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Page 1 February 2016
Volume 8, Number 6
In This Issue
From the Principal
From the Treasurer
From the Nurse
Counselors’ Corner
Club Inspire
Athletes of the Month
Students of the Month
Project Lead the Way
Unity Foundation
Integrated Student Supports
Social Studies Dept.
PE/Health Department
FACS Department
JAG
Early College
Art Department
National Honor Society
Music Department
World Languages
JROTC
Principal’s Honor Roll
Academic Honor Roll
Perfect Attendance
Dates to Remember
Black History Exhibit
Holly’s Give Back
Contact Us
Comments? Suggestions?
Contact Joyce Westphal
Hello my fellow Wolves,
Recently, the Indiana Department of Education released the 2014- 15 A-F school grades and I am proud to report that Michigan City High School continues to show improvement. Since the A-F model began in 2011-12, we have improved in all four of the major cate-gories used to rate Indiana high schools. While our 2014-15 grade of a C remained unchanged, we improved the total number of points received from 2.55 to 2.75. The increase in the points earned was largely credited to the number of sophomores who passed their English 10 and Algebra 1 end of course assessments. Another high-light from our grade is the 58 percent of the 2014 graduating class earning a dual credit, industry certification or passing an advanced placement exam. Michigan City High School remains a leader in the state in terms of college and career readiness as the 58 percent is well above the state expectation of 25 percent and the state aver-age of 47 percent.
The IDOE also released the 2015 graduation rates and we are truly excited to report that our graduating class of 2015 earned the high-est rate that has ever been recorded, 89.8 percent, since the state began recording graduation rates in 2007. This is a tremendous ac-complishment for the students, parents, teachers and countless community members who have worked with our students, K-12, to ensure that our students graduate college and career ready.
As we strive to meet our vision, Excellence for Everyone, we have set our goal on moving to the next grade by improving the number of students who pass the end of course assessments and graduate college and career ready.
For more information on all of the great things our staff and stu-
dents are doing to make Michigan City High School excellent, please
follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, and sub-
scribe to the Wolves Wire.
MCHS Website Facebook
You Tube Instagram
Twitter Wendel McCollum, Principal
From the Desk of the Principal...
February 2016
Page 2 February 2016
From the Treasurer
Book Rental statements for 2nd semester w ill be mailed out shortly. If you are capable of getting into Parent Access to look up your child’s grades you can also find your book rental fees there. (It is below their name-Fees Due $___). Payments are due within 30 days and can be made by either check or money order. If you are eligible for textbook assistance, you would be responsi-ble for the Supply portion of the bill. Checks/money orders are to be made out to MCHS (Michigan City High School) If you are mailing in payment please send to: MCHS 1 Wolf Trail Michigan City, IN 46360 Attn: Treasurer ****IMPORTANT COLLECTION AGENCY CHANGE**** If you have been turned over to our Collection Agency for book rental in the past, please contact them at the address and phone numbers below to make any and all payment arrangements. They can take your payment over the phone with a credit card. For school year 2014/2015 the Collection Agency is: Vision Financial 1900 W. Severs Rd Phone Number is 1-866-362-4477 Laporte, IN 46350 For ALL PREVIOUS years (2013/2014, 2012/2013, 2011/2012 etc.) Please make your payment directly to: First Source 1232 W. State Rd. 2 Phone Number is 1-800-650-1776 Laporte, IN 46350 When you make a payment to either Collection Agencies they will report it to us at Michigan City High School. Thank you for your cooperation.
Book Rental - 2nd Semester
Page 3 February 2016
From the Nurse
February Dental Health Month
Your smile is one of the first things people notice about you. Which is one of the many reasons it is so important to take care of you teeth. According to the American Dental Association, brushing your teeth twice per day, flossing, and avoiding sugary foods are the best ways to keep your smile looking good. What are the best ways to have healthy smiles inside and out?
Always brush your teeth 2 times per day for 2 minutes each time.
