Meridian High School

“To inspire and challenge active learners to positively impact a changing world.”

1. Principal's Message
2. T-3 This Week
   
3. Emma! Meridian Drama Club Production
4. Vaccine Clinic Information
5. AP Biology Textbook Input
6. Spring Sports
7. Sports Pictures
8. Teacher Feature
9. Hot Lunch Menu
   
10. National Holiday
11. Counselor Information
12. Requesting Transcripts through Parchment
13. Attendance Information
    
14. Bell Schedule
15. Meridian Class Booster Club Information - Class of 2022 Senior Trip Info.
16. MHS Points of Contact

It is so nice to have the doors operational to our main entrance and courtyard. The final touches were finished with the new carpet put down about a week ago. I appreciate the patience of our students and want to thank our para-educators and office staff for their flexibility all year supporting the alternative entrance.

As the days get longer and we look forward to spring I wanted to highlight our musical that starts this Thursday. "Emma" brings together students from both MMS and MHS who have been working all winter to perform over the next two weekends. More information about the performance dates and times are found later in the newsletter.

The longer days also mean spring sports are starting soon. Monday, February 28th will be the first day for boys and girls golf, boys and girls track, boys soccer, softball, and baseball. Please contact Bella Foos, our athletics secretary, by email at ifoos@meridian.wednet.edu or by phone at (360) 318-2285 to sign up or confirm your student's paperwork is in order.

As we continue into spring semester please continue to check on your student's progress and reach out to staff if you have questions. Contact information for staff can be found at https://www.meridian.wednet.edu/mhs/staff-contact/.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Go Trojans!

- Derek Forbes

Meridian Drama Club is presenting EMMA! A Pop Musical February 24th and 25th and March 3rd and 4th at 7:00 pm in the Meridian High School Auditorium. Emma! A Pop Musical loosely follows the storyline of Jane Austen’s 1815 novel, but gives it a 21st century prep school twist. Emma Woodhouse, portrayed by Jennica Ross, considers herself to be Highbury Prep’s top matchmaker after she sets up two of her teachers. The script being goofy and carefree made it perfect for our first year of the performing arts returning to our school district after the schools shut down due to the pandemic. Bizarre circumstances in the show included a senior filling in as a long-term substitute, a former classmate just happening to be a rockstar, and a gag involving a vending machine-related accident. As the title suggests, Emma features an interesting and unexpected collection of modern and older pop songs, often focusing on love and the strength of women. Some numbers include Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun,’ ‘Heartbreaker’ by Pat Benatar, ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry, and ‘Unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield. The cast and technical crew consists of middle school and high school age students from the Meridian School District. Direction was provided by Ashton Anderson, this year's MSD's Drama club advisor and Meridian Middle School's 8th Grade English teacher. She was assisted by Courtney Price, Meridian Middle's 6th grade English Teacher, who was also responsible for Music and Vocal Direction for the musical. Please come support all the hard work that the Drama Club has put into the show over the last few months and come see EMMA!

Health Commons Project is providing Meridian families an opportunity to sign up for free COVID-19 vaccines for children 5 years of age and older. The vaccine clinic will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4 at Meridian High School, 194 W. Laurel Road. Appointments are required.

The clinic is offering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, both initial doses and boosters are available. No insurance is required.

For children under the age of 18, a parent must be present and consent is required. The vaccine will not be administered without parent consent submitted prior to the appointment.

Families must register for an appointment online as space is limited. If all appointments are filled, families can request to be put on a waiting list.

For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit the CDC website or Washington State Department of Health website.

The textbook Biology for AP Courses (1st edition. OpenStax College) is proposed for adoption for use in Advanced Placement Biology Courses. Interested families are invited to review the textbook online and provide input on this survey. Please provide input by February 27, 2022. If you have questions, please contact Adrienne Somera, Director of Teaching and Learning.

Spring sports start Monday, February 28th! Please contact the Athletics Office to make sure you are eligible to start.

Did you get a team or individual picture taken for fall or winter sports? Would you like to purchase one? You're in luck! Team pictures are available for fall sports - team and individual pictures are available for winter sports. Order forms are available in the office. All proceeds go to the yearbook program.

