Laraway Staff presents at Children's Literacy Foundation Conference on September 18th

               Julie Landry, M.Ed., Director of Laraway School, will present a workshop on “Emotional and Learning Challenges” at the CLiF Conference for Rural Librarians to be held at the Hotel Coolidge in White River Junction on Friday, September 18^th.

     “I’m excited about our partnership with CliF and the opportunity to speak with librarians about this population of students,” Landry said.

     CLiF is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1998. Its mission is to nurture a love of reading and writing among low-income, at-risk, and rural children in New Hampshire and Vermont. For more information, visit clifonline.org or email clif@clifonline.org.

     Laraway Youth & Family Services is a non-profit organization dedicated to identifying and building on the strengths of children and youth with emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges, through alternative education, therapeutic foster care and public school based behavioral intervention supports.  For more information, visit Laraway.org or email KatherineS@Laraway.org.

  

SERVE Local Volunteers Lend a Hand

If there's one thing we know about the Laraway gardens, it's that volunteers are worth their weight in compost. On Friday, September 4, four volunteers from Johnson State College's SERVE Local program came to help weed the perennial bed located at the front of Laraway's property. The bed includes a variety of regenerative and tasty plants including a few apple trees that are bearing fruit for the first time this year, currants, apple mint, bee balm, and comfrey. Unfortunately, it was hard to tell that these plants were living there under a summer's worth of weeds. The volunteers spent an hour and half weeding the bed, discussing herbal remedies and weekend plans. By the end, there was a wheel barrow full of unwanted greenery and a significantly tidier garden. Thank you so much to our volunteers for taking the time to help us out!

Article written by Ginny Cooke, VYT Land Steward Americorps Member
Photos by Sarah Golden

Laraway co-sponsors Lamoille Valley Career and Job Fair

2015 LAMOILLE VALLEY CAREER AND JOB FAIR

The public is invited to attend the Lamoille Valley Career and Job Fair to be held on Thursday, September 24^th, 2015 at the Green Mountain Technology & Career Center on the campus of Lamoille Union Middle/High School in Hyde Park.  This event is free to attend and open to 11^th  and 12^th grade students from area high schools and the general public.  While the Job Fair is open from 12 noon to 4 pm, the preferred time to attend for students is 12-2 pm and for the general public, 2-4 pm.          

Admission is free and open to the public!

     The Career and Job Fair provides an opportunity for job seekers to speak with a number of local businesses and explore a variety of careers in a short period of time.  Job seekers are encouraged to bring copies of their resumes, meet with professionals in our Job Fair Resource Area before attending meeting with employers.  They can take advantage of this chance to put their qualifications directly into the hands of local employers who are looking for employees.  Job seekers will find opportunities from entry level to advanced positions in a wide variety of fields.   For ongoing updates, leading up to September 24^th, please log on to our website:  http://www.lamoillevalleyjobfair.com/home.html and monitor our event Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lamoille-Valley-Career-and-Job-Fair/1458221844497518 

      New this year will be Panel Discussions geared toward students from local high schools.  Area professionals will present information and answer questions about a range of industries.  Students plan to sign up before the Career & Job Fair for one of 8 topics which include: 

•  Preparing for and Succeeding at a Career & Job Fair
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship:  Taking a Good Idea and Running With It
• Careers and Employment Opportunities in the Growing Vermont   Agricultural Industry-It Includes Farming but Offers So Many More Opportunities
• Do You Have a Desire to Help People?  Opportunities in Healthcare and Human Services
• Want to Use Your Mind and Your Hands?  Check Out the Many Great Careers in the Skilled Trades!
• Do You Like to Design, Create and Build?  Careers Using Your Creative Interests and Energy  (Maker Space, IT, Engineering, Marketing/Design)
• Careers Connecting Customers to the World Around Them—Opportunities in Hospitality, Culinary, Marketing and Sales!
• Higher Education and Employment—Connecting the Dots.

     After attending a Panel, students will proceed into the exhibit area to connect with area businesses. 

      The growing list of businesses and organizations participating this year include: Copley Hospital, Creative Workforce Solutions, Edward Jones, Rich Jacob Financial Advisor, Green Mountain Transit Agency, Hannaford, Home Instead Senior Care, Laraway Youth & Family Services, Lamoille County Mental Health Services, Lamoille Economic Development Corporation, Lyndon State College, MEI Electrical Contractors, New England Culinary Institute, Shaws, Smugglers' Notch Resort, State of VT Department of Personnel, Stoweflake Resort & Spa, Strategies for College Inc., Trapp Family Lodge, Union Bank, Vermont Technical College, VT Society of Land Surveyors, Washington County Mental Health Services, and more.

      Thank you to the event sponsors: Smuggler’s Notch Resort, Union Bank, Laraway Youth and Family Services, Creative Workforce Solutions and Lamoille Economic Development Corp.

      For more information please contact DJ Masi, Business Account Manager, Creative Workforce Solutions, Lamoille Region at 802-793-8309 or dj.masi@state.vt.us.

Gallery Space: Finding History in Unexpected Places

   

     History resides in unexpected places.  Staff and youth at Foote Brook House, Laraway's micro residential program in Johnson, understand this.  They organized an art and photography show featuring scenes from cemeteries and cemetery-themed art.
     Images from rural Vermont cemeteries appear beside those from the National Historic Park at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.  There's even a hand-drawn image of that Master of  Macabre, Edgar Allan Poe.

