What’s recently happened?
With fall comes the slow-paced back-to-school season as well as the always-exciting and forever-entertaining high school football season. Chesterton High School (CHS) has had quite an amusing football season thus far.
The Trojans hosted its first conference game on August 23 where the team battled the Hobart High School Brickies and won 27-9. The following week, the Trojans traveled to Hammond Morton High School and beat the Governors 36-23. After a tough loss at home to the Michigan City High School Wolves, the Trojans came prepared and defeated the La Porte High School Slicers at La Porte’s Kiwanis Field the following week with an outstanding score of 28-7.
The CHS football team faced its all-time rival, the Valparaiso High School Vikings, on September 20 and just barely lost the game 22-21 after going into overtime. The long fight against the Vikings kept Trojan fans on their feet and, despite the loss, the community couldn’t have been more proud of its team.
Owen Edlen is one of many positive players on the CHS football team. He says the team’s tight relationship with each other this year has helped them on the field.
“I love this team! We feel so much more like family than we have in years past. We don’t have all the biggest and fastest guys, but the way we connect off the field translates really well to what we do on the field,” said Edlen.
Adam Kurek is another CHS football player who believes the team has room to get better and truly show what it has to offer. He also says the team works together to ensure the athletes are always making each other better.
“The team is preparing for its next opponents by taking a lot more mental reps and physically making sure we all make each other better every practice,” said Kurek.
What’s coming up?
CHS Homecoming is just around the corner, and students could not be more excited for the dance. Along with the dance are a number of events to get the school and the community ready for Homecoming.
At CHS, a Pep Rally is held at the end of the school day to get students excited for the Homecoming weekend festivities. The CHS Cheer Team shows off its skills and stunts with a small performance. The CHS Dance Team performs as well. A dodgeball game between classes also takes place during the pep rally.
Another Homecoming weekend event is the Homecoming parade. Each year, Chesterton hosts a Homecoming parade to feature many different participants in Chesterton schools, sports, clubs, organizations, and community groups. The parade begins in the parking lot at the previous Chesterton Middle School. There, teams and all kinds of clubs and organizations gather to pass out candy to community members watching the parade. This event is a great way for the community to connect with Chesterton schools.
Following the parade, of course, is the Chesterton Varsity Football game at 7:30 p.m. where Trojan spectators can come and watch the Homecoming matchup against the Portage High School Indians.
Staff spotlight:
Natalie Kaczmarski is a well-loved math teacher. She has been a teacher for seven years and has spent five of those years at CHS. Before CHS, Kaczmarski taught at Washington Township High School in Valparaiso for two years.
This school year, Kaczmarski gained much attention for her math rap video she recorded and posted on social media. Kaczmarski made a parody of the rapper Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” called “No Cellphones Please” about starting the new school year and the topics her geometry class would learn throughout the year. The song went viral on TikTok and was reposted by numerous social media accounts.
Eventually, big media sites saw the video and immediately became interested in speaking with Kaczmarski. So far, she has been interviewed by “Good Morning America” and Fox 32 News about her viral geometry parody. Kaczmarski says she is honored to have gone viral and the support she received from her friends and family has been tremendous.
“I can’t believe how the video has blown up! I’m so honored that I went viral for something that I’m truly passionate about. My family and friends have been my biggest supporters and hype team,” Kaczmarski said.
In her free time, Kaczmarski loves to watch basketball, work out at Orangetheory, spend time with her family and friends, and spend time with her dog. Kaczmarski also keeps herself busy during the school year as the CHS Student Government sponsor.
Student spotlight:
Canon Surane is a first-year Trojan at CHS. Although he is a freshman, he has been keeping himself busy as a lifter on the CHS Cheer Team.
Surane has participated in his fair share of sports. In the past, he has played baseball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball. After hearing about tryouts for the CHS Cheer Team, Surane was immediately interested in becoming a member of the team.
“I spoke with people who I knew had been on the team during their high school years, and they made it seem like a lot of fun, which made me interested in joining,” he said.
Each week, the cheer team has two or three practices to prepare for games and competitions. At practice, the team goes over “the game plan” for the upcoming football game of that week. This includes what cheers, dances, and stunts the team will do during the game, timeouts, and halftime. The team also prepares for competitions at state or national levels at their weekly practices.
The male cheerleaders on the team are referred to as lifters. The responsibilities of a lifter include throwing the flyers – people at the top of the stunts – and ensuring that the flyers don’t fall down.
“My favorite part of being a lifter is definitely doing stunts. We throw the flyers in the air and work with the bases to keep the flyer stable and in the air for the time of the stunt,” Surane said.
Surane plans to continue cheering throughout the rest of his high school career. As far as after high school goes, He plans to go into trades for his future career path.
