Doors for a Cause

SADD's Doors for a Cause raised money for the Bellmore-Merrick Community Cupboard. There were over 20 submissions by teachers, staff, and student groups. Way to go Pirates!

W.C. Mepham High School Library

Book Club Book #2

Mepham's Book Club will meet in the library after school on Wednesday, December 8th to discuss The New York Times bestseller, More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. All students are welcome to attend this book club. Snacks will be provided. Our next book club book will be selected by the students after our meeting concludes. 

About More Happy Than Not: 

In the months after his father's suicide, it's been tough for sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again—but he's still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he's slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.

When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron's crew notices, and they're not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can't deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can't stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Why does happiness have to be so hard?

Crafting Holiday Cards for our Children at NYU Langone Hospital

UPDATE: We made over 150 holiday cards. Way to go Pirates!

Join us in the school library on Monday, December 6th at 2:15 p.m. in the Mepham MakerSpace to craft holiday cards for our first responders. All craft supplies will be provided. This is an ELITE event. Sign up by clicking here.

Word of the Year 2021

Oxford just released the word of the year. Drumroll, please...

Vax

Earlier Words of the Year:

2020 - bushfires, Covid-19, WFH, lockdown, circuit-breaker, support bubbles, keyworkers, furlough, Black Lives Matter, and moonshot.
2019 - climate emergency
2018 - toxic
2017 - youthquake
2016 - post-truth
2015 - 😂
2014 - vape
2013 - selfie
2012 - omnishambles (UK) & GIF (US)
2011 - squeezed middle
2010 - big society (UK) & refudiate (US)
2009 - simples (UK) & unfriend (US)
2008 - credit crunch (UK) & hypermiling (US)
2007 - carbon footprint (UK) & locavore (US)
2006 - bovvered (UK) & carbon-neutral (US)
2005 - Sudoku (UK) & podcast (US)
2004 - chav

Award Winners

The Michael L. Printz Award awards an author displaying excellence in literature written for young adults. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association. The award is sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association. Stop by the library to check out past Printz Award-winning books. 

The Alex Award awards authors for the best adult books that appeal to a teen audience. The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The award is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust. Edwards pioneered young adult library services and worked for many years at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. We also have many past Alex Award-winning books in our school library. One of my favorites over the years has been Educated by Tara Westover. 

Book Club Book #1

Mepham's Book Club will meet in the library after school on Wednesday, November 3rd to discuss One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. All students are welcome to attend this book club. Snacks will be provided.

About One of Us is Lying:

When the creator of a high school gossip app mysteriously dies in front of four high-profile students all four become suspects. It's up to them to solve the case.

This book has received numerous accolades including:

A #1 New York Times, USA Today, ABA IndieBound, and international bestseller
A YALSA 2018 Teens’ Top Ten Selection
An EW.com Best YA Book of the Year Selection
A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of the Year Selection
A Goodreads Best Young Adult Book of the Year Nominee
A New York Public Library's Best Book for Teens Selection
A Popcrush Best Young Adult Book of the Year Selection
A CBC Teen Choice Book Award Nominee
A YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction Book Nominee
A YALSA 2018 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

Thanksgiving Placemats to Benefit the Community Cupboard

UPDATE: Take a look below at some of the AMAZING Thanksgiving placemats made by our students this year! 

Thanksgiving Placemats for the Bellmore-Merrick Community Cupboard

Mepham's MakerSpace is back!! We will be hosting an ELITE event on Monday, November 8th in the school library at 2:15 pm. Students will have the opportunity to decorate Thanksgiving Day placemats that will be used in our Thanksgiving baskets. We give over 100 baskets to our local community through the Bellmore-Merrick Community Cupboard. We need all the help we can get! So stop by the library and help us give back. You can sign up by clicking here. 

Stick Together is BACK!

Stick Together – mosaic puzzle posters are created with 1/2" square stickers – are back!! They're a great activity for our MakerSpace. Each kit includes 3,996 colored 1/2" square stickers. Do you have any guesses as to what we are going to create if we "stick together"?

Over 50,000 Minutes

Our databases get a lot of use. In fact, one database alone logged a total of over 50,000 minutes from Mepham High School users last year. Our databases can be accessed here at school and at home 24/7. To get to our databases, you go to the Mepham High School Library website and click on the database tab. Our databases are password-protected. Come to the library and see Mrs. Stack or Mrs. Gellerman for our database handout, which has our usernames and passwords on it. We subscribe to many different types of databases across the curriculum to provide our students and faculty with the most up-to-date reliable information. There are unique resources, such as a music and sound effect copyright-free library, which you can download and add to presentations. There are also animated videos with activities from BrainPOP, covering topics in Arts, English Language Arts, Health, Social Studies and STEM. 

