Teacher Shoutout
In the afternoon of May 20, the Duneland School Corporation (DSC) held a reception at the Duneland Administration Center to honor the retirees of the DSC. Retiree Linda Curry, a social studies teacher at Chesterton High School (CHS), decided to retire after having taught for 21 years.
“I went back to school,” Curry said, “dropped my application in the mail when I was 40, and I’ve been teaching 21 years.” When looking back at her experiences teaching at CHS, Curry reflected upon her pleasant moments as a teacher.
“I enjoy Chesterton High School so much,” Curry said. “I enjoy the attitude of the front office towards us teachers, but most importantly towards the kids. I enjoy the students 99.99% of them are such nice people and I just like their attitude here. I also like their educational culture here, and this is just a good place to work and go to school.”
Curry supposed that among the things she would miss while living her life as a retiree, would be her coworkers and students.
“It is pretty close between my coworkers and my students, Curry said. “Also the sense of self-satisfaction I get. This is something I enjoy and I think I’m going to miss that.”
The advice Curry has to offer to new or inexperienced teachers is, “be consistent, be fair, be the teacher.”
Student Shoutout
Prior to the Spring Sports Awards Program, girls and boys track, softball, and baseball teams assembled for separate team banquets to celebrate the season and the senior athletes. During the girls’ track banquet, senior Kassidy Scott was given the “Heather Bearup Memorial Award.”
“Kassidy was a 2-time state qualifier in track and field,” Social Studies teacher and track coach, Bryan Nallanweg, said, “which includes one state medal. She finished her career with the ninth fastest in the 800 [meter dash] in school history. She was also part of the fifth and sixth 4 by 800-meter relay times in school history. Kassidy was MVP of the track team last season and has been an integral part of the program’s success over the last four years.”
Running has taught Scott persistence and helped train her mentally.
“Running has taught me perseverance,” Scott said, “and running is actually and pretty big mental sport. People can think [running] is really physical but there is a lot of mental aspects that go into it; you have to tell yourself to keep running and don’t give up.”
Spring Sports Awards Program
On Wednesday June 3, the Athletic Department of CHS held a Spring Sports Awards Program that honored students and athlete who participated in baseball, golf, track, athletic training tennis, and softball. 10 athletes were given the award “Most Valuable” from their teams. The girls awarded with “Most Valuable” include: Desiree Bell (track), Jill Bohnert (softball), Meg Modesto (tennis), Bailey Slivka (softball) and Samantha Warren (track). The boys awarded that same award were Mitchell Davis (golf), Jakob Kintzele (track), Matt Kubacki (baseball), Colton Tuzinski (track), and Garrett Walker (track).
Yearbook through the summer
As the school year comes to a close for most, the staff of the yearbook, the Singing Sands, works into the summer. The staff usually works on yearbook spreads until about mid-June. However the staff does not mind putting in a little extra time for the pay off in the end.
“My favorite part of yearbook is the accomplishment of finally getting a spread done,” Singing Sands staffer junior Marissa Ciesielski said, “and knowing that it looks good and all the hard went into it is probably the best feeling.”
Ciesielski believes her interest in journalism now, may carry over into her future.
“I think I might minor in journalism for college,” Ciesielski said, “I think that is something I would still be interested in doing.”
125th-anniversary picture/ senior prank
On May 28, a photo to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the first graduating class was taken on the football stadium. All the students of CHS lined up on the stands in the formation of “CHS 125” while a plane took pictures overhead. Meanwhile, as the pictures were wrapping up, the seniors decided to pull the “senior prank.” The seniors had the prank planned out so students would start running once senior Billy Mitchell announced “the British are coming.” Needless to say no one was exceptionally stunned by the wit of the seniors.
Commencement
A feeling of accomplishment and excitement reverberated through the air on June 4, the night of commencement at CHS. Parents cheered while students suppressed any screams and obscene behavior so diplomas would not be at risk. This day marked the 125th commencement service which celebrated the graduation of 434 students, adding to the total 20,146 graduates of CHS.
The ceremony began with a prelude performed by the CHS band and directed by music teacher Michael Scheiber. The band then played “Pomp and Circumstance” for the processional. Introductions were given by Student Government Administrative Assistant, Aubrey Nagdeman. Afterward senior class senator, Robert St. Pierre said the Pledge and Seth Halpin, Michael Lipinski, Robert Maletta II, and Robert Rosenau sang the National Anthem. Proceeding was the commencement address by social studies teacher Mitch Nelson, the presentation of honor students by Principal Jeff Van Drie, and the Student Address by vice president of student affairs, Abigail Burke. After the Class of 2015 was presented and diplomas were given, Shelby Snyder, senior class senator, gave the closing speech.
After the ceremony seniors got the opportunity to celebrate with friends and family and discuss future plans. Senior Brittnie Ramage says that although she is unsure of what college she would like to attend, she aspires to become a pediatric nurse. Senior Dionte Walker wants to become a police officer in the future and feels like he has achieved much through his graduation of high school.
“I felt like I accomplished a lot of what my past family and friends have accomplished, Walker said. “ I feel like I can get some sleep finally and not worry about finals. More importantly, it feels like I’ve walked up one more stepping stone in my life.”
The class motto wrapped up the ceremony with a quote from Winston Churchill.
“This isn’t the end. This isn’t even the beginning of the end. However this is the end of the beginning.”