What's recently happened?
Crown Point High School’s Royal Regiment Marching Band held its senior night on Friday, October 7. The night marked the end of the band's season, celebrating its seniors' hard work throughout the years.
“Senior night was really bittersweet. Marching band helped me make a lot of friends and having to leave them is sad,” said Senior Lauren Mount.
Mount originally joined the band during her freshman year for the gym credit but found that it enabled her to not only meet her academic requirements, but also build meaningful relationships throughout her high school years.
“Through marching band, I was able to meet so many people who I otherwise wouldn't have known,” Mount said.
Before senior night on their last practice, the senior marchers played their freshman-year show, the music they haven't seen in four years.
“My freshmen year show was ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Out of all our shows, that’s always been my favorite. Playing it after so long felt so weird because the last time I played this was when I was a freshman. It felt good to see how far I’ve come since then,” Mount said.
Crown Point holds events like senior night to commemorate the imprint the seniors leave on the rest of the student body as they leave to pursue their futures.
What’s coming up?
Crown Point High School’s Excalibur yearbook staff, Inklings newsletter staff, and the Radio/TV staff plan on going to St. Louis, Missouri to join the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention. The trip includes the awards ceremony for the JEA National Student Media Contests, as well as several breakout sessions for students to attend to learn from journalism teachers from all over the country.
“All the yearbook trips in the past have been super fun and they’re super educational, and I learn so much from all of the classes and lectures,” Junior Madeline Thunberg said.
Thunberg is the yearbook staff’s advanced design editor, and also plans on pursuing journalism after high school.
“I hope to be a journalist someday so I’m looking forward to attending all of the future trips and I can’t wait to see what I take out of them,” Thunberg said.
The high school’s journalism advisors plan and put together trips like this to provide helpful insight and experience on the processes that other schools’ staff go through.
Staff spotlight
This month’s staff spotlight is Crown Point High School's Chloe Hoffman. Hoffman teaches both Dual Credit/Honors and AP Chemistry.
“I started out as a pharmacy major in college, and I was not loving it my freshman year, and I kind of realized that I always was a teacher. I tutored people in high school, and I worked as a dance teacher in high school. I kind of realized when I got to college, I loved chemistry, but I didn’t feel like my chemistry teacher prepared us for college, and I didn’t want other kids to feel that way,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman has been teaching for 11 years and finds that chemistry is much more practical than people think it to be.
“I love the connections with other subjects’ chemistry makes. I feel like it really makes the students understand math because they learn math, but they don't really learn to apply it to different things, so chemistry kind of makes them do that,” Hoffman said.
A big part of teaching is the connections that students make with their teachers. Hoffman, teaching both DC Chemistry and AP Chemistry, gets to see her students grow and advance in the subject.
“I feel like I have a special connection with the students, especially the ones I had their first year of chemistry, and then I have them again their second year. But I kind of have a special bond with my AP students because it’s a different way of thinking and we kind of work through that together and build relationships. A lot of those students ask me for letters of recommendation and that's kind of a special moment, getting to write that letter for them, getting to help them move forward in life,” Hoffman said.
Along with teaching chemistry, Hoffman also coaches Crown Point High School’s Dance Team, a position that she has prior knowledge and experience with.
“I was on the dance team in high school, and I worked at my instructor's studio as a dance teacher there and when I went to college, I wasn’t on the traditional dance team, I was on the Purdue Latin and Ball Dance Team, which is a different style. I loved to dance, and I wanted to do something with it in college. When I got the job here, I asked about a position coaching the dance team. I started out coaching JV and then the varsity coach retired in a few years and that’s when I started coaching varsity,” Hoffman said.
Crown Point’s Dance Team competes at many events throughout the year whilst performing at several school sporting events.
“I’m a very competitive person and I love the fact that Crown Point competes. My high school didn’t get to do competitions and I love that aspect of it. I love the competition side, but I also love seeing them grow. I have had many dancers that have made progress throughout the years. Some felt like they were not capable of doing things and then they are by the time they were done.” Hoffman said.
Chemistry is one of the most complex sciences a student in high school can take, but Hoffman has made it a priority to help her students navigate these difficult courses while finding time to instruct one of the high school’s most strenuous sports. Crown Point wishes luck to the dance team for their upcoming dancing competitions.
Student spotlight
This month’s student spotlight is Crown Point’s Avery Nowak. Nowak is a cheerleader, Creating A Safe School (CASS) member, and honors student.
“I personally love high school so much more than middle school, I like how we have more freedom, kind of like how I get to choose whether I get a good grade or not,” said Nowak.
Nowak is double accelerated in math, meaning she is taking Pre-AP Algebra 2, which is a junior class, as a sophomore.
“The best part about cheerleading for me is definitely the people that I do it with. They’re my best friends, I’m with them every day. I love all of my coaches, they’re like third, fourth, and fifth parents to me. I also like how it gives me something to work for,” said Nowak.
Nowak is part of Crown Point’s Varsity Cheer Team. She serves as a role model and guide for freshmen and junior varsity cheerleaders.
“I would recommend cheerleading, definitely for the family that you get with it and it’s so much more fun to be involved at games than it is to be in the stands. Being on varsity is a lot of work but it’s so much more fun than being on JV,” said Nowak.
Cheer, being one of the most rigorous activities the high school offers with its physical requirements and schedule, can make it hard for students to balance it with schoolwork, but Nowak continues to persevere and excel in both cheer and academics.