What’s recently happened?
Touching the audiences’ hearts, the Munster Theatre Company (MTC) received a perfect score and placed first at Indiana Thespians Regionals competition on December 2. The group performed “Wit” by Margaret Edson, which is about a brilliant professor who is diagnosed with stage four metastatic ovarian cancer.
“From things like borrowing a hospital bed from a nearby hospital to bringing in several people to speak to us from the Cancer Resource Center, we all really tried to tell this story as accurately and as best as we could,” Clover Sakardy, junior, said.
Sakardy was awarded the judges’ Outstanding Performer Award for her captivating and emotional performance as she played the leading role, Vivian Bearing, who battles cancer.
“It felt really good to be recognized and everything, but it felt strange to get an award for a show that would not have been any good without the other people around me,” Sakardy said.
Keeping up the energy, MTC’s next focus is putting on another good performance at state on January 21.
“Heading to state, we all agreed that we really want to focus on continuing to tell the story without going over the top,” Sakardy said. “We want to do this story justice and not make it just some tale.”
What’s coming up?
The chills of the competition season are finding their way towards the Munster Dance Team and the Munster Gymnastics Club as both programs have their first competition on December 17.
The Munster Dance Team is holding a showcase on December 14 to get the "competition nerves" out before taking the competition floor at Kahler Middle School.
“I feel like this is the most nerve-racking part of the year, and I am nervous to put our dances out on the floor for the first time,” Emma Jez, junior, said. “Although, I have to say that I am so proud and excited of where the team has come since the beginning of this season to now.”
The Gymnastics Club has been practicing diligently to compete at La Porte in four events: floor, vault, beam, and bars.
"I just go to each event and try to do the skills like I practiced,” Mikayla Southwell, senior, said. "There is a ton of cheering and yelling for teammates while competing. Everyone supports one another.”
Staff spotlight:
Leroy Marsh, health teacher, takes pride in being involved in his community. He was the former head football coach for 45 years between 1973 and 2017.
“I really really liked coaching football,” Marsh said. “Watching the team going through the competition and aiding them was a fun experience.”
Now, Marsh teaches health classes, and he enjoys making connections with students. He likes to keep up with the school activities, news, and, of course, the football team.
“I really like being with the kids,” Marsh said. “I enjoy working with the young people and watching them grow.”
To help out his community during the holiday season, Marsh and his wife, Jamie Marsh, began the Mustang Toy Round-Up 36 years ago. They collect toys and donations from the schools and the community to be sent to the Salvation Army and some other families in need.
“We thought we would probably be able to get enough for only five or six families, but it blew up,” Jamie Marsh said. “We ended up with many toys and donations. The whole community, neighboring communities, the whole students, athletics, and staff, everybody joined in. Last year, we helped well over 500 kids”
The idea for this toy drive sprouted from the help the Marshes received from the community in a time of need. Their young son, Ryan Marsh, was born three months premature. He was given a 3% chance to live, but lived up to the age of 13 years old. He passed away from respiratory syncytial virus, as he had to be on a ventilator his whole life.
“The community of Munster gathered around us and did everything they could to help us,” Jamie Marsh said. “I remember one Christmas Eve our doorbell rang, and in walked Santa Claus. Leroy and I both assumed one of our parents had set this up for our other son who was about 10 years old. Santa handed our oldest son a box of candy, talked to us for a couple of minutes, handed us an envelope, and out the door he went. Whoever this was was gone like lightning, and none of us know who it was to this day. When we opened the envelope, there was a thousand dollars in it.”
To pay forward the community’s support, Leroy Marsh went back to his football team to help get the toy drive up and running. The Mustang Toy Round-Up started more exclusively with the football team’s help, but now, many clubs help and participate.
“The Toy Round-up is the best annual event our football program has done for the last 36 years,” James Grunewald, football coach, said. “It’s important because we want to teach our athletes that community is bigger than wins and losses, to make sure they understand gratitude and realize what they have and why it’s important to give back.”
Student spotlight:
The crowd roars her name as she makes Munster High School history. Savannah Nuetzel, sophomore, is the first girl to score a Munster varsity football point. She joined the team just this year due to a conversation she had with her track coach, who is also the assistant football coach.
“After talking with one of the coaches, I thought it would be something fun and new to try,” Nuetzel said. “I love the team, and it was cool to learn the ways of a new sport.”
Along with track and football, Nuetzel also plays soccer. With being a part of all of these multiple sports, the “school-sport” balance can be complicated. Nuetzel conquers this balance through communication with her teachers and coaches. She was even awarded the Scholar Athlete Award at the Fall Sports Banquet in November.
“Balancing school and sports can be pretty hard sometimes,” Nuetzel said. “School does always come first. If I have to miss a practice because I am behind on homework, my coaches understand. If I have to skip a day of school for a tournament, my teachers understand as well. I try to communicate well and always make up for what I miss.”
Nuetzel plans to pursue sports beyond high school because she enjoys pushing and challenging herself.
“I grew up around sports and in sports,” Nuetzel said. “I love the feeling of just putting my heart into something that I am very passionate about. I feel very passionate about playing sports because it is something that I can always work hard at. You can’t just be good at everything. There is always room to get better.”