Floss between your teeth daily Avoid surgery and starchy snacks Wear a mouthguard while playing sports Don’t smoke See your dentist at least 2 times per year.
For more information on dental health see American Dental Asso-ciation at ADA.org. Healthlinc located at 710 Franklin St. Michigan City, will be provid-ing free dental exams on February, 15 2016 from 2pm-7pm. For more information please call 872-6200.
Counselors’ Corner
The 2nd semester is well on its way for the 2015/2016 school year. We hope you and your student(s) had a restful winter break and are ready for a busy 2nd half of the school year. PSAT - By now your student should have received an email from College Board making them aware that their PSAT scores are available. Their score report which also contains an access code that they can use to view a myriad of resources (question by question analysis, study guides, interest inventories, college and career searches, college cost estimators, etc.). We have also just received a copy of the scores and will be reviewing and distrib-uting them shortly. Please ask your student to share this valuable score report with you.
Page 4 February 2016
ACT - The final ACT being held at MCHS will be on February 6, 2016. If your student still wants to take the test, but did not sign up for ours, there are still other dates, just not at MCHS. Have them stop by the guidance office for the other dates. Scheduling - By now you should have seen and signed a course selection sheet from your student. Over the next month or so, we will be hard at work adding courses to your student’s schedule for next year. We will attempt to call out all students who we either have concerns with about their schedule or those who are unsure of what to take. This process will take about a month so please inform your student to be patient, we will get to them. For in-depth descriptions of each course being offered next year, please visit the MCHS homepage and click the link to view the entire scheduling guide. Sophomores and Juniors who are interested in signing up for a program at the AK Smith Career Center should sign up on line as soon as possible (just follow the “Enroll Now” link on the LaPorte County Career and Technical Center school link. FAFSA - Seniors, along with their parents/guardians may start filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid online at www.fafsa.gov. The deadline for submitting this is March 10th. PNC offers free help with filing this form during College Goal Sunday, February 21st, 2016. This free event is a great way to make sure your fafsa is filed correctly and on time. The U.S. Department of Education has a great article available titled “11 Common FAFSA Mistakes” at https://blog.ed.gov/2016/01/11-commonfafsa-mistakes/. Scholarships - Seniors also need to remember to continually check our guidance website for new scholarship opportunities. This list is updated as we receive new scholarship information. Make a point to check it at least 1x/week. As always we continue to encourage students and parents to check RDS regularly. It is a great tool for monitoring progress.
Club Inspire
What is Club Inspire? Club Inspire is the high school afterschool program affiliated with Safe Harbor and a 21st Century Community Learning Center Pro-gram. Club Inspire offers academic support and enrichment opportuni-ties to students outside of regular school hours.
Where is Club Inspire held?
Club Inspire takes place in the Michigan City High School cafete-ria. It starts with a sign-in and a snack. Dinner is served between 4:00PM and 4:15PM.
When does Club Inspire take place?
Club Inspire takes place every Monday through Thursday from 2:15PM to 5:30PM when school is in session. Students are not re-quired to attended daily or stay until 5:30PM.
Page 5 February 2016
What does participation in the program cost?
There is a one-time $5 registration fee that includes participation in all Club Inspire activities, tutoring and meals for the school year.
Transportation is available!
Bus transportation home is provided through collaboration with Michigan City Area Schools.
Our team is here to help.
Mrs. Camille Higdon, Mr. Alan Layman and Mrs. Denise Ndukwu and Ms. Kamilia Jordan
Contact Mrs. Vicky Burton, Program Site Coordinator, with any questions.