Fragments: mono no aware

Fragments is our school's literacy magazine. If you are interested, submit an original piece, including poetry, short story, artwork, etc., on the topic of mono no aware (n.) Japanese. The realization that nothing lasts forever; a gentle wistfulness while observing the passage of time. Please submit by November 1, 2021. Submissions can be emailed to fragmentsmail@gmail.com. 

Whales for a Cause 2021

Our School and Community Leadership students in Mrs. Geller's class colored Vineyard Vines Whales from the Mepham High School Library MakerSpace. Vineyard Vines partnered with Simon & Schuster and First Book for Fall 2021. It was easy to get involved. We just downloaded a whale from their website, printed it out, colored it in, and then posted it on social media with #WhalesForACause2021 to our school's Instagram account. Vineyard Vines will donate one book to First Book for every whale in our post. First Book to provide brand new books to kids in need. You can get in on the action too! Just stop by our library all month long and grab a whale handout and color it in. 

Whales for a Cause 2021 is on display throughout the library for the month of September.

MHS Library Orientation 2021

Hey Mepham Pirates! Welcome to the Mepham High School Library. I'm your librarian, Mrs. Stack and I have been teaching here since 2006. I'm glad to be here and I hope you are too! Last year's orientation was virtual, but we are happy to report that we are back in person this year. 

 

 For those of you that missed our orientation, this video is designed to acquaint newcomers to our space and to reacquaint those of you who haven't visited our space in a while. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! 

Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.

Join us in the Mepham High School Library to celebrate the right to read starting on September 27th!

The American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books list has been released. "This year’s list includes titles that address racism and racial justice, as well as those that shared the stories of Black, Indigenous, or people of color. As with previous years, LGBTQ+ content also dominated the list." How many books from this list have you read? 

1. George by Alex Gino
   Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting “the values of our community.”
2. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
   Banned and challenged because of the author’s public statements and because of claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people.
3. All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
   Banned and challenged for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism and because it was thought to promote antipolice views, contain divisive topics, and be “too much of a sensitive matter right now.”
4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
   Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint, it was claimed to be biased against male students, and it included rape and profanity.
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
   Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of the author.
6. Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story about Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin
   Challenged for “divisive language” and because it was thought to promote antipolice views.
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
   Banned and challenged for racial slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a “white savior” character, and its perception of the Black experience.
8. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
   Banned and challenged for racial slurs and racist stereotypes and their negative effect on students.
9. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
   Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse.
10. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
    Challenged for profanity, and because it was thought to promote an antipolice message.

STEAM Cart

We recently purchased this Whitney Brother's STEAM Cart to celebrate the reopening of the Mepham MakerSpace! Woohoo!

STEAM Cart in the Mepham High School Library

"This rolling cabinet features three shelves that each accommodate three Gratnells trays with interchangeable fitted lids. We included a message on the dry erase board on top of the shelves encouraging students to help themselves.

The back of the cart has a top-to-bottom pegboard to keep tools within easy reach, plus a big pocket shelf at the bottom to store large papers, clipboards, and more. The cart also includes an accessory package with ten J-hooks, five red plastic trays, and five spring clips, which all attach to the pegboard (in the back, not pictured).

This cart is mounted on non-marking, heavy-duty locking casters, so we can easily bring it with us wherever it’s needed, even when it’s fully loaded. It’s made of durable birch plywood with a safe, non-toxic, natural UV finish that won't yellow and withstands rigorous use."

This STEAM cart was purchased thanks to a generous donation from Mepham's Class of 1954.

Fall Books 2021

We ordered over 350 books this summer for our September delivery. You can check them out on display in our Mepham High School Library. We have everything from memoirs to science fiction and everything in between! 

The Library is the Place to Bee!

Mepham High School Library Bulletin Board

Our Unofficial Book Club is Offical

The unofficial Mepham High School Book Club is officially official. Yay! Mepham High School students can join our Google Classroom. The code is: 2r7zedd. You can also follow us on Instagram @_mhsbookclub. Our goal is to read 6 books this year. We will pick our first book via a poll on Google Classroom by Wednesday, September 29th for our meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, at 2:15 pm. Mrs. Stack will be able to provide multiple copies of the title - either hard copy, eBook, or audiobook. 

These are the books up for discussion:

Every Day by David Levithan
Summary: Every morning A wakes in a different person's body, in a different person's life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon.

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Summary: After enduring his father's suicide, his own suicide attempt, broken friendships, and more in the Bronx projects, Aaron Soto, sixteen, is already considering the Leteo Institute's memory-alteration procedure when his new friendship with Thomas turns to unrequited love.

