Dolphin Newsletter
Wendy McPherson, Principal
Kathy Lancaster, Writer/Editor
Marathon Middle High School
November 1, 2016
Volume 2, Issue 4
Fishing
News
Bigs help Littles in an AVID project to
send toiletries to Haiti. Junior Maggie
Smithbower, right, and seventh grader Devon Fullhart work together.
STUDENTS UNITE TO BE DRUG-FREE
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Marathon High School Keys to Be the Change members and Project Success collaborated to host campus-wide anti-drug activities during Red Ribbon Week 2016, October 24
-28. To celebrate the theme of “You only live once. Be drug free,” Keys to Be the Change
members joined forces with the varsity football and volleyball teams, SWAT club, National Junior Honor Society, the high school leadership class, and Mu Alpha Theta to wear
MHS Red Ribbon Week t-shirts and form the acronym YOLO on the football field.
Tuesday, November 1-December
12—Mel Fisher Maritime Pop Up
Museum “Science of
Shipwrecks” traveling exhibit,
Media Center
With the campus decorated in signature red ribbons, students produced a variety of
events to get their message out. Anti-drug presentations were made to ninth grade students. An informational table was available for students to sign pledges to live drug free,
and a dance party celebration was held at lunch on Thursday. Shirts were provided by All
American T-shirts and local sponsors.
Wednesday, November 2—
Health Careers Club UM Med
School Tour
Tuesday, November 1—SAC
meeting, 6:00 pm
Wednesday, November 2—
College Fair, MMHS Gym, 8:30
am-10:15
Wednesday, November 2—TSIC
New Contracts Signing, 1:30 pm
-3:30
Friday, November 4—ProStart
Culinary Workshop, Johnson &
Wales, 6:00 am-7:00 pm
Tuesday, November 8—National
Honor Society Meeting, 2:30 pm
-3:30
Thursday, November 17—
Culinary Bistro Sunset Dinner,
5:00 pm-7:00
Students spell out “YOLO” to show their commitment to be drug-free. Photo by Karen McKeon.
MORE CLUBS — JOIN IN AND MAKE FRIENDS
Keys to Be the Change
Dr. Christina Belotti, sponsor
Membership is open to students in grades 8-12 wishing to make a positive difference in their
school and community. Members participate in ongoing leadership training and community
service, serve as mentors, develop skills for dealing with conflict, host monthly prevention
activities, create and implement service initiatives around the club’s focuses of homelessness and poverty awareness and assistance in our school and community and supporting
students in special circumstances.
Meetings are every other Tuesday 2:30-4pm in the Success Center with speakers and events
scheduled at other times throughout the school year. Membership is currently closed for this year. There is a wait list for interested students.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Explorers Deputy Derick Velez, Advisor
Marathon 906
The purpose of this organization is to further the knowledge and understanding of Law Enforcement through training and experience, to provide insight into all phases of the Criminal
Justice system as a possible profession, to help create a better understanding between the
Sheriff’s Office and the youth of the community, and to assist in any manner the Law Enforcement and community of Monroe County.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Explorers participate in training and competitions four times a
year including Color Guard and flag presentation for the national anthem before special events. Currently recruiting. Explorers: age 14-21, Jr. Explorers: age 12-13, Cadets: age 10-11.
Health Careers Club
Nurse Lori Denny, Advisor
Junior Medical Reserve Corp
The mission of the Health Careers Club is to educate and encourage Marathon
High School students to pursue a diverse and broad range of health careers
through collaboration with local community health organizations and opportunities to build knowledge and resources as they continue their education.
The mission of the Medical Reserve Corp (MRC) is to engage volunteers to strengthen public health, emergency response, and
community resiliency. The MRC is a national program made up of community-based units that organize volunteers with the
intent to prepare and react to emergencies and encourage healthy practices throughout the year. Junior MRC members will
be involved in educating both peers and community members. Activities may include representation and assistance at local
health fairs and clinics and elderly care facilities. Members can participate in emergency drills or exercises and complete
projects in various areas to improve the community. See Nurse Denny for meeting times.
