Wit's End . . . notes from the principal

We are now well into the school year and I hope things are beginning to settle for each of you. Some of you made your return to high school with your oldest or only daughter, a new member of the Class of 2012. For others, you may have brought in a younger daughter as a new ninth grader, having just moved a Mercy graduate to her dorm at a university. She too will be a member of the Class of 2012. Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes! (homage to Bowie).

We, who work in schools, welcome a new group each fall. Education is one of the few career paths wherein each of us gets a year older on our own birthday and yet our clientele always remain the same in age. It presents some interesting challenges but it also ALWAYS includes some wonderful revelations and insights.

Each year, Beloit College in Wisconsin, publishes its Mindset List, a collection of 60 or so random facts that provide a snapshot of the world’s view of the incoming class of freshmen. I’ve chosen to share a few details which made the cut.

# 2. Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.

# 7. Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.

# 9. Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.

# 28. IBM has never made typewriters.

# 33. The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.

# 40. Balsamic vinegar has always been available in the U.S.

# 44. Caller ID has always been available on phones.

# 48. Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.

# 55. 98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.

Rather than react by moving to the nearest rocking chair, I invite you to join me in celebrating how magically the world changes for all of us who are along for the ride. Have a great year and a great journey!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Carolyn Witte, Principal

Mercy MOMENT of the Month

WELCOME, MERCY!

Welcome picnic, welcome assembly, welcome back to class!742students filled the Auditorium on September 3rd for the opening school prayer service. Applause abound for176Freshwomen,27transfer students, and4 new staffwho joined the Mercy family.

The Counseling Department just grew by two. Frosh Counselor Mrs. Trish Brown andCounselorMs. Blaise Wooten were welcomed withplenty of cheerswhile being introduced on stage with fellow newcomersMrs. Terry Shaw, Latin Teacher, andMrs. Hallie Smith, Yearbook and Social Studies Teacher.

Help us welcome even more Mercy girls to our fantastic school!Spread the good word about our upcoming Mercy Open House, November2 from 1pm - 4pm. Contact mpstirling@mhsmi.org for more admissions information.

Mothers Club

Step into style and snag some fabulous fall fashion finds at the Mothers Club Annual Fall Boutique and Fashion Show Sunday, October 26th at the Shenandoah Banquet, Golf, and Conference Center in West Bloomfield.

Don't miss thisvery special event whichincludes tasty food fare, raffle, fashion show, and plenty of shopping! Doors open at 10am. Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door. Contact Nancy Maxwell at nhmaxwell@aol.comto purchase tickets.

ALL MERCY MOMS are invited to join us for our nextgathering October6th at 6:30pmin the Media Center.

DadsClub

Get readyto ride and have a roller-coasting good time at the annual Dads and DaughtersCedar Point trip on Saturday, October 11.Bus will have plenty of snacks andflicks and will leave from Mercy at 9am. Click here for more information and to download the sign up sheet.

YEE-HAW! The Dads and Daughters BARN DANCE is set to square off on Saturday, November15th at Lazy J Ranch in Milford. Thefestivitiesbeginat 8:00pm and cost is $30 per couple. Click here for more information andto download the sign up sheet.

Contact Tom Fields at 248-865-9074 or tfields2004@comcast.net for more information about these events.

ALL DADS are welcome at our next meeting October7 at 7:00pm in the Cafeteria.

Guess What?

112 students took 159 Advanced Placement Exams in May 2008. 76% scored a 3 or better! And get this, 17 out of 18 students scored a 5 on the U.S. Government and Politics AP Exam. Whoa!

Looking Good and Getting Even Better!

Mercy had quite a summer makeover -fresh paint and carpet, new desks, additional data projectors, new bus, electronic library collection, repaved sidewalks, andadvanced computer labs!

Plus you've hopefully taken advantage of the two new innovative programsbeing offered to students and parents this school year.

The Mercy Cafe is going cashless! Students will have the option of using their Mercy student ID card as a pre-paid debit account in the Mercy Cafe. CLICK HERE for all of the information. If you have any questions about this program, please contact the Mercy Cafe Director Anne Hallberg at 248.893.3536 or annehallberg@iammorrison.com.

Have a question about technology? Just ask AL! Atomic Learning is an online resource for software training and is now available to Mercy students and families in school and at home throughout the school year. CLICK HERE for all the details, including username and password,and visit atomiclearning.com.

