#1StudentNWI: MQT Digs Pink and Rehearses for the Fall Play

#1StudentNWI: MQT Digs Pink and Rehearses for the Fall Play

Student Spotlight

Grace Murphy is gearing up to act in her 13th production, Our Town. She has “been in two other plays at Marquette, and at least ten other plays at La Porte Little Theatre.”

She plays the part of Mrs. Webb, one of the character’s mothers who is a stay-at-home mom and watches her daughter grow up and experience life. While she's enjoying her current role, her favorite role was a bit different.

“Mrs. Mayor in Seussical. It was a really fun role, with lots of singing and dancing.”

Her inspiration is “my mom...She works hard to provide for us, and she is always there for me.”

Her favorite part of MQT is the welcoming spirit that makes it home for so many students.

“I have a lot of really great friends here. Everyone is super welcoming.”

Murphy is also involved in Student Government at MQT and likes to volunteer at the La Porte library.

Teacher Spotlight

Who thought that Math and volleyball could be connected? Ms. Meghan Harte of Marquette Catholic High School bridges the two on a daily basis. Harte is a first-year teacher at MQT and JV volleyball coach. Currently, she teaches all the Algebra courses. Her journey to becoming a math teacher was a little outside of the norm.

“Honestly I did not love math in grade school, but once I hit high school it all changed. I had a phenomenal honors geometry teacher who changed my view of math. He used unique comparisons to help us remember certain topics. From his class forward, I dove into math head first and knew it was the subject I wanted to teach.”

Harte’s inspiration is Mrs. Stillo, her 5th grade teacher.

“She was the teacher who inspired me to become a teacher. She always made me feel like the number one priority and helped push me to become the person I am today.”

Harte is not just a talented teacher, but also coach. She commented, “I enjoy volleyball because it brings back many memories of my own grade school and high school days. I love the pace and excitement each point brings. On top of all of this, the girls make each practice and game fun to coach!”

So far, during her first year, she has learned plenty.

“Teaching and coaching have solidified for me that within any situation the students and players are the number one priority. They are the ones who are there to learn. They are the ones there to improve. These students and players make the very long days worth it!”

What’s coming up

1Student-MQT-Oct-2018-01Every fall, many students gear up for the annual play. This year, the production is the infamous Our Town, a play about the circle of life. It follows the life of a two families in all their triumphs and failures. The cast can’t wait to show the community what they have been working on.

For Luke Trinks, this is also his first play. He has the roles of Si Crowell, Farmer McCarty, and a school kid. He was inspired to act in Our Town because “I have always been a very math and science oriented person, so I thought a good way to explore new things would be the arts. I don’t regret my decision at all, and I am looking forward to actually performing in front of an audience.”

McKenzie Losinski is one of the seasoned actresses in the show. She has been in 10 previous productions. She “was inspired to act in Our Town because I thought it would be a fun experience to act in a production at school. My favorite part of theatre is getting to take on a new role and become someone else.”

Another one of the actresses in the show is Nina Kaplan. She plays Samantha Craig. This is her third theater role, but she was also a techie for two other performances.

She said, “My favorite part of theater is getting to perform in front of an audience. I really enjoy acting; I think it is super fun. I really like the Marquette theater community of people who are involved, so I was pretty excited to be a part of this year’s fall production of Our Town."

You can come support the arts and watch this amazing show November 9 and 10 at 7pm and November 11 at 2pm in the Rudy Hart Theater.

What recently happened

1Student-MQT-Oct-2018-03October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and MQT had not one, but two fundraisers to help support cancer research. On Wednesday, October 3, students had the opportunity to wear a pink top and jeans for $5. Many students participated, and $725 was raised. In addition to the Denim Day, the Lady Blazers’ Volleyball team hosted a “Dig Pink” night. Jenna Kirby, a freshman volleyball player explained, “Dig Pink night is when you tribute the volleyball game for Breast Cancer Awareness. To support Breast Cancer Awareness, we all wore pink jerseys and put on temporary tattoos supporting Breast Cancer on our arms and legs.”

The team also held a bake sale during lunch and the volleyball game, with all the proceeds going to support Breast Cancer Awareness. An amazing $675 was raised!