2019 — Virginia Anderson Barrett ’51, daughter of legendary TA Principal Carl Anderson (1925-1961) and wife of the late TA Headmaster Ruel Barrett (1961-1977), unveiled the Town of Thetford’s first Vermont Historical Marker in a ceremony on Academy Road. Marking the site of the original Thetford Academy campus, the first building of which opened its doors for the first time on Feb. 8, … read moreFebruary 15, 2019 -
Carrie Brennan, the founding principal of an innovative public charter school in Arizona and an accomplished educator, has been named the next head of Thetford Academy. She will assume her new position on July 1, 2019. “I am absolutely thrilled that Carrie will lead Thetford Academy,” says Ann Bumpus, President of the Thetford Academy Board of Trustees. “Her record of accomplishment and commitment to academic excellence, inclusivity, community engagement, and collaborative leadership builds … read moreFebruary 5, 2019 -
By Marc Chabot, Dean of Academics and Robotics Team Advisor Featured Photo: The winning team: Isaiah Kol and Marshall Melancon and their robot BeefCake, along with their alliance partner from Team 603A, Belmont, NH. In case you were wondering how Thetford Academy’s 9th season is going, here is an update! Saturday was our last tournament before the State Championship in two weeks, and all three of our teams have qualified during the course of the season. Our teams almost always make it to the elimination rounds … read moreFebruary 4, 2019 -
Scott Finn, Vermont Public Radio's new president & CEO, joins Thetford Academy's Bicentennial Speaker Series to discuss the role of public media in America.Finn's talk, titled "Filling the Gap: How Public Media Can Respond to a Decline of Reporters," addresses the nearly 50 percent decline in reporters in Vermont the last two decades, a decline that mirrors the rest of country. "Meanwhile," says Finn, "We are increasingly confronted with confusing and even false stories online." … read moreFebruary 4, 2019 -
Basketball standout Kiana Johnson, a senior from Chelsea, scored her 1000th point during the TA vs. U-32 varsity basketball matchup on Friday, Feb. 1. Kiana, who transferred to TA at the beginning of the school year after Chelsea's high school closed, hit her 997th, 998th, 999th, and 1000th career points with four consecutive free throws, as an enthusiastic crowd provided a respectful silence while she concentrated at the line. The Panthers went on to win … read moreFebruary 2, 2019 -
Every morning, when most TA students are stealing that last five minutes of sleep, this intrepid member of our bicentennial class has already been on the road for an hour, proving each day that it’s possible to commute to Thetford from almost Canada and to be an incredibly successful student. And we’re grateful that she chose us. Her positive outlook, her intellect, her great sense of humor and her tremendous work ethic make Maeve Curtin a special panther and a valued … read moreJanuary 30, 2019 -
Hypertherm and FUJIFILM Dimatix, two Lebanon, N.H., businesses, celebrated 15 Thetford Academy and Lebanon High School students' achievements upon their successful completion of the inaugural STEM High Tech Manufacturing Internship program on Tuesday night, Jan. 15. The internship was an unequivocal success. During the program finale, which took place at Hypertherm's 71 Heater Road facility in Lebanon, each participating student presented his or her outtakes from the semester-long internship in three- to five-minutes speeches. Audience … read moreJanuary 17, 2019 -
Bicentennial Speaker Series: Derrick E. White, Ph.D., Monday, Jan. 21 @ 7 p.m. TA will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 21, with a Bicentennial Speaker Series presentation by Professor Derrick E. White, entitled “Making a King: The Contested Legacies of a Civil Rights Icon.” This special event, free and open to the public, will take place at the Martha Jane Rich Theater at 7 p.m. Visiting Associate Professor of African & African American Studies in the Department of History at Dartmouth College, Professor White is a scholar of … read moreJanuary 3, 2019 -
Jake Colby began the Thetford Academy - Montpelier home varsity basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 22, determined to reach his 1000th point. Coming into the game with 990 combined career points for Chelsea High School (grades 9-11) and Thetford Academy (grade 12), he was ready to get the milestone done and over with ... and with four fouls and approximately five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Jake made a short jump shot from … read moreDecember 23, 2018 -
Those in the course Sports and Society have created a new verb: “to Barnsdale.” It means to put 110% effort into a fictional story—because that’s just what our December Student of the Month did as Taxpayer #1 in a town meeting for the fictional municipality of Barnsdale. Yes, Tyler Wojcik is this month’s honoree! Recurring themes when it comes to this kind-hearted junior are his earnestness and his appreciation for the learning process. Mrs. Barton praises … read moreDecember 20, 2018 -
The 8th annual Mr. Thetford Academy Pageant—a beauty pageant/talent show spoof —featured land-kayaking to the sounds of a river, a Michael Jackson moonwalk, a wrestling match between a brother and a sister, and plenty of corny jokes, as 11 contestants and their escorts competed for the Mr. TA crown. Along the way, the packed house heard from Adelit Rukomangana, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide; witnessed the contestants field challenging, on the spot questions; and … read moreDecember 9, 2018 -
The choral and instrumental music programs will perform their winter concert on Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the Martha Jane Rich Theater. Nacho plays electric guitar with his instrumental class. The band has been working hard preparing for the concert. Approximately 40 musicians in grades 7-12 will be playing pieces from a broad scope of styles and eras, including music from Bach, Tchaikovsky, Leroy Anderson, Mel Tormé, and Vince Guaraldi. A number of holiday classics … read moreDecember 14, 2018
