What’s Happening?
Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week is a week that Hobart has dedicated to educating and bringing awareness to students on the harmful impact of drugs. The younger kids in elementary and middle school participated extremely well and had fun while making the early decisions to always be drug-free.
Also throughout the week, kindness was being promoted as well. The High School students all saw a presentation in the auditorium. This presentation was given by a former meth addict who had almost lost his life multiple times. The presentation was mainly about methamphetamine, but the speaker also brought up heroin, pot, and other drugs.
The speaker included many pictures that were disturbingly vivid showing the effects of drugs. He had personally gone through horrible things including extreme anger/mood swings, depression, and almost losing his wife and children because they were going to leave him. He attempted killing himself twice, but he survived both. Going to those extremes and still making it was what made him decide that he needed to change his life for the better. This presentation was powerful and moving, and it opened the eyes of many students. Seeing what could happen if continuing on the path with drugs changed many individuals’ mindsets. Red Ribbon week has effectively left an impact on students at Hobart this year.
What’s Coming Up?
Brickie 411
The Journalism class has been hard at work reporting and editing everything taking place at the high school. The students are getting ready for the launch date of the new and improved “Brickie Pride” newspaper (web page). Mrs. Leah Pagone, the new teacher, has been working with others on transforming the look.
Some of the stories that will be included are entertainment reviews, book club, sports, classes, fundraisers, and special events like Homecoming. The class is almost ready. The launch date was originally predicted to be sometime in October, but everyone involved really wants it to turn out great. The new launch date should be around the end of November or the beginning of December. The new changes and improvements will most definitely make the newspaper more popular. The excitement is only increasing, so continue to be on the lookout for the “Brickie Pride”!
Teacher Spotlight
Mr. Timothy Krieg
Every single month staff members all vote on who is the stellar staff member of the month. For the month of November, Mr. Timothy Krieg was nominated by his colleagues for Hobart High School’s Stellar Staff member of the month. He is an English teacher at the high school. He pushes his students to a level that many students do not believe they can reach. His ability to prepare students for the next step in their lives is incredible, and he has truly helped more individuals than he will ever know.
Writing and speaking in an effective way is something that people will need to be able to do for their entire lives. Without Mr. Krieg’s help, many students would not be able to accomplish that. He also constantly reminds his students to be open to change and improvement because, without that, no one would grow as a writer or a person. He deserves recognition for being an excellent teacher.
Student Spotlight
October 16th, 2015. This evening the lives of many were changed forever. Juan Lamar, a Hobart graduate, was headed back to Purdue North Central College when he was killed in a vehicle crash due to blunt force trauma. Everyone has most likely heard of this tragedy. They have most likely heard of what an excellent person he was - how he impacted the lives of every single person he ever met. But he is so much more than the amazing basketball player/leader, so much more than a nice guy.
He took those qualities to a whole new level. Words cannot express how this has impacted everyone in the family, the community, and even the entire region. The pain is a constant reminder that he is gone, but I believe that it has been driving the entire region’s students, staff, and families to start following the example that Juan had set for all of us. I believe this because I have seen it. We are all more aware of our actions. We try to bring happiness to others. Little conflicts, for the most part, have been thrown out the window. THAT is Juan Lamar’s legacy.
Through his time here, he made everyone enjoy every second of life when they were around him. I personally remember looking forward to seeing him in my period Gold 6 Spanish III class. He was literally the life of the party, and never failed at making everyone smile and laugh. The undeniable amount of love from all of the lives he touched is now being spread all throughout the region.
Other schools have dedicated their football games and other activities and events to the memory of Juan. The legacy of Juan is truly incredible, and it is all of our jobs to honor him by simply following his example. His story is one that should be known everywhere. Juan is still making the world a better place, and shouldn’t that be the goal of everyone? Speaking for not only myself but for anyone who knew and loved Juan Lamar, we would like to thank him for shining a light on all of our lives.