Chipotle Reading Rewards

We recently reached out to Chipotle when we heard about their Chipotle Reading Rewards, which are special bookmarks that include a coupon for Buy-One/Get-One FREE entrée cards.

We partnered with Chipotle to bring our students this great reward in conjunction with our "Reading Without Walls" Challenge, which you can read about here.

Chipotle Reading Rewards Bookmark (and coupon!)

With a surge of independent reading in grades 9-12, we wanted to reward our students for all their hard work. This is the first year that Chipotle is supporting teen reading programs and we think that's important because we should all be lifelong learners. Thank you Chipotle for supporting our mission to make reading matter.

Book Auctions

As an alternative to the traditional book talk, this month, I decided to host a book auction. I brought my show on the road, traveling to the Meadowbrook Alternative Program (MAP) in our district. MAP does not have a traditional library and the classroom sets of books are lacking in diversity. So I filled up three boxes with a variety of books from different genres (historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, romance, humor, military, etc.) and different formats (graphic novels, verse, poetry etc.). Since I had so many books with me and a small amount of time to "sell" them to the students, I summarized each book into one sentence. Trust me, that's no easy feat! This is what I call a "book auction!"

The books I brought over were chosen based upon a Reader's Advisory Questionnaire that I asked to students to fill it out prior to my arrival. Since I did not know the students personally, I wanted to know a little more about each one of them to help guide the selections. 

The result: Success! Each student in the class was able to select a book of interest for their next unit on independent reading.

NEHS Induction Ceremony

Our 12th annual National English Honor Society (NEHS) Induction Ceremony will take place tomorrow, April 24th at 2:15 PM. This year we are inducting 69 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, Michael White, is the founder and publisher of Greater Long Island Media Group, which publishes community news website that, collectively, were viewed nearly 2 million times in 2017 alone. He's been on the front lines of news and information gathering from New York City, to Long Island's East End, to the boom town that is Patchogue Village, where he launched his first website, GreaterPatchogue.com, on July 1, 2015. Mike has a master's degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and is a former staff reporter for the New York Post and Daily News, where he last worked in the Police Bureau. In 2007, he wrote the second-most stories of any reporter at the News before leaving NYC in 2008 to edit community weeklies in the towns of Southold and Riverhead on Long Island. Today he operates GreaterPatchogue, GreaterBayShore, GreaterBabylon and GreaterPortJeff. The sites publish local news stories daily, in both print and broadcast style.

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

Flipgrid

According to Flipgrid's website, "Flipgrid is where your students go to share ideas and learn together. It’s where students amplify and feel amplified. It’s video the way students use video. Short. Authentic. And fun!" We couldn't agree more! Bellmore-Merrick has provided each teacher with an educator account. BMCHSD teachers - check your email for instructions on how to signup. Flipgrid is super easy to use. Teachers create a "Grid' - that’s our classroom. Add a "Topic" to spark the discussion. Your topics are like your assignments and are completely customizable. Next, you share the topic code with your students. Then they use that code to share short video responses to ignite a dialogue.

Sample Flipgrid Topic

Your technology mentors (Ms. Stack, Ms. Tschan, Ms. Desmond, and Ms. Bretscher) created a topic called Mepham HS Teachers & Admin to introduce the faulty to all our students, incoming and current, and their families (see below).  Mepham teachers, administrators, and staff will continue to add their voices to this topic throughout the year and it will be ready to view at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. Click here to see our progress so far. #FlipgridBack2School

Mepham's school-wide Flipgrid: #FlipgridBack2School

Now, students even have a fun place to record their videos in our Flipgrid pop-up tent in the school library. 

TEDxMephamHigh 2018: Here

This year's theme is ​Here. Here because as big as the world is, we are living here in this moment, here on Long Island, here in New York, and America, and also here in 2018 in a world breaking boundaries and changing language; in a world where we can simultaneously stand on American soil and share a moment with people in India, in South Korea, in Africa. We want you Here with us.

TEDxWCMephamHigh Team

What is TEDxWCMephamHigh? It's an event, a gathering, a chance for teens and community members to huddle around the metaphorical campfire and share ideas. TEDxWCMephamHigh is the coming together of an audience of approximately 300 to listen to a blend of live speakers and TED Youth videos curated by TED themselves. It's a lunch, a conference, a celebration of thought. We hope to make you laugh and think and connect or reconnect. We hope to spark a flame or fuel the fire of your intellect and your aspirations. This year's line up can be found here. 

Join us on Saturday, April 21st at 9:00 am in Mepham's auditorium for TEDxWCMephamHigh. You can purchase tickets here.