#1StudentNWI: Chesterton Opens up for the New School Year

#1StudentNWI: Chesterton Opens up for the New School Year

What has happened?

CHS Volleyball started its season with a bang. The first game was held Tuesday, August 14 with Varsity and Junior Varsity winning against the opposing team. The varsity team won with scores of 25-11, 25-10, and 25-10 earning them their first victory of the season! Leading scorers were Taylor Bowser, Sammy Deveraux, Lorna Lombardini, and Maggie Vrahoretis.

“We had a great season opener,” said coach Amber McCaw. “Everyone got to play and contribute to the win.”

The first game of the season brings excitement but also sadness. For the seniors playing it is their last first game of their sport.

“I don’t think it has hit me yet that this is my last season of volleyball,” senior Sammy Deveraux said. “I’ve played club volleyball since fifth grade. I know when the season ends I’ll be extremely sad that was my last season, but I’ll also be happy that I got to play the sports I loved for such a long time.”

“Our seniors are strong group,” McCaw said, “And they will be a force to reckon with this year. They have experience and the desire to succeed.”

The volleyball season had a good start and it will hopefully have an even stronger finish.

“I am excited about our upcoming season and our progress thus far,” McCaw said.

What is happening?

The CHS Open house is on August 29th from 7pm to 9pm.

“The open house is an event where parents can kind of walk the schedule of their child and meet their children’s teachers,” Principal Brent Martinson said. “It’s only about 10 minutes per class but it’s still an opportunity to feel out what the class is and entails.”

The schedule will be ran through periods 1-8 and parents will get to walk the school.

“During the SRT or study hall blocks, the parents have the opportunity to meet the guidance counselors or administration to answer any questions they would like,” Martinson said. “Guidance would get to show the parents naviance as well.”

The CHS Open House has been going on for many years, but under new administration, changes and adaptations are being considered.

“What we are finding out with open house is that freshmen and sophomores are coming but upperclassmen aren’t. We were thinking of putting in place that we do the Open House in October,” Martinson said, “because the underclassmen really don’t know that much and maybe postponing the open house would possibly make the parents and students more comfortable.”

The CHS Open House is a community program to get all members such as students, teachers, parents, and others to be involved and be able to see into the student’s schedule and possible work load.

“It is important to the community to be engaged with our teachers and for our teachers to be involved with the community,” Martinson said. “If we don’t tell people what we are doing then no one knows. We want the parents to know and be engaged with their kids and we want the parents involved as much as we can in our community, always.”

Teacher Interview

Mark Peterson is a environmental science and biology teacher who also coaches the Chesterton High School Football team.

“I am entering my 27th year of coaching football and I spent the first 18 years coaching as an assistant coach at the collegiate level,” Peterson said. “This is my 6th year as the head football year and 8th year total at Chesterton.”

The football season kicked off with the first game on the 17th of August.

“The score ended up being 10-9 which ended up being a loss,” Peterson said. “We missed some of our opportunities and had some questionable calls which could have changed the outcome of the game. Every chance we get we have to take advantage of putting the ball in endzone or kicking field goals.

The season started off slow but still has a beaming future because of the determined coach standing behind the team.

“I am very optimistic, we graduated a strong nucleus of upperclassmen on defense but we’ve had some great underclassmen step up,” Peterson said. “For the first time since being coach, we have our oldest group of linemen, our largest number of upperclassmen, returning."

The coaches have the responsibility of inspiring the team and making sure the season, whether pass or fail, is performed well.

“I’m positive about all of our opportunities and being able to succeed in those as the season progresses. As a coach, seeing the team succeed is what I want. Everyone wants to win but I, being the coach, am gonna see to it that we do.”

Student Interview

Giselle Hood is a Junior at Chesterton High School and recently took an amazing weekend trip.

“The weekend of August 17th through the 19th, I took a little trip to Las Vegas for my 16th birthday with my parents and my best friend Antonia,” Hood said.

Hood left for her trip after school on Friday and returned late Sunday night so she could attend school and not miss any classes, but she experienced a great deal in the short time she was there.

“We stayed in the Venetian Hotel and Casino in the Vegas Strip,” Hood said. “Antonia and I went to see Panic! At The Disco in concert at the T-Mobile Arena. We also hung out by the different pools and went into shops where the mall was decorated just like Italy. There was even a full river running through the span of the hotel, including gondola rides as well.”

A weekend trip can be short and sweet, but the memories experienced on that trip can last a lifetime.

“The most memorable part for me was definitely experiencing the city for the first time,” Hood said. “I’ve been to places like Los Angeles and Paris before, but none of them compare to what it’s like stepping into Vegas. It’s like stepping into a whole new world. So I really just enjoyed seeing so many new sights and experiencing the over-the-top glitz of the culture.”

This year Giselle is a sub-editor of the newspaper, being co-sports editor with a good friend.

“I love being in newspaper because of the great community,” Hood said. “I never feel afraid to share my personal opinions and it’s just a great group of people."

Junior year is said to be the toughest year on a student, but a good student and a good writer can take on any challenge.

“I have a lot of difficult classes this year that are going to be a struggle and it’s going to be a challenge to keep up with the work the AP and Honors classes call for,” Hood said, “However I need to stay organized and focus on my goals for the future which will hopefully motivate me to do my absolute best this year.”