West Rutland School Winner April Morse

On a blistery March day, April Morse and Barb Pennington stayed warm inside the W. Rutland School kitchen, cooking up April’s Rock Star recipe, “sweet and sour chicken”. Gluten free and dairy free, this is one of April’s go-to meals, and she refers to it as healthier homemade Chinese food. With lots of vegetables and lean protein, April’s family loves it, and the judges of the W. Rutland School Recipe Competition agreed! The competition was held in February, run by Barb Pennington (the building wellness leader). April is in her fifth year as a first grade teacher and before that she taught Kindergarten for nine years, as well as high school Spanish, and 4th and 5th grade. She has been an educator in the Greater Rutland district for 17 years in total.  She is also a veteran participant in PATH and is just 10 points shy from earning this year's gift card.  “I'll do some puzzles,” she said, "and I’ll be all set.”

     

When she’s not teaching, April is always busy. For one thing, she represents the area in the Vermont NEA (Vermont-National Education Association). She’s also part of “The Shenanigans Squad”, a group from work who play trivia once a week at the Lake Bomaseen Lodge, and she loves being able to do things with her fellow teachers outside of school. On top of that, April also owns three Airbnbs, so she is responsible for cleaning them and getting them ready for her guests.

 

As for her wellbeing,  April loves to walk, “My favorite thing to do is to walk around the Lake.”  She told us that Lake Bomaseen is actually the largest lake that lies entirely within the Vermont state boundaries, about 2400 acres of Vermont beauty... That’s a good walk! West Rutland School is a great place to work and enjoy staff wellness thanks to April and to Barb Pennington. "West Side is the Best Side!"

The recipe is in the slide show. Check out how easily they make this in an old school consumer science classroom: