Book Wars

Have you seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi yet? No spoilers here. I will be seeing the movie tomorrow. In the meantime, check out our latest bulletin board right outside the library and pick up a book to read over break. 

Mepham Library Bulletin Board

Heartfelt Holiday Cards

Many students, including those in the National Art Honor Society and Mrs. Geller's School & Community Leadership classes, joined us in the school library's MakerSpace this past Monday to craft holiday cards for Mercy Haven’s network of families. Mercy Haven is a non-sectarian, non-profit organization located in Islip Terrace that offers assistance to over 3,000 Long Islanders, approximately half of which are children. Mercy Haven’s mission is to acknowledge the dignity and potential of people who are homeless, living with mental illness, or living in poverty by providing housing, advocacy, education, and life skills development.

The cards crafted from our students were truly touching. Many said that it is important to remember those less fortunate than you, especially at this time of year. #mephamgivesback

Sampling of holiday cards crafted in the MakerSpace.

Crafting for a Cause

Created with Canva.com

Join us in the school library on Monday, December 11th at 2:15 p.m. in our MakerSpace to craft holiday cards for Mercy Haven’s network of families. Mercy Haven is a non-sectarian, non-profit organization located in Islip Terrace that offers assistance to over 3,000 Long Islanders, approximately half of which are children. Mercy Haven’s mission is to acknowledge the dignity and potential of people who are homeless, living with mental illness, or living in poverty by providing housing, advocacy, education, and life skills development. All craft supplies will be provided. This is an ELITE event. Sign up by clicking here.

Fragments: Endings

Fragments (Mepham's literary magazine) has a new contest!

endings.
"There are no happy endings.
Endings are the saddest part,
So just give me a happy middle
And a very happy start."
- Shel Silverstein 

Submit your original poetry, short stories, essays, artwork, or photography on the topic "endings" to win a prize and the chance to be published!

Deadline: Friday, January 19, 2018

Place all entries in Mrs. Maresca's mailbox in the main office or email them to Fragments at FragmentsEmail@gmail.com.

Romeo & Juliet Break Out!

Mrs. Chacko's class just finished reading William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. As a review, they came to the school library to play "Fortune's Fool" from BreakoutEDU. With 40 minutes on the clock, her class was divided into two groups, the Montagues and the Capulets. There mission was to break into the box that contained the lost half on Shakespeare's cut of the profits from Romeo and Juliet. We learned that the most successful groups communicate well and divide and conquer.

Breakout EDU in the school library 

#tbt

Here's another #tbt for Mepham's 80th Anniversary! This one is from the 1942 Treasure Chest (Mepham's yearbook). I'm sure glad we don't have to find the ink for students anymore!

Library Club from the Treasure Chest, 1942

Bibliophiles

Who knows on which shelf every library book in creation is?

Who keeps track of books in and books out?

Who knows who owes how much money?

Who keeps the library spick and span?

Who makes sure that the freshman push their chairs in and that they don’t throw paper on the floor?

Who always finds the ink for you?

Who contributes much valuable time and goes unrewarded?

Who knows?  We know!  The Library Club.

Stress-Reduction Stations

The holidays can be a very stressful time, even for teens. Today and tomorrow, we invite all of our health classes, and any students off during a free or lunch period to come to the library and spend some time at our stress-reduction stations.  We have something for everyone.

Stress-reduction stations set up and in action

• Station # 1: Make Your Own Bookmark / Augmented Reality
• Station # 2: Board Games - Jenga & Rubik's Cubes
• Station # 3: Virtual Reality / Meditation  
• Station # 4: Button Maker / Origami
• Station # 5: 3Doodler Pen / littleBits
• Station # 6: Bracelet Making (to support the non-profit Reason2Smile)  
• Station # 7: Stick Together 

Before the students arrive

#tbt

Here's another #tbt for Mepham's 80th Anniversary! This one is from the 1949 Treasure Chest (Mepham's yearbook).

Library Club from the Treasure Chest, 1949

Library Club

A place for everything and everything in its place -- that’s Mepham’s library.

Under the leadership of Miss Shaver, and President Therese Tepe, Vice-president Elsie Lehner, and Secretary Virginia Clark, Library Club members give up time daily and one hour weekly after school to make our library a pleasant and orderly place.  Monthly teas and visits to New York City to see plays highlight their social activities.

In May a new group of girls were elected to replace the departing senior members. Cornelia Soper was elected as ‘49-’50 president.

Library Restoration

The school library was literally (in the original sense of the word) falling apart. Plaster was raining down on student's heads, paint was chipping, and we has only a few functioning blinds left. Thanks to our head custodian, Charlie Pennington and Jon Simpkins, Director of School Facilities & Operations, the Mepham High School Library got a much-needed face-lift this fall. Thanks to all those hard-working people who put the time into making our space beautiful once again.

 

Before

After

#tbt

Here's another #tbt for Mepham's 80th Anniversary! This one is from the 1955 Treasure Chest (Mepham's yearbook). Can you imagine getting dismissed by tables in today's library? 

Library Club from the Treasure Chest, 1955

Library Club

“Round and first tables - second - third - fourth and last…”  Any student who has even been in the library has heard a Library Club member dismissing him in this manner.

Senior girls earned silver keys for serving one period every day and once a week after school.

Acting as officers were Diane Tietjen, president; Judy Harnick, vice-president and Sandy Kaye, secretary.

#tbt

Here's another #tbt for Mepham's 80th Anniversary! This one is from the 1960 Treasure Chest (Mepham's yearbook). This was the first year in Mepham history that Library Club members were awarded their M's. What's an 'M" you ask? "Boys and girls, large and small, strolling about the school with Varsity "M"-adorned jackets and sweaters have been the envy of the wide-eyed frosh. It always has been the desire of Mephamites to gain their "M's." If these letters were awarded indiscriminately, they would soon lose their value; therefore those students only, who have contributed to the school in some outstanding way, are awarded Varsity "M" letters." Explanation courtesy of the 1944 Treasure Chest.

Library Club from the Treasure Chest, 1960

Library Club 

Putting books away, dusting them, filing magazines and cards - these are but a few of the many tasks performed by the girls in Library Club. These girls, chosen on the basis of scholarship and the aptitude they displayed during their six-week apprenticeship in their sophomore year, are vital to our library's efficiency and pleasantness. 

Each girl is required to work six hours a week and when she accumulates 200 hours she is awarded the coveted silver key. Also, this was the first year Library Club members were awarded their well-deserved Varsity M's.

 Another addition to the library this year was Miss Cope. With Mrs. Oberbach and the 22 library members, no one is ever neglected upon entering the library. 

Augmented Reality

You may have heard about virtual reality, but have you heard of augmented reality? According to Merriam-Webster, "augmented reality is an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (such as a smartphone camera)."

Today in the library, Mrs. Gellerman had a little Halloween fun, coloring in this handout from QuiverVision. The Quiver App combines physical coloring from “back in the day” with state of the art augmented reality technology.

FREE QuiverVision Coloring Page 

With the advent of "adult coloring" books, coloring has seen a true resurrection in our school library. Teachers and students alike can put their own artistic spin on pages, and now with Quiver they "can bring their unique coloring creations to life in extraordinary 3D augmented reality."

Using colored pencils, Mrs. Gellerman fills in the pumpkins.

First, we stopped by the Quiver website to print out some free coloring sheets. Next, using colored pencils, Mrs. Gellerman, colored in the sheet above. We then downloaded the free Quiver-3D Coloring App. Finally, we scanned the coloring sheet and this is what happened!

A post shared by Mepham High School (@mephamhs) on Nov 1, 2017 at 11:21am PDT

You can take photographs and videos right inside the Quiver app. We had so much fun, and we know you will too! We have many more sheets in the library for you to use, like this cool Starbucks one below!

FREE QuiverVision Coloring Page 

The Quiver app is available on iOS, Android and Amazon.

Let's Stick Together

"Let's StickTogether is the fun, collaborative, community-building activity where participants 'StickTogether' by applying colored stickers to a large coded grid. Once all the stickers are attached, a vibrant mosaic is revealed."

Sticker wall

Progress

Stickers

Make your way to Mepham's MakerSpace and place some stickers on our wall. Our StickTogether poster grid includes 3,996 colored stickers. These sticker mosaic puzzle posters are a fun and easy way to get everyone working together. Can you guess what the final image will be? We can keep a secret! 

Students placing stickers 

Let's Stick Together is in the library

#tbt

Here's another #tbt for Mepham's 80th Anniversary! This one is from the 1948 Treasure Chest (Mepham's yearbook).