Ext.4543 or [email protected]
Athletes of the Month
December Student Athletes of the Month
Elizabeth Quinlan - Swimming
Tim Schoof - Swimming
Page 6 February 2016
Students of the Month
LEADERS OF THE PACK! - DECEMBER
Art Department - Ryan Solano
Business Department - Marc Wajsgras
English Department - Kristyan Twardus
FACS Department - Glorious Taylor
JROTC - Arturo Moreno
Math Department - Sarah Lynch
Multi-Discipline Department - Katie Cox
Music Department - Desiree’ Frye
PE/Health Department - Jasmine McLemore
Science Department - Emma Zaknoun
Social Studies Department - Savanah Cawthron
Tech.Ed./Voc.Ed. Department - Davionne Garrett
World Languages Department - Noah VanGemeren
Page 7 February 2016
Project Lead the Way
Representatives of the ALCOA Foundation presented a grant for $39,500 to Michigan City High School during the MCAS School Board Meeting on January 26. The funding will support the expan-sion of the Project Lead the Way program at MCHS, adding a new dual-credit course in Computer Integrated Manufacturing. This course will teach students skills that are in high demand by AL-COA and other employers in LaPorte County. Pictured are repre-sentatives from ALCOA, MCHS Principal Wendel McCollum, MCAS Superintendent Dr. Barbara Eason-Watkins, MCAS Curriculum Di-rector Jan Radford, A. K. Smith Director Audra Peterson, and MCHS Engineering teacher Ralph Gee. (Ask Mr. Gee for more in-formation on PLTW and signing up for this class next fall!)
PLTW
Page 8 February 2016
Unity Foundation Grant Recipients
Michigan City High School
Erica Arnett, Hotpotatoes, $158.86 Nancy Benson, Read to Succeed, $259.61 Rory Boone, The "S.T.E.M.-Tacular" Problem Solving Project, $350 Janet Dimke, Outcasts United Novel Study, $269.70 Deanna Ehrhardt, Legacy of Learning, $350 Kelly Fargo, MCHS Students Save The Sinking Ship! $260 Kristen Freitag, Project Classroom Technology Interaction & More, $334.98 Aaron Garrett & Bruce Stahl, Don't be a Lone Wolf—P.S.A. Cam-paign, $350 Adam Goebel, Just How Small Is Our World, $333.80 Ashley Kohler, Bubble Learning, $268 Mary LaLuna, Operation Participate to Graduate - Phase 2, $335.70 Catherine Lindgren, Atlas of World Geography Student Classroom sets, $350 Michael Livovich, Digitize, Write and Revise: Digital Testing for English 11, $310.17 Richard Merrick, Jamey Aebersold Jazz Play-a-Long Sets, $349.98 Ronda Ross, Quickbooks Software for Accounting Class, $350 (Recipient of Joe Mellen Award) Rebecca Sanders, Read-er-cise, $350 Rebecca Shaman, Black History Expo, $341.97 Lucas Snyder, Decades Project, $331.84 Mariam Taha, Popsicle Sticks Babies Project, $210 Amy Wojasinski-Labis, Teaching Like It's 2999 Going from Good to Great, $329.93
La Porte County Career and Technical Education/A.K. Smith Career Center
Ralph Gee, Bridging the Gap Between Engineering, Technology, and Art, $349.71
Page 9 February 2016
Integragted Student Supports
Social Studies Department -Submitted by Mr. Megyese
The Second semester is well under way and U.S. History is com-ing to life!
After finishing our Chapter on World War I, we are now diving into the exciting period known as THE ROARING TWENTIES! A great time in our history where people were enjoying life again following the GREAT WAR! What Americans did not know is that a Depres-sion would soon follow and soon after WWII.
