#1StudentNWI: The Latest and Greatest News from La Porte High School

National Honor Society Inducts New Members

On March 17, members of the junior and senior classes were inducted into the La Porte High School chapter of National Honor Society (NHS). Students were invited to fill out applications to join the club, and selection was based on National Honor Society’s four main criteria: scholarship, leadership, service, and character. The students who showed excellence in these areas were chosen to be inducted.

Meanwhile, the senior members who had been inducted the year prior were busy turning their required twenty-five hours of community service. These hours must be earned in order to have the honor of wearing the gold NHS cords during commencement and to be recognized as a club member.

“It was an honor to have been recognized for all of the hard work I have put in throughout the years,” Emma Foglesong, a new junior inductee, said. “I hope I can speak for my classmates by saying that we are all proud to be part of NHS.”

Being a member of National Honor Society is quite an honor, and these students will, no doubt, work their hardest in order to represent the LPHS chapter in a manner that befits the club.

Screening Hearts and Saving Lives

On March 26 and 27, La Porte’s local Play for Jake Foundation partnered with Young Hearts for Life to provide free heart screenings to over 1,500 La Porte high school and middle school students. This strong community connection to heart health started back on September 25, 2013, when LPHS student Jake West passed away from an undetected heart condition. His death shook the entire community, but La Porte has taken this tragedy and has sparked a movement.

Over sixty community volunteers came out to help the process, and the Play for Jake Foundation, Kiwanis Club of La Porte, and Alcoa sponsored the event and made the free preventative screenings possible for the students. The community has come together in a great way to help the safety of its youth, because every single child should have the opportunity to be tested.

Julie West-Schroeder, mother of Jake West and founder of the Play for Jake Foundation, shared, “The volunteers, the schools, and everyone have been absolutely amazing. We can’t pull this off unless everyone is helping, so I am overwhelmed and forever grateful.”

Heart safety is a huge deal; many tragedies could be prevented with a simple heart screen, so it is extremely important to sign up for one and to spread the awareness about undetected heart abnormalities.

Talents Shine at Variety Show

On the evening of March 27, the LPHS auditorium was filled with the Slicer talents of both students and teachers during its annual Variety Show. From dancing to singing to instrumentals, from comedy routines to a passionate slam poetry reading, each talent brought something new to the stage, and each talent was greeted by voluminous applause and cheering from the audience.

The fifteen acts were accompanied by the famous emcee duo of LPHS English teachers Erin Parker and Brenda Cooper, much to the appreciation of the audience. This was the pair’s third consecutive year hosting the event, and they did not disappoint. With costume changes, props, witty banter, and even a lip-sync battle with two other teachers, Parker and Cooper created a fun and entertaining atmosphere for the show.

“We love hosting the Variety Show,” Cooper shared. “We do it for the people—our fans. The performers are always so talented, and it varies each year. It’s always a treat.”

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Beaches, Slopes, and a Break from Homework

One of the weeks that is most looked forward to in any school is Spring Break. After a slew of snow days and bad weather, and days that seem as if they are endless, students and teachers alike are in desperate need of a break from learning and teaching. It has been a few months since their last break for Christmas, but it is not yet summer vacation, so Spring Break is a nice opportunity for people to sleep in, travel, or just relax.

Many people head south towards warmer weather for the break, while others decide to hit the ski slopes instead. Still others decide to spend their week at home. Several LPHS students, however, are headed overseas to Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand for Spring Break. One of those students, junior Maddie Barber, is eager for her upcoming trip.

“I’m really excited to be going to another country,” she said. “I’ve never left North America before, and going to Australia has always been my dream.”

No matter the plans, the nine-day break provides students and teachers with time away from the stress and workload of school, as well as with time to regain their energy for the remainder of the school year.

‘Tis the Season for Prom Planning

Starting around February or March, the thought of prom begins to creep into the minds of many LPHS juniors and seniors. From there, it only grows, and April is generally the prime time to start planning for that long-anticipated dance, including the act of finding a date for the night.

