You may have seen the cardboard cutout of Jason Momoa as Aquaman in the hallway or in a classroom and wondered why he was there, and who’s classroom that is. Introducing Mrs. Merges, one of Victor’s amazing math teachers.

Mrs. Merges has quite the history with Victor High School, in her 28 years of teaching she spent 17 of those teaching math classes at Victor. This school year she has been teaching AP Pre-Calc and AP Pre-Calc honors.

When I asked her why she first decided to start working at Victor, Mrs. Merges explained that living in Pumpkin Hook made the location very convenient, and that Victor’s amazing reputation sold her on moving here and having her kids go through Victor. She asked me to give a special shout out to the amazing technology, computer science, and music programs, which she believes makes Victor very special.

Speaking of her children, their graduations were her favorite memories that she’s had at Victor. Her oldest, Pete, graduated in 2017, followed directly by Will, who graduated in 2018, and her youngest, Henry, graduated in 2021. 

Mrs. Merges only had positive things to say about having her kids at the same school affected her experience. She loved how much more connected she felt to the community, and how she could understand the teen slang and inside jokes so much better. She let me in on one of them – when she taught her kids honors geometry (as the only geometry honors teacher at the time) they liked to call her class ge”mom”etry.

As far as teaching in general goes, Mrs. Merges’ ability to help students learn runs in the family, her mother was an English teacher, and her father was a math teacher. They, in addition to her math teacher Mr. Fenton at Geneseo High School, are a large reason as to why she became a math teacher in the first place.

Now, the question you’ve all been wondering, what’s up with the giant Jason Momoa cardboard cutout? Trust me, I was confused too, when it was pulled down from on top of a cabinet and then moved to be displayed in the hallway in the middle of my Ap Pre-Calc honors class. But then I learned about Mrs. Merges’ love for Jason, and it all makes sense.

She tells everyone “The boys refer to him as step-dad” and that her sons got the cutout for her for mother’s day one year. It’s been in her classroom for 4 or 5 years, and she likes to decorate him with soccer jerseys and speech bubbles later in the year.

Her love for Jason Momoa began with Baywatch, and later on she moved to Game of Thrones, and many of his other works, although she’s not a fan of his work in the new Minecraft Movie. 

Mrs. Merges has many more things that people may not know about her too and all of them are very interesting. She skipped the 4th grade, and when she was younger she had three front teeth! Jason Momoa isn’t the only interesting thing in her classroom, she also collects different types of erasers and duct tape that she displays.

I asked Mrs. Merges what some of her favorite moments were in highschool, and she had some fun stories to share. When she was on the track team at Geneseo Highschool she loved the bus rides with her teammates, and rubber cement to keep them entertained. When she was on the soccer team, she remembers making a goal! For the opposing team… Mrs. Merges’ love for math from her time at high school has extended to her time teaching at high school.

I had heard Mrs. Merges mentioning retiring soon during classes and knew I had to ask her more questions. After 28 years of teaching, 17 of which were at Victor, she plans to retire at the end of this school year. 

When asked what she would miss most about teaching here at Victor Mrs. Merges’ answer was quick and definite,“The kids” She told me that they are what truly makes Victor so special and that she’ll miss “The Gavins (Kazacos) and Kenadees (Comstock) of the world. The amazing kids who keep coming back to see me.”