We will have a guest speaker coming in to speak to U.S. History classes with first hand accounts of the Holocaust. February is Black History, a great celebration of GREAT contribu-
Parents/Guardians of students with an IEP, here is contact infor-mation. We are happy to help. Mrs. Shari Mullins, Department Head and 11th grade co-taught English [email protected]
Ms. A Bechinski, Moderate: [email protected]
Mrs. V Beglin, co-taught English 9/10: [email protected]
Mrs. J Butler, co-taught English 12, Read 180: [email protected] Mrs. J Clemens, co-taught Algebra II & Geometry: [email protected] Mr. B Faulkner, co-taught Algebra I: [email protected] Mrs. C Hastings, Certificate of Completion: [email protected] Ms. L Hoard, 11/12 ED, Resource: [email protected] Mrs. M Maroney, Severe/Profound: [email protected] Ms. S Marshall, co-taught English 9/10: [email protected] Mr. P. Mason, 9/10 ED: [email protected] Mrs. E Rivich, Credit Recovery: [email protected] Mrs. M Seydel, co-taught Algebra II: [email protected]
Mrs. E Stahl, social worker: [email protected]
Ms. J Thompson, 9/10 ED, Resource: [email protected]
Mrs. A Wojaskinski-Labis, Resource: [email protected]
Page 10 February 2016
tions of African Americans and we will present detailed infor-mation and a project is coming as well!
The Student of the Month in U.S.History is a tie!
Stephanie Parish- Outstanding student who involves herself in the class and provides great insights of the lessons learned.
Alexander Alberda- Great young man who appreciates the past as it applies to the future. His insights aer also very valuable in our class discussions.
Spring Break is around the Corner!
Go Wolves!
PE/Health Department
Physical Education Class – Coach Feare Our second semester is off to a great start. In PE class we are participating in our fitness segment where we are trying to im-prove our overall fitness. We have also started some Olympic Team Handball that our students are really enjoying. We will be switching rotations to swimming in the next couple of weeks. Good job Wolves! Swimming Class – Coach Kovenz We have begun our SLO, student learning objectives with the groups in the water. This is part of a student learning objective that is the same in many of the DAC schools. The objective is to swim 7 laps or more in 5 minutes time. The task may be accom-plished assisted by use of PFD, or unassisted which are those who do not need a PFD to swim. There have been a few individuals who have already met their end and have performed 7 or more laps already. Congratulations to those and keep on going for those who are close. Keep up the good work.
Strength Training – Coach Karpinski Strength Training is off to a great start despite the weight room being flooded for a few days. One of our goals this Semester is for my students to create their own 4 week workout program and actually go through and chart their own progress. Wish me luck, it should be fun! Yours in Strength, Karp
Health – Coach Eubank and Coach Ortiz In Health we have just completed our first couple of chapters as well as our Diagnostic Tests. We are currently beginning work on achieving good Mental and Emotional Health.
Page 11 February 2016
FACS Department
Child Development (Parenting), taught by Mrs. Mariam Mussa-Taha. Parenting students will start their “Strong Family Brochure” pro-ject. This project involves the designing and production of bro-chures that emphasizes the 8 characteristics of a strong family. We look forward to seeing how creative and informative each stu-dent can be with their brochures. Advanced Child Development, taught by Mrs. Mariam Mussa-Taha. Advanced Child Development students after the completion of chapter 12 will be moving into the “Flour Baby” project. Students will be taking home their “Flour Babies” for two weeks. This will simulate the care and protection that parents give to their chil-dren. The simulation will help students to realize some of the care that is involved in protecting a child. We would ask that parents help us in monitoring students’ partici-pation by reminding their student that they must keep the “Flour Baby” with them at all times. We would like to thank the parents for their support in this endeavor.
Nutrition & Wellness, taught by Mr. James Newman. Students will be finishing up the necessary chapters to enable them to cook in the kitchen, over the next couple of weeks. The chapters cover kitchen utensils, recipes and work plans. This is essential knowledge to have before the students cook. Students will be cooking muffins as we start our journey into the world of baking. Advanced Nutrition & Wellness, taught by Mr. James New-man and Mrs. Mariam Mussa-Taha. We are finishing a quick revisit to some of the chapters necessary prior to cooking. Then students will be starting the appetizer lab. As with all of our regular labs students will select their dish, write up a recipe card and create a time-work schedule and watch the demonstration of the lab, led by the instructor. Students then work as a team in their respective kitchens in order to produce an excellent end product that they can be proud of.
We hope that you enjoy tasting the fruits of your student’s work,
well if it makes it home uneaten!
