#1StudentNWI: Graduation and Summertime Plans for Wheeler

#1StudentNWI: Graduation and Summertime Plans for Wheeler

Graduation

On June 3rd, Wheeler graduated one of the most successful classes it has ever seen. The class of 2018 made achievements across the board. Success was seen within academics, athletics, fine arts, and extra curriculars. The senior class was highly involved in various clubs and activities at the school.

During the past school year, the senior class was involved in a state-runner up girl’s soccer team, won the homecoming spirit stick, had regional qualifiers for cross country, swimming, and track, participated in productions of Godspell and Captain Fantastic, and won Final Score.

Among these achievements, the class of 2018 had 33 inductees to the Academic Hall of Fame, the greatest number of members that Wheeler High School has ever seen.

The Academic Hall of Fame recognizes students that have a GPA of 3.9 or higher. The ‘hall of famers’ are asked to pick a mentor who has guided them to success. The inductees, their parents, and mentor are then invited to a dinner at the school during which each inductee introduces themselves to the group.

The graduation ceremony began with the entering of the superintendent, school board, principal, assistant principal, and a few others followed by the seniors. Next, the senior choir members sang I’ll Be There for You, the Friends theme song.

Traditionally, there are a select few student speakers along with a teacher. This year, however, things were changed. The students’ speaker section was broken into three categories: past, present, and future. Instead of only a handful of speakers with lengthy speeches, there were about 15 students separated into each section. Each student read a small section explaining either their past at Wheeler, their present graduating from Wheeler, or their future leaving Wheeler. This allowed for a broader viewpoint of experiences at Wheeler.

The teacher selected to speak on behalf of the 2018 class was Ben Boruff, an English teacher who is heavily involved in activities at the school. He described the class as one of his favorites from his time at Wheeler.

The class of 2018 has left large shoes to fill and a lasting impression on Wheeler.

Beginning of Fall Sports

With the start of summer, everyone looks forward to sleeping in and spending time away from the school. For athletes however, it is a completely different story. Starting a few days after summer begins, athletes are up early getting ready for their seasons. The soccer, volleyball, football, cross-country, girls’ golf, and boys’ tennis teams are all working hard.

The girl’s soccer team will be training hard, as they have a state runner-up title to defend. Although a few key players graduated, the program is returning much of their varsity roster. There are also several upcoming freshman who will be able to contribute to the program.

The volleyball program is welcoming a new coaching staff, with Hannah Tether as the varsity head coach. The team is involved in a summer league with other schools in the region. On Monday nights, a handful of juniors and seniors from the team travel to Kouts High School to play and prepare for the season.

The boys’ and girls’ cross country teams are both welcoming large numbers of students, with both incoming freshmen and other grade levels joining the team. They are defending GSSC conference championship titles. Both teams have returning runners who advanced into regionals and semi-state, and one runner, incoming sophomore Hailey Orosz, advanced to the state meet. Among the fall sports practices, some are beginning to participate in open gyms for basketball. The girls’ team travels to Griffith High School one to two times a week where they play against other teams in the area. The boys’ team is also involved in a summer league.

Student Highlight

Soon to be senior Tessa Haldeman has been keeping herself busy as can be, changing from sport to sport, and keeping up with her academics. Haldeman is a part of soccer, basketball, tennis, diving, national honor society, and band.

Haldeman moved to Wheeler her freshman year. She said that moving is always difficult, but it was different with Wheeler.

“Moving to wheeler, although challenging, was good,” shared Haldeman, “I could never imagine not knowing all the people I know today, they have all been so great.”

One thing that stands out about Wheeler and the community is that everyone is very accepting of one another. She quickly noticed that people at Wheeler share amazing bonds with each other.

“Sports have taught me how important it is to have a leader on a team: someone who can inspire others to join them and to motivate them to improve,” Haldeman said.

Being that she is a three sport varsity athlete, Haldeman’s life has been majorly impacted by sports. They have not only been a place to release energy, but also a way to make new relationships and work with others.

Although she has learned much about leadership from sports, she has made another observation about how teams work together.

“I think the biggest thing sports have taught me is that the followers are just as important as the leaders, because there can't be one without the other,” Haldeman said.

In her free time, Haldeman enjoys reading and being with friends.

Community Highlight

Stephanie Stephenson has been living in Valparaiso for over 20 years now. Since, she has made her own mark in helping the community.

Stephenson is a Purdue graduate. She received a bachelor's degree in child development and then a masters in education.

For years, Stephenson volunteered at the Porter County Substance Abuse Council because of an addiction in her family. About two years ago, she took a more permanent position within the council. Stephenson now works on a grant called Drug Free Communities.

“The Federal government along with myself believes that it takes a village to raise child to be a substance free, productive adult,” shared Stephenson.

The council works on three main problems: abuse of prescription drugs, opioids, heroin, and other illicit drugs, abuse of alcohol by teens and adults, and abuse of marijuana.

Stephenson is able to use her degree in teaching to talk to schools within Porter County about the dangers of substance abuse. Since she has begun working with the council, her views on substance abuse have broadened. She emphasizes the importance of waiting to use alcohol until you’re 21, and educating the youth.

Stephenson also works to connect people with support and recovery groups.

“I believe you need a support system in life and recovery,” Stephenson said.

In her free time, Stephenson enjoys spending time with her family. However, all of her children will be in college this fall, so Stephenson will have extra time on her hands. She enjoys baking, reading, and walking her dog.