What’s Happening?
The Griffith High School Pantherettes hosted their sixth annual Teri Calhoun Showcase on Saturday, December 2. The showcase featured dances from girls in grades kindergarten through sixth grade that were choreographed and taught by members of the dance team. The Pantherettes also presented their competition, pom, and jazz routines as well as lyrical ensembles, duets, and solos. There was a solo from a dancer at Wilbur Wright Middle School, a routine by the GHS cheer team, Crown Point’s senior night dance as well as their competition routine, and finally a special performance by the boys basketball team.
The showcase was originally for their little girls camp, where two dance team members choreograph and teach a dance to a specific grade level, and then the girl will perform these dances for friends and family. However, this year they added many performances, including dancers from other schools.
Juniors Lauren Atkinson and Julianne Long had the opportunity to choreograph the dance for the boys basketball team. The performance included Seniors Jake Dye, Alaa Mroueh, AJ Lair, Joenathan King, and Andrew Garcia.
Student Spotlight:
Sophomore Kylee Taylor has quite the busy schedule between swimming, academics, and extracurriculars. Taylor spends her days going to classes, and then immediately goes to swim practice or meets before heading home to do her AP homework. She is currently swimming in her third season, and is on varsity where she swims the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 back. Last season as a freshman, she was part of a relay team with sophomores Macie Miller and Skylar Zurek, and freshman Haylie Keene. The relay team broke Griffith’s record for the 200 free relay.
Taylor is currently enrolled in multiple AP or honors courses, two of them being AP U.S. History (APUSH), and Pre-Calculus Honors. Both of these classes are college courses, and Taylor is getting them out of the way so that she can focus more on her specific major in college.
Outside of academics and swimming, Taylor is also a member of sophomore class council, FCCLA, yearbook, and the school magazine The Edge. Taylor doesn’t have much free time, so she uses her weekends to catch up on sleep, play guitar, check up on social media, and “aimlessly scroll through Twitter”.
“Sleep is definitely my biggest motivator,” said Taylor, “I manage my time well because I know that the sooner I finish my homework, the sooner I can go sleep so that I won’t be as tired the next day.”
Teacher Spotlight:
History teacher Luann Pramuk has been educating students at Griffith High School for 20 years, and teaches both U.S. History and AP U.S. History, or APUSH. She is best known for teaching her APUSH class, which students claim to be one of the hardest classes, due to the material and the amount of notes taken over the course.
“APUSH is definitely my hardest class this year, but I’m glad I got it out of the way before my junior year,” said sophomore April Mendoza, “Taking an AP class as a sophomore can be extremely difficult at times, but I will be getting as many college credits as I can in high school. If you stay on top of the notes, study, and do your best on tests, the class is definitely easy to pass.”
Pramuk went to college at Purdue Calumet, now Purdue Northwest, and then student taught for Social Studies teacher Jim Pickett at GHS before filling an open position. She is the sophomore class council sponsor and loves to cheer on the Pantherettes.
“I love to see the girls dance. My favorite part is the kick line and when they spell out words with their poms in their formation,” said Pramuk.
What’s Coming Up:
Field trips, whether they be in school or not, are perfect learning experiences for students, especially those who learn better outside of textbooks and powerpoints. Math teachers Marilyn Brunk and Christine Chidichimo are taking high school girls to Purdue University Northwest in Hammond on Friday, January 26 to teach them about females in fields such as computer engineering, where there are often a much smaller amount of women than men. The trip is aimed to encourage girls to not be intimidated to enter a male-dominated field of work, and the girls will meet with female professors who are in those fields.
Sophomore Jackie Bobos is attending the trip, and is looking forward to exploring her options for careers.
“I’ve never been particularly interested in going into a math-related field, but I know there are a lot benefits of taking that career path,” said Bobos, “Since I don’t really have a plan for my career yet, I think it would be a good idea for me to explore my options. Regardless if I go into a math-related career field, it will still be beneficial to talk to people in the field, and to explore the campus.”
The National Honor Society will be having an in-school field trip for a motivational speaker, Ted Wiese. Wiese leads leadership workshops for groups of any age or type, and aims to inspire students to make a positive difference in their school, demonstrate the power of teamwork, and improve communication and leadership through fun, interactive activities. NHS will build forever lasting unity, and use the skills they learn and strengthen during the workshop to make a positive impact on their school and community.
Junior Grace Opinker attended Wiese’s presentation in middle school for National Junior Honor Society, and hopes that this year she becomes closer with students she is not as close with.
“I get to socialize with people I don’t normally socialize with and work together with them as a team,” said Opinker, “I liked being involved with it in middle school because it’s a really fun program.”
Griffith students are also preparing for finals, which will take place on Wednesday, December 20, and Thursday, December 21. Educational field trips give students an opportunity to take a break from the stress of school, while still learning with hands-on activities.