Students from the Mechanical Design and Innovation Program at the River Valley Technical Center recently won two prestigious awards at the 17th Annual Norwich University High School Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Competition. Competing head‐to‐head against 18 other high school teams from across Vermont, the RVTC team earned a first place award for the Most Original Design and an additional trophy for Second Highest Load.

The competition was held on Norwich’s Northfield, VT campus on Saturday, January 26.  Nathan Shambo‐Hitchcock, a senior from Springfield High School; John Bousquet, a senior from Bellows Falls High School; Jacob Strong, a senior attending classes at CCV; and Kurtis Madden, a senior at Fall Mountain Regional High School. The RVTC was the only school to participate in the event from the Connecticut River valley. 

 
The competition required teams of high school students to build complete bridges out of just four materials; common popsicle sticks, toothpicks, dental floss and white Elmer’s Glue. The bridge specifications included a

North Charlestown Community School has been chosen as a finalist to be considered for selection as the 2012 Elementary School of Excellence.  Their team has been invited to present to the selection committee on Friday, February 10th at Plymouth State University's College of Graduate Studies  in Concord.  Congratulations, NCCS.

New Hampshire's Commissioner of Education, Dr. Virginia Barry, has released the dropout rate data for the 2010-2011 school year.  The state's drop out rate edged up slightly to 1.19% from .97%.  Thanks to the leadership and the commitment of Principal Tom Ronning, teachers, and staff at Fall Mountain Regional High School, the drop out rate continues to decline from 2% in 2009-2010 to 1.34%. 

 

The four year cumulative average also dropped from 8% to 5.25 %.  This is the second year that the Department of Education has collected Cohort Data, which includes all students during the past four years who graduated on time.   The Cohort Data for FMRHS is 89% which is above the state at 87% and the highest in the region. 

 

Fall Mountain Regional High School provides an Alternative Education Program and now a Distance Learning Lab as ways to encourage alternative ways for students to learn and graduate.