Teacher Spotlight
Freshman English teacher, Mr. Michael Engle, is known as “the coolest teacher,” his students said. Mr. Engle has taught at Merrillville High School since 2012 and he loves teaching with enthusiasm towards the students.
Mr. Engle said his favorite part about teaching is “inspiring kids and empowering kids so that they can reach their potential in life.”
Merrillville High School is a great school for different reasons.
“Not only do we have a diverse group of kids but we have a very great group of staff and they are pretty close,” Mr. Engle said. “It’s not easy to reach out to those kids who struggle academically and socially and Merrillville has a lot of different opportunities for kids to be themselves.”
Not only is he a cool teacher in school, he likes doing things above and beyond out of school.
“I am an adrenaline junkie,” Mr. Engle said. “I jumped out of planes, off bridges and I skateboard.”
Mr. Engle believes that doing adventurous activities help to keep your life extraordinary.
“I love physical challenges and mental challenges,” Mr. Engle said. “I also play the piano and like to paint and love reading. I thrive off adrenaline.”
He will never be satisfied with his life and is always looking to do more things.
“I am never satisfied. I feel like I have so much more than I’m capable of,” Mr. Engle said. “I need challenges because when you’re challenged, you learn more about yourself it’s like you challenge yourself living.”
Student Spotlight
Senior Miracle Akins has been a scholar athlete since freshman year (above a 3.5) and she said that she is proud of herself because she is able to do school and sports while maintaining a good GPA.
Akins is involved in graphic arts, cheerleading, basketball, softball and National Honor Society. She does not take these activities for advantage.
“The reason I am involved in school is because I wanted to stay in shape and it gives me something to do,” Akins said. “Then when I started, I couldn’t let it go and the love for it came.”
She enjoys being in school and looks forward to learning when she goes to school in the morning.
“I’m a nerd,” Akins said. “I actually like doing work because it makes me feel smart and it interests me.”
In cheerleading, she has received many awards including, leadership awards from the NCA Staff and her team. She was also nominated for being an All- American her sophomore, junior and senior year and made the team her junior year.
“I am blessed for all of my achievements and I am excited succeed even more in college,” Akins said.
Boys’ Basketball
The boys’ basketball team defeated the #1 ranked team in the state, Southport, with a score of 53-52. They have started the season with a record of 2-0 with a win over Highland High School.
“I think we are going to be good this year because we have a lot of talent and versatility,” Senior Charles Jacobs said.
His teammate, Sophomore Johnny Bernard agrees with him and believes that everyone is capable of contributing to the team.
“My role on the team is to make sure everyone gets involved on the court and to find the open players,” Bernard said. “We do a good job at finding everyone who is open.”
The team plans to keep their record up this season by working harder and harder at practice every day.
“We practice defense a lot because we have a lot of athleticism and size so as soon as we look in on [defense] we can win more games,” Junior Mileek Mcmillan said.
The boys are focused on defense this year because they learned that defense can lead to many positive situations in games.
“If we get defensive stops then we can get out and run on transition,” Junior Cameron Wilbon said.
They look forward to keeping a positive and humble attitude throughout the season to accomplish their goals.
“We’re going to win this year because that is the type of atmosphere we establish in practice,” Senior Jairus Stevens said. “It’s very competitive.”
S.T.A.N.D.
S.T.A.N.D. (Socially Together and Naturally Diverse) has a few things coming up this December including participating in the Winter Wonder Fest at the Navy Pier, the Alumni Dinner and working the games for the Junior Pirates Basketball teams held in the Merrillville High School fieldhouse.
This is a diversity club promoting differences among students throughout the community and Merrillville High School itself. It is an opportunity for students to bring other cultures together and express their differences.
“At the Winter Wonder Fest, there are kids from MIS (Merrillville Intermediate School) and other elementary schools who go with the high school,” Senior co- leader of S.T.A.N.D., Tyhlar Sain said. “We get on rides, play games and eat food.”
The club had a fundraiser in November by selling t-shirts to help pay for this trip sponsored by Merrillville High School S.T.A.N.D.
On December 29th the old S.T.A.N.D members come and see the projects the new members have made and compare them to last year to think of ideas to improve the club.
“This club looks good on college transcripts and it is a good way to become outgoing and meet new people,” Sain said. “And also gain community service hours.”