Academics
Junior Darius Hutch, Senior Viridiana Carrillo and Senior Erika McClinton were three out of forty students across Indiana accepted into a Purdue Entrepreneurship Academy held at Purdue University West Lafayette. The three students had to write a 200-word essay describing why they would like to attend this academy. They discovered they were accepted in the beginning of May.
This academy started June 21 and ended June 26. The students stayed in the Hillenbrand Hall dorms on campus and experienced a taste of college/dorm life. They started the week off with many icebreakers to get to know each other well. They later went into their groups and discovered their task for the week.
The students had to pitch a product to a panel of judges by the end of the week and attempt to persuade them to invest in their product. Each day of the week students learned many techniques, ideas and facts about their product and about entrepreneurship.
“I had two favorite memories during the academy. The first was meeting new people and all their different backgrounds,” Carrillo said. “And the second was going on Dairy Queen runs, then going back to the dorm and stressing about our projects.” The students received a certificate of completion for the academy. This will go towards credit hours if any of the students decide to attend Purdue University West Lafayette.
Student Spotlight
Junior Darius Hutch, one of the students who attended the Purdue Entrepreneurship Academy, earned a $2,500 scholarship to Purdue University along with the four others in his group. Out of eight groups, “Nova Winds” took first place.
The group was chosen by a panel of judges based on their pitch or selling of their product. Their product was an advanced windmill technology that would allow the windmill to go the opposite way that it usually goes. This would produce more energy and also conserve energy at the same time.
The team eventually came together after a long week of restless work nights and long work days. Hutch agrees that it was all worth it in the end.
“My experience was fantastic!” Hutch said. “I met new people and learned to work with them. Although it wasn’t all fun and games working together, at the end of the day, we were a team with the same goal which we accomplished.”
Athletics
All sports at Merrillville High School are conditioning and preparing for the upcoming seasons. Conditioning for all sports has been Monday through Friday with the hours varying for each sport. Most of the teams are sticking to their normal routine except for the football team.
The football team has a new head coach and many new assistant coaches. Coach Brad Seiss is the new head football coach for Merrillville High School. Many people are looking forward to a fresh start for the football team including Merrillville High School’s principal, Mr. Mike Krutz.
“Coach Seiss is someone who will fit in nicely with our high expectations and understand the importance of building relationships with students,” Mr. Krutz said.
Coach Seiss is from Warsaw, Indiana and he has always dreamed of coaching at Merrillville High School. He hopes to continue the legacy of Merrillville Football and maintain the football team to have great discipline.
“My coaching style is similar to what they are used to,” Coach Seiss said. “It puts them in the best situation to win games.”
SWAG Boot Camp
Pirate SWAG, also known as Students with a Goal, is a summer boot camp program to help incoming seniors focus on their future goals and prepare for college.
The programs are for four weeks this summer and the boot camp counselors have high expectations for their first year of this camp.
Two sessions has passed earlier in June and there are going to be two more sessions coming up in July. There are SWAG activities such as resume building, test registrations and community field trips. Financial aid and scholarship information is also given.
“I want them to know it’s not just for college-bound juniors. It’s for all juniors,” College and Career Counselor Mrs. Sara Daniels said. “Senior year will be hectic and if they can give one week of their time, it will help in the long run.”
Ross Summer Music Theater
Ross Summer Music Theater is a traditional musical theater program ran at Merrillville High School under the Reinhart family. This program has been going on for decades and it continues this year.
The production this summer will be Phantom of the Opera. Merrillville High School put on Phantom of the Opera earlier in the school year and it seemed to be a good musical for the summer also.
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical about a man, The Phantom, who has been hiding in a 19th century Paris opera house who schemes to get to know vocalist by the name of Christine. The Phantom wears a mask to hide a distinct physical feature on his face. The Phantom’s plan throughout the musical is for Christine to fall in love with him, but this does not go as planned.
The cast will be the same for the most part and they hope to have a good turn out once again. The shows will be located in the Reinhart Auditorium at Merrillville High School. The dates are July 24, 25, 31 and August 1 at 7:30 p.m. and July 26 and August 2 at 3:00 p.m.
Teacher Spotlight
Ms. Patti Tubbs was one of the teachers who received the Top Influential Teacher award for Merrillville High School. Mrs. Tubbs is a cooking teacher, child development teacher and she is also the coach for the boys and girls golf teams.
She has many extracurricular activities outside of school as well. Mrs. Tubbs enjoys sailing on boats and snow skiing. She skis in Colorado and Canada where the mountains are higher and “a little scary sometimes,” Mrs. Tubbs said.
Mrs. Tubbs said she is different from other teachers because she thinks outside the box while majority of people are linear thinkers.
“She is so caring and nice,” Junior Samantha Proper said.
Mrs. Tubbs got into teaching because her dad thought it was a good way to give back to others. Her parents always told her to do what she does best and they always taught her the biblical purpose ‘The first shall be last, the last shall be first,’ meaning to put others before yourself.