#1StudentNWI: Winter Guard’s Successful Season at La Porte High School

#1StudentNWI: Winter Guard’s Successful Season at La Porte High School

The LPHS Winter Guard team has been hard at work these last couple months preparing for competitions and then dominating in nearly every single one.

At their competition on March 25th, the team scored an 83.6 and were two tenths of a point away from getting first, and although they scored a close second and did extremely well, they always feel they can work harder to be the best.

“I am very happy with the score; could it have been better? Yes, we can always say this, but this is the best we have ever been so I’m not complaining,” Mykel Freeman, senior guard member, said.

Their success this year has continued to show, but this success does not come easy. They have put in hours of dedication and hard work to ensure their good placements at competitions. For a team as successful as this one, it takes a village to keep it at the top.

“As in any successful organization, it always starts from the top: our administration for being so supportive, Mickey Stisher for putting in countless hours of ‘behind the scenes’ effort to prepare and work through the season, and our incredible hard working parents that devote weekends to prop building, setting up shows, chaperoning and driving our ‘set’ from one competition to the next,” Lorenzo Medrano, choreographer, said.

At their last competition held at LaPorte High School on April 6th and 7th, the team was awarded with first place. This was a big competition that was hosted by the Slicers, and to win first was a huge achievement for the team. When it comes to competitions like these, the team spends many hours practicing and preparing. All of that preparation has brought home win after win this season.

La-Porte-1Student-April-2017_02 When it comes to the routines the group performs, Medrano says the ideas usually just “come to him.”

“The world around us, art, music, people, fashion… These are the muses that stimulate ideas for the next direction, hopefully with infinite possibilities,” Medrano said.

Anyone who has attended a competition can say that these performances are incredibly unique and intricate. Not only do the members strive for a good performance, but the team also puts a huge amount of effort into the outfits and makeup that is done for each one. There is nothing quite like seeing a performance from the LPHS Winter Guard team.

The Winter Guard team took on its last and final competition this weekend in Dayton Ohio: Worlds. They made semi-finals for the first time and finished in 16th place, just missing the cut of 15th, which would have taken them to the finals.

“We did really good, 16th best in the world. They took 15 to the finals, but I’m okay with that,” Freeman said.

Congratulations to the Winter Guard team on all its success this season. It truly was a season to remember.

La-Porte-1Student-April-2017_03 Student Spotlight: Kate Luce
Kate Luce is all too familiar with the classic splotches of paint on her clothes, phone, and school work, as she spends a great majority of her time painting and creating art.

Ever since Luce was a child, she has seemed to be interested in art, but she didn’t get serious about it until the summer of 8th grade. Although it began as something she simply enjoyed doing and wanted to keep getting better at, over these past couple of years she has begun to realize that it is something she wants to pursue as a career. She aspires to do big things in not only art but journalism as well.

“I plan on double majoring in journalism and fine arts with a concentration in painting and drawing at IUSB this fall. However, I am dead set on getting my masters in fine arts at School of the Art Institute of Chicago after I graduate IUSB,” Luce said.

Throughout her high school career, Luce has done some pretty spectacular things. Through the high school and around the community, she has been fortunate enough to be in multiple art shows including the First Forty Art Show at the Langlab, the Tri Kappa Art Show at LPHS, the Lindsey O'Brien Kesling Teen Art Show, etc. Being able to show her art off and to create art is something Luce holds very dear.

“Art is enjoyable because there is not a wrong way to do it. I can think of something, and be able to put it down on paper effectively. It is kind of a release for me, as well. When I feel horrible or have a bad day, art is there for me,” Luce said.

La-Porte-1Student-April-2017_04 Luce has found a second home in the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, located in Michigan City, where she has been involved with it for the past four years. She takes classes there, is an intern, and is a member of the newly established Youth Art Council. She and two other students from La Porte also created a mural through the Lubeznik Center that is located on the side of a building right across from the old police station in Michigan City.

Luce is greatly influenced Frida Kahlo, as she is someone she feels she can relate to in some aspects and can look up to as well. When it comes to Luce’s reason for wanting to create art, she feels that her and Kahlo are similar in that way.

“She suffered horribly throughout her life, but that never stopped her from creating beautiful works of art. Although I never went through the situations she went through, I create art the same reasons she did: to express emotions that I have,” Luce said.

Luce has made it very clear to those around her that no matter what, art is something she will always want to pursue. By taking classes and being so open about sharing her experiences with a brush or a pencil, she is preparing herself for what her future holds: fine arts.