Page 12 February 2016
A.K. SMITH CAREER CENTER/MCHS JAG CLASS WINS AT REGIONAL COMPETITION
The following students competed in the Region One Career Develop-ment Conference (CDC) held on Friday, January 29, 2016, at Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Indiana. They competed against seven other JAG classes from Knox, Gary, East Chicago, and Hammond.
JAG Commercial – Lezly Davis and Pauline Lutton
Cover Design – Loren Crawford and Lezly Davis
Career Presentation – Anastasia Mitchell and Devin Newton
Creative Solutions – Shambriel Byrd
Critical Thinking Skills – Maudianna Clark, Anisa Higginbotham, and Pauline Lutton
Employability Skills – Gene Orzech and April Ratliff-Williams
Financial Literacy – Torri Allison
Outstanding Senior – Loren Crawford
Public Speaking – Jessica Macias
Writing Skills – Lezly Davis, Catherine Torres, and Jacob Williams
Mrs. Wilson-Patterson, JAG Specialist, is pleased to announce the fol-lowing winners:
Lezly Davis and Pauline Lutton second place for the JAG Commercial
Jessica Macias third place in Public Speaking
Loren Crawford first place in Outstanding Senior. Loren will advance to the State CDC on March 3, 2016, where she will compete against other regional winners to become the Indiana JAG Outstanding Senior.
Page 13 February 2016
Early College
On Thursday January 28, twelve of the 9th grade Early College students received awards for exceptional performance during the first semester of the 2015-2016 school year. Four Outstanding Scholar Awards were given to the highest achieving students in the core subject areas. Outstanding Scholar Awards were given to Dayilynn Briggs- English, Briyauna Hardin- Algebra, Jacob Jones- Biology, Garrett Jones- Geography. In addition, eight Wolf Awards were given to students who displayed exemplary citizenship, participation, grades, and behavior during the first semester. The Wolf Award winners were Jennifer Cardenas, Jacob Krentz, Jamie Marvel, Mikala McCullough, Henry Miller, Meghan Miller, Jasmine Newell, and Rodrigo Serrano. These twelve students are shining examples of the success of the Early College program which is now in its second year at MCHS. All of the 9th grade students enrolled in the Early College were invited and honored at this awards ceremony. The teachers and administrators spent time thanking the students for their outstanding work this school year and were given high praise for their achievements in academics and behavior. The freshman Early College teachers Stephanie Dege (Biology), Andrea Frederick (English), Alan Layman (Algebra), Cathy Lindgren (Geography), as well as Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellow Victo-ria Gray (Biology), Early College counselor Rhonda Lamarr, Associate Principal Bonnie Manuel, and Principal Wendel McCollum were all in at-tendance and spoke to the students to convey their pride and apprecia-tion for all of the hard work these students have put in.
Jacob Jones re-
ceives the Out-
standing Biology
Scholar Award from
Ms. Dege.
Mrs. Lindgren pre-
sents the Outstand-
ing Geography
Scholar Award to
Garrett Jones.
Mrs. Frederick
names Dayilynn
Briggs as the Out-
standing English
Scholar.
The Outstanding
Algebra Scholar
Award is present to
Briyauna Hardin by
Mr. Layman.
