Mount Hebron Middle School — Meet It At The Summit!

If he had all the money in the world, Mt. Hebron Middle School's new principal Guy Whitlock said earlier this summer that he'd pour it mostly into the school's seven science labs.

Whitlock, who took over from Dr. Mark Jennings on July 1, said he's determined to bring the labs into the modern age.

"All labs would be labs of the future and all would be thematic," he said.

With school starting September 13, Whitlock, who used to be an actor, told Patch this past week that he's already well on his way to transforming a traditional and fairly conventional institution into an innovative and cutting-edge facility.

Indeed, the technology and science magnet — with "Meet Us At The Summit" as its new catchphrase — has announced the revitalization of the Robotics Club as well as the commencement of a new Technology Infusion program.

"We are very pleased with the groundswell of enthusiasm and support for the Robotics Club," Whitlock said. "I'm also very excited about the Technology Infusion program that we're instituting this year.

"In addition to the technology instruction that all of our students receive as a core subject in each of the five computer labs attached to their respective Houses, Mount Hebron now has a technology teacher who will spend time co-planning and co-teaching with each Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science teacher in our school," he said. "She will bring a laptop cart containing a class set of laptops to the respective classrooms and infuse the environment with technology, stimulating authentic learning by facilitating the exploration of the specific discipline being studied, through the utilization of 21st century skills and technology."

Whitlock said the program underscores the notion that technology is a tool and in the real world tools are not an end unto themselves — but are brought into the workplace to master a task.

"In this instance the workplace is the classroom, and the task is the facilitation of learning, grappling, and communicating about real world issues and challenges while mastering core standard proficiencies," he said.

Melissa Bigelow, the Mount Hebron PTA co-president along with Walter Springer, said the school is thrilled to have Whitlock at the helm.

She said the school's first fundraiser will be held on Friday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m.

"It is a [adults only] comedy night that will feature two comedians," she said. "It will hopefully be a relaxing evening full of laughs that will raise lots of money for our school."

Like Whitlock, Bigelow emphasized the re-launch of the Robotics program and also noted that Debbie Marsek hopes to roll out an after-school enrichment program in January 2011.

Also coming up in the fall: an Australian dancing concert, a Halloween dance, and school-wide ice cream socials.

"Each grade will have a chance to meet and greet fellow students, parents, and teachers on their own evening in the fall," Bigelow said. "Most of all, we are working to build community at Mount Hebron and to add more programs."