Interview by Lucas Dehelean and Alex Murray
The Falconer: What do you think about the homeroom block and is it useful for your students?
Ms. Purdy: I have mixed opinions, its beneficial to me as an advisor so that way I can run meetings for clubs and organizations that I advise during that time it's also advantage because it gives me an opportunity to work with students who need help however I do think it's difficult for some students to stay at an academic task for 85 minutes at the end of the day. When they've completed their academic work.

The Falconer: What do think about Mr. Balestracci leaving?
Ms. Purdy: I think anytime there is an administrative change there is a period of transition that requires flexibility, cooperation, and patience. I've worked with Mr. Balestracci as a colleague and most recently as a member of his faculty, he will be sorely missed on many levels. I appreciated his leadership style because he was approachable and had an open door policy, he was also very dedicated to all members of our school community.

Interview by Emily Doolan

The Falconer: Where did you go to school?
Mr. T: Sandwich High School. I was class of 1984. 

The Falconer: Did you go to college for music?
Mr. T: I did. I’ll tell you my little life story here; if it’s not too boring and you don’t fall asleep. I graduated from Sandwich High School, class of ‘84, I went to 4 C’s for 1 year, got some credits, didn’t know what I was doing, but I had joined a band and they were all going to Berklee so I said, ‘Hey, I’ll go to Berklee too.’ Problem was, I played sax badly and I had just picked up a guitar but I wanted to go for guitar, so I started working really hard on guitar and then after a year of 4 C’s I took a gap year and in 1986 I went to Berklee College of Music. Graduated 1990, Summa Cum Lade.

The Falconer: So, what inspired you to just go into the music world?
Mr. T: Music was the one art form that really, really inspired me. When I heard music I knew there was something under the hood that was just really cool, something more to it than just enjoyment of music, there was something going on, I was like, ‘Aw man, I love that.’ And I would listen to the songs over and over again and it was the Beatles early, and then a lot of groups like that. And then playing in High School band, I loved my teacher which you’re probably going to ask me why I’m a teacher and we’ll get to that in a second but music was just special to me. And we had a famous opera star, Tatiana Troyanos, in our family, so that inspired me too. I thought maybe I could be, not famous, but maybe have a connection to music the way she did.

By Sadie Biehl and Ava DeSimone
With the prospect of changes to the Mashpee Middle High School schedule, a committee of teachers from within the school has been organized to collect feedback on the new schedule to make an informed recommendation to the school committee as to how the schedule should be handled in the future.

Students will pick their classes in late March as usual, but it will likely be an open question whether the school will have longer blocks again next year.

At the beginning of last school year, Mashpee Middle High School implemented a brand new schedule to better accommodate safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. As students and staff adjusted to the new schedule, many benefits were noticed as well as issues that need to be addressed. 

Prior to the pandemic, the schedule followed a seven day rotation where students attended six of their classes and dropped one class each day. Most of the class periods hit around the 52-minute mark, with one class known as “long block,” which lasted an hour and ten minutes.

Now, the school is using a block schedule, where students attend their first four classes on A days, and their second four classes on B days. These classes are much longer than before, lasting 85 minutes each. Because MMHS students only take seven classes per year, the new schedule has allowed for students to have a study block on B days during period eight.

Interview by Jaya Merkman 
The Falconer: So, what is it like to be an athletic trainer?
Mr. Muse: It's really awesome! It's very…I think the word I would use is rewarding because I think I see students when they are super excited to do their sport and I'm here to help the students. They are very appreciative of the work that I do and they are all very kind and so it makes my job very easy because it doesn't feel like coming to work everyday because I'm just coming to hang with friends basically. Like I'm coming to see friends and help people and it's pretty easy. For me anyway.

The Falconer: That's awesome! I love that you like coming here and seeing us and helping us! Next question, Where did you go to college? Or like what did you major in?
Mr. Muse: I went to the University of New Hampshire and I majored in athletic training. I got my bachelors degree, athletic training is now a masters program, but I graduated two years before that transition or I think a year or two before that transition happened to masters so I got my bachelors. 

By Sadie Biehl
On Tuesday, November 23, the flag of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe was raised for the first time in front of Mashpee Middle High School. A number of tribal students, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Chair Brian Weeden, leaders of the Mashpee School District as well as the Town of Mashpee, and other members of the community attended to witness the raising of the flag.

The ceremony in front of MMHS was the final flag raising to take place throughout the school district, following recent parallel events in front of the Kenneth C. Coombs and Quashnet schools. The Mashpee School Committee won a prestigious national award last year recognizing the strength of its partnership with the Mashpee tribe.

