What’s recently happened?
During mid-February, Griffith High School (GHS) Juniors Emily DeYoung and Hailey-Marie Guajardo competed in the Indiana High School Dance Team Association (IHSDTA) State Competition in the Senior Duet category. The two performed the song “Ode to a Love Lost” by Finn Rossdorf. Throughout the year, this duet has performed very well. Its peak during the regular season was at the Homestead High School Invitational where DeYoung and Guajardo received a 67 for their duet.
Despite the regular season's success, this duet faced some adversity during their season. At the Lake Central High School Invitational, Sophomore Ja’Nessa Wheatley had to replace a sick DeYoung and had to learn the routine on very short notice. Overcoming this made them a stronger duet this season.
Back down at Homestead for their duo of performances at Semi-State and State, DeYoung and Guajardo placed in the top ten to secure their qualification for the state finals, but what surprised them more was their ten-point jump in score from their 67 at Homestead Invitational to a 77 at Semi-State.
Later in the day, DeYoung and Guajardo mirrored that performance with another score of 77 securing an eighth-place finish at the IHSDTA State Finals, and DeYoung was pleased with their performance.
“I cared most about qualifying for finals because we didn’t our sophomore year,” DeYoung said. “Our performance went beyond my expectations, especially with the 10-point difference we achieved. Next year we hope to be scoring consistently and keep our score in the 80s.”
DeYoung and Guajardo will be seniors next season and have one more year to improve on their already impressive performances.
Their team as a whole had high aspirations for their postseason. The Griffith Pantherettes Dance Team just recently competed in both Pom and Jazz at the Lake Central North Regional and scored a 74.43 (third) and 74.58 (first) respectively. Coming off its Regional championship in Jazz, the Pantherettes had high expectations going into the Class A state championship.
“Our main goal is to take home a state title in Jazz,” junior and captain Kobe Kinder said.
"We have been undefeated all season with really high scores and a new different routine that we feel will go extremely well. We also would like a good placement in Pom since we have really focused on cleaning that routine this week.”
The Pantherettes put up an incredible performance, but just fell short finishing second in Jazz to Mitchell by a mere 0.7 points scoring a 80.38, a season-high for them. While that is unfortunate and short of its goal, the girls were still happy with their best performances of the year and were happy to end the season very close to a State championship.
What’s coming up?
On March 15, National Honor Society (NHS) is hosting its annual springtime Trivia Night. This event is used as a fundraiser to help fund the cords and tassels needed for graduating members of NHS.
This time around the categories include TV shows, society, literature, games/hobbies, and sports. Questions will be provided by members chosen within NHS.
The event is town-wide and is open to any community members and/or students and staff. The groups of competing teams, which must include four or more people, are split between student and non-student teams. Each group's biggest winner and biggest loser is rewarded with candy and other assortments of prizes.
“My favorite part of Trivia Night is getting to team up with my friends and bonding over a fun game while also competing with other peers and staff members for prizes,” said Sarah Issa, president of NHS.
Sponsored by Cindy Leber and Marty Jarmula, this event is an all-around school function, with the judges of scorecards being teachers and staff members, and the reader of the questions is often a member of the community.
Trivia Night will take place at GHS in the lunchroom at 5:30 p.m. on March 15, and many look forward to the fun-filled night.
Staff spotlight
Julie Larson, an English and Language Arts teacher at GHS, is from the same area she teaches in now. Her family is from Hammond, has been there for three generations, and attended Hammond Gavit High School for the majority of her education. She graduated from Purdue University Northwest with a Bachelors in English.
At GHS, this is her first year and she teaches Speech, Composition, Journalism, English 10 Honors, Panther Press Publications, and Yearbook.
“I teach because I love teaching, I love seeing students’ growth and I love interacting and learning from students,” Larson said.
While in class, Larson wants her students to take away some key elements that will help them in the real world.
“My goal is for students to think critically and make well-informed decisions,” she said. “There is a lot of noise out there, so if students can analyze, critique, and write well enough, they can better position themselves for success.”
Outside of school, Larson enjoys traveling abroad and learning about other cultures. She also enjoys spending time in or by the pool during the summer. Her hobbies connect well with her teachings.
“These days, I do a bit of creative writing, mostly poetry. I also decompress by creating collages and junk journals,” Larson said.
Larson has done a great job in her first year at GHS, and her mark is visible as she has led the way with the yearbook and publications productions.
Student spotlight
Ja’Nessa Wheatley is a sophomore at GHS, and she is an involved student-athlete and has a great positive impact on the school as a whole.
Wheatley is in Book Club, International Club, Best Buddies, Unified Sports, Theatre, Booster Club, and both Student and Class Council along with her sports of Pantherettes, volleyball, and track. While she enjoys all of the activities she participates in, her favorite one is Pantherettes.
“I’ve been dancing for six years, and I also just really enjoy the family-like dynamic on the team. I also love our coach, Becky Starks. I think she makes it all that much better,” Wheatley said.
Along with dancing, Wheatley has some more serious focuses in life, primarily surrounding her success and achievements.
“I want to lead a very successful life,” she said. “I want to go to college and continue getting good grades, two things that are really important to me.”
Wheatley also prioritizes dance outside of Pantherettes, going to the gym, and reading in her spare time.
Wheatley’s star characteristic, however, is her positive and infectious personality.
“I firmly believe there is more to life than the negative side of things in all aspects of life,” Wheatley said. “If you always look through a negative lens, you will never see the beautiful positive things in life.”
Wheatley’s radiant positivity and personality are much loved by everyone at GHS, and she has a great impact on those around her.