Wareham High School is among the 255 public secondary schools in Massachusetts that are accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). It is currently undergoing its routine 10-year accreditation review, and on Sunday, October 16, students, teachers, and faculty members kicked off the process by showing a NEASC panel what it is to be a Viking.

"Wareham High School is home to the 'Viking Ships,'" Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino told the NEASC review committee, parents, and students who gathered in the high school auditorium on Sunday afternoon to kick-off the review process. "I am lucky enough to be the captain of that 'ship.'"

The four Viking "ships" are scholarship, craftsmanship, sportsmanship, and citizenship - all things students strive to work on during their four years at Wareham High.

A photo slideshow set to Aretha Franklin's "A Deeper Love" kicked off the presentation, with pictures of all that Wareham High offers students: Activities in the classroom, sports, the arts, and more. Photos of the 2010 Vikings basketball team, which brought home the school's first ever state championship title, were included, along with photos of prom and graduation.

Teacher Cindy Sylvia elicited the help of her students to explain the demographics of Wareham High School. After chanting various numbers and percentages, the students yelled that they are all "100% Viking" before saying: "We are an educated group of young people ready for the 21st century and all its challenges."

Teachers and administrators spoke about the Wareham community, as well as the challenges and strengths of Wareham High School.

In telling the NEASC panel about Wareham's 54 miles of shoreline, Melvin Lazarus, a Wareham resident and one of the school's four deans of students, noted: "The water is clear and warm and there are no sharks!"

He continued: "Wareham is a working-class community that has a myriad of offerings for all tastes and budgets."

Palladino noted that the district's budget has impacted staffing and the school's ability to pay for instructional materials, technology, and extracurricular offerings in recent years.

"In order to maintain the present level of education we're offering, the budget needs to increase every year," he said.

In speaking about their two- and five-year plans for the school, Palladino and Assistant Principal Debra Freitas said that, among other things, they hope to update the high school curriculum, upgrade computer labs, introduce new freshmen science textbooks, and assess the impact of the school's new block schedule, which was instituted this school year.

Wareham High School alum Felicia Thomas attended the presentation to speak about her alma mater's portfolio requirement. All students are required to submit a portfolio of their work and complete an exit interview in order to graduate.

The portfolio is "Wareham High School's last lesson to teach their students about the real world," said Thomas, a freshman at Bryant University in Rhode Island.

Thomas said she still references her portfolio. Holding a thick binder before the audience, Thomas said: "This came directly from my desk drawer at college."

The meeting concluded with a "pride" video created by Wareham High School students, again set to "A Deeper Love," which garnered a standing ovation from the NEASC panel.

"As you can tell, we were quite impressed with your video and the energy your students are showing us," said Mary Conway, NEASC panel co-chair and Superintendent of Vernon Public Schools in Connecticut.

The panel is "anxious to meet teachers, shadow students, visit classes … and spend a couple of days with you," Conway said. "This is what we love to do."

A NEASC panel-member then asked students about their favorite part of Wareham High School. The consensus was that the school is like a family.

"Everyone here is family … through the good and the bad … they'll help you do things," noted Thomas, the alum.

Wareham High School senior Twinkle Patel, who moved to the U.S. during her first year of high school, echoed that sentiment.

"When I first moved here I was a freshman in high school and I didn't know anyone," she said. But the students made her feel at home. "Even coming from a different country, I'm still a part of them."

The NEASC panel will be touring Wareham High School until Tuesday.

According to the NEASC website (www.neasc.org), among the things accredited schools demonstrate are: the maintenance of relevant and dynamic "standards of accreditation" which define a quality education, support member-schools through self-evaluation peer review, and ongoing monitoring, support research-based practices critical to continuous school improvement, and model a culture of self-reflection, collaboration, and inquiry.

Wareham High School has been accredited since 1960.