During the hours of the school day, students find themselves most at peace not cramped up in the classrooms, but rather in their own space with their peers in the hallways and pods. The hallways offer the students a chance to speak freely and sit where they please to conduct their work and learn on their own. The hallways provide a space for students to exercise their freedoms, such as listening to music or discussing and conversing with friends and peers.
However, one obstacle stands detrimental to students who choose to work and travel in the hallways. Since there are rules set in place in the hallways for safety purposes, such as no headphones or hoods in the hallways, one person remains as a barrier to students who choose to disobey and take the gamble to break these rules: our hall monitor, Mick.
Mick patrols the hallways day in and day out, making her rounds trying to spot an earbud or an unsuspecting student with their hood up. There are numerous punishments for those who break the rules and are caught. For those who are caught the first and second time, the headphones are taken away for the school day, and on the third time and following, the students will receive a detention for every offense. As students, we might get frustrated with some of the consequences, but despite the frustration, we still love Mick. Therefore, we wanted to learn more about her.
Known to most as a hall monitor, she is actually a Student Support Liaison to bridge the gap between students, staff, and administration. No Matter what you call her, Mick is a staple of Ipswich High. She is often seen roaming the building and most leave it at that, but by doing that you neglect to learn about her and her years of knowledge and wisdom.
Mick grew up in Beverly and attended a parochial high school, graduating in 1974. Since a young age, she has always known she wanted to be a teacher. When asked how she knew this, she replied “Because I like to teach… I like just trying to show people how to do things or have people show me how to do things so I can do it better.” Mick pursued her dream of being an educator by attending Northeastern for her undergraduate degree and received two master’s degrees from Cambridge College and Salem State.
Mick loves educating children, but her first job was not in a classroom; it was coaching girls’ basketball. Before working at Ipswich, she worked at numerous schools as a coach, such as Salem, NH, Lowell, and Lawrence. This changed in 1981 after being offered to coach at Ipswich with Kiki Papagiotas. It may have started with basketball, but Mick has been involved with numerous athletics at Ipswich, such as coaching basketball and track along with teaching project adventure. Mick is renowned for her ability to teach, being named Massachusetts Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance in 2012. She has also taught science, health, and physical education, Project Adventure, food and nutrition, and relationships health during her tenure.
This long string of events has transpired over a 45-year career at Ipswich. When asked why she still has the passion to come to work, she said: “You see them when they come in, who they are as young adults, young kids, 13, 14, and then grow to be young adults. And hopefully, you’ve done your job to influence them in a positive way, to prepare them for the world outside of Ipswich High School.” This simple goal of trying to better everyone she interacts with is the reason why she is universally loved by staff and students alike at Ipswich High School.
