Middle School Happenings

Manchester-Essex Regional Middle School (May/June 2025)

Have a wonderful summer!

A note from Principal Maino

We've had a great year with the kids! Here's to a fun and relaxing summer filled with family and friends.

On a personal note, I cannot express how grateful I am for my 18 years in education, especially these last 9 years with talented teachers, inspiring children, and supportive families. It has been my honor and privilege to be part of the MERMS community, and I will greatly miss it. Hopefully, I have left a small part of myself behind. I will certainly be taking a big part of all of you and your children with me.

All my best,

Joanne

8th Grade Students Attend the State Civics Showcase

On June 6th, two groups of 8th grade students attended the State Civics Showcase at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston. Kaitelin Aloi, Kendall Shanks, and Erika Kozyrev had the opportunity to present their projects to both a group of their peers from all over the state and to community advisors. Students heard from keynote speakers Secretary Patrick Tutwiler of the Massachusetts Department of Education and former state legislator Adam Hines. This was a great learning experience for our students and a wonderful chance to practice their public speaking skills.

Many thanks to Mrs. McWhorter for making this experience possible for our students.

Science

Gardening and Growth

Students in Grade 6 volunteered to help clean up the orchard. Working with Mr. Cowman, they fixed the picnic table, which involved using a hacksaw to remove stripped screws and then driving new ones. They also helped remove rotten tree boxes and weeds around the trees. This project fit nicely with the work all students did growing and learning about plants.

Lab Experiments

Students in 8th grade ended the year with back--to-back labs. The egg osmosis lab involved experimenting with a shell less egg in different liquids of varying solute. Students used this experiment to compare hypotonic and hypertonic solutes within 2 solutions. Students are using all this knowledge to then design their own experiment relating to osmosis with a potato. The last experiment, bubble fest, was a deep dive into the chemistry and physics of bubbles.

METG Middle School Drama Fest

Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild

The whole team received a gold medal for the show. 🙂

Acting awards:

Katie Jay (gr 8) for bringing a fresh, contemporary take on the classic character of Juliet

Isaac Collins (gr 7) for clear physical and vocal choices in his portrayal of Romeo

Clarinda Bradford (gr 7)for comedic timing and physicality in the role of Mercutio

Technical Awards:

Technical award for his rainbow dance party: Trevor Laspesa (gr 7) as lighting designer

Technical award for clear costuming of the Montagues and Capulets, flawless makeup and hair: Kendall Shanks and Camille Dowling

Many thanks to co-directors, Mr Ice & Ms Garofalo!!!

Math Meets - That's a Wrap

Math Team: Intermediate League of Eastern Massachusetts (IMLEM) Awards

7th grader, Aviva Hocherman, won a plaque as the highest scoring 7th grade student in the Martinoli Division. Overall, our team also earned a plaque for a second place finish in our Martinoli Division. Well done Aviva and team!

International Connections

Students in our eighth grade Spanish class corresponded with seventh grade students from el Colegio (Middle School) Blas de Lezo in Madrid, Spain. They wrote two letters to their pen pals and made a video to show them our school. The students in Madrid, who are studying English, also sent us a video about their school. This has been very exciting for our students as they use their language skills in an authentic way to communicate with a community outside of our classroom.

A huge thank you to Arion Stremple, who told Mrs. Vosseler that his mom had contacts with a teacher at this school. And, another huge thank you to Julia Stremple for sending Mrs. Vosseler the name of an educator at Blas de Lezo. It has been an extraordinary experience for the students and teachers alike! ¡Qué emoción!

In French class, eighth grade students had a fantastic year corresponding with their pen pals in Cluny, France. Thanks to Ashley Ochs for setting up this amazing exchange! Our eighth graders have completed their third letter to sixth grade students of English from Collège (Middle School) Pierre Paul Prud’hon in Cluny. They also had one group video call with the French group and individual Zoom session with their pen pals. C’était magnifique!

Museum of Natural History

Students in sixth grade enjoyed an interdisciplinary field trip for a shared history and science learning experience. The focus was a look into human evolution and migration as well as natural selection. Students were also able to visit exhibits on the Maya in the Peabody Museum and visit the Harvard Museum of Ancient Near East to see exhibits on Mesopotamia and Egypt, which included some very cool virtual reality simulations they are building!

Grade 7 Books & Brunch

The final Grade 7 books and brunch learning experience was a success! Many thanks to Mrs. Plante for creating ongoing reading enrichment experiences and community connections for our students, and thank you to all of the families that helped with the delicious brunch!