What’s recently happened?
It is with the heaviest of hearts to inform all that Joseph McCoy, a beloved band teacher of three years at Hammond Central High School (HC), has passed away on August 21.
McCoy took over from former Band Director Keegan Whitney. Whitney was known as a nice teacher, so in the beginning, McCoy left students wondering whether he could fill Whitney’s shoes. McCoy exceeded their expectations, being regarded as one of the most trusting and fun teachers that students could talk to. McCoy was a man known to smile at students and bring a smile to their faces.
Stephanie Robledo, a junior at HC, used to attend McCoy’s classes and recalls the energy he had given in and out of class.
“Mr. McCoy was a very happy person. Even on a bad day, he would have a smile. He made sure that his students always had someone to talk to, and he cared about everyone. He was a great teacher. May he rest in peace,” said Robledo.
Julieta Villanueva, who is also a junior at HC, attended McCoy’s class last year.
“It was only for one semester, but in that short time, he was a really good teacher. He was just a good person overall, one of those teachers that was always optimistic and made class fun. I looked forward to going because he always made the class interesting and lively. Even after I didn’t have class with him anymore, he always came up to me and asked how I was and what I was up to which was a very small thing to do, but it always made my day because he remembered me,” said Villanueva.
What’s coming up?
Hammond Arts and Performance Academy’s (HAPA) Rock Band, including students from Morton High School and HC, will be performing at Wolf Lake on September 15 from 7:00 p.m - 9:00 p.m.
The band will be participating in Wolf Lake's official concert series, which is a big leap of recognition for Hammond’s students. Due to the fact there’s a lot of seniors in HAPA’s Rock Band, they encourage anyone in the Rock Band to come to the performance.
Fall sports season is here with HC’s Boys and Girls Cross Country, Football, Girls Golf, Boys and Girls Soccer, Cheer, Volleyball, and Boys Tennis.
The most recent game was played on September 1, with the HC Wolves Football team winning against the Griffith High School Panthers 41-0.
Staff spotlight:
Dameca Harrison is the former assistant principal of HC and George Rogers Clark High School for two years at both schools. From 2013 to 2019, Harrison was principal at Annie Burn-Hicks Elementary School, formerly known as Maywood Elementary. She is now the principal of HC this year.
Harrison decided to run for principal since she missed the nostalgia of being in the position back in Burn-Hicks. At first, she was not sure she could take on the role again, but in the end, she decided she was ready for it.
Back in Burn-Hicks, Harrison felt she rushed through changing the school too quickly; she wants to take a slower approach and plan things through first at HC.
As a principal, Harrison gets pulled left and right, whether it be from teachers and students all the way to clerical and custodial staff needing her. Harrison deals with daily activities such as observations, parent phone calls, anything else that happens in the community that ties back to HC.
“I want people to understand that if there's an issue, you have to speak about it respectfully in order for anything to change. Nothing can change unless we're all going to put the action behind it,” said Harrison.
One new duty as a high school principal is dealing with master scheduling. Harrison has to look at every single teacher in each period and see how many kids are in their class and what they are teaching. Harrison often partners with the counselors, since it is new to her.
“The biggest challenge at the high school level has probably been scheduling, because that's something that I did not have to do as an elementary principal - I'm learning a lot,” said Harrison.
Harrison looks forward to increasing test scores and more teaching with the shorter class time going from around an hour to a 45 minute class time.
Harrison wants HC to be a comfortable environment for students and everyone in the school.
“I want my students to be happy. I want them to feel comfortable when they come to Hammond Central. I want the same thing for all the adults that come too,” said Harrison.
Harrison had a few words she wanted to leave with students.
“If you put your mind to anything, you can do it. I'm amazed at what I see students doing now versus what we did as high schoolers. You guys are fearless; you are not afraid to do things. I think that's phenomenal. I wish I had been fearless when I was in high school,” said Harrison.
Student spotlight:
Julieta Villanueva, a junior at HC, is experiencing a shift this year with important changes. This year, a lot of new opportunities and changes are presenting themselves.
With SAT’s playing a prominent role in her success this year, Villanueva plans on having a study group. Since her parents have not done any similar testing, she’s researched the internet as a way to assist her. She’s come to the conclusion that she needs to succeed if she wants to get into a good college.
When looking for assistance with her assignments, she tends to lean towards her classmates because they have a student’s perspective.
Despite Villanueva relying on students when it comes to assistance with her schoolwork, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t find the teachers useful.
“I feel like the teachers in Hammond Central are really reliable; there isn’t anyone who has been unhelpful or has refused to help me. They're all very helpful,” said Villanueva.
Villanueva enjoys playing the piano and wants to incorporate that into her future. David Boban, her piano teacher for two years, told her that it’s easy to get a profit from playing the piano as long as she has experience playing. Boban explained how she can make money from playing at churches and other events since they’re always looking for people.
In the near future, Villanueva looks forward to getting a job anywhere other than the customer service industry as well as to driving.
Villanueva looks forward to meeting new people and making friends, she has a particular type of people she wants to have in her life.
“I want to meet people that are nice and try in school because I want to associate with people like that so I can be better too. Hopefully, it’ll rub off on me, “ said Villanueva.
Villanueva likes action books and fantasy books. She also enjoys playing games, hanging out with friends, and playing with her cat.
Her goal this year is to excel in school, possibly with all A’s.
Despite this year being busy, Villanueva is grateful that she’s always on her feet compared to before when she was laying down at home.