Page 1 April 2018
Volume 10, Number 8
In This Issue
From the Principal
Counselors’ Corner
Student Council
Alpha Yearbook
Open Door
Music Department
Students of the Month
Principal’s Honor Roll
Academic Honor Roll
Perfect Attendance
Student Support Services
World Languages
PE/Health Department
Social Studies Dept.
JROTC
Dates to Remember
Color the Pack (Fun Run)
Athletic Open House
Spring Play
Contact Us
Comments? Suggestions?
Contact Joyce Westphal
Happy Spring My Fellow Wolves, We are now into the 4th quarter of the 2017-18 school year and the students and staff are looking forward to spring break. Spring break is a time to recharge and come back refreshed and ready to finish the year strong. More than ever, we need for your students to be here and on time every day. Attendance plays a major factor in your students’ academic and social successes at MCHS and be-yond. Teachers are delivering rigorous course content in every class preparing them for their summative assessments and final ex-ams. These assessments and grades have significant impact on their semester grades and opportunities post-graduation. Our Wolf Pack Round-up held on March 16th was a great suc-cess. Thank you to all of our parents, students and visitors who came to the high school and enjoyed the evening with the MCHS staff. Also, we wrapped up the first round of ISTEP testing the first week of March. Part II of the ISTEP testing begins on April 17th - April 27th. Graduation is on June 10th at 12:00pm. Senior Class letters will be mailed home on March 29th. Timelines and important dates are listed in the letter. Parents should contact your student’s counselor with any questions regarding graduation. I would like to wish everyone a wonderful spring break and as al-ways, follow us on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook. One City! One Pack! Go Wolves!
Candy Van Buskirk Principal
From the Desk of the Principal...
April 2018
Page 2 April 2018
Counselors’ Corner
As we approach the end of yet another school year we urge stu-dents to finish strong. It is important to keep your grades up and that all students be in school. Parents please check your child’s grades on RDS Parent Access. If you have any questions contact your child’s counselor or teachers. Seniors make sure your Cap and Gown is ordered. Graduation is very close. Summer School: We should have info out about summer school registration shortly after Spring Break. If your student needs to make up a credit, please have them come to their counselors’ of-fice and pick up a registration form. Tis the season for testing. The month of April is a very busy month at MCHS and all students should make sure they are in school for required state testing. Beginning April 17th through the 19th we will be administering the IStep 10 with make-up days to follow. In addition seniors who have not passed their Eng10 ECA or AlgI ECA will take those the week beginning April 23. Both these test are used as graduation qualifying exams and it is im-portant that students are in attendance for these tests. Juniors are urged to take the SAT or ACT during their junior year. The next two SAT testing dates will be at PNW. Students may reg-ister at College Board. The website is https:// www.collegeboard.org/. If you would like to take the ACT you can register at https://services.actstudent.org/OA_HTML/ act-ibeCAcdLogin.jsp
Scholarships and FASFA: Any scholarships that our school re-ceives are always available on our website. Feel free to check it out for scholarship opportunities. In addition the Michigan City Promise Scholarship can be found at www.michigancitypromise.com. Also please be aware that any senior wishing to attend college in the fall must complete their FASFA by April 15th.
Page 3 April 2018
Student Council
The Michigan City High School Student Council is busy getting ready for their annual "City's Got Talent" show which will be held on Friday, April 27th. Doors w ill open at 6:00pm and the show will start at 7:00pm. There will be an admission cost of $5.00 for students and adults, Children 5 and under will be free. Concessions will be available for purchase. We hope to see every-one there come out and support these wonderful students as they perform their various talents.
Alpha Yearbook
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Alpha Yearbook Staff
Page 4 April 2018
Order your copy of the 2017-2018 Alpha Yearbook
for the LOW price of only $65.00! The price will increase to $70.00 April 15th!
Go to www.jostens.com to place
your order today!
Open Door
Open Door Adolescent Health Center receives $30,000 grant from
Michigan City Community Enrichment Corporation
Open Door Adolescent Health Center (ODAHC) was recently awarded $30,000 in funding from the Michigan City Community Enrichment Corporation (MCCEC) for the school based health cen-ter at the Michigan City High School for 2018. The purpose of the funding is to help provide health and mental health services for those students registered with the school-based health center. ODAHC has been providing comprehensive health and mental health services to the Michigan City Area Schools for over 20 years. The purpose of the Michigan City Community Enrichment Corpora-tion is to receive and accept money from Blue Chip Casino, Inc. pursuant to the terms of the Riverboat Gaming Development Agreement dated June 10, 1997, between Blue Chip Casino, Inc. and the City of Michigan City, Indiana, and to administer and ex-
Page 5 April 2018
pend those funds exclusively to 501(C)(3) qualified not-for-profit organizations supporting public purposes, primarily in and for the benefit of the people of the Michigan City community.
