What’s Happened: Spirit Week
Recently, Michigan City High School students participated in the last Spirit Week of the school year, and for the seniors, it was the last one of their high school career.
Every spirit week is fun for the students as well as the teachers and staff, not only because of the events that occur, but also because it presents an opportunity to break the dress code.
The themes for Spirit Week were Pajama Day on Monday, Decades Day on Tuesday, Pink and Red Day on Wednesday, (for Valentine’s Day), Sports Day on Thursday, and Class Color Day on Friday, which ended with a pep rally.
Spirit Week also presents the challenge to win the spirit stick, which is awarded to the class with the most school spirit. Classes competed hard for the stick by decorating their designated school hallways by theme, dressing up for the spirit days, participating in the Class Olympics, and cheering loudly for all their fellow peers at the Pep Rally.
The juniors, class of 2019, ended up winning the spirit stick and it was presented to them on at the boys’ basketball game and then again during morning announcements the following week for those who could not attend the game. The junior class has won the spirit stick the last three pep sessions in a row, but strangely enough, the senior class has never won a spirit stick in their high school year. They have won the Class Olympics the last two times they competed though!
After pep rally festivities, the Foreign Language Olympics were held in the cafeteria. Students from all foreign language classes including German, French, Spanish, and Japanese competed in various culture games including the tortilla toss and chopstick race. The Spanish class ended up winning the bragging rights overall.
Regardless of who won, the students had a fun week of supporting their school by showing school spirit and making priceless memories with fellow classmates and friends.
What’s Coming Up:
Every year, Leadership LaPorte County holds their student leadership program. Students from every school in LaPorte County, including students from homeschool programs, are chosen to represent their school and participate in a valuable experience.
There are four separate sessions throughout March and April, each held at a different location in LaPorte County including Purdue University Northwest, Cummings Lodge, LaPorte County Jailhouse, and Red Mill County Park. Since the students are excused from school for the four days, each of the sessions last an entire school day and are jampacked with activities, guest speakers, and learning opportunities, all designed to help the students involved to not only improve their leadership skills but to also grow as an individual.
All the students representing MCHS are heavily involved in extracurriculars and have plans of continuing their education at the collegiate level. Senior, Farrah Goodall, will be returning to help as a student leader this year since she completed the program last year. All involved this year will have the chance to become the student leader for next year’s activities.
Juniors attending the conference as participants are Class President Kaitlyn Saylor, Vice President Julia Miller, Secretary Sydney Starks, and Student Council Representative Dawson VanBuskirk. Sara Poulin will be representing the sophomore class in the program as well.
Leadership LaPorte County hopes to inspire participants to use what they learn in their everyday interactions and to return to the LaPorte County area as a leader to make a positive difference in lives around them.
Student Spotlight:
Senior Brittney Adams is heavily involved in sports, extracurriculars, and community service at MCHS and has set exceptional goals for herself after high school.
She is a triple sport athlete competing year-round in fall soccer, winter basketball, and track and field in the spring. Track is her favorite activity due to its independence.
She said, “Track, although it is a team sport, relies on the good performances of individuals in order for there to be success. I like being able to push myself to my limits.”
Adams is also a part of Mathletes, Drama Club, morning announcements, National Honor Society, and Steering Committee all while maintaining a part-time job at Meijer. Her hard work pays off with a 3.9 GPA, and it was no surprise that Adams was crowned Homecoming Queen earlier this year.
The diversity and teachers of MCHS has helped Adams.
“I have been involved since my freshman year. Mrs. Geyer pushed me to do soccer and then to join other clubs. I am thankful for her because I have met so many new people and learned a lot by experiencing high school as a busy student,” Adams said.
Adams plans to attend IUPUI in the fall to receive her undergraduate, majoring in English and Spanish before hopefully attending Harvard Law School to study to become an immigration lawyer.
Teacher Spotlight:
James Jepsen, Math teacher at MCHS, graduated from Chesterton High School and attended both Purdue University North Central and Purdue University Calumet to earn three degrees, all with an emphasis in mathematics. Jepsen taught at PNC for almost ten years, Ivy Tech for a couple of years, and even a few different high schools in Northwest Indiana but now calls MCHS home.
Jepsen explored different career paths in college including engineering and science but eventually found that teaching mathematics was for him after tutoring fellow college students while he studied at PNC.
“Once I started tutoring, I started to see the ‘click’ or ‘ah ha’ moment in students. I became addicted to this and decided I wanted to see as many of these as possible. Thus, I continued my education to become a teacher,” Jepsen said.
Currently, Jepsen is working to keep inspiring his students by achieving his PHD and working his way to an administrator’s license. He loves being a part of the atmosphere at MCHS and the positive trends he constantly is a part of, like the improvement from a “D” to “B” school and the desire to continue achieving greater things.
Jepsen said, “I love the students. Every child comes to me with a different background, and different strengths, weaknesses, issues, and attitudes. I truly love being able to help young minds grow and discover how they can own their education and have it be present in their own lives outside of school, instead of simply going through the motions of making education nothing more than listening and repeating.”