Boys’ and Girls’ Rival Game
As basketball season starts to heat up at La Porte High School, the boys’ and girls’ teams are looking forward to playing arch rival, Michigan City, in a doubleheader on Friday, January 20th.
Every year, this game always gets the whole school excited for Friday night, and a huge turnout for the crowd is always expected. The week leading up to the game there will be a spirit week that will help get the students involved in dressing up and having a good time before the game.
The girls’ varsity team will play first at 5:30 P.M., and then the boys’ varsity will play after them, at 7:00. The girls have been heavily preparing for this game, as they will kick the night off and set the tone for the double header.
“We are watching film and getting mentally ready for the game. Michigan City is our rival school, and we want to prove that we are better than them,” said Olivia West, senior.
As expected, the boys’ team is hoping for a DAC win as well. It can be easy to get overwhelmed by all of the hype set around this game, but the boys are just planning on playing basketball their game. It’s going to be loud in Michigan City’s gym, as a close game is usually expected between the two.
“We are focusing on one game at a time and working hard in practice everyday. Since they are our rivals, whoever wins has bragging rights,” Owen Strieter, senior said.
Come out to support the two La Porte County teams as they take on each other for the first time this year.
Boys’ and Girls’ Swimming Senior Night
On January 5th the boys’ and girls’ swimming teams at LPHS took on Highland in the Slicer pool for the last time this season. This night was used to recognize the seniors on the team who have put in a great amount of work these last four years, and to top it off both teams were able to also pick up a win.
The girls’ team picked up their very first win of the season and were able to beat Highland with a score of 104-79. Celebrating senior night in any sport is an emotional night as the team celebrated their only senior girl swimmer.
“Getting recognized for the hard work I’ve put into swimming each year and all the mornings I’ve gone to practice when the sun isn’t up yet, even on two-hour delay days.” Summer Huber, senior, said when asked what she was most excited for.
On the boys’ end, their win added onto their already successful season. It was definitely a close one, with the boys winning the 400-yard freestyle relay to clinch it 93-92.
“Senior night was fun, and Isaac’s speech was funny. I am going to miss all of the seniors,” said Preston Butcher, team manager.
While this was both team's senior night, they do not intend for the season to be over anytime soon. They are both hoping to see a successful post season, and LPHS wishes both teams good luck.
Teacher in the Spotlight: Mr. Doty
Mr. Doty has been teaching for seven years, and everyday his love for the job seems to grow stronger.
Doty teaches basic biology classes but has recently been given the AP Biology class at LPHS to teach. This class was thrown at him with fairly short notice, but he took it with much gratitude and has strived to juggle his schedule with all of his other classes. Overall, he enjoys teaching the advanced subject of Biology and working with upperclassmen.
“It is both very exciting and very overwhelming at the same time. It’s been a lot of fun to have the upperclassmen and to be able to go into a lot more depth than we go into at the basic level,” Doty said.
For anyone who has Doty, they know he is 100% all in for his students. It ranges anywhere from offering help with homework to running to the high school on a Sunday night to put notes online for a student who needs them. His love and dedication for his students definitely shows where it counts. He agrees that there is no better reward than seeing one of his students succeeding and being interested in the subjects he is teaching.
Doty quotes “Seeing a student be genuinely interested in the topic is so rewarding. That’s just the day-to-day perks. On the long-term scale, hearing that students are choosing a major in college because of my class or things that we talked about impacted their decisions is hands-down the reason I teach.”
Doty works diligently everyday to make sure he adequately teaches his both his AP Biology class and his basic biology classes. His hard work and dedication is always appreciated in the halls of LPHS.
Student Spotlight: Jack Boardman
For Jack Boardman, his artistic and musical skills come naturally. It almost seems like there is not a single thing he can’t do.
Boardman is involved in multiple activities at LPHS. He takes part in Winter Guard, Marching Band, and French Club; but his favorite thing to do is Winter Guard. In Marching Band Boardman plays the marimba in front ensemble. Along with that, Boardman is very interested in art, and he also plays the piano.
Senior artist, Kate Luce stated “Jack is an extremely talented artist. He has a drive that makes those in the arts successful. He is accomplished in many aspects of the arts and is respected by many artists in the surrounding area.”
Boardman played a huge role in painting a mural last year in August with well-known graffiti artist, Ish Muhammad. The mural is currently on the side of a building right across from the old police station in Michigan City.
While Boardman is very active in extracurricular activities, he is also a very dedicated student as well. His freshman year he received the Outstanding Freshman award, and he also won the Outstanding Freshman award in Marching Band that same year.
Boardman has been interested in art since 7th grade, and he even wants to pursue an art-based career in college as well.
“My dream school right now is Kent State, and I want to study fashion design,” Boardman said.
Boardman participates in many things at LPHS and in the community, and he definitely works hard to be exceptional at all of these activities.