Spring Break Trip
Over spring break, a group of 20 Andrean students traveled to Europe with Art Teacher Barbara Koteles. Being the last European spring break trip of both Koteles and the school, Koteles decided to sculpt a trip including her favorite places in Europe for the students. Over 10 days, students stayed two nights in the cities of Prague, Budapest, Vienna, and Venice, with visits to Brno and Bratislava, amidst traveling between destinations.
To ensure that her last spring break trip with students was extra special, Koteles was sure to plan added activities in each major city they visited in conjunction with the agenda composed by the facilitating tour company, Passports. Such activities included glass painting in Prague, strudel tasting in Budapest, a classical orchestra concert in Vienna, and a glass blowing demonstration in Venice.
Koteles hopes that students take the experiences they had on the trip and continue on in their lives as travelers of the world.
Musical
As the weather begins to heat up this spring, the Andrean Theater Department breezed onto the stage presenting the musical The Drowsy Chaperone. The outrageous 1920s Broadway musical parody follows a kind of frame story as a depressed Broadway fanatic sits in his arm chair watching his mind’s recreation of the fictional 1920s musical The Drowsy Chaperone.
The female lead of Janet Van de Graff was played by Senior Sandy Akers. As a four-year member of the theater department, she is no stranger to the stage and has become an undeniable champion of all things thespian. Her acceptance into the prestigious performing arts school American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), seems like a no-brainer in light of her copious levels of success in securing herself major parts in almost every production since her freshman year here at Andrean.
Alongside Akers, stands a coalition of students equaled in talent in Andrean’s Thespian Society. After a successful selling out of the fall production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), second year theater director and Andrean faculty member Stephen Grabek, took the production onto the International Thespian Society regional competition and from there, onto state. After a third place finish, at the state competition in Indianapolis, out of twelve teams, Andrean’s cast was chosen to represent the Indiana State Thespian Society with their performance at nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska in June.
Baseball
With the season halfway through, Andrean Baseball has their eyes on a strong postseason finish. After a state championship in 2014 over Gibson Southern, the Niners are working for a repeat state appearance.
The Niners achieved success early in the season with a clean 5-0 record leading up to their loss against Penn. Following this game, they were faced with back-to-back games with one of the stronger competitors in the conference, Griffith. Though, falling to Griffith in their first match at 5959 Broadway, the Niners were able to pull out a win in extra innings the next day at the Panthers’ home field.
Only four conference games are left to solidify the Niners standing in the NCC conference heading into tournament play. If Andrean hopes to finish at the top of the conference, the game against Munster on May 11 will be vital to that success.
Prom
Graduation is on the horizon for the Class of 2015, but before they throw off their hats and hang up their gowns, they want to go out roaring, Roaring 20s that is. Prom is set for May 9 at St. Elijah’s, with a Roaring 20s theme that will bring the same level of sophisticated glitz and glamour that defined a generation, here to Andrean.
Festivities will kick-off that afternoon with the prized tradition of the Grand March. Students will have the opportunity to take their date and parade down a red carpet in the main gym as those in attendance are read a little about the couple.
As the students migrate away from the school following this celebration, they will discover a few logistic changes compared to previous proms at Andrean. This year, dinner will be included at Prom and to account for this change in scheduling, the banquet hall will be reserved from 6-11, which is an extra hour relative to all other Andrean dances, so that eating does not cut into students opportunity to dance.
Tickets went on sale last week at $65 per person and will be available to purchase up until four days before the dance, with a 10 dollar increase in ticket price each week.
Teacher Shout Out
Though the person holding the position of “Dean of Students” is often antagonized and met with opinions of anger and distaste by students at many other high schools, this is not the case here at Andrean. Over his past thirteen years as Dean of Students, Mr. Rick Torres has established relationships of respect and friendship across all demographics of the school from students to faculty members.
Torres has taken an active part in becoming one with the Andrean family. Undertaking endeavors such as formulating and sustaining the singing competition Andrean Idol and leading the faith-based Kairos retreats alongside Campus Minister Stacia Bolakowski, shows his commitment to not just the school but the success of its students not just in the classroom but more importantly outside of the classroom.
Beyond these interpersonal enterprises, stands his position as cross country and track and field coach. As a runner himself who has been able to track his miles from his first cross country practice in high school at Bishop Noll to his collection of marathons over the years, Torres not only brings himself as a coach to the team but a fellow runner.
A common phrase among runners is that “Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.” As a seasoned runner, reader, and administrator, Torres has lived this phrase to the fullest. When he laces up his shoes, be it dress shoes in the morning for work or trainers in the afternoon for practice, he is ready to race right up beside anyone who needs help.
Student Shout Out
Sophomore Ogunde Snelling is a rising star among the underclassmen. Though he has become a quick fan favorite of the stage during his freshman year and continued that trend this fall and winter, he had surprisingly never step foot on a stage until his freshman year. During the Thespian Society’s state run, Ogunde earned the title “best supporting actor” at the regional level.
While, Snelling is often recognized for his acting ability, his talent for singing is nothing to be ignored. His strong vocals hold their weight not just in pitch but also volume. A voice that fills a room, such as Snelling’s, matches well with his theatrical aspirations. As a constant lead in the choir along with a runner-up finish at Andrean Idol and a gold medal at the Indiana State School of Music (ISSMA) competition, Snelling is anything but green in his vocal experience.
Snelling’s achievements easily fill a page, but even these do little to fill his shoes. A strong personality on campus, one can hardly walk through the halls and not know who Snelling is. This being said, he rarely shies away from potential friends. With a smile on his face and a laugh hiding behind it, Snelling is quick to spark up friendly conversation and meet new people. Though Snelling is great at acting up on stage, the Snelling people meet in the halls is anything but fake.