MERHS News. Welcome Back! Manchester Students Art Work on Display at the Central Street Gallery

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1 MERHS News 2/10 2/28 Course selection completed on Aspen 3/1 Drama Fest 3/12 Workshop Wednesday 3/13 Chris Herren Presentation to students 3/5 Winter Sports Awards Night 3/6 Midquarter Term 3 3/18 3/21 ELA MCAS Testing 3/23 Athletics Meeting 3/26 Drug & Alcohol Awareness Programs Welcome Back! Welcome back from February vacation. We will be entering a busy time of the school year. English Language Arts MCAS testing is just around the corner. Following are this year s testing dates: ELA Composition March 18 ELA Reading Comprehension I March 19 ELA Reading Comprehension II March 21 Congratulations to all of our athletes as they complete a successful winter season. Athletes on the indoor track and swim teams have already competed in state competitions. Girls and boys have completed another strong season on the co-op hockey and gymnastics teams. Members of the ski team will race in state competition this week. The girls and boys basketball teams will begin tournament play this week. Go Hornets! Thankfully spring is just around the corner. Soon we will wish our seniors good luck on their SCORE projects. Wish for warm weather (but not too warm!) Manchester Students Art Work on Display at the Central Street Gallery Thank you to the Cricket for the following pictures of the students and their work: -at-central-street-gallery/

2 P a g e 2 Class of 2015 Fundraiser The Class of 2015 is hosting a restaurant night this coming Wednesday, February 26, at Jalapenos in Gloucester. Please come by between 5 and 10pm to support the Class of Drama Fest - Looking for help The MERHS Drama Club has the privilege of hosting the first round of Drama Fest on March 1 st. To support the 14 hour day for directors, chaperones, and judges, MERHS will provide a space to be without hundreds of students and will keep all fed. PLEASE help us support Liz Edgerton and her team! If you can help with a food donation, please see the link below. Signups are here: International Week! March From Tuesday, March 11th until Friday, March 14 th, the French and Spanish students of Manchester Essex Regional High School and Middle School will be celebrating International Week! Each day, the culture of a different country is celebrated in the schools. During these four days, students will listen to a variety of speakers from our community who present their personal experiences of other cultures. Speakers present their vacations, their volunteer experiences and even work related travel abroad. Last year, students in our foreign language classes enjoyed culturally rich presentations of Costa Rica, Spain, Nairobi, Ukraine, Turkey and Portugal! If you have traveled recently to a foreign country and would like to share your experiences with our students, please Michelle Magaña at maganam@mersd.org. Thank you! Masschusetts Students Score Well on AP Exams Check out this link to learn more about Massachusetts students AP scores. M E R H S N e w s

3 Memorial School Art Teacher Feeds the Community MEMORIAL SCHOOL ART TEACHER FEEDS THE COMMUNITY BODY & MIND When The Spaulding Education Fund approved Art Teacher Claudette Yutkin s grant request to purchase a kiln, Mrs. Yutkins was excited to expand her program and introduce the art of pottery to her students. Since the kiln was installed back in the fall with the generosity of Roy Spittle Electric s free services, every single student at Memorial School has been able to create their own handmade bowl. Looking at all the beautiful bowls lined up in her art room, Mrs. Yutkins realized that the students artwork could be the perfect expression of charity and, she knew that over at the high school Global Studies Teacher James Wallimann had been working all year with his students to raise money for the NGO, StopHungerNow an idea was born! Mrs. Yutkins reached out to Mr. Wallimann and asked if he d like to collaborate on an Empty Bowls Project to benefit the hunger organization his students were sponsoring. Hearing about this, MERSD Food Services Director Sheila Parisien then stepped in and offered her staff s services to provide the soup and bread for the Empty Bowls event. On March 6 th at 5pm the Memorial School will host over 400 guests to enjoy a dinner of soup and bread. Guests will be asked for a $10 donation to benefit StopHungerNow and receive a bowl made by a Memorial School student. Food Services staff will make homemade soup to fill the bowls, Global Studies high school students will set up and serve the guests, the MMES PTO will provide table centerpieces, and MMES staff members will assist in managing the event. The Empty Bowls Dinner is a perfect demonstration of Memorial School s Core Values, said MMES Principal John Willis. Mrs. Yutkins added, I am really excited about the collaborative spirit of my colleagues in the district. Working together we are able to turn a simple idea into a really valuable endeavor and I think it teaches our students so much about humanity. I think the Empty Bowls Dinner will be a great success! RSVPs are still being accepted yutkinsc@mersd.org.

