Thanks to the generosity of several Fletcher maple producers, students at Fletcher Elementary School enjoyed a sweet treat last week. Sugar-on-snow is a Vermont March tradition, often including pickles to cut the sweet taste and raised donuts because, well, why not?
During a maple-themed school-wide event, the celebration began with two students asking maple-related trivia questions to the entire school via the PA system. Each classroom was invited to respond to one question collectively before the answer was shared with the entire school. Following the trivia, a maple-themed celebration of March birthdays was held, including a maple-themed song.
Individual classrooms shared maple-themed stories read aloud. The donated syrup was boiled down for nearly half a day before reaching the required 235 degrees, and was then ladled onto boats of snow collected by students earlier that day. Of course, the pickles and donuts were provided, too.
We would like to thank Genuine Foods for supporting this effort by ordering the pickles and donuts, boiling down the syrup, and putting the yummy goodness all together for us. We would also like to thank the following Fletcher maple producers for their donations of syrup:
Sweet Haven Farm
Shad and Melissa Minor
Marsh Family Maple
Mayotte’s
Gillilan Family Maple
The school-wide meeting was part of a monthly gathering supported by Fletcher’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) approach.
Christopher Dodge is the Principal of Fletcher Elementary School and is a regular contributor to THE FWSU STORY. You can follow him on Twitter @FletcherFalcon.