Library Club from the Treasure Chest, 1948

True Service

Every period in the week a cheerful and efficient girl may be found behind the desk in the library. This girl is a member of the Library Club and gives up this time to be of service to her school. Her duty is to take care of the books, hand out cards and in general keep the library orderly. This organization, dedicated solely to service, consists of about twenty-five carefully selected Junior and Senor girls, supervised by Mrs. Rauch. For their service, these girls not only gain satisfaction and valuable information but also receive a silver key, after one year and one month of faithful service. 

Good times are also had by this organization at their monthly teas, and twice yearly when they take a trip to New York City for dinner and a show. It's officers are president, Carol Foster; vice-president, Marie Baumann and secretary, Mary Lou Schulte.

Mindfulness @ Mepham

New flyers in Mepham's Library with QR Codes that take you to mindfulness videos.

mind·ful·ness

/ˈmīn(d)f(ə)lnəs/

noun

1. 1.

   the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.

   "their mindfulness of the wider cinematic tradition"
2. 2.

   a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

Many teachers in our building have introduced meditation into the classroom as a means of improving students’ attention and reducing stress. Today, we displayed these reminders in the library. Just scan the QR codes to take you to a quick video of mindfulness meditation. We supply earbuds upon request. 

Thanks to Margaux DelGuidice‏ (@metadatachick) and Jennifer Bleicher (@BleicherJen) for the idea! 

#tbt

Here's another #tbt for Mepham's 80th Anniversary! This one is from the 1946 Treasure Chest (Mepham's yearbook).

Library Club from the Treasure Chest, 1946

Library Service

Please renew this book! Where's yesterday's New York Times? Is this book fiction? How much fine do I owe? Whatever your demands in the library, its efficient staff of girls will answer it. Giving up a study hall each day and one hour after school, they are responsible for the smooth functioning of the library and for the numerous tasks connected with it. 

This year the group and Mrs. Rauch, their adviser, had dinner at the Castleholm and then went to see the stage play "Dear Ruth." Although the club has some very pleasant social activities, their first interest is efficient and cheerful service.

Two students look out the library windows.
Treasure Chest, 1946 

MakerSpace Additions

Rubik's Cubes and Jenga are the latest additions to Mepham's MakerSpace. Take a look at the video below that I found on Ted-Ed. This 15-year-old solved a Rubik's Cube in 5.25 seconds and he says that "the biggest misconception about cubing is that it is difficult, which it really isn't." What do you think?

How a 15-year-old solved a Rubik's Cube in 5.25 seconds

#tbt

Here's another #tbt for Mepham's 80th Anniversary! This one is from the 1962 Treasure Chest (Mepham's yearbook).

Library Club from the Treasure Chest, 1962

Library Club

This year's Library Club has lived up to its tradition as Mepham's most outstanding girls' service organization. The members of the Library Club are always ready and willing to aid any student in our library. They also help the librarians in all the necessary tasks of library administration. In addition to mending and checking out books, dusting, and shelving, this year the girls of the Library Club have completely taken over the magazine room. Yet, perhaps the most widely appreciated change has been the extension of the closing hours to 4:30.

The Library Club is far more than a service organization. The club holds monthly teas for its members. At one tea, they were honored in having the district librarian judge their magazines; in another, they planned a tea honoring Mr. George Rapport's book, The Statesman and the Boss. To terminate a very successful year, the Library Club chose  new members who will carry on its very fine tradition.

Fragments: Ethereal

Fragments (Mepham's literary magazine) has a new contest!

e·the·re·al
adjective
1. extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world.
    "her ethereal beauty"

Image Source 

Submit your original poetry, short stories, essays, artwork, or photography on the topic "ethereal" to win a prize and the chance to be published!

Deadline: Friday, November 3, 2017.

Place all entries in Mrs. Maresca's mailbox in the main office or email them to Fragments at FragmentsEmail@gmail.com.

Within Reach

'PTA Reflections is a nationally acclaimed student recognition program to encourage artistic creativity in the classroom and at home. National PTA Reflections welcomes all grades and abilities to explore and be involved in the arts. Annually, thousands of students will reflect on a common theme and create original works of art."

Students may choose one or all of the available arts categories:

• Dance Choreography
• Film Production
• Literature
• Music Composition
• Photography
• Visual Arts

The theme for the 2017-2018 school year is, Within Reach. Deadline for submission is Friday, November 3, 2017. You can also contact Mrs. Carpentieri at jbc427@verizon.net or Mrs. Cannon at laurie0318@msn.com for more information.

