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Barracuda Bulletin: Week of December 19, 2025
- andreamilam
- 19 hours ago
- 8 min read
Teacher Spotlight
Veronica Pozas, or Ms. V. as she’s known to her students, has been part of the GHS community since 2013. She teaches math and Farm to Table at our Upper Campus.
“She is always available to our students,” Upper Campus Principal Ms. McGuire says of Ms. V. “She is consistently growing and progressing as a teacher. She loves to collaborate.”
Eibony Torres Cordero, ‘26, says Ms. V. encouraged her to challenge herself by taking AP precalculus this year.
“I wasn’t planning on taking it until Ms. V. told me, ‘Eibony, you should push for it. Take the chance,’” says Eibony. “Her teaching style and the way she gives us notes to look over helps me retain the information even more. Math is not my favorite subject but she makes it easier to understand.”
Ms. V. attended Bridgewater State University and Berklee College of Music, both in Massachusetts, and she earned a bachelor’s degree in special education with a concentration in communicative disorders and music therapy. She moved to St. John in 2012 with the intention of teaching. She’s held various restaurant positions since high school, experience she relies on as the front of house teacher in our Farm to Table program.
“I always really enjoyed math as a learner; I see it as a language, and that’s how I teach it,” says Ms. V. “I see learning as a spectrum. As students progress in math, I have to use a wider vocabulary because they're developmentally ready for that.”
Ms. V. says the relationships our teachers are able to develop with their students is her favorite thing about working at GHS, where she’s able to pursue what she sees as her calling.
“I really like the fact that our students have the opportunity to be seen,” she says. “I love learning about their interests and families. I’ve always been drawn to teaching from a young age. I knew I was supposed to be involved in education in some way.”
Ms. V.’s desire to grow and eagerness to collaborate helped give rise to a new opportunity offered to our students this year — the ServSafe food handler certification.
“Chef Parris and I were ServSafe certified due to our previous experience, and we realized that the opportunity to be trained in food safety and kitchen management is something our students could use to further excel in the hospitality industry,” says Ms. V.
Ms. V. is married to Brian Woods and their daughter, Calliope, is a kindergartener at GHS. In her free time, Ms. V. enjoys cooking, reading, and teaching Calliope how to snorkel.
Upcoming Events
WINTER RECESS BEGINS TOMORROW
Gifft Hill School will be closed to students from December 20 through January 4 for winter recess. Classes resume Monday, January 5. We hope everyone has a safe and festive holiday season!
LOWER CAMPUS ACADEMIC AWARDS ASSEMBLY JANUARY 7
The next Lower Campus academic awards assembly is set for Wednesday, January 7, at 8:45 a.m., when we'll award our Lower Campus students who met their December academic goals at the Lower Campus great room. Parents and guardians of students who will be receiving reading and math awards are welcome to attend in person. Please note that those attending the assembly may not park until after 8:30 a.m. Please do not park across the street by the yellow house and along that stretch of road, as it is private property.
THE ANXIOUS GENERATION: A GHS PARENT POWER HOUR JANUARY 7
Please join us for this discussion on understanding online recreation and how GHS uses technology on January 7 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Upper Campus. At this session, we will explore Jonathan Haidt's "The Anxious Generation" and the impact of online recreation on kids' mental health, and share how GHS uses technology in healthy, developmentally aligned ways. Those who are unable to attend in person can join us via Zoom at tinyurl.com/giffthillschool.
SAT PREP COURSE TO BEGIN JANUARY 26
GHS will offer an SAT course to help students prepare for the SAT test. The class will be on Mondays and Thursdays from January 26 through March 12. There is no school February 16 or March 9, so those classes will instead take place February 18 and March 11. The course will cost $100 which includes the latest version of the Kaplan SAT Prep study guide with practice tests. Please sign up early, as the course is open to all St. John high school students and space will be limited. Please click here to sign up.
GHS Highlights
LOWER CAMPUS HOLIDAY PROGRAM
Kudos to our Lower Campus students for bringing the holiday cheer at our Lower Campus holiday performance this week! The skits and songs performed were original, heartwarming, funny, and creative. Job well done, Lower Campus students!
GINGERBREAD BUILD
Our Upper Campus students took part in our traditional gingerbread build activity this week. With assignments in math, Spanish, health, and English that guided the development of their designs, this project is more than a fun holiday craft: it's a test of our students' skills as we make our way through the second trimester. Parents and Lower Campus students viewed the projects, giving our middle and high schoolers the opportunity to explain their designs and the relevant academic concepts.
SPORTS AWARDS
Congratulations to our accomplished student athletes for all the time, effort, and dedication they brought to their sport during the fall season! We recognized our student athletes with a sports awards ceremony this morning, giving kudos to our middle school girls and both varsity volleyball teams, cross country team, JV girls flag football team, and middle school flag football team. Go, 'Cudas!
LOWER CAMPUS HOLIDAY CRAFT FAIR
Thank you to our Barracuda Boosters Parent Association and all parent volunteers who hosted a fun and special holiday craft fair for our Lower Campus students! Additional thanks to Rabbi Julia Margolis of The Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas for joining us today to teach our students about Hanukkah.
