It’s that time of year…When we start winding down here at MMWA and thinking about sending off our seniors (which is really quite sad). Our annual graduation ceremony will be held at the Stowe Community Church on Friday, March 29th with the usual pre-ceremony food & mingling followed by the official awards and senior speeches.

Due to our large senior class, we’ll begin things a little earlier this year to make sure we have enough time for them all to talk. Dinner will begin at 5:30 pm and the awards ceremony will begin upstairs promptly at 7 pm.

All MMWA families and friends are invited. Send us an email to RSVP and we hope to see you there!

Mark your calendars for Sunday, March 24th and join us for the annual Homecoming and Club Championships! The event is a fun GS Duals course for skiers and snowboarders of all ages and ability levels.

We will also be hosting a casual après-ski gathering for MMWA and MMSC alumni at our yurt 3 – 5 pm after the event. Relax with old friends, enjoy some wine and cheese, and catch up with Lori.

What: GS Duals for alpine & snowboard
When: Sunday, March 24th
Registration: 7:30 am – 9 am at MMSC; race start 10 am
Where: Slalom Hill, Spruce Peak
Who: MMWA and MMSC friends, families, and alumni

Entry Fees: $10 includes post-race BBQ (+$30 lift ticket fee)

 

It’s that time of year again….When we round our students and try to corral them into taking class photos.

It might seem like a simple task but oh no. Not so easy.

First of all, they travel a lot. They are always a little frantic, leaving last minute, adding races to the calendar, and hitting to road to random ski areas all over New England. So it’s very tricky to get them all in the same place at the same time.

Second of all, they train a lot. They are at SMR for half the day and they usually come to school late, hungry, and sweaty. Someone usually disappears to his/her room, and then we’re left standing outside freezing while someone else realizes, “Hey, wait a second, we’re missing ______.”

This can be especially for our upper class students who have very busy race schedules. So with everyone present this week (hurray!), we seized the day and shot the 10th/11th/12th grade photos despite some pretty crazy hat head hair and interesting long underwear outfits. And, of course, the ubiquitous sweatpants. So I am happy to say we got the upper class photos taken and will shoot the 7th/8th/9th grade photos when the Session 2 students arrive in January. Here are a few of the outtakes to enjoy:

MMWA was mentioned recently in an article published in VT Kids, “Higher Learning: Vermont’s Elite Ski Academies Teach Kids On and Off the Slopes .” It’s a nice feature piece by outdoor journalist Sarah Tuff on how hard students work to achieve their goals while at a ski academy, as well as the success that ski academies have seen across the state.

As Tuff writes, “Balance is a word that comes up a lot at these schools; students who study at winter-sport academies have to juggle multiple responsibilities. To be successful, they have to be self-motivated.” We are very proud of our accomplishments and student successes here at MMWA and are happy to receive some attention for our hard-working students.

SATURDAY 11/10

9:30 am: Dorm opens for residential students to move in (please note that students will not be allowed to stay in the dorm until Sunday night with dinner being the first meal served)

10:30 am – noon: College Informational Session with Billy Reichelt, UVM Head Coach; Gus McLeod, St. Michael’s College Head Coach; PJ Goldberg, college advisor, College Find

12:15 – 1:00 pm: Luncheon Meet & Greet. All parents, students (day & dorm) & staff welcome

1:15 – 2:15 pm: Parent/Student Forum. A panel of “seasoned” students and parents will candidly answer questions about the Academy experience.

2:30 – 4:30 pm: MMSC Info Session with Igor Vanovac, Topher Harlow & Lorant Gudasz

4:30 – 6  pm: Parent Welcome Reception. Wine & cheese at the Yurt.

 

SUNDAY 11/11

9:30 am: Dorm opens for residential students to move in

10:00 am: New Parent Orientation

11 – 12:30 pm: Bagel & Burrito Brunch

12:30 pm: Returning Parent Information Meeting (new parents are also welcome to attend this meeting)

The classrooms are getting set up, teachers hired, dorm rooms cleaned out, academic schedules organized…Winter is just around the corner and MMWA is gearing up for students to arrive in November! Just a quick reminder that our opening weekend is November 10th and 11th, with dorms opening on the 10th and classes beginning on November 12th for Session 1 students. The academic calendar is now on a Google calendar, which you can view on the right sidebar of our website.

What a day. We had a gorgeous weather, 150 cyclists from Vermont and Quebec and beyond, great food from Black Diamond bbq, awesome music from Spider Roulette, what more could we ask for other than a perpetual tailwind? We raised over $15,000 for MMWA and couldn’t have pulled it off without all our amazing volunteers, event director Pascale Savard, and (of course) all the participants.

Check out the timed hill climb results and more here, and register for next year’s Darn Tough Ride on Sunday, September 1st here! Hey, isn’t never too early to start planning and training, right? We hope to see you next year!