The School Committee on Tuesday accepted a gift of $1,885 in memory of former Drury High School teacher Francis Merrigan, who died Nov. 2, and a $40,000 trust from estate of John and Joyce Brooks. In their letter to the committee, Merrigan s family said their father would be happy to see the funds donated in his memory benefit the high school s cinema and screenwriting course, which could use some upgraded film production technology. When Dad spoke of his time teaching, some of his favorite memories were of a filmmaking class that he was able to teach as a side project. In our family, we ve all had the experience of running into his former students and hearing their fond memories of a particular movie project that involved shooting scenes around North Adams and that was one of their most vivid memories of high school. In whatever small way, if these funds can help other students work on projects that help bring their learning to life, we would be thrilled, wrote