Page 14 February 2016
Wolf Award Winners (from left to right) Top Row: Jacob Krentz, Jamie Marvel, Jasmine Newell, Mikala McCullough Bottom Row: Jennifer Cardenas, Meghan Miller, Rodrigo Serrano, Henry Miller
Award Winners
Top Row: Ms. Frederick, Ms. Lamarr, Ms. Manuel, Jacob Krentz, Jamie Marvel, Jasmine Newell, Mikala McCullough, Mr. McCollum, Ms. Gray, Ms. Dege Bottom Row: Ms. Lindgren, Briyauna Hardin, Garrett Jones, Jennifer Cardenas, Dayilynn Briggs, Meghan Miller, Rodrigo Serrano, Henry Miller, Jacob Jones, Mr. Lay-man
Page 15 February 2016
9th Grade Early College Students, Teachers, and Administrators
Art Department
Congratulations to Kaitlin Emerick, Ryan Solano, and Grant Wyse for earning awards at the annual Scholastic Art com-petition. This national juried contest features the best of our local high school student artwork. Student artwork that earns a Gold Key at the local level is sent to New York City to compete with other students from across the country. Grant's mixed media pro-ject earned a Gold Key! Ryan Solano and Kaitlin Emerick both earned a Silver Key and an Honorable Mention. Grant Wyse
Page 16 February 2016
Kaitlin Emerick
Ryan Solano
National Honor Society National Honor Society Requirements Señorita Gracyalny The National Honor Society, one of the oldest and most prestigious national organizations, was created to recognize outstanding high school students, and its four tenants of are: scholarship, service, character, and leadership. When the National Honor Society was originally founded at Michigan City, the GPA requirement was 3.5, but those requirements were changed to a 3.3 several years ago. This year the GPA requirement will return to a 3.5 (unweighted) GPA to maintain high standards of rigor. Many of the schools in the Duneland conference require at least a 3.5 GPA for the National Hon-or Society including Valparaiso and LaPorte. Since the current mem-bers of NHS who are seniors were judged under the 3.3 GPA require-ments, seniors who will be newly inducted this year will be judged under the same 3.3 requirement to ensure the entire cohort of the class of 2016 is being treated equally.
In addition to GPA, NHS induction is contingent upon involvement in the school or community, moral character, and recommendations by people who supervise the students. Current juniors and seniors who meet the GPA requirement will receive from Señorita Gracyalny a letter inviting them to a meeting for more information. The meeting will take place on February 18th after school. The potential NHS in-ductees can expect to receive their letter in the first or second week of February. Anyone with questions about NHS induction can email Señorita Gracyalny at [email protected].
Page 17 February 2016
On January 14 volunteers from the National Honor Society helped take down trees at the Barker Man-sion. Thank you to the all of the vol-unteers who helped carry trees down stairs and de-light the trees.
Music Department
On Saturday, January 30, forty-seven (47) of the high school choir students traveled to Kankakee Valley Middle School in Wheatfield, Indiana, to compete at the ISSMA District Solo and Ensemble Contest. The choral department sent five students per-forming vocal solos, three small ensembles and three large en-sembles to the competition.
The City Singers performed two pieces in Group I and received Silver ratings on both songs.
Freshman Hayley Catchings performed a solo in Group IV and re-ceived a Gold rating. Freshmen Jasmine Williams, Neva Panayi and McKenna Bluhm performed solos in Group II and received Gold ratings. Sophomore Myshalya Thompson performed a solo in Group II and received a Gold rating.
A small freshmen ensemble composed of freshmen Amanda Sparks, Jenna Dawson, Adnie Wilson, Bailey Laux, McKen-na Bluhm and Jasmine Williams performed in Group II I and received a Gold rating. Another small ensemble composed of freshmen Jenna Dawson and Bailey Laux; sophomores Brittney Adams and Rachel McLaughlin; and juniors Alexis Zimmerle and Autumn Wilson performed in Group III and received a Gold rating.
A small mixed ensemble composed of sophomore Lauren Werner, juniors Elizabeth Werner and Braxton Hervey, and seniors Victoria Myhand and Marcus Lester performed in Group I and re-ceived a Gold rating. They will be heading to the State ISSMA Solo and Ensemble Competition on February 20 in Indianapolis.
Page 18 February 2016
The Treble Chorale performed in Group I and received a Gold rating. They will also be heading to the State ISSMA Solo and Ensemble Com-petition on February 20 in Indianapolis.
Congratulations to all of the choir students! Your hard work and dedi-cation paid off. Good luck to the band students who will be competing at their ISSMA District Solo and Ensemble Contest on Saturday, Feb-ruary 6!
World Languages
German Students Experience German Life
As the Advent season began, students traveled to Chicago to visit the Goethe Institute where they learned about Germany, Virtual Water and tried German Christmas foods.
