The Troutbeck Symposium is returning to the Hudson Valley region in late April of 2027 for its sixth year, sparking excitement from teachers and students at HVRHS.
The now decorated history forum will take place from April 28, 2027, to April 30. Housatonic Valley Regional High School is poised to make its return with an abundance of projects, including videos, presentations, and art projects.
Peter Vermilyea, HVRHS Social Studies department chair, is a key organizer of the symposium.
Vermilyea praised the expansion Troutbeck has undergone over such a short period of time. When it started in 2022, around 150 students participated. Last year, more than 300 students took part in the symposium.
“I think we had 15 or 16 schools represented,” Vermilyea said. “So we’ve seen really, really tremendous growth in it.”
The symposium features notable speakers, including Hasan Jeffries, professor at Ohio State University and brother of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Recently, Jeffries went around to schools in the Northwest region to engage with students in preparation for the symposium. Jeffries was interviewed by students at HVRHS as part of a class on African and Latino Studies.
“African-American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino studies is a course every high school in the state of Connecticut is required to offer. It’s probably been on the books for five years. And we tend to offer it every other year,” Vermilyea said.
Despite the narrowly outlined state curriculum, the class of seven plus Vermilyea is working on a documentary for Troutbeck. Addie Diorio, a student in the class, praised the work they were doing, and said she signed up for the class because she enjoyed taking ECE U.S history the previous year, also taught by Vermilyea.
“The class is a lot different from any of the other classes that I’m taking at the high school right now. I feel like it’s a lot more research and student based.”
Paul Losh, a junior, is currently taking ECE U.S. History, and discussed the excitement in the class surrounding their Troutbeck projects.
“It just allows us to look into local history more through the lens of a specific topic,” Losh said of Troutbeck. “The group that I’m working with right now for our project, we’re focusing on women as activists in our area. So we get to see a side of history that’s often overlooked, which I find very interesting.”
From U.S History, to African and Latino studies, to even the art department, HVRHS is gearing up for Troutbeck, with potentially the highest volume of projects yet. Last year, just three short-form documentaries were presented as a part of the ECE U.S History class.
Vermilyea emphasized the importance of greater work such as this, stating that “it’s about really deep, original research. In many cases, archival research. It’s about putting students in contact with experts. It’s about having students collaborate.”
The Troutbeck Symposium will return next April, and will feature schools in the area, including The Hotchkiss School, Salisbury Boys School, and Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
