What’s recently happened?
Bishop Noll Institute (BNI) Senior Arianna Magallanes is making a difference with her service project, Project Now, which she started the summer of her sophomore year. She started out with ten members but there are more than 50 students involved.
Project Now holds two drives each year, one per semester. The club reaches out to local shelters and sees what items they are in need of. The whole school donates, then they create care packages and deliver them to the charity.
On April 18, Project Now collected paper towels, bleach, and kitty litter for the Humane Society of Indiana. The group decided to collect for animals since the Humane Society provides the community with much emotional support for individuals in tough situations. The club wanted to lessen the negative impact that might come from getting items that can be expensive.
The softball team has a winning record of ten games. The team defeated Griffith High School for the first time in six years. Hobart High School was one of the most competitive and exciting games the team has played. Hobart hit a home run when BNI was up five to three. The game turned into a three hour, nine-inning game. The team lost but they had a good time.
On May 7, BNI hosted its Honors Night in the auditorium. This is a night where students are inducted into the following honor clubs: National Honor Society, National Chinese Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, International Thespian Society, National Speech and Debate Honor Society, and Future Business Leaders of America National Honor Society.
The Future Business Leaders of America National Honor Society is a new honor society BNI added this year. Dr. Janell Harvey, one of BNI's business teachers, has brought opportunities to youth about business organizations which inspired her to bring the society to BNI students. She felt called to be the advisor to start the organization.
“I love my students. I am connected to many networks outside of BNI and would love to connect scholars to those professions. I hope the society will help BNI scholars to compete successfully in a global economy,” said Harvey.
What’s coming up?
The baseball team has had an excellent season this year. The group started off with some rough games but has progressively gotten better throughout the season with the help of the younger players. The team is looking forward to its sectional game against Iliana Christian High School. The team has this focused mindset that helps it get mentally prepared and ready to play. With improvement, the group wants to win some titles for the school in the future.
“The dream scenario would be to win Sectionals and go beyond. My goal for next year is to ultimately start the championship game,” said junior Brandon Jimenez.
Fine Arts Weekend is coming up. During the weekend, there will be an art gallery sale, a talent show, and the band's spring concert in honor of Rocco Carioto. All throughout BNI’s hallways, there are several pieces of art that students have created and are on sale this weekend.
Additionally, many students have signed up to sing, dance, act, and show off one of their many talents at the talent show on May 17. The band will be performing on May 18 with hit songs from the Beatles and many more.
Seniors get a chance to show off their knowledge of economics at the upcoming Market Day on May 17. Economics Teacher John Gleason started this student-led event because of a student’s suggestion. He thought it was a great opportunity for students to learn about entrepreneurship, decision-making, and market forces while learning to see the value in what they create.
Gleason holds this event twice a semester. Students come up with a product, advertise it, and come up with a price on their own. They set up in BNI’s cafeteria so students can come down and buy their products with cash or class currency: GleasonBucks.
“Market Day is emblematic of the kind of learning opportunities I’d like to give Bishop Noll students more often. Problem-solving, personal responsibility, and productive creativity are muscles that we all need to stretch a little more,” said Gleason.
The upperclassmen are starting to buy their suits and dresses for the Prom on May 25. The theme this year is Rhapsody and Roses. Juniors and seniors are in the voting process to find out about the Prom court. The whole school is looking forward to seeing the fun promposals in the hallways.
Staff spotlight:
Brian Kim joined the BNI staff this year. He teaches sophomores World History and he is the head coach for the boys and girls cross country and track and field teams. Kim has taught for eight years.
Kim did not always want to be a teacher. He went to Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) for economics in hopes of going into finance or accounting. After being in that field for a few years, he wanted to go into teaching history.
“I wanted to make a difference and help kids become successful. I want to teach kids how not to repeat the same mistakes from our history,” said Kim.
He received his bachelor’s degree in economics and a minor in business from IUPUI. Kim went to Indiana University Northwest to get his teaching license. He has always been interested in the history of the world which is why he chose history.
Kim ran cross country and track from seventh to 12th grade. He was the team captain and he felt like a coach when he was helping the team get better. He desired to coach and help other people succeed. Kim has also trained for half and full marathons.
Kim came to BNI because there was a need for a cross-country and track coach and a history teacher. Kim enjoys helping the kids build confidence and spark motivation to reach their full potential in the sport. He likes BNI for the good reputation of being a really strong school academically and he wanted to be a part of it.
“I like how respectful and disciplined the students are and how they have goals. They also know what they want to do after high school and they work hard to achieve their goals,” Kim said.
In Kim’s free time, he enjoys running and spending time with his wife. A fun fact about him is that he played the French horn when he was younger.
Student spotlight:
Laura Bautista is the true embodiment of what it means to be a Warrior. She takes BNI’s motto: Mind, Body, and Soul everywhere she goes. Bautista was named Valedictorian in January.
She knew she was going to be named a Graduate of Distinction but was surprised to have the Valedictorian title. She is so happy and feels good that she was honored with this.
She plans on attending Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington where she will major in biology and pre-medicine track. She thought that biology would be a good major and a good step to go into medical school. She loved IU’s campus and the welcoming environment that helped her to be independent.
“Doctors have made me feel welcome and open to talk and answer any of my questions. I want to be able to do that for others,” said Bautista.
Bautista is a part of the soccer and swim teams, biology club, campus ministry, and student ambassadors. Her favorite is campus ministry because she likes to be in touch with her faith and help others to touch their faith, too.
Her favorite memory of school was when she was able to take Principles of Biomedical Science with her older brother. She enjoyed that class not only being able to experience a class with her brother but also having fun labs and inspiring her to figure out what she wanted to major in.
Another one of her favorite classes was Algebra II. She really liked her teacher and it was a really fun class.
One of her accomplishments was in campus ministry helping students ease into their roles. Bautista also felt that as student ambassadors, she was excited to be able to inspire other students to attend BNI.
Bautista’s main goal is to graduate college and be accepted into medical school. Bautista is looking forward to graduation and closing this chapter in her life. She is also ready for college more in day and orientation.
In Bautista’s free time, she enjoys hanging out with her two dogs and one cat. She is a family-oriented person so she spends a lot of time with her family. Bautista is thankful to her family, friends, and teachers for believing in her.
“Rejection is just redirection. Just because you might be rejected doesn’t necessarily mean it is a bad thing. It could redirect you to something greater,” said Bautista.