What’s recently happened?
Hammond Central (HC) High School’s spring sports season has recently started; sports such as Boys Baseball, Girls Softball, Track and Field, Boys Volleyball, and Girls Tennis are now in session.
With a new tennis coach, Veronica Dupey, players are starting to get on track with familiarizing themselves with her teaching style. With most players also being new to Varsity Tennis, they are additionally getting in tune with the game itself.
The Class of 2023’s Top 20 has also been released. The top three are Seniors Ada Austin, Rhandal Moran, and Nicholas Garcia, succeeding in the achievement of being the class’s top pride.
The valedictorian of the Class of 2023, Austin, has been accepted into various colleges with the benefit of knowing earlier than usual due to Restrictive Early Action (REA). A few of her acceptances are University of Notre Dame, Cornell University, and DePauw University. She plans on majoring in finance while minoring in philosophy with hopes of incorporating them into her career path in the future.
Austin credits HC with showing her that independence is not always needed and is okay to use other resources such as asking for help, finding sources online, and being mindful of what you already have.
The salutatorian, Moran, is planning on attending Purdue University Northwest majoring in nursing. Moran plans on finding a newly discovered independence as well as discovering new commodities.
The program Moran recommends is National Honor Society, a program that offers community service as well as a place to meet other students. Moran also recommends Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG), which is a program offered to juniors and seniors that teaches students ways to manage and use money once high school is completed.
Garcia, who is ranked number three overall, also plans on attending Purdue University Northwest with the goal of studying civil engineering while balancing working as a landscaper.
The class he owes the most to is AP Language and Composition. He believes the class gives students the most benefit out of all classes to take at HC.
What’s coming up?
Ceeter Carpenter-Stevens is sponsoring this year’s prom, which will be taking place on May 19 with the theme being “the Red Carpet.” Guests up to 20 years old will be allowed to come, and
tickets are $60. The Grand March takes place the same day at HC’s football field from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
HC has hosted a formal dinner event for the Top 20 as of last year, which will continue this year as well but for the Top 21. The dinner will take place in the Black Box Theatre at 6 p.m., where two guests are allowed per student. The dress code is business casual, and the Top 20 plaques will be handed out as well.
The HAPApalooza event will be taking place at Wolf Lake on May 20. HAPApalooza is an event where Hammond Arts and Performance Academy (HAPA) classes such as band, choir, dance, visual arts, and other music classes, perform at Wolf Lake. It’s a full district event celebrating the entire year and all the programs. This is the second year of HAPApalooza with anticipation being even greater than last year.
The director of HAPA, Scott Sowinski, credits the teachers for the preparation of HAPApalooza; he just signed off the paperwork and organized the meetings. While Sowinski set out the marketing materials, he particularly mentioned Morton High School’s Keegan Whitney and HC’s Alexander Akers for holding down the fort where they are.
During HAPApalooza, an award ceremony will be held for students in the district who have shown talent and/or outstanding growth. HAPApalooza will have face painting, live music, acting, and dance performances from the students in HAPA ranging from different grades and ages.
The origin of HAPApalooza starts with former Teacher Matt Alley who wanted to do a band event revolving around mainly contemporary and rock music. The event went on the dock of the Morton Auditorium where the atmosphere was overall relaxed and fun. They then repeated this event during COVID-19 online, and once again last year but even bigger, having Wolf Lake as the venue.
According to Sowinski, after last year’s graduation, he discussed Wolf Lake hosting the event. It took a second to get approved. He had to formally apply, send in a letter, fill out an application, and get approval from the city.
“I can tell you that the port authority was kind enough to donate the Wolf Lake space to us for free. We had to apply for that with a letter and explain that our event was for our students and community. HAPA has to pay for the supplies, tech needs, and also the security and transportation, but, because the event is free, it is really not that expensive. It is low cost for huge exposure in a public place,” Sowinski said.
With HAPApalooza, the message Sowinski wanted to get across was that we are a community.
“The thing I love most about HAPA is that we unify everyone through the arts. This event is a big district event that shows that we are better united. It highlights how we all come together to create art and have fun. We want the community to see how important HAPA is and how important it is to HAPA to be a part of the community and grow amazing people through arts and expression,” Sowinski said.
Staff spotlight:
Veronica Dupey has been coaching for 16 years. She’s previously coached at George Rogers Clark High School and now HC this year. Since most of the girls are new to tennis, she’s been in a building phase teaching them how to play tennis and hopefully preparing them for the conference.
According to Dupey, the practice usually consists of doing drills to build up their skill, team-building exercises, learning the play format, learning the scoring, and encouraging the players to always strive for better.
Should a player become injured, there is a site clinic and athletic trainer, players are welcome to take advantage of these resources without missing any class time. When the injured player is released the athletic trainer will offer suggestions and support for a return to play if needed.
Dupey has been pleased with the girls' progress but isn’t content with their current court situation. They don’t have a home court at HC but instead, practice and play their games at Harrison Park on Homan Ave. by Egger’s Middle School.
For students interested in joining the Girls Tennis team, Dupey recommends keeping up with your grades, having school pride, and striving to become a role model.
Student spotlight:
Ellyssa Dixon, a player on the tennis team, has currently won two of the four matches she’s been in. She competed against Hammond Academy of Science and Technology (HAST), Calumet New Tech High School, and Highland High School.
“My motivator to win a match is to make my coach and teammates proud. I want to show that I can do my best and that my teammates and coach can depend on me. I strive to gain their trust,” Dixon said.
Dixon’s decision to join the tennis team dates back all the way to elementary school at Maywood. She was on the tennis team with her friend Ada Austin. Once they reunited at HC, they decided to join the tennis team so they could reminisce on the good times they had back then. She’s also gained another reason to participate in the tennis team; Dixon hopes to improve her skills as well as become involved in the community.
Dixon stated how they practice the basic techniques such as serving, forehand, and backhand so they can strengthen themselves and obtain muscle memory. Once they’ve gotten to a certain skill level, they can focus on the more technical aspects.
“We all try our best at the practices. It seems like every practice we get better and better. All we do is improve,” Dixon said.