#1StudentNWI: Westville High School honors athletes and preps for prom

#1StudentNWI: Westville High School honors athletes and preps for prom

What’s Recently Happened

With the end of the school year rolling up, exciting events are taking place at Westville High School. Last month, the Westville High School DECA team traveled to Indianapolis for their State Competition. They had outstanding performances, presenting their various business skills.

Last month also featured the Winter Sports Awards to recognize winter athletes who participated in sports, including basketball, bowling, cheer, and poms.

The recent craft show showcased talented art at Westville High School, and was a fun event for the whole family to see creative products offered by vendors. You never know what you may find there! The Westville High School POWW Club hosted the sock hop as a event to help others. Admission for the dance was a pair of new socks that would be donated to a local organization.

What’s Coming Up

This year’s prom is tonight! Students will dance the night away at Silver Palace. Before the dance, a Grand March at the school will showcase everyone’s evening attire. Here, the Prom King and Queen will also be announced. It is bound to be a fun, exciting, and memorable event for everyone.

The end of the school year also brings spring sports! Track, baseball, and softball are in session. The beautiful spring weather makes for a great time to watch a game or two.

Also taking advantage of this nice weather, a few groups in Westville have organized a community cleanup. This will take place on April 27 and the group is searching for volunteers to help make the community look amazing. The National Honor Society and POWW Club of Westville High will both be attending the event.

Teacher Spotlight

Being a teacher is one of the most important jobs. It consists of helping students understand the information, and making a connection with them. This is one of the best things about teaching, according to Westville High School Science Teacher Mr. Dean.

“With a small school, you are able to be more connected with each student and watch them grow through the years,” he said. Before coming to teach at Westville, Mr. Dean taught at Cascade High School for two years and Brownsburg High School for four. He has been teaching since 2012, but this is his first year at Westville.

When first deciding his career, Mr. Dean knew he wanted a career that offered something different every day. Growing up, his mother was an attendance officer. He knew from her stories that he wanted to be part of helping people and making a positive impact on young lives. This led him to choosing a teaching career.

This year, Mr. Dean teaches biology, earth and space systems, and AP biology. Mr. Dean attain his many degrees at different colleges. His first two years were at Purdue University Northwest, and then he attended IUPUI for forensics. Following this, he spent four years at Indiana University pursuing a degree in education, but eventually earned his Bachelor of Science and Education at IU Northwest. He also earned a Master in Arts and School Supervision and Administration at Indiana State University.

Outside of his classroom, Mr. Dean enjoys soccer, hockey, baseball, boating, water skiing, and fishing. In addition, he believes his students will remember him from all of his bad jokes that they secretly enjoy.

Student Spotlight

With the end of the school year nearing, most students at Westville High can’t wait for school to get out! Especially for our seniors, the year seems to keep dragging on. It can be hard to concentrate on school when summer is so close, but one senior who is definitely keeping up with his work is Matt Slana.

Slana is involved in many clubs, including National Honor Society, Science Olympiad, DECA, Leo’s Club, and Book Club. Next year, he plans to attend Purdue University Northwest for pre-medicine. Two of his favorite classes this year are AP Biology and Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Medical Interventions. Slana said his favorite part about senior year is all of the challenges. Last school year, he was one of five from Westville to be named an Indiana Rising Star.

In his spare time, Slana enjoys baking, doing puzzles, watching movies, and hanging out with his friends. No matter his path, Slana will do great things in college and beyond.