Principal's Message
To honor our Veterans, our FFA students have put together a video to be shared in Homeroom on Monday. Our FFA has been responsible for producing the Veterans Day assembly over the past few years. I appreciate their willingness to step out and serve the school community in this way.
As fall sports wrap up, we look ahead to winter sports. Girls bowling has already started and wrestling and basketball begin on Monday, November 15th. There are COVID protocols that must be followed to participate. More information about winter sports can also be found later in this newsletter.
I hope you are staying warm on these cold nights. If you are not, or you know of a Meridian family who might be struggling, please let our counselors know. They can help provide some direction to get support.
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Go Trojans.
- Derek O. Forbes
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Winter is Coming!!
Winter sports are almost upon us!
Starting 11/1 we will have girls bowling.
Starting 11/15 we will have Boys and Girls Basketball and Boys and Girls Wrestling.
In order to participate in Wrestling or Bowling athletes must be either fully vaccinated, or be willing to test for covid twice weekly. Permission slips are needed for unvaccinated students to be tested.
Go Trojans!
Happy Veteran's Day
Veterans Day, originally celebrated as Armistice Day, was first issued on November 11, 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson a year after the end of World War I. The purpose of Armistice day was to honor the fallen soldiers of The Great War for their sacrifice and bravery. 7 years later in 1926, Congress adopted a resolution requesting President Coolidge issue annual proclamations on November 11, making Armistice Day a legal holiday.
In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans rather than just the ones who died in World War I. He led a delegation to General Dwight Eisenhower, who was all for the idea. Weeks then conducted the first Veterans Day celebration in 1945 in Alabama and every year until his death in 1985. In 1982, he was honored by President Reagan with the Presidential Citizenship Medal. Weeks was also named the “Father of Veterans Day” by Elizabeth Dole.
Ed Rees, the U.S. Representative from Emporia, Kansas, presented a bill establishing the holiday through to congress. Eisenhower, who was now President and also from Kansas, signed the bill into law on May 26, 1954, 8 and a half years after Raymond Weeks held the first Veteran’s Day. A few weeks later, June 1, Congress amended the bill replacing “Armistice” with “Veterans.” The National Veterans Award was also created in 1954, first received by Congressman Rees for his support in making Veterans Day a federal holiday. Though the holiday is currently and was originally celebrated on November 11, the day was moved to the fourth Monday of October in 1971 due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. However, only 7 years later in 1978, it was moved back to November 11.
We thank all Veterans everywhere for their service! Especially the ones that are MHS Alumni and Laurel Community Members! Happy Veteran's Day!
MHS HISTORY MOMENT - WORLD WAR II AND MHS
The most visible effect of the war on our school was the addition of a little tower on top of the school building. This tower was called the observation post, but most people referred to it as the watch tower. Every hour of the day or night you would find a student, teacher, or community member, taking the post to observe and report to the filter center in Bellingham, all planes seen or heard. These volunteer workers were under the direct supervision of the United States Army. Student volunteers, would be assigned hour long shifts during the school day. Staff and community member would fill the other shifts. This constant observation may have seemed of little importance, but if any one observer failed to report a plane, and it happened to be an enemy plane, destruction of property and loss of life might occur before this plane was spotted and reported by another observer. This aircraft warning observation post was one of the many thousands that were all over the United States. They felt, at the time, that having responsible observers across the nation could help prevent enemy bombings.
Meridian Students were like many students across America during this time. They were proud to be able to do whatever they could do to promote the war effort. They took part in observation post duty, fuel oil rationing, food rationing and took first aid courses.
Keeping the school buses running proved to be quite a problem. There was fuel rationing during the war, which caused the school to be aware of the gas usage and the wear and tear on the tires(since it was hard to get tires with the rationing). It was decided that the buses would only leave the garage for the usual bus runs. There would be no other transportation. This caused some events to be cancelled or changed.
Many Meridian students and alumni were in the military during World War II. Some students left high school to participate in the war. We thank them for their service.
*The picture next to the article, was drawn by a student for the 1942 yearbook.
Attendance Information
Being present in class is vital to be successful in school. We want to encourage all of our students to be at school every day! If you are missing school, you are missing out on learning!
MHS Building Entrance
Class of 2022 Parents:
Hey senior parents, get connected to other parents in this grade by joining the Facebook Group "Meridian High School Class of 2022." Also, for upcoming announcements pertaining to the class of 2022, please email meridianhs2022@gmail.com and include the following information:
Your Name:
Seniors Name:
Email:
Phone Number
MHS Points of Contact
Andy Donahue, Assistant Principal: adonahue@meridian.wednet.edu
Cheryl McBride, Counselor A-J: cmcbride@meridian.wednet.edu
Don McMains, Counselor K-Z: dmcmains@meridian.wednet.edu
Tami McMains, Attendance: tgmcmains@meridian.wednet.edu
Robin Brinkman, Registration: rbrinkman@meridian.wednet.edu
Chromebook Tech Support: chromebook@meridian.wednet.edu
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