WAIT . . .there's much, muchmore!The Mercy High School Capital Campaign Investing in Excellence - Building Mercy's Future outlines a strategicvision for the next generation of Mercy. Enhanced science labs, facilities renovations, curriculum and college planning, endowment growth, and an additionalathletic field. Check your mailbox in the upcoming weeks for your personal invitation to participate and make a difference inMercy's future.

Coming soon . . . buildingmercysfuture.org!

Counseling Corner

All Mercy students and parents are invited to attend theBloomfield Hills School District College Night on Monday, October 6th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Andover High School. CLICK HERE to view the over 100 colleges and universities represented (pdf).

Senior Parents - Save the date for Senior Parent Night Thursday, October 2 at 7:00pm. The college application season is here! Counselors gave an extensive presentation on the college application process to the Class of 2009. Topics included how to obtain applications, what information is needed, when to submit, and how to track the status of an application. View the powerpoint by clicking on the Counseling Web Site left side bar Shared Files. There's more news! CLICK HERE to read the entire counseling senior class parent newsletter (pdf).Keep an eye on your e-mail inbox for further communications.

Freshwomen Parents - Catch up on ninth grade news! CLICK HERE to read the first issue of the monthly newsletter exclusively for freshwomen and their families.Keep an eye on your e-mail inbox for further communications.

Counselor Contact Information - 9th Grade, Trish Brown (tmbrown@mhsmi.org), 248.893.2431; 10th - 12th Grades, (A - G) Blaise Wooten (bmwooten@mhsmi.org), 248.893.3513, (H - O) Arpna Hessler (abhessler@mhsmi.org), 248.893.3517, (P - Z) Kristen Casey (kkcasey@mhsmi.org), 248.893.3526; Administrative Assistant, Jennifer Burek (jlburek@mhsmi.org), 248.893.3541.

Mercy TECH TALK

Welcome to the first installment of Mercy Tech Talk. In this space we hope to help educate and inform our Mercy community on both support and integration of technology in our school. Mercy ison the forefront of bringing technology to the classroom with one of the first ever one to one computing programs for an all girls private school in the USA. It is our goal to use technology to enable all types of learning abilities and bring the excitement of collaborative learning to our classrooms. This does not mean there won't be bumps on the road, but the Mercy Information Technology (IT) Department is here and ready to support the school.

New 2710p Tablets - This year's incoming 9th graders were required to purchase the HP 2710p Tablet/Laptop. This unit is similar to the previous HP devices that it replaced (TC4200 and TC4400), but sports a new sleek silver design, along with a redesigned auxiliary or travel battery that is now flat instead of wedge shaped. This new unit is alsoover1 lb. lighter than the previous models with the auxiliary battery attached.

With this year's 9th grade class, over 75% of current Mercy students now have their own Tablet/Laptop. Next year Mercy will be a 100% Oneto One school!

Mercy Introduces DyKnow - Another exciting development this year has been the introduction of DyKnow collaborative learning software to our classrooms. Teachers are able tocreate electronic "note stacks" or "slides" with DyKnow that they can then distribute to all of the students in the classroom. Students can take their own notes with the slides and also collaboratively take notes. These note slides can also be saved to the local hard drive and to the DyKnow server where they can be accessed anytime from any internet connected computer running the DyKnow client. DyKnow is already being used in the World Language, Science and Math Departments, with use across all subjects expected to increase by the end of this school year. DyKnow also enables teachers to monitor and lock down student activity on their laptops.

For a full demo of all the exciting things that DyKnowcan do follow this link: http://www.dyknow.com/video/dyknowfeatures/.

Did you know? The Mercy IT Dept. is an HP authorized service center. As long as you are a Mercy student service is provided free of charge (provided the repair meets warranty requirements)12 months a year, Monday through Friday. So even if your Tablet encounters problems over the summer, you can still bring your tablet into Mercy for service. During normal school hours the Mercy Tech Support office is open from 7:30 AM until 3:00 PM. During the summer please call 248-893-3522 to schedule an appointment.

Cambodia Construction

Last school year, the Mercy High Schools of America held various fund and awareness raising events tohelp the Sisters of Mercy rebuild schools in the once war torn and ravaged Cambodia. Through the leadership of the Mercy Emissary at the United Nations, Sr. Deidre Mullen, RSM, and over 80 student representatives from Mercy schools across the U.S., a grand total of $25,000 was raised to build a new school.

