Hello Everyone,
I hope everyone enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal surrounded by family and friends. We are busy putting some finishing touches on December events, but before I jump there, let me share with you the most activity-filled November we’ve had in two years!
The 21st Annual Homecoming and Turkey Bowl Celebration was held on one of the most beautiful November days many of us can remember. Good cheer resonated from students and staff. We were lucky to have been joined by parents of our Senior Class and parents of members of the Homecoming Court. Board members and visitors applauded and cheered as our Homecoming Court was escorted by convertibles onto the field. Our Cheerleading Squad cheered loudly and proudly for our seniors and the Court. Students and staff played their hearts out in the Turkey Bowl with both teams coming out winners. The Blue Team made a valiant come back, but the Yellow Team took the ultimate victory.
The Vanguard School is diligently working to restore cancelled events over the next month. Unfortunately, we are not able to hold an in-person Winter Concert yet, nor will The Vanguard School hold the Holiday Dance. Eventually, these events will absolutely be back on the schedule. But, for now, we can look forward to an alumni event. The annual Alumni Holiday Dinner will be held on Dec. 2. It will be in the Cafeteria Building on VFES Campus starting at 6:00 pm and ending at 8:30 pm. School will wrap up for the winter break on Thursday, Dec. 23 as of 12:30 pm. Students and staff will be on a well-deserved winter break and return to school on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022.
Adult and Recreation Services facilitated a weekend respite retreat to Mt. Gilead over the Nov. 19 weekend. We had over 15 participants who enjoyed cool Pocono mornings and sunny Pocono afternoons. We hope this is the first of many more to come. Our Supervisor of Specialized Recreation Services, Michele Seel, is busy arranging opportunities for adults with disabilities to meet for social and recreational purposes. If you are interested in any of these activities, please email Michele for more details. She can be reached at miseel@vfes.net. Additionally, we continue to offer a wide variety of employment support services through Customized Workforce Solutions (CWS), a program of Adult and Recreation Services. If you have an adult with disabilities in need of support and guidance in career development and job finding, please email our director, Sascha Baello, at albaello@vfes.net for more information.
We are slowly but surely getting back to a new normal. Our staff, students and adult participants all want to come to work and school and get back to the business of day-to-day living. We are grateful to all of our community friends and donors who have supported VFES and our programs over the years, but especially over these last 18 months. We are underway with our 2021-2022 Annual Appeal and have identified new priorities for this campaign. I invite you to please consider a gift in support of our Upper School Swing Set project or our plans to update the library to a Media Center in the Upper School Building (Mierley Building) or general operations. Please know that if you have a particular interest not listed in this year’s Annual Appeal, you are welcome to designate your gift to that interest and we will honor your wishes. To make a gift online, visit www.vfes.net/donate.
We continue to post events, VFES campus-based activities and other announcements on our Facebook page. If you don’t follow us yet, please consider doing so. I speak for all of us from VFES when I wish you and your families a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.
With warm regards,
