At a recent Milford School District Board of Education meeting, Milford High School principal, Seth Buford, accompanied by assistant principals Betsy Coe, Rene Diaz and Shervaun Hinton, explained why the high school was now more of a community than simply a school. Buford provided details on the progress made at the school as well as events planned in the future designed to give students a real world high school experience.
“Thank you for this opportunity to share some of the amazing things that are happening here at Milford,” Buford said. “We’re happy to say many of our pre-COVID activities have now resumed and our students and staff are enjoying the more social side of high school yet again.”
Buford continued, stating that although the fall events were now in the past, the memories would live on for the students who participated as well as the community members who were involved. Some of the events included the popular Haunted Hallways, a Powder Puff football game and Spirit Week. This year, the school held a building-wide door decorating contest as well.
“Our fall sports pep rally recognized our homecoming court, and of course, Spirit Week concluded with our parade, our homecoming football game, and our homecoming dance, which had our largest attendance yet with nearly 650 students participating,” Buford said. “October saw college application month and our senior school counselor met with seniors throughout the month to discuss FAFSA applications, Common App accounts, scholarships and college applications. We also coordinated with Stand By Me for additional supports and outreach.”
MHS fall athletes had a great season, according to Buford. Milford saw 52 students named in the Henlopen Academic All-Conference, representing each of the school’s fall sports and several students were named to All State Teams, thanks to the dedication of the athletes and coaches.
“Winter sports is just beginning and we’ve kicked off our basketball season with an amazing community event. We just hosted the annual Milford Wrestling Invitational, and both our boys and girls swim teams won their first meet of the season,” Buford said. “We also recently had our track meet as well for the first winter track events. So, we look forward to the successes of each of our winter sports athletes as the season progresses. But this is just a glimpse of what makes Milford High School is so unique and highlights some of the exceptional experiences that we can provide to our students.”
Sports is not the only area where Milford High School students shine, Buford explained. Academic opportunities offered allow students to leave Milford High School with marketable skills and career opportunities.
“We have 16 pathways that cover six areas from Agriscience to STEM and Technology. Our Career and Technical Education courses offer students the opportunity to gain real world experience through hands on applications. Each school of study also has a national student organization tied to it such as FFA, HOSA, our Student Health Organization, Business Professionals of America, Educators Rising, just to name a few,” Buford said. “These organizations offer students the opportunity to participate in local, state, regional and national competitions. Many of our students who attend these events go on to compete in place at the national level. We had a silver medalist in Employability Skills and a bronze medalist nationally in Prepared Public Speaking and the very beginning of the school year.”
One student at MHS recently won the Mountaire Farm-to-Table scholarship. Tabitha Lenhart was the first student from Delaware to be awarded the scholarship. Buford explained that almost 480 students at MHS made honor roll during the first marking period as well.
“Our relationships and ties with the local small businesses and area industries allow our seniors who have completed their pathway, or who are in the third level of their pathway to earn Work Based Learning credits. These students are placed in internships, both paid and unpaid, that provide practical experience to the theoretical applications learned in class,” Buford said. “Currently, we have students who represent Health Sciences, Agriscience ,Teacher Academy and Digital Communications participating in internships at local physical therapy centers, area childcare centers, local farms, and a local church providing social media and digital design communications. Beyond our CTE pathways, Milford High School offers students rigorous higher level academic courses for students as well.”
Buford explained that there are over 16 options for college work through partnerships with Delaware State University and Delaware Technical and Community College. Milford High School students can graduate high school with enough credits to be college sophomores, Buford stated. The newest partnership with Delaware Technical and Community College has allowed MHS to expand the Allied Health pathway to include patient care. Students who are enrolled in the patient care program graduate high school as Certified Nursing Assistants, allowing them to go right into the workforce or directly into nursing school. The school is looking forward to expanding dual enrollment experiences as they have been working closely with the curriculum office under the supervision of Dr. Amory to bring the University of Delaware on as a partner with dual credit opportunities.
“It’s not just our academics and our partnerships that set us apart. Milford High School is an integral part of our community, and our community is an integral part of our high school. Our students spend thousands of hours volunteering for community events throughout the year,” Buford said. “Our Interact Club received an award from Downtown Milford for their support at this year’s Freedom Festival. I was told that it would not have been a success without them running the student games this year. Our National Honor Society for its centennial celebration has spread over 100 acts of kindness to various organizations throughout the town of Milford.”
In addition to activities outside the school, student organizations transform the halls into a safe non threatening environment during our Haunted Hallways which nearly saw 1700 people come through, trick or treating this year. Santa’s Workshop provides Morris kindergarten students and childcare students with books and gifts to take home. It also provides a magical experience of visiting the North Pole each year, an event that was held in mid-December.
“It’s a great pleasure to note that we are growing as a school and as a district, we’re providing more services to students to meet their needs. We recently added a third assistant principal, we have a new school counselor who’s focused on workforce development and placement in those internships. We have students who works with supporting our students and providing credit recovery opportunities. We’ve expanded our pathway opportunities provide more career and technical education,” Buford said.
Buford finished his presentation by pointing out that Milford High School is more than just a high school, it is a community, a community that is proud of their students and their accomplishments. Buford thanked the board for their support as well as the assistant principals standing with him, explaining that the school would not have seen half the success without their hard work.
“I have one additional comment, of all those amazing things that you said my favorite thing that I heard was post-pandemic and the fact I don’t believe that that’s the case any longer,” School Board President Jason Miller said. “We’ve now moved past that. And that report proved that just leaving that in the rearview mirror. So thank you. We look forward to more amazing things out of Milford High School.”
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