Nike Club
Dr. Elizabeth Bayerl, Advisor
Nike Club is a high school club sponsored by the Business & Professional Women’s (BPW)
organization of Marathon. BPW of Marathon is a successful fund-raising and service organization that includes many prominent members of the local community. Most of the members are women, though men are invited to be members. The BPW raises many thousands
of dollars each year for charities and scholarships, both for adults and for high school seniors. Each year the BPW offers thousands of dollars in scholarships for graduating seniors at
Marathon High School who intend to further their education. Seniors who wish to apply for a BPW scholarship should speak
with Ms. Cathy Grostefon in the Guidance Office. Nike Club members are given priority in the review process for these scholarships.
The objective of Nike Club is to replicate BPW activities by enabling MHS students to participate in community service activities offered by the BPW and other service organizations locally. Nike Club members volunteer for activities off-campus that
can earn them community service hours.
Nike Club is now seeking high school volunteers for the BPW’s annual Taste of the Islands event, to be held at the Community
Park on Saturday, November 12. See Dr. Bayerl in Room 2218 if you are interested in joining the club or earning community
service points at this exciting event on Saturday, November 12. Officers for 2016-2017 are Alexandra Pabon, president; Oriana Mendez, vice president; Hannah Ziels, secretary; and Noemi Fekete, treasurer.
AMERICAN LITERARY CLASSIC THRILLER DEBUTS
By Kathy Lancaster
Poe Corner, the brain child of Marathon substitute teacher Delcena Fish, hosted its debut performance with Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” in a formerly obtuse area of the school library this week. Viewed by over 540 students throughout the 8-performance run, the popular short
story opened to cheering crowds of middle and high school students—and rightly so. Among critics
who feel the story is indicative of Poe’s mastery of the genre, the story is also often considered to be
one of the world’s most perfect short stories. The story is short and can be read in one sitting. Every
line and comment contributes to the unity of the story. The mood of horror set against the celebratory
nature of the carnival endures undisturbed. And, while seemingly simple, the story abounds in ironies
of many kinds.
The plot is quite straightforward. The first-person narrator, whom we later find to be Montresor, announces that someone named Fortunato has repeatedly insulted him and he vows to take revenge.
Montresor and Fortunato encounter one another one evening during carnival time whereupon Montresor sets his fiendish plan for revenge into motion with the confidence that his deed would never be
discovered. He proceeds to lure his victim to his family vaults with the premise of sampling a newlyacquired cask of Amontillado. Deep in the catacombs of the vault, the drunken Fortunato is tricked
into entering a small niche and is quickly chained to the wall by his captor. Montresor moves swiftly to
seal off his prisoner with stones and mortar to await Fortunato’s entombment alive.
At the opening of each performance, literacy coach Jill Williams introduced the students to Poe, his
works, and the machinations of “The Cask of Amontillado,” challenging students to be alert to examples of irony and duplicity as they watch the production.
The principals in the play, Nancy Smith as Montresor and Delcena Fish as Fortunato, captured the
interest, and often humor, of the audience through dedicated fidelity to the lively tale. Taking over
part of the role of Montresor, various drama club members and other students served as narrators:
Tequoia Walker, Hannah Gracy, Cameron Howe, Grant Gums, Carlie Meehan, Mackenzie Helms,
Kayla Prince, Devyn Wenger, and Micaela Coger. Kathy Lancaster served as producer.
After the play, the principals provided an informal talkback to the students, answering questions
about the plot development and characters’ motives. Ms. Williams followed up, helping students discover the unity—and mastery—of Poe’s use of literary devices such as mood, symbolism, foreshadowing, and psychological complexity.
Through costumes, props, and set décor, Yvonne Fuentes, Elmira Vega, Shannon Migut, Carrolyn Cox,
and Dabney Abbott’s art classes helped form a stark contrast between the carnival merriment outside
and the foresaken catacombs inside, a comment on Montresor and, perhaps, upon Poe himself.
Top: Deep in the catacombs,
Montresor (Nancy Smith),
trowel in hand, is ready to
wall Fortunado (Delcena
Fish) into a musty grave.
Bottom: Jill Williams explains literary devices in the
story to the student audience.
Left: Poe’s mastery of
literary techniques led to his
reputation as master of the
short story.
Images and graphics by
Kathy Lancaster.
To receive community and
school announcements,
email Michelle Franck at
michellefranck777
@gmail.com
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