By Cheryl Bayo
School Counselor
How do we stay connected in a world that requires disconnection?
We are walking into the rest of the school year with our students at home, and are trying to comprehend the uncertainty of when life will return to some semblance of normal.
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By Mrs. Lisa Marie Ferry
Dean of Students
Today, I am going to share some great strategies for staying organized with your online learning while dealing with all the distractions of being at home.
I have a lot of experience with online learning. I have not only had to teach online classes now and prior to teaching at MMI, but also I was also an online student for a while. So, from experience on both ends, here are some strategies:
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By Cheryl Bayo
School Counselor
“When a child is at their most unlovable is when they need the most love.”
It can be very hard to find the small positives in a world that is hectic for us and our students, especially with the rigorous academic challenges at a school like MMI. The pre-teen and teenage years are full of opportunities for children to express themselves in both positive and negative ways. The impact of a positive relationship between a child and parent (or other adult) has an effect on how they handle the choices they make. Rewarding students, even for the smallest positive, with the greatest reward of all-our time and attention – can have a big impact on how they think and react to many choices and obstacles.
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By Lisa Marie Ferry
Dean of Students
Hi Everyone! ‘Tis the season for holiday food, joy, celebrating the end of the year and yes, the dreaded semester exams. This time of year is stressful enough, so it is important to try to reduce stress and any anxiety about taking those end of the year tests and exams.
So, what to do? Never fear! Mrs. Ferry has some ideas for students to try. First a bit about studying and relieving that stress:
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By Cheryl Bayo
School Counselor
Middle School and High School are prime time for social conflicts.
The term “bullying” is used frequently in situations where one person feels as though another is not being nice to them. In reality, “bullying” is a recurring pattern of unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves real or perceived power imbalance. Parents might ask themselves, “How do we determine if an interaction rises to the level of bullying?” “How do we help our students navigate difficult situations?” and “What consequences should be given to the bully?” These can be challenging questions to answer.
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By Grete Floryshak
History and Geography Teacher
I love exploring local history with my freshman classes. We are fortunate to live in northeastern Pennsylvania, especially when it comes to learning about economic and labor history, because of local sites like Eckley Miners’ Village as well as people who have preserved the details of their lives for future generations.
The ninth graders learn about kids their age in a historical context. Presidents and wars are important facets of our past, but so are the ordinary people just trying to go about their lives. Comparing themselves to a nineteenth century breaker boy (coal sorter), who was sometimes as young as six years old, or a garment worker, who was often a teen girl working six twelve-hour shifts a week, gives new perspective to the relative ease of our lives now.
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By Cheryl Kavinski Bayo
School Counselor
At MMI students are held to a rigorous academic standard which requires diligence and hard work. In the past, formal study skills may not have been “taught” or “needed,” but the good news is that they are not hard to implement.
The effort it takes to implement good, practical study skills is far less than the anxiety and pressure of feeling like you can’t keep up or feeling overwhelmed as academic expectations pile up around you. This only fuels the typical preteen and teenage feelings of insecurity and self-doubt that threaten to keep students from realizing their capabilities.
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By T.R. Laputka
Director of Technology
On Thursday, March 7, 20 students and two parents from MMI embarked on a nine-day educational tour of China. Coordinated by Education First Tours, some of the major stops included Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai. The tour was led by T.R. Laputka and chaperoned by MMI faculty members Christina Spencer, Michael Mele, and Christine Lizbinski.
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By T.R. Laputka
Director of Technology

Over spring break, sixteen MMI students, four parents and three faculty members traveled to the British Isles for an incredible educational tour. Coordinated by Education First Tours, the trip took them through Dublin, Belfast, Derry, Edinburgh, London, and many other locales. For most of the students this had been the first time they had traveled to Europe. T.R. Laputka, MMI technology director; Michael Mele, Science Department Chair and Science instructor; Christina Spencer, Chinese Language teacher; and Jaime of Education First Tours led the private group.
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By Sydney Karpowich
MMI Senior
The Pennsylvania School of Global Entrepreneurship (PSGE) has ignited my entrepreneurial spirit and helped me expand on business ventures I am involved in, as well as sparked creativity to develop other business ideas. I have been working on an idea to develop a free women’s self-defense organization to combat rising abuse rates against local women. Additionally, I am currently working with a team of four girls on an iDeX pitch, featuring an app that allows users to more effectively medically diagnose themselves at home.
For my company project at PSGE, I was on a team with six other students to work for Soltech Solutions. The company produces grow lights that not only allow plants to flourish indoors, but also increases the ambiance of one's space. Our job was to create a new marketing campaign for the company and increase sales to other businesses.
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By T.R. Laputka
Director of Technology
Eleven MMI students, three parents and two faculty members traveled to Italy during spring break 2017 for an educational tour. Arranged by EF Education Tours, the tour took them through Milan, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, and many other towns. For most of the students this had been the first time they had traveled to Europe. T.R. Laputka, MMI technology director, and Michael Mele, Science Department Chair and Science instructor, led the private group.
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By Allison McGeehan
MMI Senior

