Notes from Campus -- August 28, 2019

NOTES FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

On Saturday afternoon, after a three-hour drive to a remote corner of New Hampshire, our senior class loaded their gear and themselves into canoes and ventured into the backcountry for the night. By circumstance and by design, we were phone free for nearly 24 hours. No snaps, no posts, no likes, no new followers, no new TikTok videos.

We live in a fast-paced world where connectivity rules. We expect wifi everywhere, we assume instant replies to our text messages, we get lost in the published lives of our friends, role models, and heroes. We skim, we scroll, we live by Amazon Prime (a necessity here in the Mad River Valley), we answer life's questions by "googling" them. We can no longer imagine life disconnected --- without the smartphone or the Internet.

At the same time, we long for the personal connections that somehow seemed easier to establish when life moved at a slower pace. Here at GMVS, we don't believe that these two very different types of connection are mutually exclusive. We can be connected to our friends, our family, and the world beyond GMVS through wireless devices and social media at the same time that we're physically and emotionally connected with one another.

Connection among adolescents doesn't happen by chance anymore, it takes deliberate effort. It happens in the wilderness on orientation trips, it happens in dorms during late night conversations after the wifi has gone out, it happens on chairlifts, in classrooms, and in vans when cell service cuts out. It happens when we limited the use of technology, when we take away phones, when we encourage face-to-face conversations. It's happening in the GMVS Dining Room where we've banned smartphones and other technological devices.


	*Look Up \| Gary Turk - Official Video*

We are lucky that the GMVS ethos exists in spite of our use of

technology, that our students find authentic ways to engage with one another and with the adults in their lives. Students (and staff) will always be tempted to pull their phones out during inopportune times. It's our collective job then to remind one another to look up, put away our phones, and remember the value of those conversations we had in the backcountry.

I'll leave you with a spoken word film for an online generation reminding us all to look up.

GETTING ORIENTED ON CAMPUS

At the close of last year, as we looked toward August and a successful launch for our new and returning students, teachers re-imagined what the first few days of school could look like. Rather than jump into a full day of classes and training on Thursday, we built something new --- an on-campus orientation to the tools, people and mindsets that would set all of our students up for success in this new school year.

Teachers led the way in early brainstorming and then recruited help from coaches to pull off a day of mini-workshops, covering topics that ranged from: successfully integrating academics and athletics, to academic honesty, to accessing learning resources and to using myGMVS to its full potential. No campus life conversation is complete without a conversation about dish crew, or a scavenger hunt to find out where things are actually located...does everyone know where "the fishbowl" is?

On Friday, students had an opportunity to meet with all of their teachers in shortened class periods, before heading into a weekend of team building and adventures. Our hope is that by slowing down and building this foundation of shared understanding, everyone feels ready for a great year ahead.


	8th & 9th Grade Orientation Bonfire. Photo by Laura Gailiunas

ORIENTATION 19-20 IS IN THE BOOKS!

We had beautiful weather for a weekend full of building the one and only 46th version of GMVS! We welcomed new and returning students back to campus and then sent them off on grade level trips.

We use Orientation as a way to begin building our positive culture based on our school mission, respect for one another and how each individual contributes to our intentional community. It is about class bonding and positive mindsets, and it's an opportunity to push ourselves out of our own comfort zones by going just a little higher on the mountain, sleeping in a tent, or navigating rough waters.

We hiked Cannon Mountain, a portion of the Long Trail, Camel's Hump and Hunger Mountain. Our seniors braved the rough and calm waters of Umbagog Lake and continued their awesome leadership conversations from the spring. There were bonfires and s'mores, scary stories and unexpected core workouts from laughing. We learned that rain flies on tents really do matter and that hearing your echo on Sugarbush isn't guaranteed.

While many of us returned to campus with sore muscles or aching feet, all of us returned with a stronger sense of community and with plenty of memories to share! Look for more adventure photos below.

2019 STOP THE BLEED SPIN-A-THON IS AUGUST 30

This Friday, we will be conducting the 2nd Annual GMVS "Stop the Bleed" Spin-a-thon as part of the Kelly Brush Foundation's Skier Safety Initiative. GMVS students will be spinning continually for 12 hours from 6am - 6pm in order to raise money for this important cause. Join us by supporting a student or your GMVS team.