     A youth in the program put pencil to paper, creating a fascinating depiction of a gravestone of a former Mason whose surname was Butler.  Asking the youth about his work prompted the question, "Which hand is your 'masterpiece' hand?"

     This query caused the youth to pause as a clarifying question was asked:  "Which hand do you create art with?"

     "My right hand," he said as he smiled.

     This prompted an informal discussion among this youth and others about each's masterpiece hand and what they create with it.  The Righties outweighed the Lefties.  The expressions of creativity spanned painting, drawing, photography and even textile crafts.

     The exhibit it up thru September 7th in Laraway's Gallery Space.  Private viewings can be arranged by contacting Katherine Stamper, KatherineS@Laraway,org or (802) 635-2805 x 106.

Photo Credit:  Stephen Dick

A Bridge to Somewhere: Yestermorrow at Laraway

     

     Laraway's playground has a new addition to greet our students when they return to campus from summer vacation:  a beautiful footbridge donated to Laraway via a special partnership with the Yestermorrow Design and Build School in Warren, Vermont.  

     Yestermorrow, founded in 1980, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose stated mission is to inspire people to, "...create a better, more sustainable world by providing hands-on education that integrates design and craft as a creative, interactive process."

     Cornelius Murphy, Laraway's Land Steward, intentionally sought out this partnership given our agencies' shared commitment to providing non-traditional hands-on learning. The footbridge, built by a Yestermorrow class, serves as a lovely and welcoming gateway to our playground. It passes over a small drainage area full of wildflowers.  The bridge's built-in bench invites one to sit down for a rest while taking in expansive views across our property.  Thank you, Yestermorrow!

     For more information on Yestermorrow, please visit https://yestermorrow.org

Kids Need to Eat...in Summer, Too

Note:  This article appeared in the August 11, 2015 edition of the News & Citizen:

     “I love my job because it gives me the room to be creative,” said Lisa Rock, Food Service Coordinator at Laraway Youth & Family Services in Johnson. “I like being able to offer students fresh food, made from scratch---a good meatloaf, a fresh garden salad.”

     There is a much more practical side to Rock’s creative feats in Laraway School’s kitchen:  over ninety percent of the children and youth served by the agency qualify for free or reduced breakfast and lunch, per federal guidelines. That is a lot of children to feed during the summer and school year.

     Located on a thirty-nine acre farmstead, Laraway staff and students cultivate gardens that produce vegetables, herbs and fruits for use in the cafeteria.

     “I have fresh parsley that is beautiful,” Rock said. “It was just picked today.” She harvests from her kitchen garden daily throughout the growing season, adding fresh basil, oregano and dill to meals.

     Beets are growing particularly well this summer with varieties including Bull’s Blood, the Italian heirloom Di Chioggia, and in a seeming nod to Laraway’s Michigan-born Executive Director, the Detroit Dark Red. Mesclun greens land on lunch plates while garlic scapes are transformed into creamy pesto for pasta.

     “I like being able to introduce kids to foods they may not have had before,” Rock said.  Quiche and jicama fall into this category.

     Engaging youth in the growing of the food served in the cafeteria is a great way to teach about self-sufficiency and healthy eating while cultivating broad palettes. Students are also learning about canning, capturing summer’s flavor for another time.

     Hunger Free Vermont states on their website that thirteen percent of all Vermont households are food insecure. Nineteen percent of Vermont children live in food insecure homes. Statistics are even more troubling for Lamoille County where an estimated one in four children experiences food insecurity.

     To counter this reality, Hunger Free Vermont supports summer food sites across Vermont, providing children in vulnerable food situations access to free, quality meals. For a listing of food sites in Vermont, visit www.hungerfreevermont.org. For more information on Laraway, visit www.laraway.org.   

     

Sprout and About: Breath mint anyone?

Laraway is now the perfect destination in case of a Vampire apocalypse. Students from our School and Backpack programs harvested over 400 bulbs from the garden during week 4 of summer program. While the garlic scapes were a treat themselves, they were only a preview to the possibilities of the garlic bulb. 

Garlic may be well known for its ability to fend off Dracula, but it has actually been used medicinally and spiritually for thousands of years. In many cultures it was considered an apotropaic symbol meant to deter evil spirits, and was displayed in windows, doors, or as part of shrines. Besides being known for its strong presence (it’s also known to ward off deer, insects and a variety of pests as well), garlic has been associated with having a variety of biological effects (besides terrible breath). Garlic is high in nutrients & antioxidants but low in calories and is known to boost the immune system, lower blood pressure, help fight off Alzheimer’s disease, improve cholesterol levels and remove heavy metals from the body. It was even used during the World Wars as an antiseptic!

While we won’t be using the Laraway Garden garlic on any open wounds, it will find many different uses. Most of the garlic is being cured in preparation for future kitchen use while roughly 135 bulbs will be used as seeds for next season and to hand out at the recognition ceremonies for Backpack and School, marking the end of our summer program. Slightly immature and damaged bulbs have also been put aside for pickling for storage next to the green beans and scapes. We can tell you how they come out in a couple weeks, but you may want to listen from a few feet away. 

Submitted by Hannah Bober, VYDC AmeriCorps State member