By:Scott Brinton
The two were chaperoning the game, along with a few other colleagues. They had already put in more than 12 hours that day, and they had another hour or two to go before they could head home.
Both teachers maintain rigorous teaching and after-school schedules. Most days, Hollings arrives at Mepham around 6 a.m. to grade tests, write lesson plans and chat with colleagues before teaching a full day of the highest-level classes, including Advanced Placement biology.
Hollings and many of Mepham's 15 science teachers often put in long days. Hollings said, "We have a tremendous staff who truly care about kids and go the extra mile."
Such dedication helps explain how the Mepham science department went from average to elite in just over a decade. In recent years, the department has acted as an incubator for several students' national-award-winning science research projects. In the past three years alone, the department has produced eight Intel science research competition semifinalists. And this year, it scored its biggest victory yet. A junior, Jason Becker, placed fourth nationally in the Siemens Westinghouse research contest.
The accomplishment is astounding, considering that most high schools never boast even one semifinalist in either competition.
At the same time, Mepham science teachers have racked up a slew of honors. Three -- Maitland, Bill Leacock and Anthony Graziano -- have received the RadioShack Tandy national award for teaching. RadioShack honors only 100 educators each year. Last year, Leacock was named a finalist for the state Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.
In two of the past three years, the Central High School District has honored Mepham science teachers -- Hollings and Josephine Parlagreco -- with its Anne Crowley Award. The annual honor goes to one educator who displays dedication to students and makes an extra effort to share his or her teaching knowledge with colleagues.
The list of accolades goes on.
The Herald recently visited the Mepham science department to figure out what makes it so good. The obvious answer is hard work, as well as the close relationships among staff members, who describe themselves more as family members than as colleagues.
The science teachers said -- again and again -- that they felt uncomfortable being singled out in a newspaper article. They said there are hundreds of great teachers in Bellmore-Merrick, and they don't want their colleagues in other departments and schools to feel slighted.
That said, it's hard to ignore the Mepham science department's growing reputation for excellence. During the recent football sex-abuse scandal that riveted Mepham, the department served as a wellspring of pride for students and teachers, who spoke often of its accomplishments as a balm for the negative media barrage that enveloped the school.
subhed: Secrets to success
Success, many of the science teachers said, requires commitment. When school lets out in mid-afternoon, by contract, Hollings and all other Mepham teachers must provide an hour of extra help for students three days a week. Hollings also serves as Mepham's senior class mock trial and internship adviser. She chaperones 15 to 16 basketball games in the winter and an equal number of volleyball games in the fall and spring. In November, she volunteered for the Central High School District's character-education committee. She takes classes to develop professionally. And somewhere in between it all, she eats and breathes.
Leacock, who teaches physics, said, "You kind of accept" the long hours. "It's the nature of the job. There's a tremendous amount of paperwork. You're also dealing with equipment. I don't take much of a lunch. The time just doesn't exist."
The science department also works well because egos don't get in the way, many of its members said. Without exception, the teachers interviewed for this article spoke reluctantly about their own accomplishments. But they willingly touted their colleagues' successes.
It wasn't always that way, however.
Robert Chalmers, who is certified to teach physics, chemistry, biology and general science, began his Mepham career 32 years ago. When he arrived, the department was much different. Teachers didn't always get along. As the new educator on the block, he was treated as an outsider. The older teachers, he said, "basically ignored me. I was left on my own."
These days, however, new teachers aren't left to fend for themselves. Longtime department members willingly give any and all lesson plans to new teachers -- or any teacher, for that matter.
Jeanette Rosello, a first-year department member who teaches biology, said, "You come in and say [to a colleague], What do you have on this topic? Most people are very organized. They say, Here's my stuff."
At times, Maitland said, she borrows a lesson plan from a colleague when starting a course she hasn't taught in a while. The plan will seem familiar. Then she'll realize it's one she wrote a long time ago. Over the years, it's been passed from teacher to teacher, each of whom has tweaked and improved it.
"It's better because everybody's made it better," said Maitland, who has taught biology and psychology at Mepham since 1989 and has been a science educator since 1967.
Science teachers and other colleagues repeatedly described Maitland as the thread that holds the department together. John Didden, Mepham's principal, said, "Laura Maitland is one of the key factors in her breadth of experience and her ability to inspire teachers and students to excel."
Lorri Geraci and Lee Mattes, biology and chemistry teachers, respectively, who also serve as science research advisers with Dr. David Kommor, said their No. 1 goal is to teach students about the scientific process. And in doing so, they help young people get into top-notch colleges and lead successful lives. College admissions officers, they said, value a science research background in an applicant.
"It's not just about winning" research contests, said Mattes.
subhead: Research as a calling
Indeed, serving as a science research adviser is an enormous responsibility, even a calling. Advisers shift into overdrive when students reach their senior year and scurry to prepare projects for the Siemens Westinghouse and Intel contests. In late fall and early winter, when contest applications are due, advisers can be found at the school until 11 p.m., helping students revise essays and put final touches on their presentations.
The long hours can be trying for teachers. It isn't easy balancing work and home life. But Mattes and Geraci said they have "very understanding spouses."
At Geraci's home, there is a rule. Whoever gets home first cooks dinner. And she noted, "Most of the time, it's my husband."
Geraci also said she makes time for her family. She won't allow them to suffer because of her work, she said. "My house suffers," Geraci joked. "It's half painted. We still don't have curtains in my living room."
Parlagreco, who serves as an officer for various science educator associations, put it this way: "When you think something is important, you make time for it." For Parlagreco, both her family and her students are important.
Maitland feels fortunate to lead the Mepham science department. The teachers, she said, love their subject matter, and they care for their students. "We're a very collaborative department," she said. "We constantly motivate each other to become better. We're not complacent. We're not happy with the status quo."
