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BENNINGTON â As COVID-19 vaccinations continue throughout the state, local clinics remain busy.
On Saturday, 583 people received a Johnson and Johnson vaccine inside the former Southern Vermont College gymnasium. That brings the total number of vaccines administered by Southwestern Vermont Medical Center since the clinic began in mid-January to more than 19,000.
For some receiving the shot, itâs the first time theyâve felt hopeful in the past 13 months.
Carlton Munsill of Searsburg was brought to tears as he reflected on the impact the coronavirus has had on his life.
âA couple of my co-workers died,â Munsill said.
Cones separated a waiting area from those in the 15 minute âcool-downâ area, ensuring that there were no allergic reactions to the vaccine. As patients waited, a projector with live stats regarding the vaccination rate throughout Vermont â as well as throughout the country â could be seen from their chairs.
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BENNINGTON â In Bennington County, where 6 percent of students in grades 6-8 use marijuana frequently, Glauke Cooijmans is working to provide youth with education and coping skills.
âI really like the fine line between mental health treatment and prevention. Thatâs what Iâm able to do here at this school,â said Cooijmans, the prevention coordinator at Mount Anthony Union Middle School. âSubstance abuse is strongly related to mental health problems, itâs all intertwined. I think itâs a great opportunity to start addressing these issues at a young age which Iâm able to do here.â
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BENNINGTON â Plans are ongoing to eventually move students in the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union to Phase III of the schoolâs reopening as soon as they get an approval from Governor Phil Scott and the Agency of Education.
At the Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District meeting this week, SVSU superintendent James Culkeen said that originally, the plan to move to Phase III was to start on Jan. 19, but that timeline has been moved back into March at the earliest.
âEducators like things to be lined up,â said assistant superintendent Laura Boudreau. âWeâve been working on the plans to go from Phase II to Phase III since the fall, but thereâs so many moving parts.â
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BENNINGTON â The town and the Berkshire Family YMCA, which operates the town Recreation Center, are considering a plan to lease space at the former Bennington High School â including the gymnasium and nearby rooms.
Negotiations are underway with the owner, Christopher Gilbert of Red Hook, N.Y., and Dorset, who purchased the vacant and deteriorating former high school on Main Street in March, officials said, while providing the Select Board with a presentation Monday on prospects for use of the gym and other indoor space for recreation.
After purchasing the vacant school building at 650 Main St. for $146,000 through his Benn High, LLC, Gilbert, a developer of homes in the Hudson Valley, N.Y., area, said he also has renovated a former mill and other structures for mixed reuse. He said he planned something similar with the former high school and later middle school, which dates to 1913 and includes additions constructed