Reminder - Snow Make-Up Day on Wednesday, April 1st

The Mercer Area School District will hold its make-up day on Wednesday, April 1st. This make-up day is a result of the cancellation on February 19th.

All students and staff are to report.

Athletic Events Week of March 30th

The following athletic events will take place during the week of March 30th:

Monday:
Middle School Volleyball vs. Hickory @ Mercer High School (4:00 p.m. start)

Tuesday:
Softball vs. Slippery Rock @ Slippery Rock (4:00 p.m. start)
Track and Field vs. West Middlesex @ Mercer High School (4:00 p.m. start)

Wednesday:
Baseball vs. Maplewood @ Mercer (4:00 p.m. start)
Middle School Volleyball vs. Jamestown @ Jamestown (5:00 p.m.)

Thursday:
Baseball vs. Sharon @ Mercer (4:00 p.m. start)
Softball vs. Reynolds @ Mercer (4:15 p.m. start)

Mercer Athletes Selected to All-Region Teams

The following Mercer student athletes were selected to their respective All-Region teams for their accolades during the 2014-15 winter sports season:

Boys' Basketball
Region 2; 1st team- Logan Clarke
Region 2; 2nd team- Jonathan Scheidhauer

Girls' Basketball
Region 2; 1st team- Adelyn Cook
Region 2; 1st team- Haylie Glass
Region 2; 2nd team- Aubrie Angermeier

Wrestling
2nd team- 106 lb weight class- Zac King
2nd team- 132 lb weight class- Ben Shaffer

Athletic Events Week of March 23rd

The following Mercer athletic events will take place between March 23rd and March 27th:

Monday
Middle School Volleyball vs. Commodore Perry @ Commodore Perry (4:00 p.m. start)

Tuesday
Baseball vs. Grove City @ Grove City (4:00 p.m. start)
Softball vs. Lakeview @ Mercer (4:15 p.m. start)

Wednesday
Baseball vs. Wilmington @ Wilmington (4:00 p.m. start)
Middle School Volleyball vs. Reynolds @ Reynolds (4:00 p.m. start)

Thursday
Softball vs. Sharon @ Sharon (4:00 p.m. start)

Friday
Middle School Volleyball vs. Reynolds @ Mercer (4:00 p.m. start)

Mercer Speakers Win Big at Pennsylvania High School Speech League State Tournament

On March 20-21st thirteen Mercer speakers travelled to the PHSSL State Tournament at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA. There were over 700 students representing over 130 school districts.  Ten out of the thirteen Mercer speakers advanced into the elimination rounds. Three Mercer speakers won the top prize in their respective categories. Mercer speakers have now won 16 state titles since the program's inception during the 1971-72 season. Prior to last weekend's performances, Mercer had not won a state speech title since 2007.

Adam Hoge and Ryan Hamilton brought home the PHSSL state title in the category of duo interpretation. These two won their event by 8 points over their top rivals from Erie McDowell High School. Their piece was taken from the play "Front Porch Chronicles" by Sydney Ryan. This duo team has now won five tournament championships this season and have qualified to both the Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in May and to the National Speech and Debate Association National Competition scheduled for mid-June in Dallas, TX.

Maddie Rowe brought home the PHSSL state title in the category of prose interpretation. Remarkably, Maddie returned to competing in prose interpretation a month ago after spending most of her 9th grade year in dramatic interpretation. Her piece was taken from the book, Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park. Maddie has placed in the top six at four other tournaments this year. She has qualified to compete in oral interpretation of prose and poetry at the CFL Grand National Tournament in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in May. It should also be noted that Maddie Rowe is the first state champion in the prose event to come from Mercer High School.

Two other Mercer speakers placed in the top four in the state in their respective categories.
Rachel Bish was the recipient of the third place honors in informative speaking. Ian Ollila was the recipient of the fourth place honors in humorous interpretation. Both Ian and Rachel have also qualified to the CFL Grand National tournament in Ft. Lauderdale this spring.

Four other Mercer speakers brought home semifinal awards (top 12 in the state) in their categories.
Kendra Walker- dramatic interpretation
Emily Kirila- impromptu speaking
Mary Hogue- extemporaneous speaking
Andrew Brinker- humorous interpretation

One Mercer speaker advanced to the quarterfinal round (top 24 in the state) in her category.
Abby Grabigel- radio announcing

A Sneak Peak at High School Musical

Here are a few glimpses at the production of the 2015 school musical, High School Musical.

These are the dates and times for the production:
March 26th @ 7:00 p.m.
March 27th @ 7:00 p.m.
March 28th @ 2:00 p.m. and @ 7:00 p.m.

Student tickets will cost $5.00 and adult tickets are selling for $7.00

Members of the 2015 Mercer Boys' Track and Field Team

The folllowing student athletes are members of the 2015 Mercer Boys' Track and Field Team:

Levi Bequeath, Travis Duffield, Austin Hall, Jon-Carl Hostetler, Hunter Kaster, Zach King, Nathan Knopp, Timothy Lang, Noah McLaughlin, David Miller, Kevin Minner, Shawn Moon, Nathan Moore, Zack Peck, Billy Priester, Justin Reno, Josh Robertson, Edward Roman, Marcus Ryder, Christopher Thompson, Hunter West, and Micah Wojnowski.

Best of luck to the members of the Mercer Boys' Track and Field Team for the upcoming season.

