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Blog Archive: Vermont Spotlights
Over the last two decades, John Dell’Anno of Shaftsbury had built a career as a carpenter. Employed by a company out of Manchester, John worked on high-end residential job sites, and found plenty of work in towns like Stratton, Windham, and Dorset. But in 2014, after suffering a few accidents (one…
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When Mimi Duong was applying to college during her senior year at St. Johnsbury Academy, she found herself at a bit of a disadvantage, since her parents, who had emigrated to Vermont from Vietnam, weren’t totally familiar with the American college admissions system. When we last spoke with her in…
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When David Richardson was seven years old, his world turned upside down. His relatively comfortable middle-class household, supported by two parents who both held good jobs – his mom as a substance use counselor, his dad as a corrections officer – changed, literally, with one wrong step. His father…
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When Brody Moran works with kids – either as a substitute teacher at Cabot School in his hometown during his college breaks, or this summer as a counselor at Turtle Island camp – he never asks a child what they want to be when they grow up. “Some people love asking that question, because it provokes…
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In 2018, Bellows Free Academy-St. Albans student Alek Wolfe was sitting next to award-winning sports announcer George Commo in the press box of the Collins-Perley Arena in St. Albans. Alek was there to provide commentary for a women’s high-school hockey game against Rutland. “I was in the middle of…
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As a young electrician, Aaron Brittain was doing well. He had moved from a small shop in the Northeast Kingdom to a bigger, Barre-based company that did larger jobs. But he didn’t like getting up at 4 AM. “I liked the work, but I didn’t like the lifestyle,” says Aaron, who started electrical work at…
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Lilith Bachand, a junior at North Country Union High School, just learned a week ago that she was named a 2023 QuestBridge College Prep Scholar. As one of 3,500 high school juniors selected from more than 15,000 applicants nationwide, Lilith also has a strong chance of being awarded a four-year…
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When David Tabaruka started as the Financial Controller for the Community College of Vermont last March, the new job felt like a homecoming and a triumph. “I said, hey, I’ve been here before – but this time, I’m part of the staff rather than a student,” he says with a broad smile. “It feels really…
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Philip Malazarte of Chester is “a young man who is going places,” says his VSAC outreach counselor, Jessi Krause Herron. “He has been committed to the nursing field since ninth grade and has been learning all he can to prepare. And he’s a standout member of his community, caring for others and going…
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Throughout her childhood and adolescence, 18-year-old Sapphire Jackson yearned to discover what she was great at and what could become her life’s passion. But, unable to articulate the nuance she saw between aspiration and ambition, her family didn’t see a way to reconcile college and career with…
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