Mr. Gulyas teaches math at Meridian High School. He’s been working here for 20 years. He says his favorite thing about teaching at Meridian is that he gets to know students because our school isn’t that big. He also loves teaching because of the interactions with the students. He says that teenagers are so entertaining and funny so he loves to talk with them, it keeps him young. Old people can be a little boring. The reason Mr. Gulyas became a teacher because in high school he used to be a math tutor and he had lots of people saying that he should make this his career path. Something many people don’t know is that he used to be an opera singer in Europe, he even appeared on a record with eight other people! Mr. Gulyas’s favorite free time activities are paddle boarding with his dog, foraging for mushrooms, traveling to exotic places and fishing. In the summer time while commercial reef net fishing he teaches people how to repair nets, processing fish, etc. Speaking of traveling exotic places, Mr. Gulyas’s highlight from working at Meridian is from taking a group of students to Spain and Morocco. He loved watching the students bond together and practice their Spanish speaking skills. They had to learn how to work together in a foregin place.

Students favorite thing about Mr. Gulyas is, “he always explains in an enthralling way,” “is really funny and understanding, “ and he “keeps his teaching fresh.”

This is Mr. Armerding’s 15th year teaching at Meridian High School. His favorite thing about teaching at Meridian is being able to know everybody. He used to teach at a bigger school before coming here and he felt like he only knew the people in his classes and if they were only in his class for one year he never saw them again after that. Before deciding on his current career Mr. Armerding was a mechanic and an engineer. He was a nuclear engineer. His favorite thing about teaching is that he gets to work with students and gets to know them. Mr. Armerding also used to live in Israel as a kid! His favorite free time activities are riding his Harley, reading books, and watching movies. For books he recommends the Lord of the Rings, Firefly if you're looking for a new TV show, and Casablanca for a movie. His highlight from working at Meridian is when students who graduated a couple years ago come back to say hi and say how they're doing.

Students say their favorite thing about Mr. Armerding is he, “explains things really well,” “explains in a well organized way,” and “always shares his cool experiences.”

Teacher Feature is provided by Bhavnoor Dhatt. Bhavnoor is a leadership student that will be providing the Teacher Feature as part of her personal project for Leadership class.

Monday - No School

Tuesday - Nugget & Mashed Potato Bowl

Wednesday - French Toast with Sausage

Thursday - BBQ Hoagie

Friday - Spicy Chicken Burger

Presidents Day is celebrated every year on the third Monday of February - February 21st this year. All the presidents in American history are remembered and honored for their work in making America the country it is today.

Meridian High School has partnered with parchment.com to fulfill transcript requests for current students and MHS alumni. Transcripts are securely sent electronically to colleges and universities across the nation, resulting in a reduction of lost documents at the financial aid offices. The service is free of charge to current students. Alumni pay a small fee. Please make sure that your intended college accepts electronic transcripts.

Please find the “Order transcripts through Parchment” link under Families & Students/Resources on the MHS website. Current students may call Mrs. Brinkman or Mrs. Waterman to receive their Parchment access code at the MHS office 360-398-8111.

Being present in class is vital to be successful in school. We want to encourage all of our students to be at school every day! If you are missing school, you are missing out on learning!

If your kids miss a day or even part of a day of school for whatever reason, please contact our attendance secretary, Mrs. McMains by either phone (360-318-2260) or email (tgmcmains@meridian.wednet.edu)with the reason for the absence. If they are going to miss because of an illness, please call or email in the morning and let us know! If there is a planned absence, please contact her and she will take care of notifying teachers. If she is unable to answer the phone right at that moment, please feel free to leave the information on her voicemail.

Derek Forbes, Principal: dforbes@meridian.wednet.edu

Andy Donahue, Assistant Principal: adonahue@meridian.wednet.edu

Cheryl McBride, Counselor A-J: cmcbride@meridian.wednet.edu

Don McMains, Counselor K-Z: dmcmains@meridian.wednet.edu

Tami McMains, Attendance: tgmcmains@meridian.wednet.edu

Robin Brinkman, Registration: rbrinkman@meridian.wednet.edu

Chromebook Tech Support: chromebook@meridian.wednet.edu

Website-www.meridian.wednet.edu/mhs

The homepage has access to recent news.

Meridian School District on Social Media

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/meridianschooldistrict505/

Instagram: @meridianschooldistrict505

Twitter: @meridian505

The Meridian School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employee has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Title IX, ADA, and Compliance Coordinator (RCW 28A.640/28A.642) Kurt Harvill, Director of Personnel, 214 W. Laurel Rd., Bellingham WA 98226. 360-398-7111. Section 504 questions