Vilas School District RE-5

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🎉📚 We are ending the semester with celebrations!

Congratulations to our students for their hard work and commitment:
⭐ Landen Pettinger – Elementary Positive Attendance
⭐ Anabelle Pettinger – JH/HS Positive Attendance
⭐ JJ Sullivan – Elementary Grit Award
⭐ Christian Bear – JH/HS AR Reading & IXL Award
⭐ Billy Beecham – Elementary IXL Award
⭐ Osman Yanes – JH/HS Grit Award

❄️📚 Our 4th and 5th graders celebrated reaching their AR reading goals with a Winter Fun Day! Way to go for putting in the hard work and making reading a priority. We’re so proud of you!

🌱 Innovation at its finest! Students in our Food Production Pathway have built a homemade hydroponics.🍓

🎄🎬 We’ve been busy enjoying the season! From our Christmas theatre production to Christmas at Capital Theatre, students had a wonderful time. Thank you to Baca County Foods for helping our elementary students learn about behind-the-scenes jobs and experiences!

📢📢Here are the links for today's games in Pritchett stating at 4pm. South Baca Patriots VS Las Animas Trojans! Join us live on SaddleRock Sports Network Girls' Link: https://www.youtube.com/live/00Ff8r1fbsE?si=0vp4xAHvHcpTZzqU Boys' Link: https://www.youtube.com/live/jbCiodPt-nU?si=CumVm6kW-bYKPCz8

This week, students from Vilas Leadership Team traveled to the CASB (Colorado Association for School Boards) Conference for an experience rooted in service, student voice, and leadership. Students chose to lean into service learning, creating warm fleece blankets to donate to Children’s Hospital and hospice—a project they designed and led themselves. The following day was presentation day, where we shared the Post-Secondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR) work happening in our district. Our students confidently answered questions about their experiences and the impact these opportunities have had on them. Anabelle, who serves on the student Colorado Gifted & Talented Board, present to school board members on person anecdotes and ideas for change. Additionally, student artwork by Brielle Bond and Delainey Thompson was featured in the conference art exhibits. Through presenting, networking, and attending sessions alongside education leaders from across Colorado, our students and district leaders gained invaluable real-world experience. Moments like these show the power of student voice.

🎄 Join us this Thursday for our Christmas Program!
We’ve heard Santa might be making a special stop with goodies for the kids!

Dinner starts at 5:30-6:45pm
Program starts at 7pm

📣 SaddleRock Sports Network will be broadcasting today’s South Baca games at the RL Ballard Tournament! 🏀 Game Times: • 2:30 PM • 4:00 PM 📺 Watch Live Using the Links Below: Girls Game: https://www.youtube.com/live/__ORGWbzha4?si=ipRFjQgKnmH6Upk- Boys Game: https://www.youtube.com/live/jtqNMcm02W0?si=q9wTsjHryVpTUzzz Tune in and support our Patriots! 🔵⚫️

RL Ballard Live by South Baca Saddlerock! Girls: https://www.youtube.com/live/pS7olPk_X18?si=L9b0uyBpmmc_UztG Boys: https://www.youtube.com/live/tEiCry6ivos?si=oGjHtJg-XjJrWK-n

🎉 Congratulations, Mr. Billy! 🦃 Mr. Billy is the winner of Turkey in Disguise contest! His creativity and effort stood out among all the fantastic entries. A big thank you to Senior Life Solution l for providing this fun activity for our students!

🎭 Baca County Arts Center & Theater Performance 🎭

We are so proud of our students who have been participating in the Baca County Arts Center & Theater production. This weekend they performed in the dinner theatre show “Remains to be Seen”, and they did an amazing job!

Maddy Forgey played Edie Buffet
Devin Thompson played Ignatius Clam
Adalyn Pettinger played Edie Buffet Echo
Anabelle Pettinger played Agent Sullen

Their hard work, talent, and dedication truly shined on stage. Great job to all of our student performers! 🌟

🌎 Cultural Diversity Day Recap! 🌎

Our students had a wonderful day celebrating cultures from around the world! They performed traditional Filipino dances and songs, learned about Filipino festivals, enjoyed a variety of cultural foods, shared our traditional Thanksgiving meal, and ended the day with a fun American dance.

We loved seeing our students learn, celebrate, and connect—and we’re grateful for everyone who helped make the day special.

Baca County Commodities – Service Learning Spotlight

Last year, Vilas, Campo, and Pritchett students began a service-learning partnership with the Baca County Commodities program, helping pack and deliver boxes to families across our community.

This year, we’re excited to expand this work: all Vilas JH and HS students are participating as part of their commitment to giving back. Even more inspiring—all five Baca County school districts are now coming together each month to support this important community service effort.

We are proud of our students and grateful for a county that collaborates to serve others.

Lego League students traveled to Denver this weekend to compete in their first tournament. Their goal was to improve each round—and they did! We’re proud of their growth and teamwork!

Families and community members are welcome to join us for this special celebration of food, culture, and community connection! 💛💙

Our Vilas Student Leadership Team traveled to Denver this week to testify before the Colorado State Board of Education regarding school counselor licensure requirements. Students shared powerful testimony about the challenges small rural districts face when trying to hire a licensed school counselor under the current requirements. They advocated for “Rigor with Rural Flexibility”—maintaining high standards while removing unnecessary barriers that prevent rural schools from accessing qualified professionals. Their voices were heard. The State Board expressed clear appreciation for the students’ thoughtful perspectives and took action to align Colorado’s school counselor licensure with 48 other states. This change will make it far easier for licensed school counselors from across the country to work in Colorado and will create a more accessible, less burdensome higher-education pathway for future Colorado school counselors. We are incredibly proud of our students for speaking up, representing small rural communities, and leading meaningful change for school districts across the state.

🎓🤖 What Have We Been Learning? It’s been an engaging and enriching period of academic growth at Vilas! Students have participated in college and career exploration experiences, Red Ribbon Week awareness activities, attended a Broadway production to support learning in the arts, engaged in a FAFSA Night focused on postsecondary planning, competed in a Robotics 1st Tech Challenge scrimmage to strengthen STEM and problem-solving skills, and explored career pathways through authentic, hands-on learning opportunities. 💪✨ #VilasGrit #STEM #CORuralEducation

💼 Entrepreneurship in Action!
Our JH and HS students have been diving into entrepreneurship—developing business plans, creating presentations, and showcasing their innovative ideas.
Today, they attended the E-Fair at Otero College, where our students collectively earned over $800! 👏

A special congratulations to Jesse Vallejos, who placed 3rd in High School division and won $450 for his business! 🏆

We’re so proud of all our young entrepreneurs for their hard work and creativity! 💡