As the 2020-2021 school year rolls around, schools are facing many difficult adjustments. Mashpee Middle High School (MMHS) rewrote the schedule for students to follow in order to best follow COVID-19 guidelines. It has been an adjustment for students and staff alike as a big change has been made.

Notably, one of the biggest changes has been a shift from 50 minute classes to 85 minute classes. In order for MMHS to fit 85-minute classes into its schedule, they shifted to two days known as A and B days compared to the seven-day rotation in previous years. Each day this year consists of four class periods all spanning 85 minutes in order to lower the amount of classrooms and interactions students and staff have. Each A day has periods 1-4 and each B day has period 5-8.

Another major change that has taken place this school year was the introduction of a directed study period for every student that takes place during period 8. In previous years, only certain students would get a directed study period, and this only happened if the student was not enrolled in a class that period. This most frequently happened to students in grades 11 and 12.

The Falconer spoke to a few staff and students to get their opinions and feelings on the new class schedule. 

Interview By Grace Antis
The Falconer was able to sit down with our newest choral teacher, Ms. Mills, for an interview to get to know her and how she's enjoying it here at Mashpee Middle-High school. This is not only her first year teaching at this school, but it is her first year teaching out of college, so she has many bright ideas and hopes for our school that we hoped to get insight on. 

The Falconer: How are you enjoying being a teacher here?
Ms. Mills: I love it! There's lots to love, I say it all the time, every day here it gets better and better. I’m happier and happier.

Falconer: What did you expect coming to work here?
Ms. Mills: Well, because I interviewed here and got to see like administration at first as well as Mr Balestracci, Mr Looney, and Mr T in my interview, it just seemed like they have such individual teaching styles and appreciated the teacher for who they are and the student for who they are. It has lived up to what I was expecting.

By Maile Biehl
​After many years of Mashpee not having a Human Rights Club, in 2019, Ms. Purdy and Mrs. Reynolds decided to open up and run the Human Rights Club.

This year, they have decided to bring back Diversity Day, which was last held in 2013. Diversity Day this year was held on January 24 throughout the school and a presentation was held in the auditorium from 12:00 to 2:45.

Many faculty and staff were involved in organizing Diversity Day, and many students who performed during the presentation for Diversity Day. The many presentations all represented the overarching theme of the diversity in Mashpee and making an effort to celebrate it by holding a Diversity Day.

Students presented songs, dances and speeches about diversity and their immigration stories. The dances presented represented different cultures, including the Wampanoag, Chinese and hispanic cultures.  Along with the student presentations, Mrs. Pamela Chatterton-Purdy presented her story with diversity and the history with creating art to represent many civil rights icons including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., The Little Rock Nine, Emmett Louis Till, Jesse Jackson and The Children’s Campaign.

By Maile Biehl
​The fourteenth annual Mashpee chamber Christmas parade took place on December 7. With the theme this year being “Christmas around the world”, many unique floats were on display.

The parade was kicked off at Deer Crossing in Mashpee with the Colum Cille Pipes and Drums Band from Cape Cod, followed by horses and The Mashpee Middle High School Band performing multiple songs.

Every year, a group in the parade wins Best In Parade and this year, the winner was Quashnet School’s Carousel of Kindness. This award has been a part of the Mashpee Chamber Christmas Parade for many years and each year, a different group or float is awarded.

By Peyton Dauley

Interview by Maile Biehl

The Falconer:  How's your first full year teaching here so far? 
Mr. Ouimet: So far, my first year teaching has been going pretty well. The fact that I got to substitute here and work as a paraprofessional here for the last three years leading up to this has helped a lot with transitioning.  I knew most if not all of my students already before the year started so I did not have to worry quite as much about fitting into the culture here and I have just been able to focus on the academic side of things and lesson planning and all that.  

The Falconer:  What drew you to teaching here rather than somewhere else?
Mr. O:  I think, just the experiences I had substitute teaching the first two years I was here led to me really wanting to stay in Mashpee.  It was just a great community overall. Before working in Mashpee, I was in Wareham substituting for a year at the middle school. I enjoyed it a lot.  That’s kinda where the interest in teaching for me was sparked but it was much crazier, a crazier building and a just, very different atmosphere. So Mashpee was a nice change of pace and I really liked how things are run, how administration handled things and just in general, the student body is just made up of just great kids and great people, just the whole package.  It’s just a good place. 

By Paul Menke
The start of the 2019 school year marked a heightened agenda for Mashpee Middle High School: Eliminating vaping from its grounds. Two powerful anti-vaping messages were delivered by Dr. Jeffrey Spillane and Johnathon Thompson on Sports Night, signifying the start Mashpee Public School’s full-fledged commitment to eradicate student vaping.

The school’s new initiative is in line with efforts by Governor Charlie Baker, who recently signed into law a temporary ban for the sale of all vaping products.

But what steps need to be taken to fulfill the school’s promise? You may have noticed the desks and teachers stationed outside of hall bathrooms during class time recently, but it turns out that they are not recent at all. 

The Falconer: What was your biggest inspiration in becoming a teacher?
Ms. Deborah Vaughn: After being personally involved with the events of 9/11 in my former career, I wanted to do whatever I could to make the world a better place. That’s when I decided that teaching was the career that I could reach and make a difference in many young adults lives so they, in turn, could make a positive impact on the future for all of us.

TF: What was the most enriching class you got to teach throughout your career?
DV: I absolutely loved all of my classes, but if I had to choose one course that I truly loved, it would be AP Language and Composition. It was always like magic to watch students learn to specifically focus on empowering their “voices”, realizing the power of words, and using language in their writing and conversation to have those “voices” heard.

By Peyton Dauley