What's Happened?
Whiting has been very busy so far this year. Football has already completed six weeks of their season, most recently with a win over Hanover Central. They have beaten Clark, Wheeler, Lake Station, and Hanover with losses to Griffith and Boone Grove, making their record thus far 4-2.
Cross country has had six meets as well and have placed increasingly higher with improved times and have moved up in the rankings since their first meet.
Whiting hosted a Blood Drive on August 31st. Run by the National Honor Society, it was the second time in school history that a blood drive has been hosted, the first time being earlier this year. The group plans to run another drive in the winter, potentially in January. This event went above and beyond expectations, beating out the goal of 56 pints by getting 71 complete pints thanks to dozens of people from the community and students within the school.
Homecoming was held on September 16 with a Candyland theme. During the week, the students decorated the halls and parade floats with vairous themes. Freshman chose Plants vs. Zombies; Sophomores chose Pokémon; Juniors chose Monopoly; Seniors chose Mario Kart. Another popular program at the school is the Senior Directed One Acts for which the casts have been practicing every Tuesday through Thursday. For those looking for a bigger production, auditions were held the Monday and Wednesday of Homecoming week for the spring musical of the school year, The Addams Family.
The Up and Coming
There are many events coming up for the Oilers. The football season continues with their next game on September 29 facing Calumet at Calumet. Senior night for football will be on October 6th against Bishop Noll. Sectional opponents will be decided the following week.
Cross country’s next conference meet is on September 30th at Wheeler High School. They, along with Volleyball and Band seniors, will also be recognized at Ray P. Gallivan field on October 6th. The Cross Country sectional will be on October 7th at Gavit High School.
Volleyball will play next on September 26th at home against River Forest and again on October 2nd at Washington Township. Their senior night is slated for October 5th.
The Senior Directed One Acts this year feature five different shows: Frankenstein Slept Here directed by Hailey Kramer, You’re Driving Me Crazy directed by Oscar Figueroa, Snow White Lite directed by Hope Huss and Marissa Baez, A Story for a Reigny Day directed by TJ Lowe, and The Boy Who Cried Werewolf directed by Samantha Diringer. In the past, many chose to co-direct and it was standard for two seniors to work together to put on the show. This year, however, all but one pair decided to direct on their own. Each year the seniors chose their scripts from an outside company that specializes in writing the short plays, but A Story for a Reigny Day is written by senior director TJ Lowe himself. He is the second in school history to do so, with Macie Plavec being the first with her production of Sweat Bee back in 2015. Senior Directed One Act practices will continue, with the shows to be performed at the Whiting High School Auditorium on October 21 and 22. Whiting High School’s band will also be hosting the first concert of the year on October 16th, the same night as the middle school and elementary school band.
Running for Homecoming Royalty
Part of the fun of Homecoming is electing the attendants, but even better is voting the Homecoming King and Queen. At the home football game on September 15th, the King and Queen were finally announced. The school voted on Johnny Cruz for King and Emma Burke for Queen. Cruz has been a student at Whiting since the start and has been a favorite amongst the class for his humor and his skill at basketball. Burke transferred to Whiting in the later years of elementary school at Nathan Hale. She has been well known for her contributions and performances with the cross country teams over the years.
Burke said her favorite part of homecoming week was “the parade because we got to see the entire community”, noting that in the tight-knit city of Whiting, you basically know everyone by name.
Burke also said, “Winning was an honor. I was so happy and it made my high school career.”
Now that the dance has come and gone, she is back to work as a captain for the cross country team. When asked about the standings for sectionals, Burke said, “I believe we will excel past Sectionals onto Regionals at Lemon Lake.”
She is very confident that the Girls Varsity will advance as a whole and that the Boys Varsity has a strong chance of advancing more into regionals than any year before. You can catch her leading the pack Monday through Friday around the running trails and makeshift courses of Whiting and at one of many schools competing against the clocks on Saturday mornings. So keep an eye out for one of Whiting’s hardest working students and support the team!
Until We Meet Again, Mr. Hopps
On September 22nd, Whiting said goodbye to teacher Tim Hopps. When Hopps joined the staff years ago, he immediately took up the job as head Basketball coach, running the team alongside David Hoffman, former teacher for Whiting who himself left the school city back in 2015. Hopps continued on with the team and his classes and treated each year as a stepping stone for building his areas of interest. He revitalized the basketball program for Whiting and dedicated time year-round with his athletes to create new training regimens and team building, even when the in-season record did not necessarily show that.
He began as a Geography and World History teacher with small classes of Psychology and Sociology, but his ambitions to better his students created many new opportunities. He moved on to US history and based on discussions with his class the previous year, decided to create an Honors course. Hopps always aimed to introduce and utilize uncommon methods of interaction to create a unique and memorable learning experience. His work took psychology and sociology from an obscure elective to classes many students considered their favorites and a staple in the Whiting High School experience. He may be leaving, but the impact on his students will stick with them forever, and his impact on the school will not fade for years to come.