Students have their knowledge of German things tested. Virtual water. It takes 400 gallons of water to make a cup of coffee!
Afterwards they visited the Chicago Brauhaus for real German foods, Wiener Schnitzel, Chicken Schnitzel, Bratwurst and Sauerbraten with Spätzle. In the afternoon they explored, shopped and ate their way through Chicago's "Christkindlmarket," a market resembling the famous Nu-remberg Markt.
Page 19 February 2016
Around December 4th the students prepared for St. Nikolaus (Dec. 6th) by making shoes which were filled with German cookies and "Stollen."
With the end of Christmas the students are now focusing on Germany's "5th Season," "Fasching or Karneval". In Germany, this is a time of parties, parades and general craziness. Just as the Polish immigrants to our area, who brought us great things for this time of the year, the wonderful Paczki's, the Germans have their equivalent, the "Berliner" or "Krapfen," to help keep up their en-ergy for all of their activities and long evenings of dance. Some fami-lies may even make "Eierpfannkuchen" filled with rich jams, marma-lades and cream fillings in place of the "Berliner." This period of fun and (political and social) critique will end on Ash Wednesday. This is a time of food, song, dance and crafts in the classroom.
JROTC
MCHS MCJROTC EARNS AWARD AT AURORA, IL MILITARY DRILL COMPETITION
The Michigan City High School (MCHS) Ma-rine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Reserve Officer Training Corps (MCJROTC) compet-ed in a military drill meet at East Aurora High School in Aurora, IL, on Saturday, January 16, 2016. This competition at-tracts many of the best drill units from the hundreds of JROTC schools of all services in the Chicagoland area. 22 schools com-peted in this meet. MCHS earned a third place in the armed basic drill category.
That unit was command by Cadet Captain Jalen Stockley. The Wolves also competed in unarmed basic drill, armed and unarmed exhibition drill, first year squad drill, and two color guards. Major Tom McGrath, the Senior Marine Instructor, commended the ca-dets for their efforts in all categories, particularly since many of the key
Page 20 February 2016
drillers on the team were absent. “We had a number of starters who did not compete, either for health or work reasons. I was very im-pressed with the way our younger cadets stepped up to the chal-lenge, especially since the compe-tition here was so tough,” he said. “I think this bodes well for the fu-ture of our program, when our younger cadets have the confi-
dence through diligent practicing that they can drill against the best of the best,” added Marine In-structor Master Sergeant Jeff Benak. The Wolves next meet will be at Pike High School in Indianapolis on February 20, which will be another very competitive event. That, however, will take a back seat in
preparation time to preparing for Marine Corps’ Inspector General Inspection on February 17th. “This is our Super Bowl,” said McGrath. “This is the primary way that we can be compared with other schools in our Region. “ There are 45 schools in Michigan City’s Re-gion. The cadets will continue to partici-pate in events in support of the school and community, like providing Color Guards for all home boys basketball games and providing workers for the Queen of All Saints Fun Night on Janu-ary 29th. ****************************************************
MCHS MCJROTC PARTICIPATES IN COMPUTER SECURITY COMPETITION
The Michigan City High School (MCHS) Marine Corps Junior Re-serve Officer Training Corps (MCJROTC) participated in CyberPa-triot, the national computer security competition for high school students on January 29, 2016. The cadets acted as cyber security specialists to counter a fictional security breach of an information system and establish firewalls to prevent such attacks in the fu-ture during the six hour competition. This was the third round of CyberPatriot in which the cadets had competed. This was the state qualifying round. Scores will be announced in about a week to determine if the cadets will advance to the regional competi-tion. The regional competition winners receive an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC to compete in the national finals. Cadets on MCHS CyberPatriot team attended a Science, Technolo-gy, Engineering and Math (STEM) camp last summer at The Cita-
