Student Spotlight
This month’s student spotlight is Kaylynn Popp. Popp is a junior at Westville High School and has attended the school since kindergarten.She loves Westville as a school and is very proud to be a Blackhawk.
“My favorite thing about Westville is that it is small enough that you can know the majority of your classmates but big enough to have plenty to do,” said Popp.
She is very active in the school community and participates in many clubs and activities including DECA, Science Olympiad, Volleyball, Track, Poms, NHS, and many more. Along with all of her after school activities, Popp also makes time in her schedule to work at the local Dairy Queen where she has the opportunity to showcase her artistic talents by decorating cakes. When she is not working or participating in school activities, she enjoys sewing and reading.
Popp is a very ambitious and hardworking student and athlete who pushes herself and has very big goals for the future. She has accomplished many things as a student because of her drive and ethic. She has placed at the Science Olympiad State Competition, is a Hoosier Rising Star, and was a part of Leadership Laporte County. Popp plans to keep pushing herself, and her goals for the current school year include placing at the state competitions for DECA and Science Olympiad and to enjoy her junior year. Once she graduates, she plans on attending IUPUI for a pharmaceutical, biomedical engineering, or pathology degree and going into the medical field.
Teacher Spotlight
This month’s teacher spotlight is Mr. Webb. Mr. Webb has been a teacher for one and a half years, all of which he has been at Westville. He teaches English 10, Yearbook, Mass Media, and Journalism classes at Westville. In addition to his classes, Mr. Webb also sponsors the Disney Club and the School Closet, which is a program where students can donate clothing that will then be made available to other students at the school who are in need. Mr. Webb’s favorite part about teaching is his yearbook class.
“The yearbook class feels almost like a family unit, and I feel a sense of protectiveness over the whole class,” Webb said.
Before teaching, Mr. Webb attended Purdue University and earned degrees in Broadcast Journalism, Economics, and Political Science. After college, he also had experience in many diverse professions before starting his teaching career. Mr. Webb spent time working as a stand up comedian, a campaign manager for a congressman, and a news producer. He was even offered a position as a correspondent on “The Daily Show.” Along with having a very unique job history, Mr. Webb also has many fun and interesting hobbies. Some of these include playing guitar, bowling, and doing stand up comedy. Mr. Webb’s unique personality and diverse background make him the great teacher that he is, and Westville High School is very fortunate to have him.
What’s Happening
On December 28th, the Westville community gathered at the boys varsity basketball game to remember Kamilion “Milly” Jenkins, a student who passed away at the end of the previous school year. Milly was a very outgoing, caring, and fun student who always had a smile on her face. She also loved basketball, so having a game dedicated to her was the perfect way to honor her and her love of the game.
The memorial game was held in honor of Milly as a fundraiser to support her family. Partial proceeds from ticket sales and the concession stand went towards the family. Money was also raised from a bake sale, a fifty-fifty raffle, t-shirt sales, and a raffle for a moped that was donated for the event. Students and spectators also showed their support by wearing Milly’s favorite colors creating a sea of blue and purple in the stands.
The night was a great way for the school and community to come together in celebration of Milly’s life. For Milly’s family and close friends, it was a very personal and meaningful event that warmed their hearts.
“I just love to see everyone coming together and supporting us. It’s great the everyone came out to see the boys play while also supporting Milly and our family,” said Milly’s mom. At the end of the night, a representative of Milly’s family came out and thanked everyone for coming to the game and for all of their support. The night was closed with those words of thanks and appreciation.
What’s Coming Up
Westville’s Science Olympiad teams have been preparing for their regional competitions since the beginning of the year and the time for them to showcase their skills is almost here. They will be participating in the regional Science Olympiad competition on February 10th at Purdue Northwest in Hammond. Along with Westville, 12 other schools will be attending the regional competition. Each school will bring a middle and high school team, referred to as B and C divisions. Each school will be competing for a spot in the state competition at Indiana University in Bloomington, and this year only four schools go on from each division.
To prepare themselves for the stiff competition at regionals, Westville has been practicing every Monday since the beginning of the school year. During these practices they go through old tests, run practice drills for “build-it” events, and conduct thorough research on their event subjects. The Westville teams also go to invitational competitions to help themselves prepare. Invitationals provide students with a good practice run for regionals by showing them what the competition might look like and how the different events will run. All of the preparations and practices lead up to the regional competition where the students will compete for a spot at state. It’s a very exciting and nerve racking experience for the students and coaches, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“While Science Olympiad has its hardships, the experience makes it all worthwhile,” said Matt Slana, a junior who has been in Science Olympiad for the past three years.
As competition day rolls around, students will be putting all of their hard work to the test, and may they have the best of luck.