Community Roundup – January 26, 2023

Coaches needed
Girls on the Run Vermont needs coaches. Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based, positive youth development program that inspires students in third to eighth grades to be joyful, healthy and confident.

The 10-week program incorporates movement to empower participants to develop critical life skills, build confidence, cultivate positive connections with peers, manage their emotions and stand up for themselves and others.

Locations in this area that still need coaches include Charlotte Central School, Hinesburg Community School, Shelburne Community School and Williston Central School.

Volunteer coaches utilize a curriculum to engage teams of girls in fun, interactive lessons. The spring season begins the week of March 27. Teams meet twice a week for 90 minutes and the program culminates with all teams participating in one of two noncompetitive, celebratory 5K events in Essex and Manchester.

Coaches do not need to be runners. Girls on the Run Vermont provides training so volunteers have all of the tools needed to facilitate the season and to have a positive coaching experience.

All volunteer coaches must complete a background check. The program welcomes high school students to volunteer as Junior Coaches. Please visit the website for full details or send an email.

Participant registration opens on Wednesday, Feb. 22. More information about the program and registration can be found on the Girls on the Run Vermont’s website.

Scholarships
The New England Newspaper and Press Association awards up to 10 scholarships each year to aspiring high school seniors and college journalists to encourage and support young people who plan to pursue a career in the newspaper industry.

College students and high school seniors who are studying and acquiring work experience that will prepare them to work in the field of journalism are eligible to apply. The application deadline is March 31.

For more information, send an email. You will receive an email confirming the receipt of your application with a link to a Dropbox folder to upload the required documents.

Programs to help low-income residents get solar energy 
Green Mountain Power is launching two programs to connect income-qualified customers with solar energy.

The Shared Solar Program unlocks incentives in the federal Inflation Reduction Act to create a qualified low-income program that saves participants money, Green Mountain Power said in a release. The Affordable Community Renewable Energy pilot will use a state grant so eligible customers can take part in new Vermont solar projects, providing them discounts for five years.

The projects built for this program will be some of the first in Vermont sparked by the renewable energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act and state recovery funds.

“We’re looking forward to seeing strong proposals from local solar developers to make sure we can connect our customers with cost-effective solar energy, and to partner with them to add storage to these projects too,” said Candace Morgan, Green Mountain Power’s director of corporate and legislative affairs.

Green Mountain Power plans to start enrolling customers for solar savings as soon as this summer with projects starting to generate power by the end of the year. To apply or for more information, go to this website.

League of Women Voters speakers on climate change
The League of Women Voters of Vermont and Montpelier’s Kellogg-Hubbard Library present the fourth in its 2022-23 lecture series on the impact of climate change on Vermont.

The lectures look at climate change’s effect on personal, economic and ecological levels, closing with action that has been taken and what we can do individually and as a community.

The program, at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 8, includes a legislative initiatives update, a preview of relevant state legislation and the impact of past legislation.

Panel members are Sen. Andrew Perchlik and Rep. Gabrielle Stebbins. Jared Duval, executive director of Energy Action Network, will moderate.

The program will be hosted via Zoom and is open to the public. Attendance is free, but guests must register.

The League of Women Voters of Vermont lecture series is designed to bring outstanding speakers to discuss contemporary issues related to democracy and social justice.