Interview by Maile Biehl

After fourteen and a half years, Mr. Balestracci, Mashpee Middle-High School principal, is leaving Mashpee and departing to Fairhaven Public Schools to take a new post as Assistant Superintendent. Mr. Balestracci has served MMHS as a teacher and an administrator since 2007. This year marks his seventh year as principal. He took on the role in 2015 after serving as Dean of Students for grades seven to nine for a year. He started as a teacher and taught senior seminar and law along with history. Mr. Balestracci agreed to sit down with The Falconer to share some of his thoughts as he prepares for his final days at MMHS.  
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The Falconer: What has been your favorite thing about working in MPS?
Mr. Balestracci: That's a tough one, there's been a lot of great things. First and foremost, you guys as students. The students here are amazing. They are unique, they are just a special group of kids. Students past and present are really my favorite things. It's just working with you guys, building relationships and trying to do the best I can to give you strong experiences and good opportunities. I really am thankful for our staff and our families that I have had the privilege to meet and work with in my time in Mashpee. If there was one thing that is really my favorite, it would be the students, staff and families and being able to interact and work together to make it the best experience it can be.

By Maile Biehl
As school comes to a close and summer starts, many students look into getting a job if they don't already have one. With desires for money, relationships, and connections, many students have gone out into Mashpee’s local businesses seeking employment.

This summer, many businesses that remained closed last summer are starting to open back up. With COVID regulations lifted, many places are starting to get back to normal. The restrictions due to the pandemic were lifted in Massachusetts at the end of May, which means that places no longer have the strict limits that they did previously. As people look ahead at the jobs scene this summer, has anything changed, or have most things remained the same? 

Seven Mashpee Middle-High School students were asked about where they work and eleven jobs were named. While many students only work one job, many work two different jobs, splitting their time between working, and being with friends.  Some of these places included restaurants, retail stores and athletic clubs.  Many of these places are located in Mashpee Commons and in New Seabury.  

The Falconer: Interview by Sadie Biehl
Mr. MacDonald is the Dean of Students for grades 10-12 here at Mashpee High School. He is retiring at the end of this year so The Falconer wanted to ask him a few questions about his career, this past year, and his plans for retirement.

The Falconer: Can you tell me about your career leading up to working in Mashpee?
Mr. MacDonald: Sure, thirty years ago I started out in a grants funded program at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School. The grant funded program had to do with working with adults and trying to locate them jobs. Retrain them, and find them jobs. Once I got into Cape Cod Tech, I ended up making relationships with the superintendent and the principal. When a physical education job opened up, they ended up hiring me for Physical Education, which is my degree, Health and Physical Education. So, I was there for maybe seven or eight years. Then, I went back to school and got my license as a school administrator. Then, I got a job at Nauset Regional High School as an Assistant Principal, where I worked there for almost eight years. I was looking for another opportunity, and somewhere along the line I met Mr. Ballestracci. He was becoming a principal at the same time I was and we just happened to hit it off. He had said to me that if I was ever interested, to see if there was ever a position open to look him up and see what was going on. So things didn’t work out at Nauset High School the way I thought they would, so I met up with Mr. Ballestracci and we had a great talk. A position opened up here, the Dean of Students position, so I came and interviewed, he hired me, and I have been here ever since.

By David Kelley
Graduation is just around the corner.

The seniors at Mashpee Middle High School have already left and are no longer attending classes. Now pretty soon they will be coming back for what may be the last time.

The class of 2021 is set to graduate on Saturday, June 5 at 10:00 AM in a tent outside at MMHS. Graduation typically lasts about 90 minutes.

"The class of 2021 has experienced an entire year under this pandemic," Principal Balestracci said in an email to The Falconer. "They have persevered, been resilient, and have taken on this challenging experience very well. Superintendent DeBoer has been advocating for a full senior experience, and through her outstanding leadership, we are able to provide that to the best of our ability. Being able to hand out the diplomas this year is very special for this class."

By Ava DeSimone
Now that most Mashpee Middle High School students have returned to in person learning for the remainder of the 2021 school year, it has been a big change. Although there is excitement about seeing friends and being able to learn somewhat normal in a classroom, there is also some anxiety for students. The six feet distance that was followed during hybrid learning, has now become three feet. With more students in the classroom and less distance between, is this something that should cause worrying?

District Covid-19 Health Coordinator Stacey Schakel has had a prominent role throughout the return to school full time and since the start of the pandemic. She is in charge of tracing close contacts along with keep track of many of the Covid regulations the schools must follow. With the thought of mostly everyone being back in school full time in over a year, I could sense the anxiety that would come along with it, which is the main reason that I reached out to our health coordinator.