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The McClure Basis introduced on Tuesday that it’s going to pay for a free affiliate diploma on the Group Faculty of Vermont for all in-state college students presently in grades 8 by means of 11.
To reap the benefits of the inspiration’s newly launched Free Diploma Promise, college students should attend CCV’s Early Faculty Program throughout their senior yr of highschool. The muse would then pay for them to finish any of the group school’s 11 affiliate diploma applications — from well being science to info expertise to early childhood schooling. Along with protecting tuition, McClure will present a stipend between $500 and $1,000 to assist with bills akin to books and transportation.
Vermont’s Early Faculty Program permits highschool seniors to attend one in all six accredited faculties — Castleton College, Group Faculty of Vermont, Goddard Faculty, Northern Vermont College, Norwich College or Vermont Technical Faculty — and earn each highschool and school credit concurrently, freed from cost. This system allows excessive schoolers to get a jumpstart on increased ed and get monetary savings on school tuition, since they graduate highschool with a yr’s price of school credit already below their belt.
The Free Diploma Promise primarily extends the Early Faculty Program at CCV by one other yr, enabling Vermont college students to rack up a second yr of school and earn their affiliate diploma — for free of charge.
CCV enrolls roughly 150 seniors from 40 to 50 Vermont excessive colleges in its Early Faculty Program annually, in line with CCV director of communications Katie Keszey. Half are the primary era of their household to attend school and 32 p.c are low-income.
Group Faculty of Vermont Makes Greater Training Extra Accessible and Inexpensive
Group Faculty of Vermont Makes Greater Training Extra Accessible and Inexpensive
By Carolyn Shapiro
Training
CCV president Joyce Judy mentioned she imagines there might be an uptick in enrollment pushed by the Free Diploma Promise. The length of the grant — 5 years — may even permit the school to check the speculation that eliminating price boundaries will lead extra Vermonters to pursue post-secondary schooling.
“What I am hoping is that if we do our work proper, we will enhance that quantity as a result of that can assist these children change their trajectory… but in addition … it should be a recreation changer for Vermont companies,” Judy mentioned. “What we’re listening to from employers is we now have Vermonters who simply do not have the appropriate expertise for the roles which might be being created.”
CCV — which has 12 areas across the state — additionally has agreements with quite a lot of faculties, such because the College of Vermont and Champlain Faculty, for assured admission for its graduates, Judy mentioned. Meaning a pupil taking part within the Free Diploma Promise program may full their first two years of post-secondary ed without spending a dime at CCV, then enter a four-year school as a junior.
Packages Assist Deprived Vermont College students Obtain Greater-Ed Objectives, however Inequity Stays
Packages Assist Deprived Vermont College students Obtain Greater-Ed Objectives, however Inequity Stays
By Alison Novak
Training
Although that is the biggest initiative McClure has undertaken with CCV, the inspiration has an extended historical past of partnering with the group school to make school and profession coaching extra accessible, Judy mentioned.
Two years in the past, McClure— an affiliate of the Vermont Group Basis — gifted all 2020 highschool graduates within the state one free class at CCV. 600 of them — greater than 10 p.c of the graduating class, and double the variety of college students that enroll at CCV in a typical yr —took benefit of the supply that fall. That prime uptake confirmed the advantages of eradicating monetary obstacles to school, Vermont Group Basis president Dan Smith mentioned; the Free Diploma Promise program has the same aim.
“A lot of upper schooling proper now could be a self-defeating morass of complexity over who’s paying for what, the place the cash is coming from, what type you need to fill out when,” Smith mentioned. “These children who most stand to learn are least prone to wade into that morass.
“So, the intention behind this,” he continued, “is that or not it’s a giant, clear and hopeful dedication that each Vermont child is eligible for this chance — to have an economically related affiliate’s diploma by age 19.”
The McClure Basis will work with college districts and companions such because the Vermont Scholar Help Company to assist unfold the phrase concerning the Free Diploma Promise, in line with the inspiration’s govt director, Carolyn Weir. There isn’t any cap on the variety of college students the inspiration will help.
“We do not know, fairly frankly, how many individuals over the subsequent 5 years, will … take us up on this promise,” Weir mentioned, “however from our perspective, a promise is a promise, so we’re ready to cowl these prices irrespective of what number of college students enroll … If numerous college students enroll, we’ll contemplate {that a} success, for the scholars who’re enrolled, but in addition for Vermont.”
Vermonters, brace yourselves for a sizzling week.
The first heat wave of the year is due to hit Vermont starting at noon on Tuesday, June 18 and lasting until around 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 20, according to the National Weather Service in Burlington.
“The pleasant weekend we experienced will be a distant memory soon enough,” NWS Burlington said in its area forecast discussion on Monday afternoon.
This week is projected to boast some of the highest temperatures Vermonters have seen in several years, averaging in the 90s in most places during the day. Additionally, multiple Vermont cities and towns are posed to break daily heat records on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
National Weather Service Burlington meteorologists also predict high humidity − close to or above 65 on the dew point scale − for the duration of the heat wave, extending into the evenings as well.
