#1StudentNWI: September 2016 at Wheeler High School

#1StudentNWI: September 2016 at Wheeler High School

What’s Happening
Wheeler High School has kicked off their 2016-2017 school year with an amazing start!

Along with being the month of homecoming, Wheeler High School students have been active in a variety of activities. In regards to recent news, Wheeler High School Key Club has been participating in local community events in the Valparaiso area. On September 10th, students helped guide runners and walkers during the Popcorn Festival race and cheered everyone on. Additionally, Key Club partnered with Culver’s Ice Cream on September 2nd and fundraised a total of $423.

Another community event that students volunteered in was the Pack-a-Thon at Opportunity Enterprises on September 17th; along with other local schools, volunteers helped pack over 40,000 bags for the Chicago Marathon runners.

In other news, there are still Wheeler High School clubs that are taking members: The Bearcat Gaming Club meets on Wednesdays in Mr. Boruff’s room, the Spell Bowl Team meets on Thursdays in Mr. Boruff’s room, Wheeler High School Key Club meets every other Wednesday morning in the media center, and Wheeler High School Student Council meets every other Thursday after school in Ms. Mak’s room. Lastly, the French and German clubs are offering a field trip to the Feast of the Hunter’s Moon, as well as a Purdue West Lafayette campus visit on Saturday, October 1st. If you are interested, please see Mrs. Ault as soon as possible.

The month of September is well known for being the month of homecoming at Wheeler High School. Every year, students participate in Spirit Week, class competitions, and an eventful pep rally. This time, the Spirit Week days were comprised of the following themes: Lazy Day on Monday, September 19th, Big 10 Day on Tuesday, September 20th, Western Day on Wednesday, September 21st, Throwback 80s on Thursday, September 22nd, and Bearcat spirit on Friday, September 23rd. Thank you to all the students, teachers, and faculty who participated in Spirit Week this year!

Wheeler-1Student-September-2016_02 The last day of Spirit Week is always the most exciting. The Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors all compete through a variety of activities held throughout the week. Each class is evaluated on a point system by a select group of teachers, and the winning class is awarded the spirit stick.

Some of the activities students can do include class banner decoration, spirit chains, scavenger hunts, tug of war, class cheers, and being the most spirited at the pep rally. This year was very interesting compared to other years. As the principal was announcing the rankings of each class, all the students were eager to hear who won first place. Freshmen were awarded fourth, sophomores were placed in third, and juniors with second, making the seniors the supposed victors. Unfortunately, a mistake was made while reading the rankings, which made the juniors first instead of the seniors.

Needless to say, many of the seniors felt heartbroken and saddened. In fact, many students compared this situation to when Steve Harvey falsely announced Miss Universe in 2015. Nonetheless, all the Wheeler High School students enjoyed Spirit Week as well as the homecoming dance.

Wheeler-1Student-September-2016_03Student Shout Out
I would like to give a student shout out to Wheeler High School seniors Nick Wolf and Alexis Isenberg. Throughout the week, Wheeler High School students voted on who they wanted to be this year’s homecoming king and queen. There were a total of ten seniors who were nominated: Mitch Michaels, Hannah Zajac, Nick Wolf, Laurel Stevenson, Zack Tucker, Peyton Min, Daniel Diaz, Emma Heinold, Chris Drakos, and Alexis Isenberg. Moreover, Wolf plays quarterback for Wheeler High School’s varsity football team, and Isenberg is a Bearcat cheerleader. We wish them both the best of luck as they continue the rest of the school year!

Wheeler-1Student-September-2016_04Teacher Shout Out
Finally, I would like to give a teacher shout out to Wheeler High School’s sophomore English teacher, Ms. Ellyssa Eveland. She went to Lake Central High School and graduated in 2008. From there, she attended both Purdue University Calumet and Indiana University, Bloomington. She was always interested in being a teacher and never wavered from her choice of degree. In 2013, she graduated with her Bachelor's degree in Secondary English Education.

Eveland said, “Teaching has always been of the utmost importance to me, and I have always been interested in education. I have experience with the theater, and I worked on the newspaper staff in high school and college. I love reading and I enjoy listening to Bob Dylan and Neil Young. I adore being a teacher at Wheeler High School because I have received an overwhelming amount of kindness and appreciation. I can't imagine myself anywhere else.”

We thank Ms. Eveland for all of her hard work at Wheeler High School, along with her participation in leading Student Council events and activities for the students