#1StudentNWI: November 2016 at Griffith High School

#1StudentNWI: November 2016 at Griffith High School

Student SpotlightM
Some people may say that people either play sports or are on the more artistic side, not both. Junior Skylar Davenport is here to prove those people wrong. Davenport is highly involved in dance, volleyball, basketball, drama, and much more.

Davenport has been dancing for 13 years now, and she dances year round at Jane Berland’s School of Dance. Davenport takes ballet, lyrical, musical theatre, and tumbling, and she is currently on a competitive dance team for her studio.

Griffith-1Student-November-2016_03 “Out of everything I do, my favorite thing is to dance. There is just something about being on the stage and being able to show the audience what I have been working on for months and to hear the crowd applause at the end is so special to me. When I dance, it feels natural as if it is right where I should be,” said Davenport.

She also fulfills her urge to perform by taking part in high school choir and Griffith High School’s drama department. This is Davenport’s second year in drama and she has already played her first lead role in this year’s fall production of a murder mystery, “And There There Were None.” Davenport also hopes to take part in the school’s spring production of “Cinderella”.

That was Skylar’s performing arts side, but don't forget that she has an athletic side too.

Griffith-1Student-November-2016_04 Davenport has been playing volleyball for three years, and this year she played staring varsity.

“Volleyball is a mental game, not a talent. If you play your cards right and look for the open spots, no matter how hard you hit the ball, you will get the point because you played smart,” said Davenport.

Once volleyball and the drama season is over, she hops straight into basketball. This is Davenports fifth year playing the sport, and she plays double roster as a post player.

“The most important rule of basketball is K.Y.P., know your player. If you don't know that your player is a shooter, you won’t guard her as close as you should and she’ll just keep shooting over and over again,” Davenport added with enthusiasm.

With all of that in her schedule, Davenport managed to pick up a few more hobbies such as FFCLA, Class Council, yearbook, photography, and Griffith High School’s Paranormal Society. Davenport strives in everything she involves herself in all while maintaining a strong and positive attitude.

Griffith-1Student-November-2016_01Taking a Dive in the Right Direction
Griffith High School’s swimming and diving team is starting fresh with two new assistant coaches and a large handful of swimmers completely new to the team. The team is still retaining two of their former coaches, head coach Theresa McLoughlin, who is in her third year of coaching, and diving coach Bill Schneider, who is in his second year of coaching the diving team.

These coaches introduced the team to the two new assistant coaches, Barbara Bolda and Robert Keen, and they having been showing them the ropes around Griffith High School. Coach Barb is coming in with 45 years of swimming experience along with doing Masters Swimming in Munster. Coach Rob previously coached at Calumet High School for seven years and has decided to transfer to Griffith to join the other coaches in making sure this season is successful.

Also, Coach Bill has been working with senior Megan Miller and junior Sammi Retti on their diving skills, so that they are ready to compete at meets this season.

The coaches have been working with the old and new swimmers to improve their strokes, techniques, and strength.

“I think this year is going to be a good year for the whole team. The coaches always help us and guide us towards making the right decisions,” said junior Matthew Thomas.

There is much more to coaching than just coaching; that is why they have a little extra help with them. Junior Mary Lesko is the team manager and she takes attendance, helps set up for meets, and helps the coaches with whatever they need. The team also has a team mom, Kathryn Thomas, who helps the coaches with setting up fundraisers, pasta nights, open swim nights, and makes sure that everything stays in order and runs smoothly.

Along with new coaches, there are also a lot of underclassmen on the team coming in with swimming experience, and there are even some seniors on the team that have no to little experience with the sport.

“This is my first year on the swim team and it has been an amazing experience already. I love my team because we all tend to get along like one big happy family, which is my favorite part about the team. My coaches are amazing, as well. I was so scared coming in as a new person, but as soon as I met everyone, they made me feel like part of the team right away. I have made a lot of new friends on the team that I love dearly,” said sophomore Erica Dross who has previously swam for the Highland Hurricanes Swim Club.

Griffith swimming is ready to excel as a team and cheer each other on the whole season.