Mercy High School Farmington Hills held a jeans day and contributed almost $4,000! With this money, not only will a school be built with plumbing, but also much needed books for the library and other essential classroom supplies will be purchased. The $25,000 check was presented to Sr. Deidre at the Mercy Leadership Conference held this past summer. Mrs. Judi Dennis accompanied student representatives Karen and Kristen Malloure '09, Megan Devine '09, Jenna Mizza '10, and Maura Fitzsimons '10. Construction has begun on the new school! We are so PROUD of our entire MERCY community.

Give Me a M, Give Me an E, Give Me a R, Give Me a C, Give Me a Y!

Go Marlins! Fall sports teams ran, rode, hit, drove, swam, set, and cheered their way to victory.

Cross Country has taken 2nd place in both meets this season while Equestrian galloped their way to 3rd out of 10 in District 1-C. Field Hockey is currently in 1st place and golf is playing superb in all their tournaments. Swim and Dive ruled the waves against Shrine and Loyola while Volleyball has chalked up solid wins against Divine Child and Regina and captured 1st place in the U of M Dearborn Tournament. Pompon took home the 1st place trophy for Original routine at the Mid American's Summer Camp and had 10 members make the All Star team: Alana Siwicki '11; Allison Sarokin '11; Brittany Curran '10; Gabriella Facchini '11; Gina Maffezzoli '10; Kaitlin Zolna '09; Katie Griffin '11; Melissa Novak '11; Olivia Malinowski '11; Sam Wenson '11.

Check out studentandathlete.com for plenty of Marlin sport action, like this sweet swim article. And don't forget to cheer on all our awesome teams!CLICK HERE to view the Athletics Calendar and even get driving directions.

A U C T I O N Action

The Mercy High School Auction needs you to take action! Be a part of the largest parent fundraiser of the year.

These committees still need volunteers - acquisitions, advertising, baskets, bid monitors, calling campaign, display, gift gathering parties, item transportation, mailings. And it's never too early to donate an item or secure a catalog advertisement.

CLICK HERE for more Auction information or contact Special Events Coordinator Linda Conradi at 248.893.3535 or lcconradi@mhsmi.org.

Summer SNAPSHOT of Mercy

You have Mercy mail! Be sure to check your mailbox next month for the new Mercy magazine. A MOSAIC of allthatmakes Mercy . . . Mercy.It will be published twice a year for alumnae, parents, and friends. Also included will be the 2007 - 2008 Annual Report.

SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSPRINT-THE VOICE OF MERCY HIGH SCHOOL! Newsprint is distributed to students at no extra charge 7 months a year, but parents, grandparents and alumnae can also stay connected to Mercy by having this publication delivered directly to your home or place of work. A complete 12-page newspaper filled with everything from school news to world events, exciting features, sports, and entertainment, Newsprint is the source that links the Mercy community to the rest of the world. Support Newsprint's staff of talented young women and enjoy informative and entertaining features by purchasing a subscription to this award-winning, student-produced paper. The price is $17.50 for the year (7 issues). Please send your name, preferred mailing address and email, along with a check for $17.50 (payable to Mercy High School) to the attention of Ms. Lynn Waldsmith. CLICK HERE toread past issues.

THE 2009 LORE YEARBOOK will be on sale October 6 - 10 and November 4 - 7 for $55. Don't wait! Many students who waited to purchase their award-winning copy of THE LORE until Spring were unable to get one. This year name plates will be available to all students. Your daughter can have her name and a custom tag with her graduatuion year or a logo from a sport, club, or activity on her book for an additional $5.

The Oakland County Health Division provides health services for the public, businesses and educational communities. It is a great health resource for parents. Access health information on line by visiting www.oakgov.com/health- click on School Health Services to find health information on topics such as safety, substance abuse, nutrition, and immunizations. They also have a hotline 1-800-848-5533 Ext. 85533 to provide answers to health issues and referrals to community agencies.

Look who is aSweepstakes Drive winner!

Mercy Month Ahead

THANK YOU for taking the time to read the MERCY MEMO. The purpose of this parent newsletter is to inform, enlighten, and entertain.TheOCTOBER MEMO will be delivered to your inbox by October 21.If you have any questions or want to submit information contactjhearle@mhsmi.org.

Want even more? Click the school year calendarand the Mercy web site. And don't miss all of the latest Mercy In The News articles.Check outthe current announcements, view past issues of the MEMO newsletter, andbrowse the home page yellow boxtolink towhat's happening today @ Mercy.