What's recently happened:
Posted all over the halls of La Porte High School (LPHS) are revolutionary art pieces. These pieces were created by Art Teacher MaryBeth Lebo’s students in sculpture and advanced art, as well as Teacher Joanna Witulski’s American Sign Language (ASL) classes.
The students were assigned a theme given to them by Deaf-Ember/Signs of Fun Camp. All of the themes had to do with deaf people, ASL or deaf culture.
This camp would post a deaf artwork every day, with the goal being to raise appreciation for the deaf community.
“ASL students were able to share with art students their knowledge and that helped the art students be able to express what they learn. Some of the art students were also ASL students. The students overall benefited from learning and interacting with each other and gaining knowledge,” Witulski said.
As it has never been done before, nobody knew what to expect but the outcome was extraordinary. It shifted perspectives and brought to light something that is often not taken into consideration.
These spectacular pieces were made in Lebo’s room, and are showcased in other classrooms as well as the library.
In other news, Senior Macy Mrozinski has received the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. With over 70 applications in LaPorte County and only two being chosen, she had less than a 3% chance of getting chosen.
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is a scholarship that covers tuition, required fees, and provides a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and equipment for four years of full-time undergraduate study leading to a bachelor's degree at any accredited Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.
143 scholarships are awarded annually in the state of Indiana with the hopes of raising educational attainment and awareness of the beneficial roles foundations have in their communities.
To be eligible for this award students must be ranked within the top 10% of their graduating class and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.85 on a scale of 4.00 after six semesters or nine trimesters.
Mrozinski has her sights on either Indiana University or the University of Notre Dame with the hopes of going into business, or more specifically marketing.
Mrozinski stays busy outside of school by competing in varsity tennis and volleyball matches. Additionally, she is involved in National Honors Society, National Technical Honors Society, and Film Club.
What's coming up:
On Saturday, February 5, students participating in Solo and Ensemble for Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) will be going to Kankakee Valley High School to perform.
This date is only for performers participating in vocals, strings, piano, winds, and or percussion. This is for all levels one through five, with level one being the highest and level five being the lowest.
Performers must enter themselves or group at a different level so the judges know how to judge. The music must coordinate with the music level to meet certain standards.
The students will be awarded a rating of gold, silver, or bronze, respectively based on their performances.
“I think it's important because you get more performing experience, you get to learn new music, and further enhance your music education,” said Brayden Sobecki, string and piano player at LPHS.
During the performance teachers as well as family and friends are welcome to come support. There is no admission cost to come and watch.
Staff Spotlight:
The LPHS music department has gained a new teacher; Elizabeth Cravens has taken over the Orchestra class.
Though she is new to LPHS, she isn’t new to teaching or the La Porte school system. Previously she taught Orchestra, AP Music Theory, and Music Theory at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind. She then transferred to La Porte Middle School to teach the middle school choir.
“Initially, there was a lot for me to take in. But even though I'm still getting a handle on things, I feel like I'm starting to settle into a teaching rhythm here,” Cravens said.
Accustomed to change, she has been teaching for over 10 years.
“My university training was very strings-focused, and I had previously studied music in a mainly orchestral setting. If I'm being honest, it was far more challenging when I was hired at La Porte and transitioned from high school orchestra to middle school choir,” Cravens said.
Cravens went to Ball State University and double majored in Music Education with Strings Emphasis and Music Composition.
Cravens not only has mastered the violin but the piano as well. It was her first-learned instrument and has been playing for over 30 years.
Apart from being a music lover, Cravens is also an animal lover. She has a golden retriever named Molly and six cats. She loves to visit aquariums and zoos to see her favorite animals such as big cats, sea lions, and elephants.
In her free time, Cravens can be found indulging in a book, watching a movie, or drawing. Additionally, she loves spending time with her family by going on hikes, traveling, and challenging them in Euchre and Catchphrase.
Student spotlight
Freshman Lila Gilisse is making an extravagant impression on LPHS. She has won numerous awards for her athletic accomplishments already this year. From taking gold in swim, to the golden guts award in cross country, she is a valuable asset to every team she's a part of.
Something to highlight about her running career is that she was able to represent La Porte at state for cross country. She placed second for La Porte and 58th overall.
Though she has not competed in an official track season this year, she hopes to grow not only as a runner but as an overall athlete.
In addition to being a star athlete, Gillisse is a star student as well. Though she is a three-sport athlete, she still makes time to prioritize school and maintain a 4.0 GPA.
Gillisse’s goals include maintaining her 4.0 through her schooling career, running in college, and becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
“I am always motivated by trying to improve. I want to be able to be better than I was and try to set goals high on how to improve. I feel like if you don’t set your goals high enough, you won’t be able to get your best results," Gillisse said.
From the time she could remember she was always challenging herself to do new things to see what she could achieve next. She started out in a pool at a mere six months old. She started competitively swimming at nine and completed her first five k marathon at age eight.
“I really enjoy running and swimming, because I love to do both, and I like to see what I can accomplish. Running and swimming complement each other very well, and I have seen the benefits of how swimming helps my running and how running helps my swimming. I also really like these sports because you can have individual and team goals,” Gillisse said.
Though she wasn’t very serious about running at first, she fell in love with it when COVID-19 hit.
“It was nice to just be able to go out and run when I couldn’t do anything else,” Gillisse said.
Though she is often found running or swimming, in her free time she loves to spend time with family and friends, traveling, and spending time outdoors.