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Summary: When the creator of a high school gossip app mysteriously dies in front of four high-profile students all four become suspects. It's up to them to solve the case.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
Summary: Aza Holmes is a young woman navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Summary: Spending the summers on her family's private island off the coast of Massachusetts with her cousins and a special boy named Gat, teenaged Cadence struggles to remember what happened during her fifteenth summer.

Please vote by Wednesday, September 29, 2021 in our Google Classroom. Mrs. Stack will announce the selected book on Friday, September 17, 2021.

UPDATE: The book selected was One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. The club will meet in the library to discuss on Wednesday, October 27th at 2:15 p.m. 

Not Reading? Kinda Sus

Mepham High School Library Bulletin Board

Yo Ho Ho! Welcome Pirates!

Welcome (back) Pirates to a hopefully "normal" school year! Since we had to limit the number of students that entered our doors last year, we are hoping that this year we can resume our normal operations. This means lots of NOISE in our library coming from you! We also want to extend a very special welcome to our Class of 2025! You will find that this school library is a place for all students. The library (room 300) is open from 7:30 AM until 4:30 PM, unless otherwise posted. Students are welcome to use the library during any free period, before, or after school. Many of our new books have arrived - almost 350 of them!

If you want to find out what's going on in the school and in the library you should follow us on Twitter and Instagram? We are @MephamHS! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to stop by and see us. We can't wait to have a great school year with you.

Summer Reading 2021

We made it! Can you believe we made it through this year offering in-person, everyday classes two weeks into the school year during a pandemic? I can hardly believe it myself. And just like that, it's over! Now, we start getting ready for next school year by, you guessed it, READING! Click here to see what summer reading at Mepham High School looks like. 

Creative Submissions for Fragments

Calling all writers and artists! Would you like your work to be considered for publication in this year's issue of Fragments, Mepham's literary and art magazine? We are looking for original poetry, short stories, narratives, or artwork. DEADLINE for submissions is midnight MAY 5th!

The name and photo associated with your Google account will be recorded when you upload files and submit this form.

Mepham's Book Club: Second Meeting

Our second book selection for Mepham's Book Club is The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.

Please reach out to Mrs. Stack if you need a copy of the book. Our next book club meeting is Wednesday, May 26, at 3:30 pm. Mepham students can join our Google Classroom. The code is: 2r7zedd. You can also follow us on Instagram @_mhsbookclub. 

Collections

Follett Collections by Destiny® creates new, collaborative ways for librarians, teachers, and students to share resources across the district or school. We've created a number of collections with books on various topics, such as 9/11, LGBTQIA+, novels in verse, humor, immigrant voices, coming of age, first-person point of view, memoirs, and many others. Students and teachers can access district resources in Follett Destiny Discover®.  Each Collection can include web pages, images, documents, eBooks, and more! Collections can also be shared publicly or kept private. With Collections, teachers can quickly pair content to instruction, and students can collect and curate resources for assignments, projects, and tasks. You do not need to be logged in to access our Collections when you are in the school building. If you would like to create your own Collection, please see a librarian and we will show you how to do it. 

Click on "Collections"

 

Click on "Mepham High School"

These are our Collections

Spring Books

Our last book order for the school year has arrived. Check out our latest titles. This year the Mepham High School Library was able to add more than 529 books to our collection. This includes fiction and non-fiction, and diverse books from authors all over the world. Additionally, we were able to purchase eBooks and audiobooks through Sora for the second year in a row. If you don't see what you are looking for, please ask a librarian for help. 

Bellmore-Merrick Librarians take Digital Literacy to MAP

This past week the Bellmore-Merrick librarians taught the first of four digital literacy lessons to our students in the Meadowbrook Alternative Program (MAP).  Rachel Mathieu-Leo, from Merrick Avenue Middle School, taught the 9th-grade students via Zoom about plagiarism, fake news and misinformation, and digital footprints. Mrs. Mathieu-Leo focused on real-world examples and how these three topics can affect student's daily lives. Next up is Sharon Roccaforte, the librarian from Calhoun High School, who will teach the 10th-grade students this week. Each lesson will build on the previously taught skills. 

Coming up: 

Kristen Mogavero, the librarian from Kennedy High School who will teach 11th-grade students.
Kathryn Belakas, the librarian from Grand Avenue Middle School who will teach 12th-grade students.

The Unknown

Fragments, our literary magazine, is having a writing contest. Submit your original poetry, short story, artwork, etc. on the topic "The Unknown" to win a prize and a chance to be published. All submissions must be submitted electronically. Please email your submission to fragmentsemail@gmail.com. The deadline is March 22, 2021. 

