What has recently happened?
On November 11th, Gavit High School was of many to participate in the AP Student conference held in Michigan City. Students attended 4 sessions of their choosing based on their current AP courses and received valuable info on how to crack the AP Exams in May and possibly receive college credit.
It was an early morning for the students, having to be at Gavit by 6:50 am ready to leave on the bus. Many students found the conference to be beneficial to them, due to sessions providing clarity on difficult topics in their courses. The privilege to participate in this event has not gone unnoticed with Gavit AP students. They found it to not only be beneficial but a pleasant experience overall. Students hope that Gavit will have the opportunity to participate in the next conference.
What's coming up?
The holidays are approaching at high speeds, and Gavit is ready to tackle them head-on. Gavit High School will be hosting the Secret Santa events this year from December 11 -15th. Students and staff let out their holiday joy and giving by being Secret Santas for one another and exchanging gifts of sentimental value with no price attached, just love.
Students start off the week by decorating their assigned teacher’s door. Little treats will be left in teacher mailboxes and in their rooms (Ornament, letter of appreciation, candy, etc.). To finish off the week, there is a Secret Santa reveal breakfast in the Gavit's conference room at 7:00am. Students will bring in an item and all teachers Secret Santa will be revealed at breakfast in their honor!
Not everyone can enjoy the holidays at home but the students and staff of Gavit makes sure that everyone feels the joy when inside the school’s walls.
Teacher Spotlight
Rhonda Fehr plays a really big role in the hearts of everyone within Gavit High School. She always puts in the extra work to make sure everything is coordinated properly. Whether it be co-teaching AP Calculus, or handling all of the AP organization, she is always on top of it. She is involved deeply and has concern for the AP student experience in Gavit. Fehr makes sure all students are using their full potential and challenging themselves at all times in these rigorous courses. She has been involved in Gavit for many years and we hope for more to come. She has a 4.27 out of 5-star rating on ratemyteacher.com and it doesn't seem to be going down any time soon.
Fehr has even received recommendations from many, here is one as follows:
“Rhonda is an educational leader with her colleagues. She is utilized in various manners by the School City of Hammond. She is a mentor new incoming teachers and leads through review and planning.” - Ira Zimmer
She is an excellent example of the amount of work and dedication an AP student should put into their course.
A saying that she believes every teacher should follow is “Don't ask kids 'what are you working on?' instead, ask kids 'what are you learning?’”. There's a significant difference, and it's all about the words you say.
Student Spotlight
When a student who is actively involved in their community and volunteers whenever they can, that is a student who deserves to be recognized. Ja’Anei Murphy is currently a senior at Gavit High School and is actively involved in her community. So involved that even Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. and the Hammond Department of Planning and development recognized her with the outstanding youth volunteer award. This award has been presented for 31 years and it is an honor to be selected as a recipient. She received the award at the annual ceremony which took place at Dynasty Banquet Hall in Hammond.
“Receiving this award meant a lot to me. It made me feel extremely appreciated by many because of all the work that I have accomplished," said Murphy.
Murphy comes from a pleasant home environment with 3 sisters and 1 brother. Her youngest sister is currently 10 years old and looks up to her with great pride, wanting to be just like her.
“At home it is a very fun environment. All we do is laugh, talk about our day and most days we have movie/game nights! All the love is shared between each wall in the house, I just love it,” expressed Murphy.
Murphy plans to go to college and become a pediatric nurse after high school. She then wants to make her way to becoming a pediatric doctor after many years of nursing.
The entire student body and faculty of Gavit are very proud of Ja’Anei Murphy. She has represented the school for what it truly is. The pride of Hammond.