What's Recently Happened:
With the end of the year, the students of Wheeler High School (WHS) are itching to enjoy their summer vacations. Keeping this in mind, the staff and administration of WHS have been extremely accommodating to the overwhelming eagerness stemming from students by allowing teachers to take their respective classes outside for lessons, hosting school spirit events, and fundraising with a midwest favorite, Culvers!
Students have enjoyed spending class time outside, especially students of Melissa Pearce's creative writing class. Since the class is on the smaller side, averaging about 10 students, hosting class outside is fairly simple and relaxing for all. Usually held in WHS' outdoor classroom, outside class time is an incredible way to spend the school day.
Aside from this leisure, the students participating in the Academic Super Bowl have not had a chance to rest, due to their hard work and dedication. During this statewide academic competition, the WHS Social Studies Academic Team placed second overall and the WHS Math Academic Team placed sixth overall.
What's Happening:
While the end of the year is exciting for everyone at WHS, there's a special feeling being evoked in the senior class of 2022. The electrifyingly exciting yet, the bittersweet twang of graduation is upon the seniors. In the past two years senior classes have had a different graduation experience than the class of 2022, with the COVID-19 pandemic, and social distancing, it has been difficult for the seniors to navigate their shaken-up world.
Teachers have noticed this, and attempt to ease the weariness that the students face when they can. Head of the WHS Media Center, Amy Hostetler, has hosted a ‘senior countdown’ in which numbers reflecting the number of days left of school are hung up, and a student cheerfully rips one down each day.
Every countdown is recorded as a short video for students to view on the media center's Instagram page. Hostetler has assured seniors that they are loved and important, with her ‘senior spotlight’. To complete a senior spotlight, a student simply informs which college they will be attending, the major they have decided upon (if applicable), and a special message of thanks.
Students have enjoyed being able to showcase their plans to their classmates.
Staff Spotlight:
Dijana Gagaleska has graced WHS with her wisdom, kindness, and solicitous demeanor for a few great years. Gagaleska has taught an array of classes that students can apply to their capricious lives, like business, internship, college and careers, and various other classes dedicated to "real life" preparation. While Gagaleska is a more recent addition to WHS, she is a force to be reckoned with.
How Gagaleska structures her classes are in a structured, yet realistic way, preparing students for college and life outside of high school. Her assignments are carefully curated for students to prepare documents such as resumes, cover letters, and business letters. Her classes are extremely pertinent in succeeding outside of the classroom and contain different knowledge that applies to any job-related situation.
Aside from teaching business-related classes, Gagaleska also manages the internship program. During the internship program, students have the opportunity to intern at workplaces to shadow professionals in a professional environment. Each week, students have a meeting with Gagaleska to discuss their week, learn about an upcoming assignment, and check-in with their teacher.\
Student Spotlight:
Senior superstar, academic hall of fame inductee, national honors society member, and multiple tracks and cross country record holder, Emma Hellwege, is a WHS gem. From being nominated most athletic by her peers for senior superlatives to excelling in her Calculus II class, Hellwege cannot be stopped!
Hellwege is a multidimensional student with an incredible balance of discipline and fun. Hellwege spends time studying, as evidenced by her straight-A report card for all four years of high school, working out, hanging out with friends, and interning as a pilot.
Many of her peers think highly of Hellwege simply because she can, will, and has done it all.
Lilian Ball gushes over Hellwege, "Emma is quite literally a superstar. She is dedicated, passionate, hardworking, and extremely joyful. She never fails to put a smile on my face. I'm incredibly proud, and genuinely lucky to have her as a friend."
In the fall, Hellwege plans to attend Bowling Green State University. She was committed to running Cross Country & Track and Field. Emma plans to study Flight Tech. and Operations.