CMHS Times

Macs of the Month is the high school's initiative to recognize our outstanding students and staff! Each month, a staff member will be recognized, voted on by their colleagues and students. Students will be recognized by their peers and staff in the categories of creative arts, kindness, academic achievement, school pride, athletic achievement, and leadership.

We proudly announce our April Macs of the Month below! Congratulations to everyone on the well-deserved recognition!

We are incredibly proud to celebrate Irena Morrison and Isabel Pascarella, who have been selected by the Washington Hospital Auxiliary as recipients of the Junior Volunteer Program scholarship. In recognition of their exceptional service, each student received a monetary award of $1,000–$1,500. Both young women were selected for this honor because of their incredible hours of service in the high-pressure Emergency Department, where they stood out for their confidence, reliability, positive impact on patients and staff, and genuine thoughtfulness. Congratulations to Irena and Isabel on this well-deserved recognition of their hard work and compassion!

This year, Canon-McMillan is hosting its first ever military signing day to recognize our seniors who self-declared that they plan to commit to the military, in some capacity, upon graduation this year.

Congratulations to the Honorees below!

Mr. Dill's Civic Leadership 2 class recently went to The Ronald McDonald House in Morgantown, WV. to help prepare meals, organize welcome bags, and write letters for families who are staying there while their loved ones are being treated at Children’s Hospital (Ruby Memorial).

The purpose of the Ronald McDonald House is to provide a "home-away-from-home" for families with seriously ill or injured children, allowing them to stay close to the hospital for little or no cost. In addition to their visit at Ruby Memorial, the Civic Leadership Class came up with the idea of an eating contest to raise money for this worthy cause. Four students, one from each grade, and a teacher would compete by eating 4 Big Macs and another 4 students and teacher would consume 40 chicken nuggets. Junior Levi Singleton was the Big Mac winner while freshmen Brayden Bobitski was the Chicken Nugget winner. Students paid $5 to attend. In all, we raised $1,391.00.

Senior students in Mrs. Fazio's Human Anatomy class visited the PennWest California Cadaver lab on Thursday, April 16. Students had the chance to witness firsthand the vital role human anatomy plays in a general understanding the complexities of the body, as well as the immense respect we maintain for those who have donated their bodies to further the progress of science. It was also a full circle moment for me as one of my former students, Noah Livesay, was one of our lab instructors for the day.

Pan and Percussion students had a HUGE month, celebrating multiple successes at the Hershey Park adjudication! The class, directed by Mr. Eric Schrader and Mr. Mark Falvo, was selected for the PMEA All State Conference. Anne Nodianos made PMEA All-State Band. Congratulations to all!

Dr. Hoolahan and Mrs. Farrell worked with the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) to spend a day at UPMC Magee Women's Hospital. Our students joined other students from California and McGuffey School Districts.

All students received career exposures to clinical care/skill, imaging, physical/occupational therapy, and food & nutrition this morning and then this afternoon we met with the Program Director of Operations, the Supervisor of Respiratory Therapy, and the Director of Nutritional Services.

The students had "hands-on" experiences practicing CPR, finding a baby using an ultrasound machine, making sandwich wraps with the chef, and using a wheelchair. It was an amazing experience!

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to CMH's Envirothon Team, sponsored by Mrs. Chelsea Geist! The Canon-McMillan Gold Team placed 1st (and won $500 each thanks to Range Resources) and Canon-McMillan Blue Team placed 2nd (and won $300 each thanks to Range Resources) at the Washington County Envirothon Competition today. Canon Mac Gold scored the highest in the Wildlife, Soils, Current Events, and Aquatics categories!

The Envirothon is an academic competition, which focuses on five main categories: wildlife, aquatics, forestry, soils, and a current event topic. This year's current event topic is nonpoint source pollution. Students work in teams of 5 and compete against schools in Washington County. The team is now headed to the state competition in Camp Mount Luther in Mifflinburg, PA. Students will compete on Wednesday, May 20th. Best of luck, CM!

