New parking amenities for 2015-16 school year
Instead of the main parking lot that Lake Central students are used to, the school is now equipped with three parking zones: Red Lot, Blue Lot, and Green Lot.
“I used to park at [Zig-E’s], and I love parking at the high school now. It is much more convenient for me to park at Lake Central,” Jessica Jarach (12) said.
With the amount of students who now park at the high school, congestion has been an issue. Over 1,000 spots fill the three parking areas, which can lead to some students sitting in the parking lot for an extended period of time.
“The parking congestion is horrible, especially since it is the beginning of the year. It is a real inconvenience when you need to be somewhere before [3 p.m.]. It is also a gas waster. For example, I filled up my tank the Tuesday [before school started] and I am already at a half tank just from waiting to get out of the parking lot,” Jarach said.
Unlike previous years, parking is no longer restricted to seniors. Once seniors registered for their spots, juniors were given the opportunity to receive a spot too. Although a plethora of students drive to school, those who do not have their license or do not have a car resort to other forms of transportation, such as carpooling or taking the bus.
“There were a lot of people on the bus, and it was super overcrowded with more than two people to a seat, so I had to go on a different bus. I was sort of annoyed because there were so many people on the bus, and I didn’t get a seat. When I was on the other bus, it was pretty cool because it wasn’t so loud,” Lexi Popko (9) said.
Starting off with a Clean Canvas
With the closure of My Big Campus, Lake Central has adopted a new Learning Management System (LMS) for students to utilize: Canvas.
“My Big Campus will no longer exist [by] summer 2016, and we wanted to use this school year to transition to Canvas,” Ms. Myra Lolkema, English, said.
Canvas offers various opportunities, some of which were not offered by My Big Campus.
“Canvas actually has a lot more features [than My Big Campus], including being able to directly import Google Docs, as well as linking with many textbook publishers and online resources,” Mrs. Sarah Castaneda, Director of Secondary Education, said.
With Canvas also being used by certain state universities, students who choose to move on to these universities will have a background in using the program.
“Canvas has been adopted by Indiana University and is being piloted by Purdue [University], so knowing how to use the LMS will help prepare our LC graduates going on to those two state universities,” Mrs. Castaneda said.
Throughout the next few months, staff members will attend training sessions in order to broaden their knowledge on Canvas.
“Teachers are attending Canvas training to set up their courses. Teachers will make their calendars and syllabus available to students during this school year and can implement a variety of Canvas features into their curriculum,” Ms. Lolkema said.
If students would like to access Canvas before they are told do so in school, they may access their account themselves.
“Students currently have access to their Canvas account by going to http://lakecentral.instructure.com and logging in with their full student email and password, [which is their] uppercase initials and ID Number,” Ms. Lolkema said.
First down on the (new) Burial Grounds
On Friday, Aug. 14, the varsity football team scrimmaged the Andrean 59er’s for the first time in two years.
“It is definitely a different feel going from grass to turf, but [turf] is a lot better. There are no potholes like there was in the old field,” Nicholas Lucas (11) said.
The scrimmage was the first official game on the new football field that was opened for the 2015-16 football season.
“[The new field] looks beautiful. [In my opinion,] it is definitely the best in Northwest Indiana. I’m glad the way it turned out,” Lucas said.
The scrimmage gave the team the opportunity to see what they needed to improve on in the future. The coaches were able to be on the field to instruct closer and louder.
“I think the scrimmage kind of determines how [good] we are. I mean we can make a lot of improvements. “It helps us figure out what we’re going to work on,” Anthony Garcia (11) said.
Student Shout Out: Eva Kimberly (12)
Students who attend Lake Central are given the opportunity to participate in LCTV, which is the school’s broadcasting program. This program provides many opportunities for students who wish to go into broadcast journalism.
After being on the LCTV staff for one year, Kimberly was awarded the Executive Director position.
“Being Executive Director can be very difficult because I have to oversee the whole staff and all aspects of the class including daily announcements and our episodes of Tribe TV, but it’s definitely worth it,” Kimberly said.
The LCTV staff produces three types of announcements: daily announcements, sports updates, and Tribe TV, which is a 15-minute informational episode that is broadcasted every seventh-hour matrix. Kimberly oversees production over all three.
“I enjoy having this position and all the responsibilities that come along with it because in the end I help turn out a product that the whole school can enjoy,” Kimberly said.
Photos by: Joseph Pavell and Tabitha Pappas