The heat will likely reach its peak on Wednesday, which is also the most probable day for the temperature to hit 100 degrees or higher. For perspective, Burlington has only experienced five 100 degree days since 1995.
However, the days may feel even hotter than what the thermometer reads in some cities and towns. Vermont’s top projected heat index value, also known as apparent temperature, is 105 degrees for the week.
Excessive heat has the potential to be deadly. Heat waves claim more lives annually in the U.S than any other weather event − surpassing tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and lightning − according to AccuWeather.
NWS Burlington defines a heat wave as three or more consecutive days of 90 degrees or above.
A heat index value − the combination of the air temperature and the relative humidity − represents how hot it feels outside in a particular location. Think of it as the veil twin of the wind chill factor, something with which Vermonters may be more familiar.
This week’s heat index value of 105 is considered to be within the high risk category for developing heat-related illnesses after pro-longed physical activity, according to NWS Burlington.
NWS Burlington provided a list of ways to protect yourself from excessive heat:
To help residents beat the heat, Burlington will operate cooling centers between Tuesday, June 18 and Friday, June 21.
The following places will act as cooling centers:
For more information on cooling centers, visit https://enjoyburlington.com/burlington-cooling-centers-where-to-cool-off-during-a-heat-wave.
More: Summer is officially here in Vermont: How to keep pets safe while the weather is hot
Megan Stewart is a government accountability reporter for the Burlington Free Press. Contact her at mstewartyounger@gannett.com.
Politics
A Republican lawmaker publicly apologized to a Democratic colleague before the Vermont House of Representatives after she was caught on video pouring water into his bag multiple times over the course of five months.
“I am truly ashamed of my actions,” Representative Mary Morrissey, who serves Bennington, Vt., said at a House veto session Monday.
Videos of Morrissey pouring cups of water into a personal bag belonging to Representative Jim Carroll, who also represents Bennington, were first acquired by Seven Days. The news outlet obtained the videos via a public records request after Carroll mounted a camera above where he hung his bag to find a culprit for the frequent soakings his belongings were getting.
“For five months, I went through this,” Carroll said at the meeting after Morrissey’s apology. “It was torment, there’s no doubt about it.”
When House Speaker Jill Krowinski first saw the videos and confronted Morrissey about it, she initially denied it, Seven Days reported. But she later apologized to Carroll, an encounter the latter told the outlet was “uncomfortable.”
On Monday, Morrissey admitted her behavior was “disrespectful” and said she had apologized to Carroll privately. She added that she will be “working toward resolution and restoration through our legislative process.”
“It was conduct most unbecoming of my position as a representative and as a human being, and is not reflective of my 28 years of service and civility,” Morrissey said. She also asked for forgiveness from her colleagues and the citizens of Vermont.
Morrissey has held her seat since 1997.
She did not provide a reason for her actions, and Seven Days reported that the representative claimed to not know why she did it.
Carroll said he has faced repeated verbal harassment from his colleague, mainly for his policy decisions, according to the outlet.
“I hear the sincerity in your voice,” Carroll said. “And I’m gonna be quite frank with you … for five months, I went through this. And each month, each day that I went through this, Representative Morrissey had a choice to make. And each time, she didn’t choose to either drop it or come to me and say ‘I’m sorry, I screwed up, let’s put our heads together and serve our constituents the way they ought to be.’ And for that I’m really sorry and sad.”
Carroll said that he is willing to sit down with Morrissey to talk through their issues, though he admitted it may be “awkward” at first.
“There’s gonna be some work to be done between the two of us,” he said. “That first time that we sit down together its gonna be kind of awkward, but we have to start somewhere.”
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Blink and you’ll miss it, in more ways than one. Not only is false mermaid-weed “absolutely tiny”—with flowers the size of a head of a pin—but it surfaces for only about a month in the spring before dying, explains Smithsonian and the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. All of which helps explain why the flower hadn’t been seen in Vermont in 108 years—until now. Last month, a state botanist inadvertently spotted the plant, formally known as Floerkea proserpinacoides, after she’d been sent a photo of a rare form of wild garlic.
“There was this little weird plant in the corner of the frame,” Grace Glynn tells Vermont Public radio. “And when I zoomed in, I immediately knew that it was Floerkea, that it was false mermaid-weed,” she says. “I couldn’t believe that I was finally seeing this plant.” Glynn went to the rural site in Addison County the following day and confirmed the patch of false mermaid-weed on private land alongside a stream. She then found another patch on public land.
“There was a lot of screaming,” Glynn tells the New York Times of her own reaction. The plant’s official status in the state has been changed from “possibly extinct and missing” to “very rare and critically imperiled,” per Smithsonian. The plant is found elsewhere in North America, per the Native Plant Trust. So why all the fuss? “False mermaid-weed is a floodplain plant, and historic populations are believed to have been destroyed by some common challenges facing Vermont’s floodplains: extreme floods, invasive species, and development,” the state post explains. That it has resurfaced after a century “is a sign that good stewardship by landowners and conservation organizations really can make a difference.” (More Vermont stories.)
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