Canon Mac Gold Team 1st Place:

Peri Hopkins, grade 11

Isheeka Mojar, grade 11

Jessica Jost, grade 12

Tova Wudkwych, grade 12

Anna Jaworski, grade 12

Canon Mac Blue Team 2nd Place:

Piper Rodes, grade 10

Charlie Gill, grade 10

Sadie Rodes, grade 12

Julie Lukasewicz, grade 12

Ashley Jaworski, grade 9

The German Club students, accompanied by sponsor, Mrs. Hartmann, spent the day on April 9th at Washington and Jefferson College's Three Rivers German Day competition.

During the competition, Max Gavasto and Makenna Teters recited German poems, 5 students formed a team and played in the Culture Bowl trivia game, and the remaining students completed artwork projects: drawings and paintings with Germanic themes.

To celebrate Earth Day, the Junior Class, Class of 2027, sponsored a flower pot painting and planting activity during the high school's activity period. Students had the opportunity to pick flower seeds to plant. After they finished their planting, they could design and paint their flower pots. It was a fun way to support our Earth!

The Spanish Honor Society, sponsored by Senora Mannarino, completed its annual community service project in partnership with St. Oscar Romero. The students in our school donated toiletry items as requested by St. Oscar Romero Parish to help our local Spanish-speaking population. Our students always go above and beyond in order to help others! A huge thank you to all who made donations!

The Canon-McMillan Ping-Pong Tournament tradition began with Mr. Trovato, was later carried on by Mr. Garry, and is now proudly run by Mrs. McCutcheon-Saylor and the Wellness Club. This year, 50 students competed in the tournament after spending the month leading up to it playing for rank during activity periods. Students battled their way up and down our live ladder bracket, creating a fun, competitive atmosphere that kept everyone engaged all month long.

This year’s champion was Chase Werthman, who faced off against his twin brother, Hunter, in an exciting championship match for first place!

Attention Senior Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

M & M Photography will be photographing graduation this year! They will be taking photos of each senior as they are handed their diploma. Below is the link to pre-order your senior's graduation photo.

M & M Photography Graduation Pre-Order Link

If you have any questions, please contact M & M Photography at 412-854-1414.

Dear Parent(s) & Guardian(s),

The 2026 Graduation is quickly approaching! Don’t forget to recognize your senior’s hard work and accomplishments by creating a Senior Recognition Ad. All Recognition Ad's can be made online by using the link below. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. White.

The CMHS yearbook staff is working hard to make this the best yearbook yet! This yearbook will include over 200 pages to truly capture all the memories that were made this school year. Don't forget to place your order to ensure your copy of the yearbook!

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. White at whitem@cmsd.k12.pa.us.

May 11-22: Keystone Testing

May 19: No School; In-Service Day

May 25: No School (Memorial Day)

June 4: Graduation

June 5: End of 4th Marking Period; Last day of School

Follow our School Counseling Office on Instagram @CMHS_COUNSELING

Every high school student is encouraged to join the School Counseling Resources group in Schoology! Resources including academic development, career development, employment, community service opportunities, scholarships and more can be found there! Students can join the group by using the following access code: DB7QW-K4WWP

We look forward to a strong partnership, and if you have any questions about the Chill room or the Chill Project, please reach out to the Chill room Facilitator, Mr. Dan Harshman, harshmand@cmsd.k12.pa.us, or Mrs. Kelsey Oberly, Special Education Coordinator, oberlyk@cmsd.k12.pa.us.

Kristen Speer, School Nurse

Email: speerk@cmsd.k12.pa.us

Phone: 724-745-1400 ext. 5013

To start the 12th grade, a second dose of the Meningitis A,C, W, Y vaccine is required.

Please provide the nurse with a copy of your immunization records either in person or via email at: speerk@cmsd.k12.pa.us

If you have any questions, please contact Kristen Speer at speerk@cmsd.k12.pa.us or by phone at (724)-745-1400 x 5013.

If your student needs to take a daily medication or needs to have an as needed medication available at school please use the following form . It must be completed by a doctor and signed by the parent/guardian. The medication must be brought in the original pharmacy container or unopened over the counter container that matches the paperwork.

The medication authorization form must be completed each school year by the physician and turned in to the school nurse for the new school year.

If you have any questions you can contact the nurse.

