As we begin the school year, we have some new faces around the halls (ten, to be exact), as well as familiar faces in new positions. With the departure of Dr. Carne, Mrs. Dell’Olio, once the special education chairperson, has stepped up as one of the assistant principals. Taking her spot as the new special education chairperson is Mr. Gioia, who some students might recognize from his previous position at Grand Avenue. Also joining us from Grand is guidance counselor Ms. Lever. In addition, there are three new science teachers, Ms. Barrett, Ms. Joseph, and Ms. Magliano; one new physical education teacher, Mr. Arkow; one new math teacher, Ms. Battafarano; one new English teacher, Ms. Cohen; two new special education teachers, Mr. Goedecke and Ms. LaRossa; and a new psychologist, Ms. Haigis. We extend a warm welcome to all of our new staff!
The start of a new school year means the return of school festivities, including Pirate Fest, Pep Rally, and the all anticipated homecoming game. This year, this looked a little different. On September 13, Pep Rally was held during the school day for the first time in three years, with shortened classes and the school filing out to the bleachers at the end of ninth period. Pirate Fest was then held after the Pep Rally, as opposed to before homecoming. The next day, September 14, was the homecoming game against MacArthur, with Mepham taking the win!
Battle of the Classes events have already begun: with Spirit Week came the annual hallway decorating contest, in which the juniors took home 40 early points for Battle; Pep Rally had some games with Battle points: Penny Wars, in which grades earn points with every penny they put in their bucket and sabotage the other grades with silver coins; and the Stairway Climb, where the grade who raises the most money gets extra points.
On top of the fun events, valedictorian and salutatorian have been announced: Makayla Daube and Helen Strite, respectively. Seniors have already started to submit college applications. Be sure to submit your transcript request form to guidance at least two weeks before the application deadline. SATs are back in full swing as well. To kick off the year, the first SAT took place in October, fully online, as started last year. Speaking of online, as students might have begun to learn, 28 AP tests are going to be fully online this year, rather than on paper, like years prior. This is a big change since it will be the first time that students will be required to take these tests on a computer, and will be the first year of many to occur in this fashion.
For our freshmen and new students, make use of everything here at Mepham and get involved! There are sports and clubs for everyone, whether you join the art club to bring out your creative side, LEO/AWOD clubs to give back to the community, or us here at The Buccaneer if you love to write, Mepham has the club for you! Keep an eye on the new bulletin boards for club information, and don’t miss Skull & Bones Drama Club’s performance of “Middletown.” For all of our returning students, keep doing what you are doing to make Mepham such an amazing community. And for our seniors, make the best of every second.
