#1StudentNWI: Taking Trips to Incredible Colleges at Whiting High School

#1StudentNWI: Taking Trips to Incredible Colleges at Whiting High School

Upward Bound College Tours Trip
Over spring break, Upward Bound students had the opportunity to attend a college university tour trip on the east coast which included such prestigious universities as Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburg, MIT, and Georgetown.

This year, sophomores Jocelyn Y. Alvarez and Graciela Salazar took advantage of a “Shark Tank” challenge in which they pitched their idea for an educational road trip from which all members of the students in their program could benefit. When given the go-ahead, the girls not only came up with the idea to take a tour of universities on the east coast, but they did all of the research and planning necessary to make this dream trip a reality. In order to take part in the trip, students had to make a 3-5-minute video comparing and contrasting President Obama’s State of the Union Address from 2012 and 2016.

On March 5, these students were notified that they were selected for all-expenses paid trip which was held March 27 through April 2. Three chaperones and 17 students attended, and six of the students were from WHS. The students selected for this honor included juniors Pablo Moore, William Ramos and Guadalupe Ruiz; and sophomores Jocelyn Y. Alvarez, Ana Piña and Graciela Salazar.

“My favorite part was mostly all of it. The long bus trips that we took from place to place. It was very entertaining on the bus. Also the hotels we went to and how we got to chill with our friends. But my favorite was experiencing all of it with my friends and broadening my horizons,” said Alvarez.

“Going to the trip I knew I would love Columbia University. When taking the tour of Columbia, I had a smile the whole time. Our tour guide at Harvard made me fall in love with the university. I plan to apply to Columbia and Harvard. Our tour guide told us you have a better chance of getting accepted if you apply than if you don’t apply,” said Salazar.

Whiting-HS-1StudentNWI-May-2016-2National Honor Society Induction
On Sunday, April 24, the fifteen new members of the National Honor Society were inducted. The new inductees are Jocelyn B. Alvarez, Jocelyn Y. Alvarez, Sam Bibat, Marissa Baez, Amanda Bonchik, Brianna Figueroa, Rana Hamad, Faith Huss, Hope Huss, Timothy Lowe, Andrea Mendez, Michelle Pimentel, Guadalupe Ruiz, Julianna Scivinksy, and Katherine Spanier.

“I feel very honored to have been chosen as a new NHS member. It is truly a privilege to be a part of this organization,” said Alvarez.

“I'm happy to be part of NHS because it gives me great opportunities to work for my community and help others,” said Marissa Baez.

The seniors did their part to make the induction successful for its newest members.

Samanta Zapien led the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Vice President Tara Gomez’s introduction. President Alex Danielides gave the president’s report of all of the service projects from the past year.

“We've always prided ourselves on being busy throughout the year with projects to help others, and this year we did just that,” said Danielides.

NHS Secretary Kata Bes introduced the candle ceremony. The candles were lit by Brianda Guadarrama, Alexis Bustamante, Mireya Huizar, and Estrella Patino. Reyna Garza led the new inductees in their pledge. Emily Brooks called the new inductees to receive membership cards and medals then signed the register.

Brianna Baez, Tanya Jimenez, Diana Lopez, Tara Gomez, and former NHS member Alexia Gomez performed “One Day” by Matisyahu.

“My advice to the new inductees is to remember why they were selected. This is not just an organization with scholarly students. The qualities of leadership, service, and character are equally important,” said Mrs. Klochan.

Whiting-HS-1StudentNWI-May-2016-3Teacher Shout Out: Mr. Mark Harnew
Geography, Government, and Economics teacher, Mr. Mark Harnew is the new tennis coach at WHS.

“When I first came to Whiting, I thought that I would just volunteer as an assistant coach, but when the opportunity to be the head coach was available, I jumped right on it,” said Mr. Harnew

He coached girls tennis at Griffith High School for 6 seasons and coached boys tennis at Griffith High School for one season.

He loves the sport and likes seeing the improvement that the athletes make from the beginning of the season to the end of the season.

“When a girl is in a close match, it's amazing to see them dig deep and battle their way through. Tennis is 95% mental and 5% physical and I try to teach the girls to be confident in themselves when they play,” said Mr. Harnew.

The Whiting Tennis program is a successful program. The banner hanging outside the courts proves the team's success. The girls tennis team has won the past 6 sectionals.

“My expectations for the team are for them to improve on their tennis skills each match and have fun while they are out on the court. The goals for the season are to win our conference, win sectionals, and try to get as far into the post-season as we can. It will take a lot of work, but the girls have a great attitude and are up for the challenge,” said Mr. Harnew.

The team captains are seniors Brianna Baez and Kata Bes.

“They do an amazing job at helping out new players, keeping the girls informed on any team news, and just being positive examples on and off the court,” said Mr. Harnew.

“I have seen tremendous effort and dedication from our varsity players and an eagerness to improve from our younger JV players,” continued Mr. Harnew.

Follow the tennis team on twitter @WHSOilersTennis

Whiting-HS-1StudentNWI-May-2016-4Student Shout Out: Brianna Baez
Senior Brianna Baez has been playing tennis since she was 8 years old.

“I love everything about the sport especially when I get to train for a tough match,” said Baez.

Baez plays #1 singles for the Oilers tennis team and is co-captain with Kata Bes.

“I motivate them [the team] by encouraging them to practice and improve as well as simply try to help them in certain aspects of the sport,” said Baez.

Her younger sister, Marissa Baez is a sophomore and also plays for the tennis team. Their father, Adam Baez, is the assistant coach for the Lady Oilers. Her inspiration to play tennis started her with dad because of his love of the sport. He has coached her since she was young.

“I help my sister and my teammates by training with them and encouraging them to always try even when they're down,” said Baez.

Her goals are to have fun and get as far as the team can in the season. They're achieving their goals by taking each game and practice seriously and training to do the best we can.

“As a senior, I hope Whiting only continues to progress in tennis and their achievement,” said Baez.

“Since tennis is such an individual sport it was is nice to have support and a team supporting you,” added Baez.