Hornet Happenings

We have had a very eventful November here at MERHS! November in high school is a pivotal month, marked by a mix of academic focus and anticipation. Students are settling into the rhythm of the school year, tackling projects, assessments, and refining their study habits. For seniors, college application deadlines create an atmosphere of excitement and stress, while younger students often begin thinking ahead to holiday events and winter activities. Shrek the Musical was a smashing success, our fall sports ended their seasons with exciting tournament play, and term 1 came to a close. As we reflect this season, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such dedicated parents and an engaged community. Your partnership enriches our school, supports our students, and makes our shared mission of excellence in education possible.

December 2nd-4th - Junior Classroom Visits

December 12th - 6 PM - Junior Post High School Planning Night - VIRTUAL! Link will be emailed the week of.

December 13th - Counselor Corner - 9 AM - SAT v ACT - VIRTUAL! Link will be emailed the week of. We will discuss standardized testing and the role that it plays in the college admissions process. We’ve seen many changes since the pandemic and we’ll discuss these issues as they relate to our students and their post-high school planning.

MEFA is running FASFA workshops in December and January. Please see the flyer to sign up!

Students created colorful turkeys as part of a "Thanksgiving Calculus" activity reviewing content from units 1-4.

Calculus students had a sweet conclusion to the first quarter! Students transformed food recipes, disguising all of the recipe quantities as limit and derivative problems, and then brought in treats to share while solving each other's recipe problems.

AP Biology:

Students just finished up a unit on Protein Synthesis and Gene Expression and are performing a microarray to see how genes in breast cancer tissue can be over or under expressed

Science Team:

The science team came up big in the November meet with a second place finish! Students are currently working on building a tower out of popsicle sticks to resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa, studying half-lifes and learning about insect identification.

Math Team:

Students continue to dominate and remain undefeated! Dodge Roberts and Saskia Kuehnemund were the highest scoring sophomore and freshman at our last meet. Senior Sam Heanue was overall highest scorer at the meet. Keep up the radical work!

Honors Geometry:

Students studying where polygons exist in the world. Check out Bob Ross!

The teachers in the Social Studies Department attended the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference last weekend in Boston. The conference featured workshops led by teachers from around the country, special sessions with leading historians, and an exhibit hall of organizations that provided social studies education and resources.

Students in US II learned about the 2008 financial crisis and engaged in Socratic seminar-style class discussions about its causes and lessons, market economies and capitalism, and the role of government regulation and intervention in the economy.

Students in Honors Psychology applied the principles of social psychology to better understand our current political climate and consider ways to increase civic engagement.

In Media Literacy and Civic Action, students are in the research phase of their Civic Action Project putting into action their skills they learned in the first quarter. They are working to gather evidence and determine its relevance and reliability. As they learn more about their topics, they will continue to refine their projects and goals.

MERHS Students Artwork Showcased at Local Rockport Gallery: Student artwork from Mrs. Burns’ Studio/Portfolio and Advanced Placement Art classes were recently on display at the Slant Rhymes Studio on BearSkin Neck in Rockport(Nov 8-24).

The following students were juried into the event at the gallery at 18 Bearskin Neck in Rockport:

● Simone Argento

● Bella Hilton

● Lucy Romans

● Elsa Ballock

● Lily Genest

● Josh Cohen

● Hayden Remington

● Henry Swerdloff

● Auggie Compotosto

● Miles Takayesu

● Oliver Rodi

Owner Rosemary Scott Fishburn praised the quality of the students' work. Many parents visited the gallery. Fishburn awarded the following monetary prizes to these students: Miles Takayesu for First($100.), Elsa Ballock for Third($50.), and Oliver Rodi for Runner Up($50. Gift certificate). Congratulations to all our talented students.

French Honors 5: The seniors should be proud of their performance! They have analyzed the poem “L'Albatros” by Charles Baudelaire and they just finished reading 'La Parure' , a novel by Guy de Maupassant. It was a very nice experience to explore the big movements of French literature and to introduce the students to 2 famous authors. They were also thrilled to learn a new past tense (le passé simple) only used in literature 🙂

French Honors 2: In this class, students had to write a letter to their best friend or to an adult in their life to express gratitude (following a lesson on adjectives). These letters were wonderful and full of love and recognition.

We are planning our MERHS annual Holiday Toy Drive to benefit Pathways for Children. Pathways is a nonprofit organization that supports economically vulnerable local families and their children, and is based in Gloucester, Salem and Beverly.

We are asking for donations of new and unwrapped toys. If you are looking for ideas, Pathways has created an Amazon Wish list at this link. If you would prefer to make a financial donation, that is possible on the Pathways website.

In-building collection for the Toy drive will begin on Tuesday, December 3rd and will run until Monday, December 16th. Donations can be placed in the box outside the high school main office.

Thank you for your support of this worthy organization, and for helping make holiday dreams come true!