When I first joined FBLA three years ago, I had no idea how much of an impact it would have on my life. Just entering my freshman year of high school, I really didn’t know much about FBLA, other than the fact it was a club to add to my résumé, and it focused on business, a topic that I was beginning to think about pursuing in the future. Flash-forward to sophomore year when I participated in the competitive event of Business Communications and was fortunate enough to qualify to compete at both the State Leadership Conference in Hershey and the National Leadership Conference in Chicago. At this point, I was well aware of the benefits and opportunities being a member of FBLA provided me, not just in terms of business education, but in developing leadership qualities and having the opportunity to network with motivated students and professionals from around the country.
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By Garrett Kost
MMI Junior

At MMI, we pride ourselves with practical and useful knowledge through application both in the classroom and in real life. But little do we actually get to test the latter. For me, a student of the German language and culture for three years, the ability to try out my skills is limited to my class or those rare occasions where one can speak in German a little or barely at all. In my opinion, one can study a language for many years, but until you use it in conversation with a native speaker, you could never even think of becoming fluent. Finally, my chance came with this trip. While there, I could practice my skills and see how well I do.
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By Taylor Peluso
2016 Class President

When I started at MMI in the 7th grade, graduation seemed like a far off milestone. Today, it’s just 6 short months away! Hard to believe that the college application process is complete and next year at this time, I’ll be wrapping up my first semester in college.
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By Justin Vincent
Computer Science Instructor
Technology has drastically changed our society in the last 20 years. The ease with which we can now access and distribute information is unprecedented and it has fundamentally impacted the way we live our lives and, more specifically, educate our children. The online resources available for students and teachers are astounding and the speed with which we can communicate is amazing. From learning management systems, to video tutorials and lessons, to online assessments, to virtual field trips, technology has given us the ability to engage students in new and exciting ways every day.
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By Madison Below
School Counselor
Learning good study habits in middle school assists students well into their high school years and beyond. By understanding how to manage time, information, and materials, students gain the skills they need to be organized, efficient learners who have a toolkit of strategies for completing their homework on a nightly basis. This leads to them being better equipped to tackle assessments in the classroom and can reduce test anxiety while increasing confidence and competence.
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By Lisa Ferry
Art Instructor
Ah, it's finally summer. Time to kick back and enjoy the nice weather, finally. What better way to do that than to grab your tunes, a beverage, and for me, my sketchbook, paints, and canvas.
With no pressure from classes, grades, or getting up early (yes, us teachers feel the same as you students), I can experiment with techniques with no time constraints.
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By Jason Tribbet
Athletic Director
If you listen closely, kids everywhere are cheering as summer vacation is underway. After a long school year, it’s finally time to sleep in, lie on the couch, play video games, and watch television… right? While everyone needs to relax a little and catch their breath from all the hard work the school year brings, staying active and exercising should be part of everyone’s daily routine throughout the summer.
It is recommended that kids get 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Studies have shown that physical activity improves brain function and can help students improve academically. So now that school is out and we no longer have physical education classes to help us stay active, how can we prevent kids from becoming sedentary?
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By Tim Garvey
Science Instructor
One of my favorite songs growing up when I was a kid was called Summertime. It’s summertime…summertime…sum…sum…summertime!
For me the key word being “time.” As a student and teacher of Physics, we talk a lot about what time is and how it is measured. We have created many different types of clocks to measure it. We have also learned from Einstein, that time can be experienced in a relative way. One of the neat things about the world we live in is that nature allows us to measure time in many different ways in a daily manner and seasonal manner.
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By Michael Mele
MMI Science Instructor

Class begins at 5:45 A.M., so don’t be late! I show up for class long before my students do. Not literally, of course, but my mind is already running in teacher mode from minute one. The first thing I do is check my phone for email messages. You know, every now and then, something strikes a student as urgent at 2:15 A.M. I need to be ever vigilant!
Then I go to the news and my mind is already meshing the events of the morning with my biology, anatomy, and marine science classes. Viruses are, of course, a hot topic and I think of how the morning’s news can be integrated into the classroom. What are students’ concerns? How can I make the world around them make sense to them in relation to what we are doing? In marine biology, it’s “why a horseshoe crab’s blood could save your life” and in anatomy it’s “guzzling milk might boost your risk of breaking bones.” There’s always something to give significance to what we do in class; you’ve just got to have your eyes open.
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