EDpuzzle

EDpuzzle is easily Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District's latest technology obsession. Most of our teachers are using EDpuzzle's to enhance their flipped video content (either content that they created on their own or content taken from the Web). They can add questions right into the video, creating a much more interactive experience for their students. 

From the EDpuzzle website: "The easiest way to engage your students with videos. Pick a video, add your magical touch and track your students' understanding.

• Save time: Take already existing videos from Youtube, Khan Academy, Crash Course, etc. or upload your own.
• Engage students easily: Enable self-paced learning with interactive lessons, add your voice and questions along the video.
• Reinforce accountability: Know if your students are watching your videos, how many times and see the answers they give."

This website is free and there is an iOS app, Android app, Chrome app and a YouTube extension. 

We're Eighty, Matey!

Wellington C. Mepham High School turns 80 this year! In honor of our anniversary, we are going to be throwing it back on Thursdays (#tbt) to show you photos from Mepham Library's past. From the 1951, Treasure Chest (Mepham's yearbook), the photo below shows the Library Club.

Library Club from the Treasure Chest, 1951

Library Club 

The girls in the Library Club, under the expert leadership of Miss Shaver, put in many hours of hard work keeping the library running smoothly. Besides giving up one study hall a day, they also put in one hour a week after school. But all was not work, either. They gave teas once every month, and went into the city to see the play "Peter Pan." 

Scare Your Pants Off... Literally!

Mepham Library Bulletin Board

Have you seen the movie IT? Did it scare you? Try reading the book. We have it here in the Mepham Library available for check out! 

Revamped Library Scavenger Hunt

Mepham Library Orientation Scavenger Hunt Handout

Mepham High School Library Orientation is always a fun lesson to teach. We love getting a chance to meet and spend some time with the new incoming class. It's also a good time for us to showcase all the wonderful aspects of the library. Many years ago (12 to be exact!), we updated this lesson to include a scavenger hunt and while some of the questions have changed over the years, the general premise has not... until now.

This year, we put a new twist on an old favorite! The newly revamped Mepham Library Orientation Scavenger Hunt now has a Breakout EDU component. We split the classes into two teams of "pirates." Each "Treasure Chest" (Breakout EDU boxes) had four locks on it; one 5-letter lock, two 3-digit number locks, and one key lock. Students still receive the handout above with a few more questions, eight in total. Four of the answers open up the locks on the "Treasure Chests." We put 10 minutes up on the clock and set the "pirates" to work!

Team #2 tries a combination to open one of the locks. 

Question #1 refers to the location (room number) of the library within the school and #5 refers to the physical space within the library, in a section that students often need help locating materials. The answers to these questions are in an online video that the students watch at the beginning of class and also in this handout with general library information.

Question # 2 guides students to our online catalog, so that they may find resources in the school library. The online catalog can be assessed from any device that has access to the Internet.

Question # 3 relates to the length of time that items can be checked out of the library. We do not have many rules or policies in the school library, but this is a good one for students to know. This also leads to questions about renewing.

Question # 4 lets students know when they are able to use the library. Our hours are posted on the library doors and are on this handout that students receive at Library Orientation.

Question # 6 and # 7 require students to use Destiny Quest, our online catalog. Furthermore, question # 6 asks students to locate the book once they have gotten the call # through Destiny Quest. Once they locate the book, they need to open it and find the dedication.

Question # 7 asks students to jot down the call # of a book that they will subsequently read. This particular book is a fictional story, but is found in our non-fiction section. This question leads to a discussion of the literature and rhetoric section (800s) of the Dewey Decimal System.

To answer Question (#8), students need to go to the library website, which in itself is a great resource with many links. The Mepham High School Library Orientation Scavenger Hunt handout has a QR code with a direct link to our website.

This lesson has it all. Students are up and moving, exploring the library and using technology. They seem to enjoy the element of competition. Which team can break into the "Treasure Chest" first? Who gets bragging rights? Most students find a way to contribute to their team. The teams that work together with good communication and collaboration find success. Everyone including the classroom teachers and librarian had fun!

We cap off the lesson by asking students to give the library a "Yelp" review, giving us 1-5 stars and answering the three questions below.

The most frequently asked question during Mepham High School Library's Orientation Scavenger Hunt: What's inside the "Treasure Chest"? Well, treasure, of course!

MHS Library Orientation 2017

Hey Mepham Pirates! Are you new to Mepham High School? Part of the Class of 2021? Welcome and welcome back to our returning students. We are so glad to have you. Click below to view our 2017 library orientation video. It is a virtual tour of your fabulous library in just six minutes! There have been a few changes over the summer... including the installation of a brand-new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system!!!