Michigan City Community Enrichment Corporation recently award-ed $639,100.00 in March 2018 to 32 different community organi-zations, for 48 different programs. Open Door Adolescent Health Center is grateful to have received this funding. MCCEC continues to give back to our community and strengthen the quality of life for our Michigan City students. Thanks to the Michigan City Com-munity Enrichment Corporation and their Board of Directors on this very generous grant award.
Music Department Congratulations to all of the band and choral students on excellent performances at the Classics and Swing Night Concerts! Classics Night I was presented by the choir students on Tuesday, March 6, Classics Night II was presented by the band students on Thurs-day, March 8, and Swing Night was present by Treble Chorale, City Singers and the Jazz Combo on Wednesday, March 14. All three concerts were very well received. It was a great way to cel-ebrate Music in Our Schools Month which takes place throughout the entire month of March. We invite you to come and hear the wonderful things our students are doing at our final concerts of the year. Pops Night will take place on Thursday, May 10, 2018 at 7 pm in the high school auditorium and Showcase will take place on Friday, May 18, 2018 at 7 pm in the high school auditori-um. We hope to see you there!
Page 6 April 2018
Students of the Month
LEADERS OF THE PACK - February
Art Department - Christopher French Business Department - Jacob Pace English Department - Robert Lemon FACS Department - Nashala Richmond JROTC - Damian Albisu Math Department - Mia Taylor Music Department - Michael Lakin PE/Health Department - Justin Anderson Science Department - Sydney Kohn Social Studies Department - Joshua Koepke Student Support Services Department - Sativa Santana Tech.Ed./Voc.Ed. Department - Braden Tepper World Languages Department - Savannah Holley
Page 7 April 2018
Principal’s Honor Roll
Congratulations to the 92 students that made the Principal’s Hon-or Roll for the 3rd grading period. To qualify for the principal’s honor roll you must have all A’s in every subject.
Check our website for the listing of names.
27 - Freshmen
18 - Sophomores
33 - Juniors
14 - Seniors
Academic Honor Roll
Congratulations to the 380 students that made the Academic Hon-or Roll for the 3rd grading period. To qualify for the academic honor roll students must have a 3.0 grade point average. A stu-dent will not be eligible for the academic honor roll if they earn a grade of below a C on their report card.
Check our website for the listing of names.
98 - Freshmen
100 - Sophomores
101 - Juniors
81 - Seniors
Perfect Attendance
Congratulations to the 31 students that had perfect attendance for the 3rd grading period.
Check our website for the listing of names.
7 - Freshmen
7 - Sophomores
11 - Juniors
6 - Seniors
Page 8 April 2018
Student Support Services
Parents/Guardians of students with an IEP, here is contact infor-mation. We are happy to help.
Ms. Amy Wojasinski-Labis, Department Head/ Resource [email protected]
Ms. D. Ritter, Moderate: [email protected]
Ms. N. Bormet, co-taught English 9: [email protected]
Ms. L. Abbey, Multi-Curriculum: [email protected]
Mr. T. Johnston, co-taught Algebra I : [email protected]
Mrs. C Hastings, Multi Curriculum: [email protected]
Ms. L Hoard, Multi-Curriculum : [email protected]
Mrs. S Long, co-taught English 12, Resource: [email protected]
Ms. S. Krachinski, Multi-Curriculum: [email protected]
Ms. S. Erby, Credit Recovery: [email protected]
Ms. A. Hartog, co-taught Algebra II and Geometry, Resource: [email protected]
Mr. M. Ard, co-taught Algebra II and Geometry: [email protected]
Ms. K. VarnHagen, co-taught English 11 and Resource, [email protected] Ms. M. Zolis, co taught English 10 and Algebra, Resource: [email protected] Mr. M. Schafer, co taught English 10, Resource and Careers Class: [email protected]
Mrs. E Stahl, social worker: [email protected]
Mrs. S Baldwin, deaf and hard of hearing: [email protected]
Mrs. L Jones, deaf and hard of hearing: [email protected]
Mrs. M Dougherty, visually impaired: [email protected] Ms. A Hauser, speech therapist: [email protected]
Ms. L Pitmon, Paraprofessional Ms. T Jones, Paraprofessional Ms. M Landess, Paraprofessional Ms. M Llorens, Paraprofessional Ms. M Chandler, Paraprofessional Mr. H. Arthur, Paraprofessional Ms. K. Crozier, Paraprofessional Ms. C. Stephens, Paraprofessional Mr. A. Mendez, Paraprofessional
Page 9 April 2018
World Languages
Michigan City High School welcomed 6 students from Zama Sogo High School in Japan for ten days, March 10-20. The two high schools have had a "sister school" relationship for several years, and students from Zama Sogo visit both Michigan City and Ches-terton each year, staying with host families. At a farewell dinner on March 19, the MCHS students gave farewell speeches in Japanese and the Zama Sogo students gave their speeches in English. After many photos, hugs, tears, and laughing through some line dancing, the students said goodbye to their new friends. A wonderful time was had by all! (Michigan City High School will soon be hosting a group of students from Germany, who will be staying with local host families) Host students: Kiara Stansil Zack Parker Lauren Werner Liz LaFollette Reese Attar Kendyl Adney
