Bristol sixth-graders put stamp on school, from home

BRISTOL — For nearly three decades, under the guidance of art teacher Deb Rickner, each graduating sixth-grader at Bristol Elementary School (BES) has created a personal design and painted it onto one cinderblock of the building’s interior. “The project must be about the kids, personally, like putting their stamp on the school,” Rickner told the Independent in a recent interview. Rickner’s students’ first canvas was the school cafeteria, where over the years successive classes of sixth-graders filled up eve … (read more)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Ikcuw9-80 Something special happened in Middlebury last weekend. Folks in Buttolph Acres and at EastView were drawn out of their homes and into the streets by an old-fashioned traveling show. Created by Town Hall Theater’ … (read more)

When Clint Bierman writes a new song, he tests it out on his sons, Ty and Sam. “They’re the first people I go to,” the guitarist and vocalist for The Grift said in a recent phone interview.  Fourth-grader Ty and second-grader Sam attend the Bridge School … (read more)

I was on vacation with my husband Bryan, and 5-year-old son Emmett camping in Florida when the pandemic rapidly unfolded. We managed to ride out the rest of our trip, easily social distancing in the Ocala National Forest in a very low-use, primitive campg … (read more)

It’s Week Ten of The Quarantine and I am obsessed with bread. I apologize in advance to anyone who doesn’t tolerate gluten, you may not enjoy this column. Back when things were regular, when a trip to buy groceries didn’t feel life threatening, I wasn’t m … (read more)

Lucy Poduschnik, a seventh grade student at Middlebury Union Middle School wrote these two poems, Her words reflect the experience that she and many of her peers are having during the COVID-19 pandemic.    Housebound   I glance out the window hoping to se … (read more)

As Middlebury and the nation struggle with coronavirus, death and the changes to our daily lives, I am reminded that my grandfather Jacob Johnson Ross, M.D., joined the U.S. Army in 1918 and left his family in Middlebury to serve as the Flight Surgeon wit … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is a project of the Mount Abraham Unified School District’s Community Engagement Committee (CEC). The Addison Independent is hosting this content as a service to the community. Names of the interviewees have been withheld in accordance … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is a project of the Mount Abraham Unified School District’s Community Engagement Committee (CEC). The Addison Independent is hosting this content as a service to the community. Names of the interviewees have been withheld in accordance … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is a project of the Mount Abraham Unified School District’s Community Engagement Committee (CEC). The Addison Independent is hosting this content as a service to the community. Names of the interviewees have been withheld in accordance … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is a project of the Mount Abraham Unified School District’s Community Engagement Committee (CEC). The Addison Independent is hosting this content as a service to the community. Names of the interviewees have been withheld in accordance … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is a project of the Mount Abraham Unified School District’s Community Engagement Committee (CEC). The Addison Independent is hosting this content as a service to the community. Names of the interviewees have been withheld in accordance … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is a project of the Mount Abraham Unified School District’s Community Engagement Committee (CEC). The Addison Independent is hosting this content as a service to the community. Names of the interviewees have been withheld in accordance … (read more)

On a warm spring morning during my sophomore year of high school, I gathered with my P.E. class to form teams for a softball game. Chatting as we stood in line along the backstop, we watched the boys’ class run laps on the nearby track. Suddenly there was … (read more)

VERMONT — Collectively, Vermont residents have grown more than 7 miles of hair since mid-March, when Gov. Scott ordered the shutdown of hair salons and barbershops in order to help slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. We have grown shaggy and our … (read more)