What’s Recently Happened?
Crown Point High School held its annual Bulldog Rush, an event for incoming freshmen to become acclimated to the school and its extracurriculars. However, this was the first year for the Bulldog Mentorship program, a program designed to give incoming freshmen an upper-class mentor to help them as they transition to high school. The program takes 100 upperclassmen and assigns each 10 freshmen to keep in touch with throughout the year and to check in on their progress to see how they’re doing.
“I think this program was a wonderful idea because now freshmen have someone they can feel comfortable with to fall back on. I remember when I was a freshman I was scared of upperclassmen until I joined other activities and made new friends,” said Mentor Abigail Berrisford.
Berrisford was a part of the morning group. Each group had around four to five mentors giving a tour to 40 students.
“It was really fun being able to see all of the freshmen since I was there a little over a year ago. I was supposed to be a freshman this year, so some of them were older than me and it was just a crazy experience seeing how they’re so different,” said Mentor Vivian Keene.
Keene joined multiple clubs during her bulldog rush and is happy to help the incoming freshmen find their place in the school.
What’s Coming Up?
Crown Point High School is excited to host homecoming, coming up on September 17th. The dance's theme is “Creating Memories." Last year the dance was split between two locations, one for freshmen and sophomores, and one for juniors and seniors. The decorating committee starts its work in a few weeks, which is exciting due to the large number of new members the group has received. This year’s homecoming is estimated to be to school's most attended dance in a few years.
Staff Spotlight:
This month’s staff spotlight is Crown Point’s Jillian Ryan. Ryan has recently made the transition from teaching at Robert A. Taft Middle School to high school. For the past few years, she had been teaching English to seventh graders. As far as teaching goes, Ryan has had thoughts about it since early in life.
“I have wanted to be a teacher since fifth grade. My teacher was the absolute best and I wanted to be just like her. It wasn’t until I went to high school that I realized I’d rather work with older students than younger,” Ryan said.
Switching schools and teaching a whole new age group is a challenging move, but it is a goal that Ryan has had for a while. When Ryan was a student teacher, she participated in classes with seniors and juniors, a fundamental part of her educational training experience.
“My goal has always been the high school,” Ryan said. “Though I will miss the friendships I had with my coworkers and the community that Taft is,"
A school community is something hard to leave, but Ryan looks to the future to see how she can better the lives of other Crown Point students.
“I am enjoying my time here so far! It is still early and I am still adjusting to the differences, but everyone has been so welcoming and encouraging of my transfer. It has been nice to reconnect with former students and see how their lives have changed since I taught them in seventh grade,” said Ryan.
Overall, change is something that once in a while lot of people need. To challenge yourself and plunge yourself into an entirely new social and academic environment is something that is not for the faint of heart, yet Ryan has done exactly that. Crown Point can’t wait to else the future holds for Ryan.
Student Spotlight:
This month’s student spotlight is Crown Point’s Marianne Gerona, a senior involved with many activities at the school. Being an honors student and balancing so many extracurriculars, is a job that she makes look easy.
“I am involved in Code Red, Peer Tutoring, Bulldog Mentorship, Chick Fil A Leadership, and National Honor Society. I am also the Senior Class President of the Student Council, captain of the Dance Team, a leader in Key Club, and Co-Editor of the Excalibur Yearbook staff,” Gerona said.
As student council president, she has many responsibilities, but Gerona still finds time to enjoy herself and make memories.
“We have this event at the very end of the year called Dance Marathon, where we try to raise money for the children’s hospital, and that is so much fun," she said.
Gerona has to organize events for the senior class and she is responsible to create a senior motto. She also helps out with school decorations, especially for big events like Homecoming. Along with her presidential responsibilities, Gerona is also in charge of the yearbook staff.
“I love going out and taking pictures, getting interviews, getting to meet new people, and just formulating the spreads is so satisfying to me,” Gerona said.
Last year, Gerona was the staff’s co-managing editor. Having to work and take on countless spreads, she has earned her spot in her co-editorial position. Along with leading the yearbook staff, Gerona is also heavily involved in the school’s dance team.
“Dancing had taught me how to work together as a team because every single person has to put in some sort of effort together for you to be successful,” Gerona said.
Gerona has danced for over five years, something that she has put countless hours of hard work into. Whilst participating in all of these activities, Gerona looks to the future.
She wants to attend Loyola University to major in nursing. Crown Point is excited to see what else the accomplished Gerona will do in her future.