What’s recently happened?
Whiting High School (WHS) has been extremely busy lately with conditioning for spring sports, preparing for break, and the annual senior one act plays.
WHS spring sports are now in season; softball, tennis, baseball, and boys golf all have been working hard to ensure they can put their best foot forward this season.
Many sports practice over spring break to hone in on their skills and build their team bonding as much as possible to start the season off right.
WHS will be on spring break March 27 through April 3, and students will have a chance to prepare themselves to finish the school year strong at the end of May.
WHS also had its spring play March 17 and March 18 where four seniors directed a play of their choice and each play was one act. Mailee Quiroz, Daneli Alverez, Emily Strezo, and Nicholas Martinez were the four directors, and were advised by Middle/High School Music Teacher Patrick Pecher to help the students ensure the plays ran smoothly both days.
Each play represented the students' personalities perfectly, and they were able to have full creative control of their plays and have fun with their casts.
What’s coming up?
On March 20, WHS will be having its annual spring concert for all the School City of Whiting choir and band students involved, allowing them to display all their hard work from the school year.
Pecher is extremely excited for his students to show off their success from the school year so far and allow parents and families to admire this as well.
This is one of two spring concerts for the WHS band, as it will be performing in April for its band honors credit.
Senior members will write and perform their own piece for family and peers to see how far they have come in their four years at WHS.
Staff spotlight:
WHS math teacher TiAnna Reese, is in her first year at WHS and seventh year in education, teaching all grade levels from K-12.
Before coming to WHS, she taught at Sylvan Learning Center working with students to study for ACT and SAT.
“I never saw myself teaching high school before, but when I worked with students preparing for the ACT or SAT, I really enjoyed the higher level math and helping them be successful,” Reese said.
Reese has been very involved in music and choir her entire life, and originally wanted to be a music teacher to focus on vocal performance before realizing how much she enjoyed teaching math and high school.
“My dad has always been in a band, so growing up I have always been surrounded by that atmosphere. I’ve always sang, and in middle school I was in a band but realized I didn’t enjoy it because I wanted to sing a lot more,” Reese said.
Reese also was in the show choir in high school and was both dance and vocal captain at one point in her high school career. Reese is currently in a band as the lead singer, and will be performing at the Pierogi Fest at the end of July.
Reese has also tried out for the television show, “The Voice” and made it to the second round of the competition. She just has always kept herself musically involved.
In her classroom, Reese ensures that it is a safe environment for her students and that they can build a relationship with her.
“Seeing the ‘light bulb moment’ in math, and just seeing my students finally understand what they are learning and actually see the critical thinking and strategies being used is a great thing,” Reese said.
Building relationships with her students is also a major part of Reese’s goals, and helping her students reach whatever goals or aspirations they may have.
“They can ask questions or come see me for anything. I encourage them to come and talk to me. I like to see them succeed in any career or path in life they may take, and just give them something to help them further succeed,” Reese said.
Student spotlight:
WHS Junior Taylor Patton is involved in band, class officers, theater, tennis, cheerleading, and offers music lessons to all ages to people at the Whiting YMCA.
“I really enjoy meeting the new teachers we have this year and just building that relationship with them. It gives myself and many other students a chance to get to know them better and hopefully be a part of their wonderful classrooms,” Patton said.
Patton hopes to attend Purdue University after her senior year and major in music. She aspires to either teach music or play professionally in the future.
“I’m excited to meet new people, join new clubs, be more independent, and just focus on myself to be successful in the future,” Patton said.
Patton was involved in this year's senior one acts, and played a role in "After Hours” about store mannequins and what they do once the owner is gone.
“I really enjoyed being in the play. I am very social, so just being around all my friends and getting to make memories with them for the last couple weeks has been a lot of fun,” Patton said.
Patton has also been a part of the prom committee that has been working extremely hard to fundraise and make it an amazing event for WHS students.
“We have been working really hard to get the centerpieces and decorations organized to just ensure this year's seniors have a great night because their high school years were affected by the pandemic,” Patton said.