Category Archives: Misc.

Hello!!

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Hey Mentors and Parents,

My name is Whitney Manhart, a former VAST Mentor who is now helping out in the office. I am hoping to make the blog into a resource for Mentors during VAST and parents at home. I will be posting current events, videos, short articles, etc. that are relevant to our students that can be used for discussion. Essentially, I’m hoping to have a few extra things for Mentors to use to keep the post-homework discussions and activities academic and interesting. And if parents would like to keep these conversations going at home, please do! If you have any ideas or questions, feel free to email me at whmanhart@vassar.edu.

Have a great week,

Whitney

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The first day of VAST is approaching…

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I can’t wait for VAST to start this coming Monday, October 1!!! We have a lot of Vassar mentors who are ready to volunteer their time at the middle school, and many of them are leading exciting enrichment activities, including Dance, Video Game Design, Photography, Art/Sculpture Making, Art Appreciation, Mindfulness, and Arabic Language and Culture, among others.

This week all of our Vassar mentors are attending Mentor Orientation training sessions to learn more about their role in VAST so they are ready for the first day. There is also an orientation dinner for all the VAST scholars and their parents this Friday September 28, at 6:30pm at the middle school cafeteria. This is an opportunity for the parents to learn more about VAST, meet me for the first time, and ask any questions they have about the program.

The mentors and the scholars will all meet and start working together on Monday. It’s going to be a great day!

-Rachel

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Welcome back to a new year of VAST!

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Greetings all VAST mentors, students, and parents!

My name is Rachel Gorman and I will be the new VAST Fellow for the 2012-2013 school year. Sadly, Francis Meyo returned home to Nairobi, Kenya so he will not be involved with VAST anymore. He has taught me all about the program so I am prepared to be the new Francis this year. I’m very excited for VAST to start!

A little bit about me: I graduated from Vassar in May 2012. My major was History, and I completed two correlates in Education and Hispanic Studies. I am from Albany, NY and I went to Albany High School. I hope to continue studying education and maybe become a high school teacher someday. I can’t wait to get to know all of you so please feel free to stop by the Education Department office in the Old Observatory to introduce yourself.

The first day of VAST will be Monday October 1, but we have a lot of work to do before then. Mentor and scholar applications are due Wednesday, September 19. The applications can be found under the “Applications” tab on the top menu, and I’ll also be emailing them out to returning mentors and scholars. I will continue to update the blog and send emails about important dates in September, like mentor orientation and training sessions.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email vast@vassar.edu, or racgorman@vassar.edu if you would like it sent straight to me personally.

Talk to you soon!

-Rachel

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IT’S TIME TO DUEL!

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(by VAST mentors Moisés Rivera and Peter Dang)

The VAST Yugioh Program is an activity based on the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game where players called duelists participate in a game or duel of monsters, spells, and traps.In this activity, VAST Scholars learn the skills of deck building, dueling, trading, card rulings, and strategy analysis through group discussions, videos, and physical and online game-play. VAST Scholars also explore the mathematics behind the card game through discussions and problem-solving of concepts such as probability, permutation, and combination along with the basic binary operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, which further increases the level of sophistication and experience of the VAST Scholars as duelists. Many VAST Scholars and Mentors attend the weekly Yugioh tournament at the local game store, often placing within the Top 8 finalists by applying the skills developed in the VAST Yugioh Program.

This program welcomes all levels of experience. Owning Yugioh cards is recommended but not a requirement. Take a look at the images below to see VAST Yugioh in action!

VAST Scholar Kristoff browses through a trade binder to find the cards he needs for his new deck.

VAST Mentor Peter Dang and VAST Scholar Devon Wilson duel head-to-head for the title of King of Games.

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VCUEI info session

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Habari (swahili)

This evening at 5pm in the Gold and Jade Parlors, Vassar College Urban Education Initiative (VCUEI) will be hosting information sessions for all of its various programs that include VAST, Exploring College, Exploring Science and Vellop. Swing by if you have a minute or two and learn about all the exciting opportunities that VAST and other VCUEI programs offer.

If you can not make it this evening, no worries, we shall be at it again on Thursday, same time same place. Save we shall switch the Faculty parlor (on the 2nd floor) for the Gold Parlor.

:)

Onward!

:)

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