Members of the 2015 Mercer Girls' Track and Field Team

The following student atheletes are members of the 2015 Mercer Girls' Track and Field Team:

Rachel Bish, Hannah Bowersox, Katie Brest, Jaime Burdette, Kaitlin Conner, Adelyn Cook, Autumn Coryea, Alexandria Denny, Sarah Evans, Paige Gressly, Tara Hinkson, Alisa Hoffman, Megan Matscherz, Megan Parker, Kayley Patterson, Madeline Rowe, Alexa Stanton, Kate Timashenka, Courtney Young, Emily Young, Nicole Young. 

Best of luck to the Mercer Girls' Track and Field Team for this upcoming season.

Members of the 2015 Middle School Track and Field Team

The following student athletes are members of the 2015 Mercer Middle School Track Team:

Zack Baker, Jenna Blaus, Kevin Chen, Alex Chess, Logan Conner, Sarah Coryea, Casey Covert, Grayson Denny, Brayden Ellis, Todd Ellis, Lucas Erwin, Abigail Evans, Alex Fortenberry, Ella Garner, Megan Hogan, Emalee Hostetler, Hunter Houy, Craig Howard, Nikayla Jacoway, Kyle Kaster, Katie Kirila, Holden Konkle, Seth Koser, Alex Long, Dylan Mattocks, Brandon McAdoo, Anthony McCrea, Darby Miller, Trumell Miller, Keith Minner, Ryan Moore, Cassidy Murray, Asher Myers, Brianna Oehlbeck, Makinley Reagan, Mikayla Redmond, Arielle Reiser, Adrienne Schupp, Aubrey Simcik, Jacob Sirofchuck, Austin Smith, Carly Stabile, Katie Stabile, Zachary Stanton, Ian Taylor, and Kiersten Young

Good luck to the Mercer Middle School Track Team on their upcoming season.

Members of the JV/Varsity Softball Team

The following student athletes are members of the 2015 Mercer JV/Varsity Softball Team:

Aubrie Angermeier, Jordyn Buchanan, Marah Buchanan, Allie Cameron, Jessica Cameron, Samantha Carr, Rachel Chapman, Kayla Eves, Bryanna Fedorchak, Rachel Gerber, Haylie Glass, Aundria Gregory, McKenzie Haight, Sierra Hess, Maggie LaBarge, Kaylla McCullough, Hannah McElrath, Emily McGhee, Cassidy Pears, Briana Romain, Ashley Shoemaker, Melissa Shoemaker, Rebecca Simcik, Kelsey Swartz, and Stephanie Young.

Best wishes to the members of the JV/Varsity Softball Team for a successful season.

Members of the JV/Varsity Baseball Team

The following students are members of the 2015 Mercer JV/Varsity Baseball Team:

Jordan Baker, Kyle Baker, Jordan Boitnott, Nathan Cameron, Logan Clarke, Logan Deitz, Tim Dunham, Brayton Edwards, Spencer Ference, Trevor Ference, Eric Gawne, Jackson Hazelet, Austin Hesselgesser, Quentin Hinkson, Adam Hoge, Preston Hoover, Dillon Johnston, Tom Jones, Garret Kuhn, Ty Porterfield, Connor Richards, Bobby Rickard, Jeremiah Robertson, Brian Roecken, Marcus Ryder, Jonathan Scheidhauer, Kaiden Seelbaugh, and Adam Walker.

Good luck to the members of the JV/Varsity Baseball Team on their upcoming season

Members of the Middle School Baseball Team

The following students are members of the 2015 Mercer Middle School Baseball Team:

PJ Boggs, Carsen Burkhart, Tyler Cridge, Alec Duttry, David Ellis, Dylan Hetrick, Craig Howard, Cameron Kohnen, Jesse Lantz, Dylan Mattocks, Tanner McElrath, Trumell Miller, Joey Prentice, Daniel Schiedhauer, Brian Shevitz, and Noah Speer.

Good luck to the Middle School Baseball Team for their upcoming season.

Members of the Middle School Volleyball Team

The following students are members of the 2015 Mercer Middle School Volleyball Team:

Sierra Atkinson, Nicole Bornick, Taylor Bowers, Jenna Burkhart, Kaylie Cogswell, Casey Covert, Sofia Dorfi, Christa Ealy, Elizabeth Fedorchak, Kayla Glaser, Samantha Jarrett, Brooke Jones, Adrianna Lutes, Krista Mathias, Cassidy Murray, Kaylie Priester, Virginia Reagle, Mikayla Redmond, Kayleigh Rickard, Hannah Ridgway, Kaitlyn Roseski, Katie Stabile, Makala Swartz, and Taylor Yoder

Best of luck to all student atheletes during the season.

Keith DeGraaf Named New Varsity Wrestling Coach

The new varsity wrestling coach for the 2015-2016 season has been announced. Keith DeGraaf will be returning to the head coaching position for the Mercer Mustangs. During this past season, Mr. DeGraaf served as the Junior High Wrestling Coach for the district. Coach DeGraaf brings decades of coaching experience at various levels and organizations.

Students of the Month--March 2015

Each month there are Students of the Month that are selected that best represent positive attributes. Students are nominated by members of the faculty and reviewed by the administration. There are four distinct qualities that the faculty is looking for when nominating a student: honor, respect, excellence, and determination. The follow students were recipients of the Student of the Month Award for the month of February: Sydney Drake (8th grade), Jacob Mosley (9th grade), and Kendra Walker (12th grade). Congratulations to those students for exemplifying those special qualities.