Page 10 April 2018
PE/Health Department
Name: Coach Kovenz Subject: Basic Swimming
Swimmer rotations are going with a hitch after the pool had nec-essary mechanical problems fixed. We are a week behind, but all groups will still get the same amount of pool time. SLO's are go-ing well with anticipated improvement. It is sad to see that some students have already disconnected as the year end is approach-ing. Physical activity is a lifelong activity. Is your student partici-pating in swimming/physical education/class? We want everybody to succeed. Go pack! Go Wolves! Go Spring!
Name: Coach Mason Subject: Strength Training
Strength Training is head into the final 9 weeks with an emphasis on conditioning. Students will be working on aerobic conditioning through distance training. They will also be doing circuit training to help develop better physical fitness.
Name: Coach Feare Subject: Physical Education I & II
Students in PE class are participating in a badminton unit. We are learning many skills needed to play a competitive game. We are also still evaluating our student learning objectives and trying to decrease our ½ mile run time. As we get into spring we are hop-ing for nicer weather to be able to go outside. Soccer and Tennis is on the horizon!
Name: Coach Karpinski Subject: Health and PE
My Health students finished the 9 weeks very strong. I don't think I have had a combined higher grade point average EV-ER. We are starting the new 9 weeks with our Nutrition Unit, Physical Activity, Male and Female Reproductive Systems, Alcohol and Tobacco, and last but not least..... Illegal and Over the Coun-ter Drugs.
Name: Coach Richards Subject: Health
Our Health classes are currently finishing up our chapter on family relationships. We learned about the different households and what kids could be going through at home. We are also learning about how to strengthen those family relationships and where we can go if someone in our family needs help.
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Social Studies Department
During the month of March, the United States and other countries celebrate Women's History Month. Women's History Month cele-brates and calls attention to the contribution of women to events in history and contemporary society. As a way to celebrate, hon-or, and recognize women in history that have made positive im-pacts on her students’ lives, Mrs. Shaman invited her class to write a woman’s name on a sticky note and attach it to the bulle-tin board. The class was excited to see all the amazing women who are recognized on the board all throughout the month.
Pictured: US History students Stanley Mor-ris, Emylee Moye, Hudah Achy, and Damian Albisu proudly showcasing the Women’s History Month display board.
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JROTC
MCHS MCJROTC HONORS AFRICAN-AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO U.S. MILITARY
The Michigan City High School (MCHS) Marine Corps Junior Re-serve Officer Training Corps (MCJROTC) conducted a study of the Civil War battle of Fort Wagner in conjunction with recognizing the contributions African-Americans have made to the United States military. The attack on Fort Wagner by the Union was led by the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first black unit to fight for the North in the Civil War. It was the subject of the movie “Glory” which starred Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman. “This battle study offered many teaching points for our cadets,” said Major Tom McGrath, the Senior Marine Instructor. “Besides the extraordinary bravery demonstrated by the soldiers, there was the training and guidance to transform them from raw re-cruits to skillful warriors. There is also the tactical decision-making process that is applicable to any leadership position, not just the military.” Master Sergeant Jeff Benak recalled his 26 years on active duty and the Marines with whom he served. “It didn’t matter what col-or a Marine’s skin was, what mattered was that they could do the job. I served with many outstanding African-American Marines.” Cadet Gunnery Sergeant Danny Walker, a straight-A student and an important member of the military drill team, stated that “it was a big accomplishment for African-Americans to join the military. These individuals are a perfect role model for many more African-Americans who are thinking of joining the military.” Cadet Tyler Stockley, the executive officer for the program and commander of two units on the drill team, noted that the Battle of Ft. Wagner laid the foundation for African-Americans to attain great heights in the U.S. military. “The courage that those sol-diers showed inspired so many other African-Americans to serve and reach high ranks”, he said.