ALUMNI PANEL
We'd like to thank all our alumni who returned to Gifft Hill School today for our alumni panel. It's always so wonderful to welcome our graduates back to campus, and the lessons and insight shared with our students during the panel is so valuable. Thank you, alumni, for helping our students follow in your footsteps as caring community leaders!
NHS FOOD DRIVE SUCCESS!
Congratulations to our middle and high school students, who collectively raised an astounding 863 food and toiletry items for Catholic Charities Virgin Islands! Extra kudos to our sixth graders, who won the drive by donating 353 items as a class. To all our students: job well done on giving back! Extra thanks to our NHS members for leading the drive.
Sports Central
WINTER RECESS SPORTS NOTES
Athletics will resume on January 6. Fall athletes who do not return their uniforms by January 30, 2026, will be billed for the uniform.
SEEKING TRACK AND FIELD PARTICIPANTS
We are seeking Upper Campus students to join our track and field team. Anyone who's interested should please contact francinefrancis@giffthillschool.org.
Dates to Remember
See below for important dates to remember over the next two months. View the full school year calendar by clicking here.
Community Corner: News You Can Use
SING ST. JOHN HOLIDAY CELEBRATION DECEMBER 20
Sing St. John will host its eighth annual holiday celebration on December 20 at 6:00 p.m. at the Frank Powell Park. The evening will feature performances by Quelbe Resurrection Band, Delroy "Ras Ital" Anthony, St. John Recovery Choir, and the V.I. for Life Quadrille dancers.
LOVE CITY PAN DRAGONS HOLIDAY CONCERT DECEMBER 21
The Love City Pan Dragons invites the community to its annual Caribbean Christmas Concert on Sunday, December 21, at 5:00 p.m. at the St. John School of the Arts.
This year’s event is more important than ever. With recent reductions in federal support and a noticeable dip in philanthropic giving, the band is facing significant financial challenges. Without additional funding, the Pan Dragons will be unable to take their young musicians on their customary educational travel experiences, and the band is currently short of the resources needed to complete the 2025-2026 programming year.
The band is also working to fulfill its promise of a $1,000 scholarship for each of the band's six graduating seniors, a commitment that helps launch them into their next chapter with confidence.
If you believe in cultural preservation, music education, and opportunities for St. John youth, your support, whether through attending the concert or making a contribution, will make a real and immediate difference.
Donations can be made via Venmo (@Lovecitypandragons), PayPal (lovecitypandragons@gmail.com), or by mailing a check to Love City Pan Dragons, PO Box 1537, St. John, VI 00831.
Thank you for helping the Love City Pan Dragons keep the rhythm of St. John alive for the next generation.
MOVIE NIGHT RESCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 23 AT VINP BALL FIELD
The Department of Sports, Parks & Recreation will host a movie night on December 23 beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Virgin Islands National Park ball field. Home Alone will be shown first, followed by How the Grinch Stole Christmas 15 minutes after Home Alone's conclusion. Food and drinks will be available for sale.
CFVI ANNOUNCES THE AVAILABILITY OF THE BLAKE AND KAREN RAPIER SPACE CAMP SCHOLARSHIP
The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands announced the availability of the Blake and Karen Rapier Space Camp Scholarship at the Foundation, with funding provided by local global investment firm, RapierMed.
The scholarship, which covers the cost to attend Space Camp in 2026, will be awarded to deserving U.S. Virgin Islands high school students passionate about space and STEM with a GPA of 3.2 or higher.
Located at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the Space Camp experience immerses trainees in a setting rich with space, aviation, and defense exhibits that ignite creativity. Participants develop teamwork, leadership, and decision-making abilities through mission simulations, gaining personal and professional skills that shape their futures.
Advanced Space Academy explores college and career preparation through an immersive experience in science, engineering, technology and math.
Aviation Challenge Mach III missions challenge trainees with freedom of control, requiring them to think about maneuvers in all three rotational-axes of flight as they take on the most advanced flight simulations, engineering principles and leadership responsibilities. Field training is focused on discipline and attention to detail in survival situations. A night Field Training Exercise requires teams to work together to recover intelligence or rescue a downed pilot. Communication is paramount as everything is taken to the next level in Mach III.
GHS students Seamus O'Donnell, '26, and Anais Craig, '28, took part in this program in 2025. Seamus highly recommends the experience to any interested students.
"It was a fun experience," he says. "You can experience zero gravity and the moon's gravity, which is 1/6 of Earth's gravity. There are 1:1 models of real space shuttles with all the same buttons and controls, and you have to fly and land the shuttle. I highly recommend it."
The scholarship application process is open through February 20, 2026. Scholarship recipients will be announced in March/April. To apply, visit https://cfvi.co/SpaceCamp.
For more information about this scholarship opportunity, please contact Demi Trimm at demit@cfvi.net or visit https://cfvi.net/Scholarships.
FREE SWIM CLASSES EVERY SATURDAY AT CINNAMON
Friends of Virgin Islands National Park provides free swim lessons to children and adults of all ages every Saturday from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at Cinnamon Bay to the left of the ruins. Free transportation is available from Cruz Bay departing at 9:00 a.m. and leaving Cinnamon at 11:40 a.m.
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