What’s recently happened?
In the 2023 Academic Team State Competition, Washington Township High School (WTHS) provided a record-breaking five teams. On Saturday, May 13, WTHS competed in Class 4 at Purdue University, West Lafayette, and did an outstanding job. This year's theme was “The Age of Exploration.”
The English Team competed first, which consisted of Katie Richardson, Owen Nichols, Drew Gschwind, Joshua Reeder, Breanna Flint, and Adysen Straw. The English Team earned fourth place in the competition, and has spent its year being taught by Coaches Ashley Leighty and Michele Jablonski, who have both put an amazing amount of effort into coaching.
Next was the Science Team, which had an incredible time exploring the stars. Coach Elizabeth Laba has worked with the Science Team every Tuesday and Thursday to ensure the group knew the material well, and it paid off. The Science Team, consisting of Madalyn Richardson, Nichols, Alex Lutin, Camden Bell, and Isabel Gaydos won third place.
Third was the Fine Arts round. The Fine Arts Team only consists of Emma Howard, coached by Candace Watters, who by herself has won three first place titles and the second place title at State. Howard has done an outstanding job this season, and everyone can’t wait to see what she does next year.
After Fine Arts was the Social Studies round, which many said was the heart of “The Age of Exploration” theme. Competitors Lutin, Gschwind, and Gunnar Casbon, who has competed on Social Studies Team for the past six years, also won third place. Coach Justin Thompson, who takes care of all the intricacies of the WTHS Academic Team, has worked extremely hard with this team.
Finally, WTHS was able to bring an Interdisciplinary Team to State this year that won second place. The Interdisciplinary Team consisted of Howard, Casbon, Bell, Nichols, and Gschwind.
Overall, all the teams did an outstanding job.
What’s coming up?
Summer started as of May 24, and the Senators could not be more excited!
This summer, Teachers Barbara Rea and Thompson are taking students on trips. Thompson will be taking the high school band to Cedar Point in Ohio June 5 through June 7. Rea will be taking her students to Belize June 15 through June 21.
As of May 30, the Class of 2023 graduated and will be going on to new places, whether it be college, a trade, or the workforce. This class was very loved by the WTHS community and will be deeply missed as they go on.
School will start again on Wednesday, August 16, but until then, the Senators will be enjoying their summer.
Staff spotlight:
Ashley Leighty teaches 10th and 11th grade English along with acting as the yearbook advisor. She is one of the favorite teachers at WTHS and has taught at the school for almost nine years. Leighty graduated from Crown Point High School before going on to get her secondary education, elementary education, and English degrees from Valparaiso University.
“My parents are both teachers, and from a very young age, I would pretend to play school with my younger siblings,” said Leighty. “When I was growing up, I did a lot of programs in which I worked with young children.”
Leighty was definitely meant to be a teacher and has had a huge impact on the students at WTHS. Leighty has worked at WTHS for the primary duration of her teaching career, along with her husband, Daniel Leighty, who is the current vice principal.
“I love the small school atmosphere, and I feel like the community is so positive for the students because there’s so much support for the students to be successful,” said Leighty. “The work behind the scenes is intense, and if you’re doing a good job, it’s even more intense.”
Leighty has always been known to put her students first and help them at any point, even when there’s a lot of grade. On top of teaching, Leighty also coaches middle school volleyball, English Academic Team, and is the National Honor Society (NHS) advisor.
This year, the Leightys have been expecting their first child, which was due on the last day of school. As of May 29, Baby Harper was born, and everyone is extremely excited. Congratulations to the Leightys!
Student spotlight:
Senior Gavin Hein has attended WTHS since he was in seventh grade. Hein is known to be extremely hard working and driven, along with being a lot of fun. Hein is extremely involved in WTHS, participating in cross country, track and field, Key Club, and is president of the WTHS NHS.
Hein is especially appreciative for his role in NHS.
“It helped me step outside of my comfort zone because I got more hands-on involvement in NHS events,” said Hein.
After high school, Hein plans to attend Loyola University Chicago for computer science and mathematics with the goal of becoming a computer programmer or software developer. Along with that, Hein will be in the honors program.
“Don’t get too caught up in trying to get into a really prestigious college. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where you go, it matters how you utilize the opportunities you’ve been given and how hard you work to reach goals,” said Hein.
Hein will miss WTHS and his friends but is excited to go to Loyola. Other than that, Hein enjoys photography, video games, and working at Peddler's Pizza.