Halloween Creeps Into BFA
Xain DeMont, Writer
November 5, 2019
Ever since we were little kids, Halloween has been that one night a year where we dress up as someone other than ourselves, and gorge on endless amounts of candy. Now that we’re older, Halloween is all about pranks, parties, causing trouble, and just spending time with friends. Americans s...
The Secret Harm of Dab Pens
Dylan Lamson, Writer
November 4, 2019
Note: The Mercury rarely uses anonymous sources in stories. The editor felt it was appropriate for this story. With the rise of student vaping in schools, one would expect nicotine and tobacco offenses to rise at a similar rate as marijuana. However, Marijuana offenses have significantl...
Matilda, the musical miracle comes to BFA
Kai Hemingway, Writer
October 17, 2019
As another year of school commences, this year’s school play, the musical Matilda, does as well! The original musical was first performed on December 9, 2010 by Musical Theatre International, MTI for short. The playwright was Dennis Kelly with Tim Minchin as composer and lyricist. BFA’...
Calling All Students!
Kaia MacKenzie, Writer
October 17, 2019
Monday morning. You walk into your enrichment classroom and sit down to listen to the announcements with your fellow advisees. You then are dumbfounded to find that you missed an awesome extracurricular school activity over the past weekend. Talk about Mondays!! Bellows Free Academy has and hosts...
1,2,3… PLC?
Julia Scott, Co-Editor
June 10, 2019
Teacher collaboration is vital to school cohesion. We see this cooperation in Freshman teams and department collaboration that help to unify curriculum and aid students. These groups, called Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs are designed allow teachers to meet, share, and work together ...
Mercury through the years
Haley Seymour, Co-Editor
June 10, 2019
The BFA Mercury has been published regularly at BFA since 1930, when the school first opened. This student publication has covered many topics over the years from school safety to start times. So how many times has history repeated itself? 20 years ago, in 1999, students were talking about many of the s...
Optimism for journalism: what you didn’t know
Katharina Spöth, Writer
June 10, 2019
If you're still thinking about your class schedule for next year, this article could have an impact on your choices and thus, an impact on your life. This article is based on interviews with a student journalist, an editor and the media advisor for BFA’s journalism class, as well as the reporte...
What’s in your water?
Owen Biniecki, Writer
June 4, 2019
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Department of Health released a pilot report in Sept. 2018 on levels of lead in Vermont schools’ drinking water. The report revealed that 27 of 900 fountains tested had dangerously high amounts of lead, having lead contents of over 15 parts per billion (ppb). ...
Who let the dogs in?
Julia Scott, Co-Editor
May 20, 2019
The morning of April 18 seemed, at first, like any other to Lucien Montagne (‘19). He got ready for school and left his house to pick up his neighbor, who he drives to school. This is when the morning verged from its expected path. “As soon as I exited my house and went to open the gate I have...
Who is Mr. Perkins?
Katharina Spöth, Writer
May 20, 2019
“Regular” teachers at BFA are mainly there to teach you about Pythagoras, the Feudal System and charcoal pencils. From time to time, a substitute teacher shows up and you eventually end up getting a lesson about life instead of how to solve for x. Most students at BFA have probably met John Perkins,...
What’s the #1 thing people miss from elementary school?
Kai Hemingway, Writer
May 20, 2019
As time continues on and the future begins to rear its head, it’s nice to look back and reminisce on the simpler times -- those simpler times being elementary and middle school with their bright colors and lack of existential crises. Nostalgia’s origin started off negatively with the original...
In-class reading time: the secret for success?
Kai Hemingway, Writer
May 2, 2019
Independent reading, or sustained silent reading, isn’t implemented in every English classroom, but should it be? Built in independent reading time can offer a boost in important reading skills that every student should have. Larissa Hebert is an English teacher at BFA who has independent reading...