News:
By the 2016-2017 school year, the administration hopes to implement the College and Career Pathways Internship Program, a new internship program made up of career clusters that will aid students in preparation for their future careers. The state of Indiana has 12 clusters of career pathways available and students can pursue these cluster pathways in order to discover their desired line of work; however, the school district will focus mainly on two.
“The pathways we are focusing on are biomedical and education,” Mr. Mike Wells, principal, said. “By taking specific courses in grades 9, 10, and 11, when they are seniors their first semester, students will be able to go to the hospital and follow a radiologist around, an RN (registered nurse), or possibly a doctor in order to find out what that particular job is like.”
The two main advantages to the program’s participants include freeing students’ time constraints and offering previews to the career they believe they want to pursue, according to Mr. Wells.
“Our students are involved in so many different things (that) they really don’t have too much time to get jobs,” Mr. Wells said. “The program would allow them to gain that work experience in a field they may be interested in. It will also allow them to see if that’s really the career field they want to be a part of before they go and make that decision in college and spend money and find out that is not something they wanted to do.”
The school plans to advertise the prerequisite classes needed for the different clusters to incoming freshmen and sophomores this school year. In order to move forward with the Biomedical cluster, Munster Community Hospital has to get behind the school’s plan, according to Mr. Wells.
“We are in talks right now with Community Hospital,” Mr. Wells. “Mr. Snyder and I met with the CEO, Don Fesko, last week and brought (the program’s proposal) to his attention. We are in the process of gathering the information for him, such as what other districts do, for example, he can see what St. Anthony's models with another school district.”
For incoming freshmen, the prerequisite courses needed to participate in the Biomedical cluster are Principles of Biomedical Sciences first semester of freshman year, Human Body Systems first semester of sophomore year, and Anatomy and Physiology first semester of junior year. As the program progresses, the school must weigh the pros and cons of the program, such as students losing in-school class time, according to Mr. Wells.
“We don’t know how well received (the internship program) is going to be with the students,” Mr. Wells. “A lot of these kids take AP classes, so the question is, ‘Will they be willing to sacrifice three AP classes their senior year in order to do this Capstone program?’ It wouldn’t hurt them credit-wise because they will get three credits for it, but it would possibly hurt them in not getting those three college credits because that will be something they are sacrificing.”
Although students may have to make sacrifices in order to participate in the internship program, Guidance Counselor, Mrs. Jessica Sanchez, is certain college boards will look favorably upon students who have decided to pursue these opportunities.
“From a college admissions perspective, these students will be looked upon highly,” Mrs. Sanchez said. “These students have been in the field and the knowledge and skills they gained there puts them a step ahead. Even coming out of college, your internship year is where you learn how everything works. Instruction and classes are very beneficial but your internship year is golden and by being a high schooler and experiencing that is a great opportunity.”
Participating in an internship program in high school has other benefits associated with it besides boosting a college application, according to Mr. Sanchez.
“Being in a work environment teaches you a lot,” Mr. Sanchez said. “Responsibility is a big thing to an employer. Things like being polite, being on time, showing up dressed appropriately for work are all things you have to learn in a work setting and this is an awesome exploration opportunity.”
The program would not interfere with a student’s track for an Academic Honors diploma if guidance worked with the students in an efficient manner, according to Mrs. Sanchez.
“I don’t think scheduling would be a problem,” Mrs. Sanchez said. “We would need to do more educating to our middle schoolers of the more specific classes they will need to take and increase communication between everyone so they know their options. We will just need to be diligent in getting those required classes completed early in order to be working together to get the students where they want to be.”
One of the best ways to decide your future career is to be immersed in the reality of it, according to Mr. Sanchez.
“There is no better way,” Mrs. Sanchez said. “You can read a million things or even talk to someone who is in that field, but being there and experiencing the work for yourself is the only way to know for sure. You will either decide ‘This is exactly what I want to do’ or you will find you need to explore other things. Both of those are completely okay because high school is where you need to find your way. Yes, it is nice to know what direction you want to be headed in but we all discover new things especially at this young of an age.”
Student shout out:
Her iPhone buzzes during lunch. New message from Dad: “When you get a chance, give me a call.” Her heart begins to race and she knew that this could either be excellent or terrible news, so she runs to the bathrooms stall to call her father. Soon, Brooke was crying tears of joy: She is eligible to play.
Brooke Dills, sophomore, had been fighting a long battle with the IHSAA who had ruled her ineligible to play sports due to Rule 20-2 in the IHSAA handbook.
The rule titled Past Link states that “...A transfer student who has a Past Link (relationship with managers, coaches, or trainers) with a Receiving School to which the student transfers shall be ineligible at that Receiving School for Three Hundred Sixty-Five (365) days following the student’s enrollment at the Receiving School.”
Because Coach Tracy Summers, the head volleyball coach at MHS, is the owner of Diamond Elite, the club Brooke plays for, Crown Point claimed that the relationship between Coach Summers and Brooke had been the reason she transferred to Munster; specifically, Brooke had transferred for athletic purposes.
The long road began when Brooke's family moved from Crown Point to Munster before her sophomore year. Her father worked in Buridge, IL, and the long drives and odd hours became strenuous on the family, especially for Brooke’s youngest sister; Mr. Dills began contemplating a move, according to Brooke.
“My little sister has been my dad’s best friend since she was three years old,” Brooke said. “She would get really upset when she wouldn’t see him. So, my dad started thinking about wanting to move, but I wasn’t really all about it at first, until the bullying started. A couple of the girls on the team, one in particular, were harassing me to a point where I didn’t want to go to practice anymore, I didn’t want to go to school because she was really mean to me all the time. It got to the point where my coach said she was going to put us all in a room and let us fight it out, and I was like ‘I’m done, let’s go.’”
The whole ordeal has been very emotional and difficult, yet her newfound place on the team has made it bearable, according to Brooke.
“It was probably one of the hardest things I have ever gone through,” Brooke said. “I have been emotional and mean sometimes and freaked out about stupid stuff: things that are just not me because of what has been going on. My team has been really supportive and there for me and all of my friends from back home have been like, ‘it’s gonna be okay.’ Everyone has just been so supportive, it’s been great.”
Sports Brief:
Girls’ Soccer headed to Semi-state a few weekends ago. Lexi Lyons, senior, scored as the Regional game winner in two consecutive games. This team is one of three to ever advance this far into post-season in mustang history.
Boys’ Soccer lost in the first round of Regionals to conference rival, Lake Central last Saturday. Boys’ Tennis double team, Matt Marcus and Henry Wolf continue on in the individual bracket to compete at State. Football played Lowell Friday in the first round of Sectionals. After losing to them for the NCC title, the team plans to avenge themselves. Starters returned after injuries which placed them on the sidelines.