Makiia Lucier's Author Visit

This year's visit with young adult author, Makiia Lucier, took place virtually on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. Lucier discussed her first novel, A Death Struck Year, which takes place in Portland, Oregon, in 1918, during the Spanish influenza epidemic. Seventeen-year-old Cleo leaves behind the comfort of her boarding school to work for the Red Cross. Published in 2016, the cover is hauntingly appropriate for this school year dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 

Lucier also discussed her Tower of Winds series. We have both Isle of Blood and Stone and Song of the Abyss available for checkout in the school library. Lucier answered students' questions on her inspirations, writing, research, favorite books, and gave advice to aspiring writers. We have a digital recording of the visit for any students and staff that would like to watch it. Just send a request to Mrs. Stack.

Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, the Mepham High School Library has a number of books on display from the Schomburg's Black Liberation List for Young Readers. In 2021, Schomburg Center marks 95 years of collecting and preserving Black history, arts, and culture. Additional books are located on the classroom side of the library. All of the books displayed are available for checkout. We were also the recipient of the Hachette Book Giveaway from Overdrive. We received 9 eBooks and 1 audiobook. The titles include:

• 47 by Walter Mosley
• The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by Clayborne Carson
• Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld
• Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
• Proud by Ibtihaj Muhammad
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Stamped--Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
• Stories for Kids Who Dare to Be Different: True Tales of Amazing People Who Stood Up and Stood Out (unabridged audiobook) by Ben Brooks, Quinton Wintor, Jasmine Blackborow, et. al.
• Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Virtual Author Visit

The Mepham High School Library in conjunction with the National English Honor Society will host its annual author visit on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 2:30 pm via Crowdcast. Makiia Lucier is our guest this year and will be discussing her three novels: Song of the Abyss, Isle of Blood and Stone, and A Death Struck Year.

Photo by Jenny Wight Bowles and Haley Bowles

From the author's website:

Makiia Lucier grew up on the Pacific island of Guam and has degrees in journalism and library science from the University of Oregon and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Her books have appeared on many notable lists, including the Kids’ Indie Next, the American Booksellers Association’s ‘Best Books for Children,’ and the American Library Association’s ‘Best Fiction for Young Adults.’ A Death-Struck Year, her debut novel, is set in Portland, Oregon during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. The world of St. John del Mar, in which Isle of Blood and Stone and Song of the Abyss take place, was inspired by a childhood love of the Indiana Jones movies, as well as a lifelong fascination with old, old maps. She lives with her family in North Carolina.

Happy 95th Birthday James Graziano!

One of the best parts of being a librarian and former student at Wellington C. Mepham High School is the fact that I get to be part of the rich legacy that comes with a school being built in the late 1930s. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to meet many of our distinguished alumni. I love hearing about their time here at Mepham with fondness and admiration. Some of them move on to impressive careers, join the Army, move across the country, or start their families right here in Bellmore, New York. Each story is unique and cherished. 

Graziano's Yearbook Photo (taken in January 1944)

James Graziano grew up on Long Island, the oldest of six children. Graziano was set to graduate from Mepham in June of 1944. He would have been the first member of his family to graduate from high school. But in April of 1944, Jimmy was drafted into the army and sent to fight in World War II. 

Graziano in his garnet cap and gown holding his diploma on his 95th birthday

He was sent to Europe as a scout with other American troops following the Battle of the Buldge. Because of his service in both Europe and Japan, Jimmy was never able to attend his high school graduation. This weekend for his 95th birthday, Jimmy’s family surprised him with his cap and gown and his diploma from Mepham High School. Happy 95th Birthday! #onceapiratealwaysapirate

Mepham's Book Club

The inaugural book selected for Mepham's Book Club is Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano. Please reach out to Mrs. Stack if you need a copy of the book. We also have an ebook copy on our Sora app. Our next book club meeting is Wednesday, March 24, 2021 - time TBD. Mepham students can join our Google Classroom. The code is: 2r7zedd. You can also follow us on Instagram @_mhsbookclub. 

Book Return

Thanks to another generous donation by the Mepham Class of 1954, we were able to purchase this library book return. Books will be quarantined in here until it is safe to take them out, check them in, and return them back to the shelves. We always appreciate the donations from the alumni association. They enable us to enhance this space for all who occupy it. 

Mepham Library Book Return

Do you have suggestions for items or books that you would like to see in our library? If so, please share them with us. We value your input and want this library to adapt to the needs of the students, faculty, and staff.

Books for 2021

What's a better way to start the new year than with a new book? We have new (and replacement) books in the Mepham High School Library. Here are our recently added titles so that you can see the new (and old) titles. Please remember that we are still offering curbside delivery for books via this link. 

New Year, New Power

Additional power station

With the new year and school in full swing, we needed more power stations to charge our devices. The Mepham High School Library is the proud owner of our second kwikboost charging station. Now we have a station on both sides of the library. We are always looking for suggestions to enhance our space with items that make your lives easier. If there is anything that you want, please let us know or drop a note in our suggestion box.