The cadets’ next unit will be a comprehensive review of general military subjects as the military drill team prepares to compete in the National Marine Corps Drill Meet to be held at Daniel Boone High School in Gray, Tennessee on April 21st. Selected cadets will stand a personnel inspection, part of which is being asked questions from military subjects. Michigan City was one of 16 school selected out of the 250 MCJROTC schools nationally. The trip is being done at no cost to Michigan City Area Schools or the cadets. Transporta-tion and lodging will be funded by the Marine Corps, with the MCJROTC Booster Club providing the meals.
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MCHS MCJROTC SUPPORTS SCHOOL, COMMUNITY The Michigan City High School (MCHS) Marine Corps Junior Re-serve Officer Training Corps (MCJROTC) conducted numerous community service activities during March. Among those activi-ties were assisting in the establishment and disestablishment of tables and chairs for the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus. March 10th was an exceptionally busy day for the cadets, as they supported the Indiana High School Athletic Associ-ation’s Regional Boys Basketball tournament held at MCHS. Thousands of fans from throughout Northwest Indiana were di-rected by cadets to park their vehicles safely and orderly for both the morning doubleheader and the night championship game. The MCHS Color Guard presented the National Color for the play-ing of the National Anthem in the morning and evening. That same day, the cadets led the Michigan City St. Patrick’s Day pa-rade. That evening, they provided the Color Guard for the Disa-bled Americans Veterans’ Americanism program. Cadets also supported the MCHS Parent/Teacher conferences, the Wolfpack round-up for incoming freshman, and a clean-up of a vacant lot in Michigan City. “It has been a busy month for us,” said Senior Marine Instructor Major Tom McGrath. “We were also notified that we were select-ed to compete in the Marine Corps National Drill Competition, so our Drill Team has been kicking it into high gear in preparation for that event.” Master Sergeant Jeff Benak commended the cadets for their ver-satility and endurance. “Our Drill Team cadets are here for prac-tice at 5:45 every morning. They are also the ones who do the bulk of our community service. They are balancing their school work with JROTC activities, and some of them also have part-time jobs.”
The Marine Corps National Competition is April 21st in Gray, TN. The trip is being conducted at no cost to the cadets or Michigan City Area Schools. Transportation and Lodging are being funded by the Marine Corps. The MCJROTC Booster Club is providing the cadets meals. Michigan City is one of 16 schools out of 250 schools nationally who were selected, and the only school out of the Midwest.
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Dates to Remember
04/02 Spring Break Starts
04/09 School Resumes
04/14 ACT Testing
04/17-4/27 ISTEP Part II Testing
04/19 Foreign Language Honor Society Induction
04/20 Spring Play, 7:00 p.m.
04/21 Spring Play, 7:00 p.m.
04/22 Spring Play, 2:00 p.m.
04/26 Athletic Open House—6:30 p.m.
04/27 MCHS Talent Show—7:00 p.m.
5/1-5/10 ECA Retesting
5/7-5/18 AP Testing
05/10 Pops Night—7:00 p.m. (Music Dept.)
05/11 Prom
05/15 Senior Awards Night—6:30 p.m.
05/16 JROTC Awards Night—5:00 p.m.
05/17 1st Graduation Practice—7:25 a.m.
05/18 Showcase 2018—7:00 p.m. (Music Dept.)
05/22 Underclass Awards—Periods 1, 2, 3
05/22 Thespian Society Induction
05/24 2nd Graduation Practice
05/24 Senior Music Dept. Awards—5:00 p.m.
05/28 Memorial Day—No School
05/30 Senior Finals—periods 1-3-5-7
05/31 Senior Finals—periods 2-4-6-8
05/31 Underclassmen Finals—1-3-5-7
05/31 Distinguished Banquet
Sports
06/01 Underclassmen Finals—2-4-6-8
06/01 Final Graduation Practice & Senior Picnic
06/01 End of Grading Period 4—last day of school
06/05 Spring Sports Awards
06/10 Graduation—12:00 p.m.