beatable SpititRecent Events
Griffith High held their annual wheelchair basketball game against the Chicago Hawks and the staff and students. This event was held during the school day and the whole school came down to watch this event. The school puts it on every year for disability awareness month. The children even had their own time in the spotlight at halftime and put on a little dance to pump up the crowd.
“We helped them prepare for their little dance before had. It was a lot of fun because we got to teach them how to do the whip and nae nae. It was a good feeling to watch them have a blast and enjoy themselves in front of the school,” said sophomore Skylar Davenport.
This week, the school also held their annual college/career day. In the morning, students went to all of their classes to hear guest speakers coming to talk about their careers. Some of the careers were: a nuclear physicist, a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, and an engineer. In the afternoon, students took a trip to the gym to talk to college representatives from colleges throughout Indiana.
“Although I already decided where I was going to college, it was interesting to see all of the opportunities available for upcoming juniors and seniors,” said senior Kersten Collins.
One Team, One Town
In other news, the school held a pep rally on Thursday, March 17, for the boys basketball team advancing to semi-state for the second year in a row. While on their way to semi-state in Lafayette, the bus carrying the team members flipped on I-65. Miraculously, no one was severely injured. In regards to the injured players, a town sponsored a prayer service at Central Park on Sunday afternoon.
Following the start of the school day on Monday, a school-wide gathering was held in the main gym to raise spirits and show thanks for a fully expected recovery for all that were on the bus. The game versus Marion was rescheduled for Wednesday March 23 at 6pm eastern time in Lafayette. People from all over Indiana came out to cheer on the Panthers. The team ignored the complications and give it their all at semi-state.
Student Shout Out
Keith Hernandez is a junior and participates in several sports and activities for the high school. He has played soccer, golf, and wrestling throughout high school. He has been playing soccer for 12 years, golf for four, and wrestling for 10 years.
“Wrestling is my favorite sport because it’s fun and challenging. It pushes you to your physical and mental limits,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez is also involved in multiple clubs like the international club, national honors society, drama, FCCLA, student council, and class council. In addition to everything he does inside of the school, he goes even further to be part of the Griffith community by volunteering at Kid’s Church.
Hernandez would like to go to the U.S. Military Academy after high school because that is where his brother attended and he feels like that is the right school for him.
Teacher Shout Out
Jim Graff graduated from Ball State with visual arts education. His first teaching job was at Griffith and has now been here for 22 years. He teaches ceramics and photography. He has been the lights and sound director at Griffith for 14 years know and he is also in charge of the stage crew.
“When the previous art teacher moved down to teach middle school, I had to teach ceramics. I spent the entire summer with a potter’s wheel in my garage to brush up on my skills. Ceramics is my favorite class to teach,” said Graff.
Graff also took many photography courses in college so he decided to start a photography program at the high school in the late 90’s.
“I’ve always had a passion for it. I decided to start the program because I noticed there was a need for it and I thought it would help improve the quality of the photos in the yearbook and newspaper,” Graff added.