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5 Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network Follow this link to learn more about the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network s Spring Annual Conference on April 5, Principal s Open Office Hours February 26, 2014 March 12, pm 4pm Class of 2015 Fundraiser 7:30am 8:30am On Friday evening the 28th of March, 2014 the regions premier spring welcoming event will take place at the Essex Room at Woodman s from 7:30 p.m. 11:00 p.m. The Essex room will be transformed into a Las Vegas style casino where everyone in attendance will be given the opportunity play Casino style games, win sailboat cruises, dining experiences, and other fabulous prizes. You and your friends will have the opportunity to play Blackjack, Money Wheels, Craps; and even go head to head against your friends in a Texas Hold em tournament. There will also be a silent art auction anchored by the regions most prominent artist; Ruth Hamill, along with works of art from the most talented and creative students at Manchester-Essex High. David Alger will be volunteering by providing his DJ services for the event. It s all for fun, it s all for a good cause, and an unforgettable evening is guaranteed! To buy a ticket for this sure to sell out event, click here. And if MERHS Sponsors Drug and Alcohol Awareness Programs for Students and Parents Rescheduled Manchester Essex Regional High School would like to invite parents of school-age children to attend an evening discussion surrounding drugs and alcohol on Wednesday, March 26. The program will follow an assembly that students will attend by former NBA star Chris Herren on Thursday, March 13, Herren will discuss in detail his drug addiction that ultimately cost him his promising NBA career. The presentation will be followed by teacher led discussions in Advisory groups. The evening event is open to parents and students alike and will feature Dr. Herbert Levine, former Superintendent of Schools in Peabody and Salem, Massachusetts and his son, Joel. Joel struggled with addiction while a high school student. Dr. Levine will speak to parents from a parent s perspective and Joel will speak from a student s perspective. The program will be held in the auditorium beginning at 7 PM. If you have any questions or need more information please Paul Murphy at murphyp@mersd.org or call The evening event is open to the entire Manchester and Essex communities.

6 Important Course Selection Information It is amazing, but the high school is already looking ahead to the school year. We will begin the course scheduling process at the end of January. Given this timeline is more accelerated than past years, below please find a detailed explanation of each step of the scheduling process. The objective of this communication is to help families to understand the process and to prompt students and parents to begin discussions about course selection. 1/23/2013 The Program of Studies will be posted on website. The Program of Studies provides an overview of MERHS graduation requirements, explanation of levels, overview of post-secondary planning and course descriptions. Please note that courses listed in the Program of Studies may not run if adequate enrollment is not met. 1/23-2/7 Teachers discuss course options with students in classes. Teachers will provide students with an overview of the appropriate course selections for the upcoming year including level recommendations. They will describe elective opportunities with students. Teachers will put their recommendation of appropriate course and level for students into Aspen. 2/10-2/28 Students complete signup of courses in Aspen. The guidance department will meet with students in the computer lab to go through the online course selection process. If a student does not agree with the course recommended by a teacher they may initiate the override process described in the Program of Studies book. Parents can view recommendations through the Family Portal in Aspen. 2/28-3/17 Counselors meet with students to discuss their academic plan. If a student does not complete the sign up process and/or there are questions about students selections, the guidance department will meet with students on a one to one basis. 3/18 The number of students that sign up for each course will be available for review by the principal and department heads. 3/25-4/5 Department heads will discuss course offerings and the appropriate number of sections with the Principal. Each department head will work collaboratively with the Principal to determine the breakdown of course sections and elective offerings. The goal of these meetings is to optimize the use of program sections to meet the needs of all students. 4/5-4/30 Master schedule building 4/30-5/10 Teacher schedules given to department heads for review May Counselors will meet with all students to review schedules resolve conflicts as necessary. Counselors will assure that courses are in line with graduation requirements and meet the student s individual needs as they pertain to his/her four year plan. June Final Run Students will receive their final schedules for the school year. It is hoped these detailed descriptions will help students and parents to navigate the scheduling process. I am always available to unscramble any confusion, as are our guidance personnel. Please feel free to contact any of us with questions or concerns.