Top Stories for Tuesday June 7, 2016

Dad And Son Adventures Racing Mini­Sprint Cars
By Cookie Steponaitis
It was about a year and a half ago when Colby Beinhaur and his father embarked on a new project. While there are no racers in the family the pair has found that they share a passion for Mini­Sprint cars and racing. “I have learned an incredible amount,” shared fourteen year old Colby, who can most mornings be heard at school talking with friends about gears, torque, speed, and oil and welding parts. “We do all of it together,” remarked the young racer. “Dad and I built my car from the ground up and I have learned how to change oil, work with all kinds of different parts and how to alter different motors to achieve different levels of performance out of our engines. At one time we had twelve different motors and were working on most of them.”
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Local Principal Celebrates Over Thirty Years In Education
By Cookie Steponaitis
June Larrabee Sargent simply can’t remember a time in her life when she didn’t want to be a teacher. School was the best place in her opinion growing up and she was incredibly blessed by role models in the Vergennes school system and at Middlebury College. While there were in fact a large number who impacted her growth, Sargent looks to a few who helped define her life and her choices as an individual.”Joan Jackman at VUES really encouraged my interest in vocabulary, and she was the first teacher that challenged me personally to learn more and go above and beyond in my studies.,” reminisced  Sargent. “Also at VUES was Joe Samaritoni.  Somehow he must have brainwashed me, as I went on to study with a passion ancient civilizations and languages, not to mention my addiction to Star Trek!  At the high school, it was Jon Yarnell who continued teaching me about World History although through the lenses of Humanities.  He encouraged me to share my own voice when writing, and to synthesize the research that I loved to do into well-crafted essays.  Wayne Ganson also at VUHS taught me that it was ok to have some fun while learning challenging content.  At Middlebury College, I learned from Pardon Tillinghast, one of the most revered professors there.  He taught me that it was really all about the students and what they would take away from a lesson.  In our upper level courses, we would go to his home for class.  He fed us and then would sit back in his stairway as my peers and I discussed and debated the history material we had been reading.  I also can’t leave out Scott Lynk and Roland Guyette, both who were coaches and mentors for me, and who regularly took turns trying to mold me into the student-athlete I eventually became. Lastly, I was blessed to have had Peter Brakely at MUMS as my mentor teacher.  He showed me how to design meaningful lessons and inspired me with his energy and passion for his students.”
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Wrestling With Purpose
By Cookie Steponaitis
VUHS junior Brandon Cousino has had a year for the record books. As one of the top ranked wrestlers in New England with his senior year still to come, Cousino could sit back and perhaps take some time. However sitting back is not on the agenda. This year Brandon Cousino went one step further and linked his success on the wrestling mat to dollars for programs in the community.
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