Music in the Park and Summer Plans for the Band
On May 21, the GHS choir and band held a free concert together at Central Park. Choir and band worked together to preform Carmina Burana. This was the first performance for GHS where the band and choir performed together.
“It was a great experience to play with the choir kids and I am honored that I got to be apart of the first band/choir concert at GHS,” said band member junior Sam Snell.
After Carmina Burana, the band stayed to play some patriotic pieces for the crowd and later that evening the choir students headed to the school for their spring concert.
Currently, the band has been working hard to learn their music and nail their marching for the 4th of July parade. They will preform three different patriotic pieces throughout the parade and color guard will be marching and preforming behind them. To make sure that their performance is a hit, they've been having practice everyday from 8-10a.m. Be sure to grab your lawn chairs to watch the band come down broad street of the 4th.
Summer Plans and opportunities
GHS said goodbye to the graduating class of 2016 on June 5th. Since then, the graduated students and the rest of their GHS peers have been living their summer to the fullest.
“This summer, I am going on a plane for the first time. I am going to California! I think it is important to travel before you start your life in college,” said senior Tiffany Novak.
Some students are just staying around town and looking for summer opportunities at the school. Students may be taking driver’s ed. through the school or looking for academic opportunities and some are busy dedicating their summer to sports and work. Either way, the students in Griffith are making sure their summers are packed with activities and opportunities.
Student Shout-Out
One last student shout-out from the 2016 class goes to Valedictorian Tommy Biancardi. Being the top of your class is a hard spot to get to, but add on everything else he does and it all seems nearly impossible. Biancardi was the student council president, NHS historian, Public Relations officer for FCCLA, and Captain of the math bowl team. The list doesn't end there; he is also a member of Paranormal Society, Class Council, and Newspaper. One might ask how he managed to maintain such high grades while participating in so many school activities. Well, he did that by putting in hard work and dedication and having perfect attendance all 13 years of school. In the fall, Biancardi will be attending Purdue University Northwest for Computer Engineering.
“Make the most of your high school experience and always stay positive because before you know it, you'll be putting on your cap and gown and getting ready to receive your diploma,” said Biancardi.
Teacher Shout-Out
Jane Villaroman attended St. Mary of the Woods College in Southern Indiana and earned a degree in Biology with a minor in chemistry. She started teaching at GHS in the fall of 2000. Before teaching at Griffith, Villaroman taught at St. Francis de Sales High School on the east side of Chicago for 11 years.
“Science, especially biology and ecology, has always interested me. Chemistry also interests me, it is just so fun to teach! Even though I’ve been teaching chemistry for 27 years now, I also developed an appreciation for the physical sciences,” states Villaroman.
Villaroman currently teaches chemistry 1, Chemistry 2, and physics. Villaroman feels that science classes help students develop important skills that are used throughout life such as making good observations, organizing information, thinking critically, analyzing, and problem solving.
“My favorite part of teaching science is getting to do labs with my students. My students enjoy hands on experiences and they have fun learning through experimenting. It brings both them and myself satisfaction,” adds Villaroman.