Although there is nothing wrong with the traditional “Do you want to go to prom with me?” question, the recent craze of asking a date to prom through a creative “promposal” has swept the nation and has hit La Porte High School hard.

The most common way to perform a “promposal” is to spell out the word “PROM” with items such as food, sports equipment, balloons, or posters, to name a few. But many people also make use of puns and cheesy jokes, plan out public displays, or just come up with other creative ways to ask that ever-so-important question. No matter how it is asked, though, the only thing that really matters is the other person’s response, right?

Athletes Swing into Spring

Whether it is swinging a golf club, a baseball bat, a tennis racquet, or their own arms and legs, LPHS athletes are busy gearing up for their first games, matches, and meets. Girls’ and boys’ track, baseball, softball, girls’ tennis, and boys’ golf are all working hard to build up both the teamwork skills and the playing skills of their players.

Junior softball player Kass Rosenbaum shared, “We are all very excited for this season. Team means everything to us, and our chemistry will carry us a long way this year.”

“I’m looking forward to traveling with the team and our coach the most,” senior golfer Nate Irons said. “Our coach has always called this team his second family, and I think that’s what makes us stronger and brings us closer together.”

Student Shout Out: Bayli Lebo

La Porte High School sophomore Bayli Lebo is an extremely hard worker in every aspect of her life. She puts forth a tremendous amount of effort on the volleyball court, both for Dunes and LPHS, where she is a starting varsity player. She is an intelligent student, especially in her favorite subject of math. She is a very friendly and high-spirited young woman, and she was recently voted by her classmates to receive the Female Outstanding Sophomore Award.

“I feel unbelievably honored to be nominated by my teachers and to be selected by my peers,” she expressed. “I never imagined to be named Outstanding Sophomore.”

Lebo plays volleyball with every ounce of her heart, and her passion drives her towards greatness. When she is not playing volleyball, she likes to spend time with her family and her friends, many of whom she met through playing the sport.

“My favorite thing about volleyball is all the great memories I have made along the way with the amazing people I have met,” she stated.

While she is only a sophomore, Lebo already has most of her college plans set. After she graduates high school, Lebo plans to attend Indiana University Bloomington to play volleyball for four years, and she hopes to major in pre-medicine. Lebo has an incredibly bright future ahead of her, and she will, no doubt, be successful in anything that she sets her mind to.

Teacher Shout Out: Miss Parker

When it comes to lessons taught in the classroom, LPHS English teacher and yearbook adviser Erin Parker goes above and beyond the necessary curriculum. She teaches lessons not found in the ordinary classrooms: lessons of kindness, of empathy, and of love.

“I want to teach my students that their voices have power and can be used for good,” she said. “Empowering teens to be agents of good is the best thing I could ever think of doing.”

Parker has only been teaching at LPHS for five years, but she has already left an everlasting mark on the school and its students. Two years ago she began the Kindness Campaign, a group that focuses on performing random acts of kindness around the school, and she promotes kindness on a daily basis through her positive, always-helpful attitude.

She shared, “I think kindness is the key to changing the world. A kind word or a helping hand can be all a person needs to set them down a different path or change their day. In a world that can be full of hate, I want to be someone who helps spark a revolution of kindness.”

In addition to spending time with friends and family, Parker is an avid writer and enjoys writing and putting her thoughts into words when she has free time.

Parker is definitely a teacher who cares about her students; she fully commits herself to helping her students to succeed both in the classroom and in the rest of their lives, and she truly loves her job. The former Slicer loves LPHS and cannot imagine herself being anything but a Slicer.

“My favorite thing about teaching is easily the students. I look forward to coming to work every day to see what they will do. I am so proud of the young adults I get to work with every day. I have learned way more from them than they have from me.”

Parker has inspired and impacted so many lives already, and she will continue to do so for the rest of her life. She is truly meant for amazing things.