Teacher spotlight: Michelle Lancaster
Michelle Lancaster is one of Westville High School’s math teachers. This is her first year at Westville, where she currently teaches Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus AB, Dual Credit Pre-Calculus, and Algebra I. Before her time at Westville, she taught for 10 years at Chesterton High School.
Lancaster attended Manchester College (now Manchester University) and obtained undergraduate degrees in mathematics and in secondary education. She later transferred to Ball State University, where she received a graduate degree in administration. Lancaster is currently taking classes at Indiana Wesleyan University to pursue a graduate degree in mathematics.
In addition to this being Lancaster’s first year at Westville, it is also her first year teaching an AP course. At Chesterton, she had previously taught high-ability students in various honors courses, but Lancaster said that teaching AP Calculus has been unlike anything she has done before.
“It is a lot of work, and it has been twelve years since I have even taken a calculus class, but I like the challenge," Lancaster said. "It’s really nice to switch things up a bit.”
The difficulties of teaching her first AP course have been made even more challenging by the unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the school dynamic. Due to the ever-changing restrictions and learning forms at the school, Lancaster assesses her lesson plans and teaching techniques on a weekly basis to ensure that she can effectively educate all students, whether that is in-person, fully virtual, or on a hybrid schedule.
Teaching runs in Lancaster’s family as both her mother and grandmother were also Westville High School educators in the past. Her grandmother, Helen Miller, was one of Westville’s English teachers from 1949 to 1989. Her mother, Jackie Miller, taught chemistry, physics, and calculus until very recently. Lancaster said that it is neat having the unique opportunity to teach a class once taught by her mother, and she finds it quite fascinating that she will sometimes even come across Miller's old books, notes, and teaching tools around the classroom.
Lancaster has always loved being around people and helping them. This is one of the many reasons she decided to become a teacher. Math was her strongest subject in school, but the class she decided to teach did not matter much to her as long as she could work in the classroom and help her students learn.
“I love seeing the light bulbs go off,” Lancaster said, "Especially when students show excitement for class.”
Student spotlight: John Pavolka
John Pavolka is a senior at Westville High School, and he has been attending Westville since his freshman year. Pavolka was previously homeschooled, so Westville was a drastic and exciting change for him. He quickly became involved in his school community, and he is now one of the most involved students in his class, participating in countless sports and clubs all throughout his high school career.
Pavolka has always had a passion for athletics. As a result, he has participated in sports all four years of high school. He has been a member of the school’s bowling and track teams since his freshman year. As a sophomore, he also joined the golf team, and he added cross country to his lineup during his junior year. He has continued with these sports up until this year, and he plans to participate in all of them once again as a senior.
Though he loves all of the sports in which he participates, Pavolka especially enjoys track and field. He likes the various events available, especially running, which he has always had a passion for.
“Track is the sport where I connect the most with my teammates and where I created some of my best friendships,” Pavolka said.
Pavolka’s athletic participation is impressive, but he is even more involved in academic clubs and extracurricular activities. Throughout his four years at Westville, he has been a part of the school’s Spanish Club, Academic Super Bowl team, political club, student leadership program, student council, and Quiz Bowl team. He has also competed in DECA since his sophomore year, and he has been a member of the National Honor Society since junior year. His favorite club by far is DECA.
“Competing at state and spending time with everyone in Indianapolis is probably the thing I look forward to most every year, all throughout high school,” Pavolka said.
Pavolka plans to study at Purdue University Northwest this fall to pursue a degree in business. He would later like to attend law school, and he hopes to eventually become a lawyer. Pavolka is anxious about college, and he will greatly miss high school, but he is also excited to begin the next chapter of his life.
To Pavolka, Westville represents a sense of family and community. He feels that the encouragement and support of his teachers and friends have given him shaped him as a person and helped him grow into who he is today.