FHUHS Administration

One of the great benefits of casually talking to kids in the halls (or throughout the building, for that matter) is discovering all sorts of fascinating information. A morning conversation last week resulted in just such an encounter. Freshman Erika Lilly, I was fascinated to find out, is already an accomplished race car driver. Yes, at 14 years old, Erika has already earned trophies dirt track racing. Currently she drives a Ministock (full fender car) every Sunday at Devil’s Bowl. Her brother (and FHUHS junior) Justin both race and grew up racing snowmobiles. How did she get started racing? “Justin Combs wanted to sell his Ministock”, she informed me, “and I wanted his car and bought it. This is my first season car racing. At 5 or 6 I started racing a little 120 Arctic Cat. We traveled to Maine, New Hampshire and Rutland”. Erika hopes to move up a class, but her dad Tom (who also races) will not let her. “When we got the car it was the winter and it was the first time I ever sat in the driver’s side. It was the first time I [operated] a car”. Erika would like to continue to race until they close down the tracks. Erika earned two trophies already and has earned the points champion CVMA (Champlain Valley Motor Sports). You may check out pictures of her and other races at www.Imagesbydc.com.

Todd Roberts (FHU 1997), Slater basketball’s all time leading scorer, will be inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame on October 9th at the Mohegan Sun Uncas Ballroom in Connecticut.

Todd’s career at Fair Haven was nothing short of spectacular. A 4 year starter on the varsity, he led his teams to a record of 71-23, four trips to the Barre Auditorium, two appearances in the finals, culminating with the 1997 Division II State Championship. He was All MVL and All State three times, and helped lead Vermont to victory over New Hampshire in the 1997 Alhambra Classic. His 1,779 career points remains the benchmark in Slater basketball history.

His success at Fair Haven earned him a full athletic scholarship to St. Michael’s College, where he was part of one of the most successful runs in Purple Knight basketball history. The first native Vermonter to score 1,000 career points in men’s basketball at the SMC, Todd is considered by many to be one of the truly elite players in Saint Michael’s history. Over his remarkable career, he was named All-Northeast-10 Conference and All-ECAC three times, and NABC All-Region and Daktronics All-District twice. He was the Northeast-10′s Player of the Year as a senior, and was named an All-American by both NABC and Daktronics/CoSIDA that same year. He finished his great career with 1,816 points (third all-time), and was listed among five different Purple Knight all-time Top Ten lists. . He led the Knights to an all-time best record of 27-4 in his senior year, and during his career the Knights were 88-35 (.651 win percentage) overall, 54-24 (.692) in NE-10 play, and won one ECAC Division II and two Northeast-10 Titles. His teams made two NCAA Tournament appearances, and advanced all the way to the “Sweet 16″ in his senior season. He was inducted into the St. Michael’s College Athletic Hall of Fame on September 15th, 2006.

Todd is a Financial Analyst with Mount Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor. He and his wife Mima also own “Aubergine” ( www.purple-eggplant.com ) a kitchen supply and gift shop in Woodstock. They reside in Stockbridge with their daughter Olivia, and their two Labrador retrievers. He is the son of Mike and Joyce Roberts of Fair Haven.

The New England Basketball Hall of Fame will hold its 5th induction ceremony on October 9, 2009 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. The ceremony has become one of the largest sports dinners in America, attracting over 1000 attendees at each of the previous four gatherings. For more information about the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, past inductees and the induction ceremony, visit http://www.internationalsport.com .

Congratulations to Todd and his family on his/their many successes!

Juniors & Seniors studying Economics will soon be learning about investing through The Stockmarket Game. Working in small groups, they will research corporations in different sectors of the economy and select the stocks which they think will perform the best in the coming months. Hopefully they will fare better than many have the past few years.

The Community Service Club has already met and is underway. Please see Ms. Carini for details or more information.

Richard Coley will be collecting for the annual CROP WALK(which will be held in FH on Sunday – September 27) TODAY – Friday, 9/18 and Monday & Tuesday 9/21-22 – at the Maintenance Entrance to the building. Please stop and donate to a good cause that our community shares in.

Slaterbration is all this week. The festive atmosphere culminates with Saturday’s dance at the school. Student Council has the following themes lined up for the week:

• Monday (9/21) HERO DAY
• Tuesday (9/22) WESTERN DAY
• Wednesday (9/23) BEACH BUM DAY
• Thursday (9/24) FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM DAY
• Friday (9/25) BLUE & WHITE DAY!

Two of our students will be attending the 4 H Eastern States Exposition from September 23-28th as a delegate representing the University of Vermont 4-H program for the State of Vermont. Julia Dockum (grade 11) and Samantha Forrest (grade 12).

To better understand what all of it entails, I have included information sent to me:


To attend with one’s horse, a 4-Her must excel at both riding and participation in other activities. As a horse owner, a student must care for, train and work with his or her horse. He or she must keep a record book that includes thorough documentation of this work as well as health and food information and costs associated with caring for the horse. On addition, he or she must compete at horse shows and receive high standings against a large group of riders. Only 50% of the evaluation for attendance is based on the “horse” part of the student’s participation in 4-H. The other 50% is based on participation at the local, county, regional and state levels in areas such as: community service; hippology; quizbowl; judging; leadership; other activities such as art/photography, other animals or crafts.

If there is anyone who has not applied for the FHU free and reduced lunch program, we would be happy to mail you a copy of the application. We have a new lunch computer program that ensures all information is confidential. Please call Diane Flood at 265-4966, Ext. 202, if you would like her to send you a copy of the application. Also, if you need assistance in filling out this application, Diane would be available to help you. Nutrition is essential to a child’s success in school, and we want to ensure that all students have the same opportunity.

There will be a meeting of Project Graduation on Wednesday, September 30th, at 7:00 p.m. in Room 2.

My newsletter is also online at http://fhuhs.org/departments/administration/category/principals-newsletter/ (in case it does not make the papers, as was the case last week).

Have a great week,

Brett C. Blanchard, Fair Haven Union High School Principal