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June 30, 2025

Talbot Spy

Nonpartisan Education-based News for Talbot County Community

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Saint Michaels Middle High School Earns Maryland Green School Status

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The Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE) announced that St. Michaels Middle High School is one of 58 schools that have been awarded Maryland Green School status. Talbot County now has three Green Schools, Easton Elementary, Easton High, and now Saint Michaels Middle High, representing 57% of the TCPS student population.  Maryland Green Schools have demonstrated a continuous effort to integrate sustainable environmental practices, environmental education curriculum, professional development and community engagement into the culture of the school. Green School certification signifies that these schools have made a commitment to developing stewards of the earth and reducing environmental impact.

SMMHS Science Teachers Gia Ritsvey, Chris Pridgen, and Lauren Greer teamed up with students in various science classes to complete the application and meet all of the requirements in order to be awarded Maryland Green School Status.

William Keswick, Secondary Science Curriculum Supervisor said, “While Environmental Education is an integral component of the TCPS science curriculum, it is fantastic to see SMMHS staff and students take the initiative to earn the Green School Status. The work involved in the application process shows a commitment to conservation and environmental education that extends outside of our classrooms and goes beyond curriculum.”

The Maryland Green Schools Program is nationally recognized program that was started in 1999. Today there are over 582 Green Schools certified in Maryland, over 25% of all Maryland schools.

“The Maryland Green Schools program provides a framework for creating sustainable environmental structures at school, home and in the community. The Maryland Green Schools program has encouraged children to become stewards of Maryland’s environmental resources,” says Laura Johnson Collard, MAEOE Executive Director. “Students are involved in projects that save energy and reduce waste. We encourage teachers use the outdoors as an extension of the classroom.”

MAEOE will celebrate with Green Schools, Green Centers and schools that are interested in knowing more about the program at the Maryland Green Schools Youth Summit on May 18, 2017, at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis.

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Arsenic & Old Lace Starts November 5th at St. Michaels Middle School

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The St. Michaels Middle High School Drama Department proudly presents Arsenic & Old Lace in early November. The play, a clever combination of the farcical and the macabre, centers on two elderly sisters who are famous in their Brooklyn neighborhood for their numerous acts of charity. Unfortunately, however, their charity includes poisoning lonely old men who come to their home looking for lodging. The two women are assisted in their crimes by their mentally challenged nephew who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt and who frequently blasts a bugle and yells, “Charge!” as he bounds up the stairs. Matters get complicated when a second nephew, a theater critic, discovers the murders and a third nephew appears after having just escaped from a mental institution. In his adroit mixture of comedy and mayhem, Kesselring satirizes the charitable impulse as he pokes fun at the conventions of the theater.

Screen Shot 2015-10-28 at 9.31.58 AMProduced and directed by Carol Reed, Arsenic & Old Lace brings a fine cast to the SMMHS stage. Elderly sisters Abby and Martha Brewster are played by Sarah Spittler and Mackenzie Campbell. Their theater critic nephew, Mortimer Brewster, is portrayed by Jacob Wheatley, nephew Teddy “Roosevelt” Brewster is played by Lily Ball, and criminally deranged nephew Jonathan Brewster is played by Ana Yacopino.

May Shaw portrays Mortimer’s fiancée, Elaine Harper and her father, the Rev. Dr. Harper is played by Logan Devaric. Dr. Einstein, an unsavory doctor who arrives with Jonathan, is played by Brad Duley. We also meet a number of the police officers in town – Lieutenant Rooney (Tori Gomez, understudy Cara McCue), Officer O’Hara (Kyla Mullaney), Officer Brophy (John Pettit), Officer Klein (Willie Felgenhouer),and assorted other officers (Kaila Regan, Anna Kabler) – and 2 of the lonely people who are targets ofthe Brewster sisters’ unique brand of charity, Ms. Gibbs (Hannah Bagley, understudy Shae Rowlands)and Ms. Witherspoon (Belle Jones, understudy Anna Kabler).

Performances will be in the St. Michaels Middle High School Theater, 200 Seymour Ave. in St. Michaels. The show opens on Thursday, November 5 at 7 PM, with 2 more performances following on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at 7 PM. Tickets, $5 per person, can be purchased at the door.

More information is available at WWW.SMMHSDRAMA.ORG.

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The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

St. Michaels Middle-High Presents Theater Production: Godspell

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The St. Michaels Middle High School Drama Department proudly presents Godspell! A mega-hit on Broadway, Godspell was radiantly revisited with crisp, new arrangements and an injection of contemporary references in 2012 by its composer, Stephen Schwartz. Audience members will be pleased by the show’s message, while younger patrons will delight in the jokes that may feel a bit more “inside” towards their generation.

This musical is a story about community, especially the best of our small town when it accepts what each member offers. With a story that is already well-known to us in so many ways, this production takes on a particularly familiar feel with its setting imagined in our own hometown. See the SMMHS theater transform into our community, from Talbot Street businesses, to Muskrat Park, to the beauty of the waterfront – cast and crew work together to recreate parts of the town of St. Michaels to bring you a lively version of what a community can do when it works together.

Performances will be in the St. Michaels Middle High School Theater, 200 Seymour Ave. in St. Michaels. The show opens on Thursday, February 27 at 7 PM, with 3 more performances following on Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1 at 7 PM, and Sunday, March 2 at 1 PM. (Inclement weather dates have been reserved for the following weekend, if needed.)

Tickets, $10 for adults and $5 for students, can be purchased at the door, and are also available in advance at the St. Michaels Middle High School office and Reeser’s Pharmacy in St. Michaels, and Crackerjacks and Rise Up Coffee in Easton. The doors will open one half hour before performance time. Concessions will be available at intermission.

Have you seen Godspell on Broadway, or a production by a community theater group or another school? Wear your Godspell T-shirt from any other production and receive one free item at our concession table!

Directed and produced by Carol Reed, with choral direction by Amy Martin, Godspell is performed by a talented cast of 18 middle and high school students and 4 faculty members. The tradition from previous shows of live orchestral accompaniment will continue with Godspell. This year’s orchestra is conducted by Heather Schimpf.

The St. Michaels Middle High School production of Godspell is made possible by a grant from the Talbot County Arts Council, with additional support from Talbot County Public Schools, our local business community, and individual donors.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.