#1StudentNWI: It Smells Like School Spirit at Andrean High School

Spirit Week Culminates in the Homecoming Dance

The week of September 28 was spirit week at Andrean. Students are usually in uniform, but students were allowed to dress down in order to show their school spirit. There was a different theme for each school day. Monday was lounge day. Students wore loungewear, such as sweatpants, pajama pants, athletic shorts, t-shirts, and slippers. It was the perfect choice for a lazy Monday. Tuesday was twin day, Wednesday was Mathlete vs. Athlete, and Thursday was America. Friday was Andrean wear day, in which students wore Fifty-Niner attire to school.

Andrean’s Homecoming Parade was Wednesday night. Sports teams and extracurricular clubs had floats. Each class decorated its own float, and there was anonymous voting for the best decorated. The junior class won the vote, winning them early points for Armageddon, which will occur later this year.

Andrean ended the school day on Friday with a pep rally. The rally featured routines from the cheerleaders and the dance team, skits from the homecoming court, and a lip sync competition between the classes. The senior class won the competition.

The powder puff game Friday night left the juniors as winners, leaving the class of 2017 with its third consecutive win. The Fighting Fifty-Niners won the Friday night game against Kankakee Valley High School 34-6.

The Homecoming dance was Saturday night in Andrean’s main gym. The theme was “A Starry Night,” and students had a great time dancing under the stars, even if they were artificial.

Fall Sports are Coming to a Close

Fall is a season bustling with sports at Andrean. Some sports are ending their seasons, while others still have much to go.

The season of girls’ golf began July 31, and ended September 26. The season ended with the IHSAA golf regional competition in which junior Allison Petro represented Andrean. She advanced to regionals after placing second as an individual qualifier in the sectional competition.

Girls’ soccer has had a very successful season thus far. They have an impressive record of 13-3, and are facing the upcoming sectional competition on Thursday, October 8.

Boys’ soccer won their sectionals game against Marquette 2-1 for their second win of the season, bringing their season record to 2-12-2.

The most student popular sport of autumn is football. The Fighting Fifty-Niners have had an interesting season so far. September 11, the team faced their first loss during a regular season since 2012. They have won every other game, except for one. This still brings them to an attention-worthy season record so far, and they are planning to do even better in future games.

Teacher Shout-Out: Mr. Henwood

Mr. Henwood is new to Andrean this year. He holds the newly formed position of Assistant Principal of Student Life. He is actively involved on the student side of things. This includes extracurricular activities like clubs and student council and dealing with disciplinary issues. He is hoping that his interaction with students will mostly be positive.

Mr. Henwood was not originally in the education field. He started out in marketing, but had an itch for education, so he went back to school. He taught for eight years, got his master’s degree in administration, and found himself at Andrean, using what he learned in college.

This school year is full of potential, and Mr. Henwood sees it.

“I really want to become a valuable member of the Andrean family,” he said.

He plans to do this by helping students grow in their faith and education.

He has big hopes for this school year that is still unfolding. Mr. Henwood recognizes that he is still learning.

“I’m a firm believer I never know it all,” he laughed. He plans to continue to grow as a professional and in his faith.

When asked about obstacles, he said, “There are always challenges, but we must learn to find solutions. That’s my job. I’m a problem solver.”

Student Shout-Out: Charitye Ford

During halftime at the homecoming football game Friday night, homecoming king and queen were crowned. Charitye Ford was crowned homecoming queen, following the footsteps of her older brother, Anthony Ford, class of 2014, who was homecoming king two years ago.

Charitye never expected to run for homecoming queen. Her friends voted her onto the ballot. When homecoming court was announced on the school intercom, she was shocked to hear her name.

“I thought it was a joke or something,” she said, laughing.

When the school voted for queen, she circled her own name, but just for fun.

“I think everyone has voted for themselves at least once,” she said.

Charitye has been very much involved at Andrean throughout her time here. She has been an active member of ACE, Andrean’s choral ensemble. ACE went to ISSMA, made it to finals and won silver for second place. Continuing with her singing abilities, she has competed in Andrean Idol, the singing competition that takes place at Andrean in the spring. She made it to the finals there as well, placing seventh. She has also sung at the Andrean Coffee House, a variety show, for three years in a row.

All in all, Charitye is a valued member of the Andrean family. Winning Homecoming queen is just another high school experience she can check off of her bucket list.

“[Winning] is something that came as a shock to me, but deep down, I felt I would win. Everything felt right to me.”