Questions? Swing by and ask the librarian!

Orientation Handout via Canva.com

Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read.  This September 24 - 30, we will be displaying banned books from the past few years. Take a look at this video below which highlights the top ten challenged books of 2016.

New Fall Books 2017

New Book Display

We bought a bunch of new fiction and non-fiction books over the summer and they are now on display in the Mepham Library. Come check them out! Don't see what you are looking for? Let us know and we will try to get you a copy.

You Are the Reason We Are Here!

Mepham Library Bulletin Board

Welcome Back Pirates!

Wellington C. Mepham High School

We'd like to welcome the Class of 2021 to the Wellington C. Mepham High School Library. We are excited to have you and all our returning students back at Mepham for another great school year. We are also very pleased to welcome our new Principal, Mr. Eric Gomez. 

We have many opportunities waiting for you up here. The library (room 300) is open from 7:30 AM until 3:30 PM, unless otherwise posted. All students are welcome to use the library during any free period, lunch, or after school. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to stop by and see us or call/email.  

Keep Calm...

Created at Canva.com

It's THAT Time!

Mepham's Holi Festival 2017

Created at Canva.com

Come join us for Mepham's Holi Festival on Thursday, May 25 from 2:30 - 3:30 pm on the baseball field. Admission is $10 and includes a white t-shirt to wear to the event, food, dancing and colored powder. Can be purchased in room 317 or 200. Students must pay admission and wear t-shirt to attend. Do you spot Ms. Stack and her son in the video below? Come down for a colorful afternoon!

Video-Based PD For Teachers & Schools

The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District has begun to introduce an innovative video-based professional development learning platform called iRIS. This platform has been available this school year for teachers to pilot with a more formal introduction planned for September 2017. All of our Mepham tech mentors, including Ms. Stack, Mr. Russell and Ms. Zitay, have been trained to help with the hardware and software for classroom use. The iRIS kit includes 2 iPads, 2 tripods, and a dual microphone system. Ms. Stack used it to videotape her BreakoutEDU ELITE Event. There are many benefits of video self-reflection and the ability to share best practices with colleagues. What will you use it for?

iRIS Discovery Kit

"Watch a short demo video of the key features of IRIS Connect's video-based professional learning platform for teachers. It's totally secure and enables all of the key professional development activities needed to improve classroom outcomes." To learn more, click here: http://www.irisconnect.co.uk/

NEHS Induction Ceremony

Author Anna Jarzab

Our annual National English Honor Society (NEHS) Induction Ceremony will take place tomorrow, April 25th at 2:15 PM in the school library. This year we are inducting 26 juniors from Mepham High School who have done outstanding work in English. As members of the NEHS they understand the importance of communication, the value of listening, and the significance of expression. They have proven themselves capable of serious study of the English language and of pursuing the truth in works of literature or in their own creative expressions of poetry or prose.

Our keynote speaker is Anna (Anna with a short “a,” not Ah-nah.) J-A-R-Z-A-B, which is a Polish last name pronounced by her family just the way it looks: “Jar” as in jar of pickles, and “zab” as in… well, zab. Perhaps, she can pronounce it for us the way it was intended, Polish accent and all.

Anna Jarzab grew up in the Midwest, where she spent most of her junior high and high school years in the pool. She has a bachelor's degree in both English and Political Science, and a graduate degree from the University of Chicago. Now, she works in the publishing industry in social media marketing. She is the author of All Unquiet Things, The Opposite of Hallelujah and Tandem.

She currently lives in New York City, where she endeavors to answer the age-old question: how many books can you comfortably fit in a 300 square foot studio apartment? (Answer: more than you think.)

We look forward to what Anna has to say to our inductees. All students are welcome to attend.

National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry’s vital place in our culture.

There are many ways to participate. Here are just a few:

• Follow the thousands of National Poetry Month celebrations taking place using #npm17 and follow the Academy of American Poets on Twitter @POETSorg.
• Attend Poetry & the Creative Mind, a celebration of poetry from the reader’s perspective featuring leading and luminary actors, artists, and public figures, on April 19, 2017, in New York City.
• Participate in National Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 27, 2017.
• Sign up for Poem-a-Day.
• Join the Academy of American Poets and show your support year-round for poets and poetry.
• Share your photos and feedback about your National Poetry Month celebrations with the Academy of American Poets by emailing npm@poets.org.