What's Going on?
The boys cross country team competed in the New Prairie invitational this past Saturday at New Prairie High School. The team has been participating in meets every Saturday since August 19th. With the regular season coming to a quick end and the DAC only two weeks away, coach Rhody and the team are quickly trying to prepare themselves mentally and physically.
“It’s always exciting to race and push yourself to do the best that you can. New Prairie is a pretty big meet so the amount of teams racing definitely amplified the tension.” said Joseph Copeland, a senior on the team.
The meet started off with varsity boys racing with the top runners, Joseph Copeland (12) and William Duszynski (12), eager to start the race. The team competed in the boys AAA race. Duszynski ran sub 17 along with Copeland. Other notable performances came from Logan Russell (9) who placed 6th, earning himself a medal.
Asking Russell after the race how he felt he replied with a smile, “it feels pretty great, it’s good to know that my hard work is paying off.”
The last race of the day was the boys reserve race. Notable performances came from Mitchel Polaski (12) who returned to the season after recovering from a number of injuries. Polaski ran a final time of 18:28 and placed 10th in his race. With Polaski returning, many of the boys on the team are approaching DAC with the feelings that the odds are now in their favor. As the season draws to a quick close, Lake Central is trying to make a name for itself this fall season. With the team back to full strength and the DAC at Lake Central this year, many schools may have to fear that LC will come out from the shadows and be the lone victors.
Teacher Spotlight
This month's teacher spotlight is on Mrs. Melissa Rettig, Director of Guidance at Lake Central. Rettig’s job within the department is essential to its success.
“I do master scheduling and student scheduling, I work with RTI and now the Alumni group,” Rettig said.
Rettig also works with the peer mentors, who are a group of students who tutor and help the freshman at the high school. One of Rettig’s newest jobs as the guidance director is to plan out school events like the freshman rush that took place this past month. Though she hopes to change a few things around for next year she is really pleased with how the freshman rush turned out.
“Our first day of school was really smooth this year. I think it had to do with the fact that the freshman had already been to their PTE (Pathways to Excellence) class so we already had about 600 more kids who knew where they would be going on the first day,” Rettig said.
Rettig joined the staff at Lake Central in 2012 and served as a counselor for three years. After the third year the position for the director of guidance opened up and she applied. Rettig met all the requirements for the position and the school decided to hire her for the job. Before her position at Lake Central Mrs. Rettig worked in Gary at Calumet High School.
"I was there for about 13 years teaching," said Rettig.
While working at Calumet High she found something new that she loved. For those 13 years she met a number of students who lived in poverty and others with mental health concerns. However, on one special occasion with a student who opened up to her, Rettig found her new passion.
"It was kind of a defining moment for me; I really wanted to sit down and learn and help her,” Rettig said.
Rettig loves her job and finds that she and Lake Central are truly preparing the students for life after graduation.
Student Spotlight
Joseph Copeland has spent the last seven years running cross country in the Lake Central School Corporation. He has been running with the current group of boys for the past four years. Throughout those seven years Copeland has never lost the love for the sport.
“I like the challenge of it, it requires a lot more endurance than other sports. Once I started running I fell in love with it, I have always been really good at it," Copeland Said. "I set a goal to make the high school varsity team simply because I wanted to prove to myself and others that I could do it."
Copeland’s fondest memory running cross country was at the end of his sophomore year.
“It had to be during my sophomore year when I got really close with the seniors. It was when we all got to cross the finish line together and I realized it was the last time we would get to do that,” Copeland said.
Beyond running, Copeland wants to become a dentist and recalls that he knew when he was on his way to the dentist during his Junior year of high school.
“I realized I wanted to be a dentist about halfway through last year. I was on a trip to the dentist and I don’t know something just clicked and I decided I really wanted to do this,” Copeland said.
Being a varsity athlete and student, Copeland's schedule is always full. He manages his schedule well, but finds that there are struggles to face with such a hectic lifestyle.
“Definitely time management, it is really difficult to decide what time you are going to spend on homework and sports and how much sleep you are going to get. I have found getting enough sleep has been the hardest,” Copeland said.
Once he becomes a dentist, Copeland will be the first person in his family to hold a position of a doctor. Copeland’s goal is to set up his own practice and choose a specialty of dentistry to focus on.
What's Coming Up?
With such a large population at Lake Central there is always something going on. Here's what is coming up in the next month:
- Monday 9/19/17 School Board meeting @Lake Central 7:30p.m.
- Wednesday 9/20/17 Playground to Pills @Lake Central 6:30p.m.
- Friday 9/22/17 Homecoming football game @Lake Central 7:00p.m.
- Saturday 9/23/17 Homecoming @Lake Central, 6:00p.m.
- Saturday 9/30/17 Cross Country DAC meet @Lake Central 8:00a.m.
- Monday 10/09/17 Lake Central Education Foundation meeting @Lake Central 6:00p.m.
- Monday 10/09/17 School board meeting @Lake Central 7:30p.m.
- Tuesday 10/10/17 Stairway to Heroin @Lake Central 6:30p.m.
- Friday 10/13/17 End of 1st Grading Period
- Monday 10/16/17 Start 2nd Grading Period
- Tuesday 10/17/17 LCHS Choir Concert @Lake Central 7:00p.m.
- Thursday-Sunday 10/26-29/17 Fall Break @Lake Central School Corporation