In 2018, Jonathan Davis, a student at GMVS, suffered a life-threatening laceration when his ski came off in a slalom race. During his recovery, he and his family, together with the Kelly Brush Foundation, joined the national Stop the Bleed movement to help educate and provide life-saving Bleeding Control Kits to alpine programs around the country.

Last year, GMVS raised more than $60,000 that helped the Kelly Brush Foundation distribute more than 1000 Bleeding Control Kits and and trained more than 500 coaches, teachers, ski patrol, and students accross the country.

Please help support the 2019 Stop the Bleed Spin-a-thon by sponsoring a student or the GMVS team as a whole by clicking HERE.

Then click on the Donate Now button and then either sponsor the GMVS team or enter a student's name and sponsor individually.

Can't make the Spin-a-thon? Join the GMVS team for the Kelly Brush Ride on Sept. 7. Register Here

VALIDATED SKILLSQUEST-FITNESS TESTING AT GMVS

U.S. Ski & Snowboard is doubling down on its commitment to athlete physical fitness with its nationwide validated physical fitness testing program, SkillsQuest-Fitness. As a U.S. Ski & Snowboard high performance partner, GMVS started the validated testing for the eastern region last Thursday and Friday.

SkillsQuest-Fitness is part of SkillsQuest, a cornerstone program of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Training Systems, designed to motivate and reward athletes in working toward and improving abilities in the key areas of emphasis.

SkillsQuest-Fitness tests eight physical properties including strength and power, coordination, speed, and aerobic fitness. It's a holistic view of an athlete's fitness, and through the data gathered during testing sessions and already amassed by the high performance staff, athletes have the ability to see where they stack up against peers and national team members in their sport.

"Physical fitness is extremely important for athletic development for athletes coming up the pipeline onto the national team," said U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Development Director Chip Knight. "We want there to be a baseline of physical conditioning that aspiring athletes have as a foundation for them to continue to move forward in our sport. Anyone who has national elite level aspiration should be targeting these SkillsQuest-Fitness events and working on their physical conditioning in the summer."

As part of U.S. Ski & Snowboard's commitment to SkillsQuest-Fitness, the national governing body sent three representatives from their High Performance team to GMVS last week. They taught our coaches how to conduct the physical fitness tests, saw our athletes in action, and provided an analysis of the testing results in a timely manner.

As expected, GMVS athletes were poised to excel and several impressed the team from U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

"Research consistently shows that improved physical fitness is correlated to improved alpine ski racing performance, particularly in junior skiers," said U.S. Ski & Snowboard's High Performance Director Troy Taylor. "The fitter you are the more quality training you can do, the more quality training you get, the better you can improve."

BE SURE TO JOINS US AT FAMILY & HOMECOMING WEEKEND - OCT 4 & 5!

Play in the famed GMVS Golf Tournament - It's a scramble! No pressure, just fun and laughs.
Mingle at class parties - Connect with parents and students in your class.
Attend teacher conferences & coaches' meetings - Meet individually with teachers and with coaches by group.
Cheer on our Gumbies - Girls' soccer at 12:00 pm & boys' soccer at 2:30 pm.
Reconnect with Alumni - New this year! - Bike n' Brew for alums after alumni soccer game.
Kick your feet up at the Denim & Diamonds Gala Dinner, silent and live auctions, bonus raffles, and entertainment by the Starline Rhythm Boys.

Sponsorship Opportunities!

Do you have or know of a business that would benefit from the exposure of supporting our Gala & Golf Tournament? Please contact Tyra MacGuffie at tmacguffie@GMVS.org for more details.

2019 GMVS BIKE KITS AVAILABLE

We will once again have GMVS custom bike kits available for ordering.

Orders must be placed by Sept. 8 by clicking HERE.

If you have any questions contact Kat Howe at khowe@gmvs.org.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Rainbows encompass campus the week before opening day. Photo by Andrea Harris

A FEW SNAPS FROM OUR RECENT ADVENTURES

Check out great photos of GMVS activities on SmugMug, a photo-sharing website where we post pictures from races, games , camps, theater and other weekly campus events. The website is gmvs.smugmug.com and the password is GMVScommunity. Enjoy!