Merton Williams Middle School -

Merton Williams students had the opportunity to hear from an award-winning author yesterday. Linda Sue Park, Newberry Medal winner for A Single Shard spoke to seventh graders about her upbringing as a child of Korean immigrants, the challenges and rewards of being an author, and the importance of reading.
Ms. Park is the author of many other books, including the New York Times Best Seller A Long Walk to Water. She has just released a new book, Just One Gift.
For pictures from her visit, click here: https://hiltonschools.smugmug.com/2025-2026/Merton-Williams/Author-Visit

Coming up on June 11 at Merton Williams... One Night Only! Our Art and Music fest returns, with our outdoor Art Show and concert! See artwork from all of our student-artists and come enjoy performances from student-ensembles! Also, enjoy art-making activities and opportunities to create, and if you'd like to enjoy a treat "The Creamery" will be on hand selling ice cream! A wonderful annual event for all ages! June 11, 6:00-7:30 in front of Merton Williams! (event will be indoors if weather is an issue!)

Students in Claire Dexler's Health Sciences Classes had a chance to learn about and use one of the most important food items in history, yeast. Not only did they discover that it's been used for thousands of years, but they also saw the chemical reaction of fermentation and how it rises to help create dough. The best part came when they got to use that dough to make pizzas.

Talk about a sweet way to spread kindness! At Merton Williams the SADD / FUN club joined up with the FAC's club, and the students showed kindness by making yummy cupcakes and delivering them to all the staff at the school.

We are so lucky to have this amazing group of Assistant Principals in our district. Thanks to all of you for everything you do for our students, families and staff.

Chris Monfiletto coached the Cadet Hockey team to a sectional title for the first time in school history, but that's not why he recently received a shoutout. It was for the extra steps he takes to make sure the program is as inclusive as possible.

Thank you to all of the students and families who donated to the Merton Williams spring food and personal item drive to support the Hilton Food Shelf as part of our IB service-learning project.  They collected over 600 items and teachers raised over $500 as part of their basket raffle.  The Hilton Food Shelf supports over 200 families within the Hilton School District boundaries, so all donations and money directly help others within our community!  The Hilton Food Shelf is located in the Hilton Community Center on Henry Street in the village and accepts donations year-round.

Last week at Merton Williams the Students Against Destructive Decisions Club (SADD) had a very busy week. They kicked off a school wide campaign on Monday with morning messages to students and staff on the health benefits of showing kindness, and ways to practice gratitude.
They also ended this week with a Pledge Table set up during lunches for students and staff to, “make a pledge to spread kindness around the school and their communities."

Merton Williams students competed against other local school middle schools at the annual Science Olympiad competition on March 7th.  Students choose events to compete in and then prepare for months prior to the competition.  The events include both research/testing events and building/engineering events.  Hilton medaled in the events of Experimental Design, Write It/Do It, and Potions and Poisons.  This year's team was composed of Caitlin Adams, Emma Crudele, Lucy Crudele, Leo DiPasquale, Ella Eason, Kendall Flannery, Gabby Gotham, Ezra Hunsinger, Bishoy Killinni, Leo Pino, Lillian Schuler, Mikaela Wawrzyniak.
This is also the 20th year that Scott Meagher and Steve Cudzillo have been the club's advisors.

Great art and great music for a great cause-that's what Merton Williams' 5 Buy Five is all about. The annual event gives visitors a chance to purchase 5x5 pieces of student art for $5, all while listening to music from the Jazz Ensemble. Proceeds from the event go to the Hilton Cadet Cupboard and the Hilton Food Shelf. Last night's event raised over $400.
You can see pictures here: https://hiltonschools.smugmug.com/2025-2026/Merton-Williams/Five-Buy-5

