Student of the Month
Incoming Senior Shawn Streck was recently named Times Athlete of The Year for Wrestling. Streck placed first in the wrestling State competition this year and has made it to state all three years of his high school career.
Streck practices any time he has a chance to. He takes it as an opportunity to better his wrestling abilities.
Streck is not only know as a Wrestler at Merrillville High School. He is also known as one of the top football players not only in the region but in the state. Streck was also named Top 25 football players in the state.
"The accomplishments are special because it shows the work I've been putting in has been paying off," Streck said.
Streck receives offers from many schools and will have to make the decision of either playing football or wrestling after he graduates high school.
"This school year I'm just looking forward to finishing my last school year on a high note," Streck said.
Back to school: Merrillville introduces a new activity
School starts back on Wednesday, August 19 at 7:45 a.m. sharp. The students and teachers will be back to their daily routines.
As Merrillville welcomes the incoming freshmen, the high school also welcomes a new program to the school.
Study Circles is a new program at Merrillville High School that will promote diversity throughout the Merrillville community. The sponsors of this program are Mr. Danny Lackey and Ms. Carol Dahlen.
The first people to try this new program will be the administration, then the teachers and the students in later years. Merrillville High School will be the first community in this district to run a program like this.
"When you continue to do the same thing you're going to get different results," Merrillville High School Principal Mr. Krutz said.
The program will be for two hours every week for six weeks. The administration will be given a workbook teaching about diversity and inclusion.
This will help the administration and teachers to be comfortable with talking about different subjects that are occurring around the world including diversity challenges.
"I really want to thank Mr. Krutz and Mrs. Taylor," Ms. Dahlen said. "I'm thankful that you work at Merrillville and a place that is open to new ideas."
Freshmen Mentors
At Merrillville High School, there are a select group of upper classmen who were chosen to mentor the incoming freshmen. The students are given 4-5 freshmen to mentor throughout the year and guide them through their first year of high school. The Freshmen Mentors are meant to gain a relationship with the freshmen and make them feel comfortable.
On July 30, the Freshmen Mentors went to Purdue Calumet and took a tour of the campus. Later, they had a workshop based on concepts to teach their freshmen, such as icebreakers and games.
The objective of this club is to become so close to the freshmen that they will be able to come to the mentors with anything they are struggling with. The mentors are also there to encourage them and congratulate them when they accomplished anything big or small.
Athletics
All fall sports had their tryouts August 3-5. The athletes are looking forward to the first sports season of the 2015-16 school year.
Most of the teams have something new to look forward to this year.
The girls' soccer team did not have a junior varsity team last year, but fortunately, they will have one this year.
Boys' soccer lost almost their entire varsity team to graduation. They are excited to start the season fresh and see how far they can get this year.
Boys' tennis has the same head coach, James Simon. They have a new assistant coach, Steve Carniello, who was a former tennis player at Merrillville.
Football has a new head coach and partially new coaching staff.
"He lets us be competitive in practice and he makes games feel like practice," Senior Isaiah Thornton said. "He puts us in the best situation to win games."
Teacher of the Month
Mr. Daniel Schoon is a history teacher at Merrillville High School. He graduated from Purdue Calumet and previously taught at other schools before he came to Merrillville.
Many students adore Mr. Schoon's teaching style because he interacts with the students while teaching and there is never a dull moment.
Mr. Schoon is not only a teacher. He has a list of other things he is involved in including: Freshmen Mentor sponsor, head of Alternative School, firefighter for the Griffith Fire Department, a husband and a father of three kids that are under the age of five.
Mr. Schoon says he rarely sleeps because he does not have time to sleep. Most of his energy relies on coffee.
Mr. Schoon's activities depend on time management and a love for what he does.
Career Center is now held at Merrillville
Several Merrillville High School students went to the Gary Career Center in previous years so when they graduate they would be work ready.
This year, Merrillville pulled out of the Gary Career Center and they founded their own career consortium.
"We already offer duplicate programs, so now we can better develop those," Ms. Lorri Covaciu Director of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction said.
River Forest High School will be attending The Career Consortium at Merrillville.
"It is a great opportunity to meet other high school kids and develop a relationship with them," Ms. Covaciu said.
