What’s Recently Happened?
On Wednesday, August 15th, summer vacation came to an end and students arrived back at Westville High School for the new school year. Everyone has been adjusting to new classes, and for some, new teachers as well. This school year brings many new changes. For one Monday a month, students will get to experience a scheduled two-hour delay day. Last year, it was a fifteen minute late start every Wednesday, but this year, this time was combined into one longer delay for teachers to get more beneficial work time.
During the 2017/18 school year the concept of E-learning days came to Westville High School. These E-learning days are for when there is a snow day. With them, students receive their schoolwork online to work on at home which in turn, would mean not having to make up that missed day of school at the end of the year. Last year these days were run as trials since they were new to WHS, but this year they will be run full-swing. Also recently, our school has installed many solar panels as a form of more efficient energy.
In addition to all the regular school happenings, there are many new faces in the staff at Westville. With a new superintendent, guidance counselor, and office secretaries, this year is bound to be great. Joining them is the new geometry teacher, tenth grade english teacher, biology, chemistry, and pre-calculus teachers.
What’s Coming Up?
Starting off a new school year brings on clubs forming and sports beginning. At Westville High School, there is a variety of clubs and sports offered to suit anyone’s interests. This year, students have the opportunity to start their own club. In order to do this, a student needs to complete a form with a description of the club itself along with student’s signatures that support the formation of the club. Many are hoping that this will bring Westville a lot of new activities. With autumn around the corner, fall sports are in full swing. This includes cross country, volleyball, and soccer for both boys and girls. On September 21st, Westville will host our annual Dig Pink volleyball game which raises money and awareness for breast cancer. This game is very popular among students, adults, and anyone looking to watch a good game in the community. Also coming up in a few short days is Westville’s school picture day for every student kindergarten through twelfth grade. This year is full of excitement and events that every student is looking forward to.
Student Spotlight
Coming back to school means coming back to the hustle and bustle of the year. In order to manage all of this, it takes a real star-student. Within the past week, I sat down and spoke to junior, Peyton Rodgers, from Westville High School.
Peyton is very involved in extracurricular activities offered by the school and takes great pride in her academic achievements. During the 2017/18 school year as a sophomore, she was ranked as the third top scholar of the entire grade and received principal’s honor roll. Keeping her busy throughout the whole year, Peyton is involved in Student Council, National Honor Society, DECA, the Leadership Program, and Athletic Council.
During the fall, she is an important team player on the volleyball and cross country teams. Her winter season consists of playing basketball on the high school girl’s team and in spring, it’s softball. Peyton is one of the most involved students at Westville, not only athletically, but academically as well.
Teacher Spotlight
A teacher is someone who is able to help others understand and learn new concepts daily. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to excel in this field. Someone who fits this description perfectly is Mrs. Forney, who has been teaching at Westville for fifteen years. Mrs. Forney not only teaches high schoolers, but she also teaches in the middle school and at one point in her career, taught elementary students.
Currently, Mrs. Forney teaches High School and Middle School Health and Physical Education, and three of four courses in the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) program. The PLTW course is new at Westville High School, and is a program like no other. As said by Mrs. Forney, “The PLTW program offers a chance for students to look into medical careers with hands on labs as if they are in the medical field.”
The Project Lead the Way program is a four year course, each year changing focus on a different medical aspect. It is available to high schoolers and gives them knowledge and opportunities that first year college nursing students are learning. From the very first course to the last, PLTW offers Principles of Biomedical Science, Human Body Systems, Medical Interventions, and Biomedical Innovations. Mrs. Forney has a degree in Athletics training, K-12 Physical Education, a minor in health and safety, and a masters in education. She attended both Manchester University and Indiana Wesleyan University. In short, Mrs. Forney is an excellent teacher.