What’s recently happened?
April 28 was a big day for art students at La Porte High School (LPHS). Hosted at LPHS was the annual art show.
Both Fine Art students and AP Art students were able to showcase their pieces. However, only AP students were allowed to sell their work. There was no criteria to meet, just to show anything you were proud of.
“It was empowering to have a chance to make a statement or share a message that was important to me,” Student Marie Parrett said.
Tri Kappa Student Organization ran the event and Works in Motion Dance Co. partnered with them.
The show was from 5-7 p.m. and was free of charge to enter.
The Choir Corral was able to take a trip to the Nederlander Theater in Chicago to see “Into the Woods” on May 3.
Students left at 12 p.m. on a charter bus to see the play starting at 2 p.m. Teacher Thomas Coe and parent chaperones attended as well.
The play was free of charge because of choir funding.
“The play was so amazing. Gavin Creel was there, and I was so excited to see him as well as all of the other Broadway performers. The singing blew me away and it was nothing like I have ever seen before. The theater looked so original and added to the amazement. I feel like it really brought us together as a choir and I felt so refreshed leaving the building,” Student Brenna Sobecki said.
While standing on the side of the street waiting for the bus, students decided to practice for their upcoming performance and sing their songs for the people of Chicago. When the bus arrived, they all went to Giordano's after and celebrated the day with pizza.
What’s coming up?
Graduation is right around the corner for the class of 2023. Graduation is June 8 at 7 p.m. at Kiwanis Field.
Entrance is by ticket only. Senior students were given seven tickets to disperse as they wished. Sadly, there is no way to get more tickets unless another student does not use all of their tickets.
Valedictorian Tyler Troy and Salutatorian Pooja Verma will give five minute speeches before teachers announce the names of all the students. There are 390 students in total.
“It’s an honor to have the title, and it made me realize that going the extra mile and putting in the extra effort these past few years really showed and paid off in the long run,” Verma said.
Staff spotlight:
Thomas Coe is a character at LPHS. Coe currently teaches choir, piano, and musical theater. Previously he taught music theory and general music for elementary and middle school.
“From my first time working with students, I really liked helping young people experience the excitement of singing together or being on stage,” Coe said.
Coe graduated from Valparaiso High School, Indiana University South Bend, and Ball State University. He has been teaching for 30 years since.
Teaching has been such a monumental and important part of Coe’s life. He feels so special knowing he gets to positively impact people’s lives everyday.
“Sharing the passion I have for music and seeing students be excited and passionate about it too is so special to me,” Coe said.
Coe has a goal of getting students to care about making their performance the best it can be while enjoying it and having fun performing.
Though every goal in life isn’t accomplished, Coe has learned through life that you have to be persistent in having high expectations, but also have the power to know which battles to let go.
When Coe is not teaching his Zumba class, he can be found in his happy place - his backyard enjoying the silence from his hammock.
Student spotlight:
Logan Higley is a busy bee at LPHS. Higley is in Key Club, Interact Club, Principal's Advisory Board, Spanish Club, Environthomm, Work Ethic, Tennis, Cheerleading, and is an editor for the yearbook team.
Higley has a 4.0 and takes many rigorous classes to challenge herself. Previously this year, she presented a presentation for AP Research on evaluating different feeding methods to improve the survival rate of birds of prey after being released from rehabilitation.
“I think that success takes hard work, but some people have advantages that may be difficult for them to see that make it easier to have success,” Higley said.
High school has helped Higley become more patient with people and be more mindful of people’s differences.
In her future she has sights on going to Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) to become a wildlife biologist. Higley additionally wants to minor in Spanish and become fluent.
“I am really interested in birds of prey and I found a raptor rehabilitation center that I plan to volunteer at this summer,” Higley said.