Key Club holds Jean Drive
The Crown Point High School Key Club is holding its annual Jean Drive throughout the month of February.
The goal of the Jean Drive is to raise slightly used or new jeans for underprivileged teenagers. This is one of the many charitable programs the Key Club has helped organize during the 2015-16 school year.
Back in September, the club helped the local chapter of Rebuilding Together build houses for poor and underprivileged families around Northwest Indiana. In October, the club hosted their annual Halloween Party with the Best Buddies club at the school, helping several in the Exceptional Learners program celebrate the holiday.
In December, the club also hosted its annual Christmas Party in the school cafeteria.
The Jean Drive runs through the end of the month, and donations can be dropped off in Ms. Polizotto’s room at the high school.
Anyone one with questions can contact Ms. Polizotto at hpolizotto@cps.k12.in.us.
Quiz Bowl looks for Success at DAC Championships
After a 5-4 regular season, the Crown Point High School Quiz Bowl team is headed to Chesterton High School on Tuesday for the annual Duneland Athletic Conference Championship meet.
The conference’s best squad is the 9-0 Valparaiso Vikings, who were given a scare by the Dogs when the two teams met on Feb. 9. Crown Point led Valpo 14-2 early in the first round and lost to the Vikings by a final score of 50-39, which is the closest margin of victory the Vikings have had all season.
Also on Feb. 9, the Dogs’ varsity unit picked up a 40-36 victory over the Portage Indians, guaranteeing themselves an over-.500 record for the season.
The team heads into the conference championships with other wins over Marquette High School, Merrillville High School, La Porte High School and Andrean High School.
The junior varsity team will also be headed to the championship meet on the same day. If the varsity squad wins the DAC Tournament, they’ll receive an auto-bid to the State championships at Purdue University.
For any further information on the club, you can contact adviser Vince Bauters at vbauters@cps.k12.in.us.
Andrew Gianfermi on Path to Success at Crown Point High School
Crown Point High School senior Andrew Gianfermi is grateful for the opportunities he has been given to succeed while at the high school.
“If you look at it, high school for every single person is just like one giant story. I feel like I have developed similar to a character in a story. I feel like I’m a very different person than I was during my freshman year, and part of the reason why is all the people I’ve met, and the turmoil I’ve suffered through and all the things that have made me "me" have all come from my high school experience.”
Gianfermi’s political views also helped him develop as a person as his knowledge of the world, even though they are far to the left of the average person.
“I was a communist for a year, but since I looked more into and got more educated, I now consider myself a democratic socialist. And the way this has affected my life is that I’m more vigilant about other people’s suffering. I can think about different classes and how people interact from multiple perspectives.”
Gianfermi hopes to pursue writing in the future and is testing his abilities in the media field, working with CPTV and the school newspaper, Inklings.
“I want to be a writer. A novelist, I write poetry, comic books, anything really. I’ve been obsessed with stories and anything like that for the longest time. Just doing that seemed to me as what I should do. This is what I should do, this is what I should be, and I really like it.”
After high school, Gianfermi plans on heading to Purdue University to help him get a career in writing.
“I plan on going to Purdue University West Lafayette mostly because of their English programs and writing programs are very good down there. It is the number two major that gets jobs outside engineering out of Purdue. Also, the college town vibe. It’s bigger than Crown Point, and it’s kind of like a small city. It’s a college campus of 40,000 students, so there’s a chance to meet a new student every single day.”
Michael Bazin stars at CPHS
Government teacher Michael Bazin is enjoying his time as a teacher at CPHS.
Bazin began teaching at Crown Point in the summer of 2008, after receiving a degree from Purdue University to teach Social Studies
“I just like being a part of this (Crown Point’s) community,” Bazin said. “I think that Crown Point community in general values education, and I like being a part of that. I enjoy interacting with the students and I enjoy the subject matter that I teach, and I think in general that I have a pretty comfortable life.”
Throughout his time at CPHS, Bazin has helped coach the boys’ soccer team and has served as the team’s head coach since 2012. The Dogs have won two state titles with Bazin a part of the coaching staff.
“I think the first time especially we were long shots, and it ended in the most extravagant fashion of three penalty kick shootouts in a row (to win state), and the second time it was just a good feeling of justification.”
Bazin also looks to finish the 2015-16 off strong by passing as many students as possible through the AP Government test coming up in the spring.
“The AP test is essentially all I’m working towards (for the end of the year),” Bazin said, “I’m trying to get through all the information before the test, (and) catching kids up from the first semester that have taken the class.”