Last night Merton Williams held its 20th National Junior Honor Society induction ceremony. Congratulations to the 62 students who earned this honor.
Caitlyn Adams, Peyton Allen, Marlee Allocco, Natali Alvarado, Mataya Andrychuk, Avery Anne, Lena Beaumont, Trevor Blount, Declan Boeh, Paige Cady, Avery Carusone, Emma Crudele, Lucy Crudele, Jackson Crumley, Keagan Deming, Dominic Dimino, Olivia Duque, Luke Fuller, Summer Gaillard, Ella Gallery, Elena Giardino, Arianna Goater, Alexandra Gollel, Gabriella Gotham, Audra Green, Emma Green, Ashton Grimes, Trevor Grizzanti, Miyah Hammond, Emma Holliday, Zoey Josephson, Miguel Juarez-Velasco, Bishoy Killinni, Dominic Knauf, Leah Leisner, Gracie Lombardo, Addiel Marino Calderon, Giovanni Mascadri, Allayah McLamore, Nolan Meyer, Cole Murphy, Logan Nasella, Ava Neri, Adam Newman, Reagan Paolini, Reese Paolini, Alexander Pincelli, Grace Pincelli, Leonardo Pino, Olivia Plaisted, Caroline Schmitte, Lillian Schuler, Vincent Sciortino, Patrick Shaw, Emily Smith, Brinley Speer, Greyson Sullivan, Penelope Tracey, Adeline Warren, Mikaela Wawrzyniak, Owen Wetzel, Brock Youmans.
You can see pictures from the ceremony here: https://hiltonschools.smugmug.com/2025-2026/Merton-Williams/NJHS-Induction

Get ready for a year full of amazing performances! Beginning this week with QUEST's production of Lion King, Kids. Save the dates for all these amazing shows!

Students from Merton Williams' Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Club visited Village Elementary last week for a lesson in team building. Working with first graders they had to try and build as high a self-supporting snowman as they could using only spaghetti, tape and marshmallows. While it was fun, it also emphasized communication, collaboration and problem solving.

Teams at Merton Williams competed to donate the most food to the Hilton Food Shelf. Team Destiny donated the most and won a cider and donut party. Collectively the students and staff donated 400 items to the Hilton Food Shelf, which serves families in the Hilton School District.
Students pictured were top donators in the food drive: Henry Seifert, Nick Munding, Aria Romeo, Faith Kobela, Evelyn Pestilli, Austin Kinmond, Abrey Zadora.
The Hilton Food Shelf recently delivered 160 Thanksgiving dinners in the community, up from 110 last year.

Team Infinity from Merton Williams recently took all of their middle schoolers (110 students and 20 adults--including 11 parent chaperones) to the Memorial Art Gallery for a Look to Learn tour.  During this tour, students participated in a small group docent-led tours titled “Learning to Look: An Introduction to the Gallery.” 
After that. they took a short drive to view a famous piece of Rochester's history:  the Clock of Nations.  Prior to this visit, the students learned about the clock and its impact on our community & its history.

Members of the SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions)/Fun Club from Merton Williams spent some time with first graders at Village talking to them about being safe for Halloween. The club consists of 7th and 8th graders that work on empowering young peers to make safe, healthy choices in life. The club would like to create monthly events that support our district's goals and work hand in hand with peers throughout our Hilton Schools.

Students in Claire Drexler's Health Class at Merton Williams had a chance to develop their abilities in the kitchen and enjoy a delicious treat. Showing off their knife skills as well as how to core apples to make apple muffins.

Congratulations to one of our many outstanding students at Merton Williams who recently won a national contest with her presidential project. Check out the video here: https://youtu.be/EQR8b_ljT-I

Great weather, great music and great works of art. They all came together last night at Merton Williams for the annual One Night Only Music and Art Show. Here are more pictures from the event: https://hiltonschools.smugmug.com/2024-2025/Merton-Williams/One-Night-Only

What a great opportunity for Merton Williams students to learn about and help protect natural environments in our area. The 7th grade Health Science Teachers (Ms. Drex, Mr. Ellicott and, Ms. Peterson) chose students that have shown excellent character during class and their actions have aligned with our district goals. Some of these goals include, Being Curious, Being Non-judgmental AND Being a Welcoming person. As a reward, students participated in a field trip with other students. The field trip provided students the opportunity to complete a community service project that aimed to educate our youth about the importance of clean waterways and preserving our most precious natural resource. In an effort to do this we visit the Ontario Charlotte Beach / Park. Students helped clean up the beach, the area walkways and learn about Lake Ontario and the Genesee River.