What's recently happened?
This past month, Crown Point High School (CPHS) held its annual musical. This year's production was "Anastasia." The play was about a Russian princess whose family died because of the revolution. The play follows her life as she goes to Paris to find her grandmother, but she ends up finding herself along the way.
“It was a very interesting experience. A lot of people put in a ton of work and it was nice to see it come together. The play was amazing and everyone was so talented,” said Freshman Addison Henry.
Henry was assigned to the paint crew and attended three productions.
Overall, the production of Anastasia was by far one of Crown Point’s most successful musicals, in both its attendance and spirit.
What’s coming up?
CPHS’s Excalibur Yearbook Staff made plans to go on its second field trip this year. The group plans to go to Ball State University to tour its facilities and to visit the J-Day Workshop. This year’s seniors could not make the trip for the last three years and are excited to finally go.
“I am super excited about going on another trip this year. This will probably be my last time going on a school-sponsored trip, so I am very grateful that it will be with such a wonderful group of people that share the love of yearbook with me,” said Excalibur Sports Editor Kaitlyn Duffy.
Staff spotlight
This month’s staff spotlight is Elizabeth Winston. Winston is a chemistry and environmental science teacher.
“I started out as a basic child development major. I knew I wanted to work with kids somehow, so I changed to pediatrics because I was like, 'Okay, I don't want to babysit, but maybe I'd rather work as a doctor.' I took a bunch of chemistry classes, did all of that, and then I started substitute teaching to make some money for college, and then I fell in love with teaching. So it was just kind of a natural transition to science teaching, and then I really just decided that chemistry and biology were my favorites and that they were what I wanted to teach; it was an accident really,” said Winston.
Science is ever-changing, therefore teachers must learn to be flexible when teaching it.
“I love the variability of science. It's different all of the time and it's constantly changing. In history class or English class, you're teaching the same things over and over again, but with science, things are changing all the time, so there are always new ways of teaching things that are relevant,” said Winston.
This month, Winston took her AP environmental sciences class on a field trip to the Indiana Dunes.
This trip was to measure the migration of the maple tree population at the Dunes. Because of global warming, the trees are slowly making their way to areas with more suitable temperatures.
“The trip to The Dunes was good. When we first got there we did a bunch of group activities to get to know each other, and then we went into the maple tree lines. We measured the length of the trees, the coordinates of where the trees are, and we also measured the concentration of sugar in the sap," aid Junior Lauren Mount. "The thing that I love about Mrs. Winston is that she’s so nice. She’s very helpful when she teaches one-on-one. In general, she's incredibly nice and she always helps you with your problems, in-class and out."
Though Mount has never been fond of science, Winston is one of her favorite teachers. She's not the only student that Winston has had an impact on.
Winston teaches classes with both sophomores and juniors. Chemistry often has a negative connotation for students, but Winston can help take the load off a lot of her students.
“I like how she goes over some problems every day before class starts. It really helps me better understand the material. She has helped me in many different ways. She also allows me to come during resource to ask her any questions that I may have. I love her teaching style. She teaches in a way I understand and takes boring concepts and, in a way, makes them fun,” said Sophomore Amani Aman.
This is Aman’s first year taking a chemistry course, and Winston has made it significantly easier for her to grow and learn.
Student spotlight
This month’s student spotlight is Emma Dougan, a member of the Crown Point Robotics Team. Dougan is a senior and has been heavily involved in the robotics program for her entire high school career.
“Ever since the fifth grade, I’ve liked Lego robotics and stuff and I joined that team and I have always been obsessed with building things,” Dougan said. Though she has a passion for Robotics, that doesn’t stop Dougan from partaking in other activities.
“Outside of school and robotics, I play several different instruments and I am in Scouts. I am the first female to receive the Eagle Scout, which 80% of all scouts receive. I love reading and writing and I love photography. I would consider myself a jack-of-all-trades kind of person,” Dougan said.
Besides being a multi-instrumentalist, Dougan has also made Crown Point history by becoming one of the first females to become an Eagle Scout, the Boy Scouts of America’s highest-ranking. Aside from this achievement, Dougan still adds to her list of accomplishments.
“On the 24th, we are going to have our final competition of the year if we do not make it to State," said Dougan. "Our robot has finally been completely constructed. We went to a competition last week and we came back on Sunday. Since it's competition season, we are not really able to do many outreach programs. While we were constructing we would go to the middle and elementary schools to show off our robot and talk to them about what this robotics program is so they would be interested in joining our team later on in high school. I am super excited. I really like my team a lot, and I have a lot of faith in them. I just love the family that we’ve made from it, so I’m well prepared and confident.”