Dear Ms. Fountain...

I remember walking into Ms. Fountain’s classroom for the first time. As I entered the sun lit room I was greeted by a teacher with dirty blonde hair that wore a smile that showed through her mask. I took my seat among the many other students taking journalism and waited for the class to begin.

I looked around the room and I could feel that most of the students were unimpressed by the sinking feeling of summer being over. However as soon as Mrs. Fountain began to speak, the awkward tension in the room quickly went away. The first thing Mrs. Fountain said in that Journalism class was that we, as students, have a voice. She emphasized that we have the power to write about whatever we want and she encourages us to use that power wisely.

Throughout the course of the semester, I found myself falling in love with writing again. By giving students more freedom, Mrs. Fountain created a safe environment for self expression. I watched as other students also started to enjoy writing articles. Before we knew it our website was completely filled with a variety of stories that showcased all kinds of perspectives and displayed each writer's unique personality.

Although the Buzz’s success was a result of dedicated students eager to draw attention to important issues, Mrs. Fountain was the driving force behind pushing students to further expand their knowledge. As I got to know Mrs. Fountain through journalism class, I found that she was always accepting and encouraging of new ideas. No matter the topic, Mrs. Fountain treated each student's ideas with genuine interest. There have been countless times where I’ve witnessed students gain confidence in their writing due to Mrs. Fountain showing interest in their topic.

Ms. Fountain is leaving WUHS at the end of this school year, after 16 years of teaching English and Journalism here. Although we are sad to see her go, we can say in confidence that she will continue to inspire students to be their best selves, just as she has done for all of us. --River Miles

Kind, caring, helpful, mindful. These are just a few of the words that come to mind when thinking about the most impactful and important teacher I have had in my academic career: Ms. Fountain.

During freshman year Ms. Fountain not only held us accountable for our work and made sure we did it well, but educated us on important and uncomfortable topics that she was not afraid to teach: the deep set racism in our country, LGBTQ+ rights, and many more.

Ms. Fountain not only teaches about these things, but she advocates for change in them as well. She works to find homes for asylum seekers in Rutland where she lives, and has been a part of this group since its inception. I learned about this earlier this school year when I signed up for Journalism class.

I’ll be honest, this was not the class that I had been ecstatic about when signing up for, but once I walked into that room and saw how Ms. Fountain motivated myself and others, it pushed me to want to be the best journalist I can.

As I mentioned before, Ms. Fountain works with refugees and asylum seekers in Rutland, and she gave me the opportunity to interview and work with Syrian refugees in Rutland to write an article that would hopefully be published in the VtDigger.

This experience was maybe the most impactful of my high school career, and Ms. Fountain was the reason it happened. For this I will be forever grateful. Thank you, Ms. Fountain, for your hard work in creating the school newspaper and impacting so many students here at Woodstock, you will be missed.-- Alec Smail

Ms. Fountain has been an amazing teacher to me. I had her freshman year as my English teacher and again as my Journalism teacher this year and I’m so grateful for that. Her Journalism class was originally only one semester but it became one of my favorite classes and I stuck with it. I’ve learned so much about writing for the public and I have gotten to learn a lot about our school community. I feel lucky to be able to talk about things like book banning, sports, and important events in our school through the Buzz which wouldn’t have been possible without Ms. Fountain. -- Kianny Harrington

I have been a member of The Buzz for four years now. I remember when I was just a little freshman, walking into her room with a lot to say. Ms. Fountain gave me a place to say it. No issue was too small, and she was always so excited to see what I wrote.

I remained a member of the Buzz all throughout my freshman year, even as members came and went around me. And at the end of the year, she offered me the position of editor.

Over the last three years, I think I’ve gotten a glimpse into why Ms. Fountain has always been so passionate about journalism. Each and every article I’ve published has been unique and powerful. Students have a lot to say. And I’ve been able to help them say it.

While being editor has proved to be stressful at times, it’s a role I will never regret. Every student I have worked with has a voice and something to write about. I’ve been in a position to uplift those voices. And I am so very grateful.

I am so sad to be leaving my position as editor, but Ms. Fountain has left the paper in two sets of very capable hands and I can’t wait to see what they do during their time as editors.

Ms. Fountain has been one of my favorite mentors during my time at Woodstock, both in Journalism and in Social Action Club, which she advises. I will miss her greatly, and I know Woodstock will as well. --Mars Sell

Parting Quotes for MS. Fountain

“Ms. Fountain actually got her start here at Woodstock when she was a long term substitute for me when I was out on maternity leave with my son Liam. She at that point did not have her teaching certification, but she impressed the interview committee with her great experience including in journalism, business world and including some really cool stuff she did when her kids were little. She was teaching art and she was doing a really neat program. We were so excited to hire her as a sub for me, then she went back to her teaching training after that and then she started teaching here. So I’ve actually known Ms. Fountain for a long time and I’m always impressed with everything that she does. She works so hard, she gives so much and she deeply cares about students and the wider world in some ways that are really profound.” -Ms. Hayslett

“She’s with the times and she knows how to interact with kids and she’s really apologetic.” -Lily Macri and Kassidy Haley

“She’s a nice teacher.” -Mathew

“She always cares and she always tries to help you. Because when we work with her she always makes sure that we have our work done. She shows how much she cares about people.” -Laura Audsley

“She taught us journalism and she made that really fun, and she’s always supportive.” -Cole Waters and Ada

“She’s nice, she helps me with English. She’s funny and helpful.”-Quinton

“One of the reasons that I wanted to come be part of the ninth grade team was because she was on it. It was a huge reason why I was interested in teaching here. She’s an amazing ninth grade team leader. Even though I had 15 years of teaching, she really helped me transition into this school and she’s helped me with so many things.” -Mr. Wolf

“Thank you so much for being an awesome ninth grade team leader and for always stepping up.”-Ms. DeCullo

“Ms. Fountain helped me a lot this year, she was a great teacher getting me to do work and not slack off.”-Sam Gomes

“Michelle and I have done lots of things together because we have both been teaching here for a long time and one of my favorite memories with Michelle is when we ran the road to the Pogue race together and we did it up Mount tom and we did a lot of practicing beforehand. She was very inspirational, because though both of us tried to be runners, she definitely is a way better runner and I always apreciated her kind words. I will miss her very much.”-Ms. Vonada

“I’m sorry to hear that Ms. Fountain is leaving. I really enjoyed working with her. One thing I especially appreciate was her passion for social justice and her putting together a program for Martin Luther King Day. I did a workshop for that and it was great to collaborate with her. She’s pushed for us as a school to focus more on social justice. Overall, her enthusiasm for the importance of history.” -Mr. Smith

“Her units were the first time we got to speak about important political topics that we normally are blocked from saying in school.” -Skye Cully

“She was one of the first teachers in this school that made me feel welcomed.” -Laura Hendee

“Ms. Fountain was literally my mentor in my very first year teaching. I've learned so much from her, especially how to bring activism into the classroom. She showed me how to harness my passion in order to make a difference in kids' lives. Her ability to choose books is unparalleled and I’m so excited to move into the ninth grade because I get to use her amazing units. Like dang, that girl can plan. She’s had a huge impact in this school. Teacher of the year last year, well deserved. What a loss, we’re really going to miss her.” -Ms. SJ

“I learned “Who vs Whom” and she taught me how to break up my sentences which was helpful for this year when we had the semi colon and colon class. She definitely got me into reading. She’s a nice person and has pretty hair.” -Sophia and Claudia