Page 21 February 2016
del, the Military College of South Carolina, in Charleston, SC. The purpose of the camp was to provide cadets skills to compete in CyberPatriot, skills which can be used as a foundation to pursue a career in cyber security. Major Tom McGrath, the Senior Marine Instructor, who brought the cadets along with cadets from six other schools to the camp, said that the camp was very beneficial for the cadets. “The cyber instruction was provided by very skilled instructors who have worked in cyber security either in the public or private sector. The cadets left there with skills they can use in CyberPatriot and build upon to work in a very rewarding and lucrative career.” The camp was funded by the U. S. Marine Corps, costing Michigan City Area Schools and the cadets nothing. Master Sergeant Jeff Benak, the Marine Instructor, stated that this is a great example of the positive activities MCHS offers stu-dents by departments combining resources. “We would not be able to do this without the expertise of Engineering and Technolo-gy instructor Ralph Gee.” Gee stated how impressed he is with the CyberPatriot program and the opportunities it provides students. “Cyber security affects everyone's life in some form. For high school students to be ex-posed to the skills necessary for cyber security really provides them a foundation that can benefit them for years to come.” Regardless if the cadets advance in CyberPatriot, they will have a busy February. On February 10th, they will go to Krueger Middle School to conduct a presentation for the 8th graders prior to those students scheduling for the next school year. The JROTC is re-quired to have at least 100 cadets in the program. They had scheduled both Barker Middle School and Krueger in January, but Krueger's visit had to be rescheduled due to the power outage at Springfield Elementary School. February 17th is the most im-portant day of the year for the program when they will undergo a Command Inspection from the Inspector General of the Marine Corps. Three days after that, the cadets will compete in the high-ly competitive military drill meet at Pike High School in Indianapo-lis. This meet attracts many of the best drill units in the Midwest. Additionally, the MCJROTC will continue to support school and community events.
Page 22 February 2016
Principal’s Honor Roll
Congratulations to the 100 students that made the Principal’s Honor Roll for the 2nd grading period. To qualify for the Princi-pal’s Honor Roll you must have a 4.0 (A) grade point average, with six or more subjects, excluding P.E.
Check our website for the listing of names.
28 - Freshmen
19 - Sophomores
32 - Juniors
21 - Seniors
Academic Honor Roll
Congratulations to the 302 students that made the Academic Hon-or Roll for the 2nd grading period. To qualify for the Academic Honor Roll you must have a 3.4 grade point average or above in at least six (6) or more subjects.
Check our website for the listing of names.
107 - Freshmen
70 - Sophomores
69 - Juniors
56 - Seniors
Perfect Attendance
Congratulation to the 51 students that had perfect attendance for the 2nd grading period. Check our website for the listing of names.
13 - Freshmen
12 - Sophomores
17 - Juniors
9 - Seniors
Page 23 February 2016
Dates to Remember
2/06 ACT Testing
2/09 Class Ring Assembly - Sophomores
2/12 Foreign Language Olympics, 2:30-5:00 p.m.
2/15 Famous Americans Day - No School (or make-up day if needed)
2/16 Winter Class Olympics 5:00-7:30 p.m.
2/17 National Honor Society Informational Meeting 2:20 p.m.
2/19 Winter Pep Session
3/04 MCHS Talent Show
3/08 Music Dept. - Classics Night I - 7:00 p.m.
3/10 Music Dept. - Classics Night II - 7:00 p.m.
3/13 Daylight Savings Time Begins
3/17 Music Department - Swing Night, 7:00 p.m.
3/22 Honor Society Induction, 7:00 p.m.
3/23 Parent/Teacher Conferences, 2:30-6:30 p.m.
3/24 Winter Sports Awards - 6:30 p.m.
3/25 Good Friday - No School
3/31 Career Fair
4/4-4/8 Spring Break
4/11 School Resumes
4/13 Red Cross Blood Drive
4/22-4/24 Spring Play
4/25-6/1 ECA Testing
4/28 Foreign Language Honor Society Induction - 6:30 am
Page 24 February 2016
Page 25 February 2016