Marijke Lucia

Secretary of Student Affairs

mailto:luciam@cmsd.k12.pa.us

Phone: 724-745-1400 ext. 5009

Fax: 724-745-4490

All forms are linked below. You can also access the forms on the high school's website under School Forms, linked here for your reference.

Attendance:

If a student is not seated in their first period class by 7:45, they will be considered absent (shown as IUn in PowerSchool). Prior to the end of 2nd period, an attendance rollover will take place and those students still marked as absent will be marked absent for all 9 class periods. That evening you will receive both a phone call and an email from our BlackBoard messaging system alerting you of your student's absence.

Please send your student in with an excuse within three (3) days of their last absence. You can either provide us with a parent note, an email, or complete the form, linked below. Parent notes can be placed in the absence excuse bin in the Student Affairs Office.

Each student is allocated 15 absences (for any reason), per school year, before a doctor’s excuse is required. Any absence over 15, that is not accompanied by a medical excuse, will remain unexcused.

Tardies:

If your child is going to be entering the building late, they must first go through the Student Affairs Office to receive a late pass. Please provide your student with an excuse. Acceptable forms are a parent note, doctor's excuse, email or an online form submission found here: Tardiness Form. If they enter with an excuse, their absence will be changed to an excused tardy (TEx.) If they do not have an excuse, they will be entered as tardy unexcused (TUn.) If your child is marked as tardy unexcused, that evening you will receive both a phone call and email from our BlackBoard messaging system alerting you of their tardy. Each student is allocated 4 tardies, per semester (parent note or online submission) before a doctor's excuse is required. Disciplinary action will be taken for excessive tardies. There are no half days at the High School. Students must be present a minimum of 3½ consecutive hours in order to participate in an after school activity or a game or practice for a sport that is in season.

Early Dismissals:

If your student will need to leave the building prior to the end of the school day (2:40pm), you must provide them with an early dismissal note. This can be a parent note, email or online submission found here: Early Dismissal Form. A student is allocated 13 early dismissals per semester. All early dismissals require BOTH written and verbal confirmation. Please call Mrs. Lucia in the Office of Student Affairs (724-745-1400, ext. 5009) to confirm your child’s early dismissal. All early dismissal requests must be made by 9am. If you are requesting an early dismissal after 9am, please allow 20-30 minutes for your request to be processed. Once both forms are received, a pass will be sent to your child and they may leave at the time of their dismissal. If you are picking your student up, they will meet you outside, if they are a driver, they are free to leave and drive themselves. If you choose, you can come into the main office to sign your student out. No student’s will be permitted to leave until both forms of confirmation are received. All early dismissals will be entered as ER in PowerSchool. If your child has medical documentation for their early release, please provide us with this information and we will change their ER to a medical early release (MER.) Medical early releases are not counted in attendance reports. There are no half days at the High School. Students must be present a minimum of 3½ consecutive hours in order to participate in an after school activity or a game or practice for a sport that is in season.

The Student Affairs Office is closed daily from 12:30-1:00. Students may leave during the closure IF their early dismissal request was submitted and confirmed prior to the closure. If you did not submit a request and you need your child to be released during the office closure, please come to the main office to sign them out.

CTC (Western Area & Parkway):

Please note that if your child attends WACTC or Parkway and is absent from school, you must provide 2 excuses (parent note or medical excuse). One will need to be given to Mrs. Lucia in the Student Affairs Office and one will need to be given to WACTC/Parkway. No copies will be made of a student's excuse and forwarded to another location.

Pre-Planned Trips:

The pre-planned trip form, linked below, must be submitted no later than two weeks prior to the start of your trip. Please note that students will only be given one day, for each day they are absent, to make up their work, and they are highly encouraged to make arrangements for their work prior to their trip.

Standing Medical Notes:

If your student has a standing medical note, please note that we will need an updated copy for this school year. Medical notes are only good for one school year and must be updated annually.

Ms. Brittany Taylor - High School Principal

Ms. Jenna Handra - Academic Principal

Mr. Thomas Orr - Assistant Principal

Ms. Jamie Hopkins - Assistant Principal

Follow CMHS on Instagram @canon_mcmillan_high_school