What’s recently happened?
Crown Point High School's Key Club recently held its annual Christmas Party. Members of the club gathered after school to decorate and set up games and activities for children of the community to celebrate for free.
“As a leader this year, my group told me they wanted to sign up for the games committee. I made sure to tell all of my members what I knew we should set up that the kids enjoyed last year. I think the parties are always super important to bring together the community, especially the little kids and students in best buddies,” said Junior Leader Hayden Kay.
Opportunities like the party offer students like Kay a chance to give back to their community and school. A chance to build communication and leadership skills that help students in the long run.
What’s coming up?
Crown Point High School gets ready for its annual Turnabout Winter Formal. The dance is set to be held on January 21.
“I’m really looking forward to turnabout and dancing with my friends. With it being my last turnabout, I’m looking forward to having a great time and creating memories to last forever,” senior Emily Wake said.
Events like the Winter Formal exist to give high school students new and meaningful experiences that they can look back on in the future. This year the theme is set to be 'A Night in Hollywood'.
Staff Spotlight
Crown Point High School’s Chloe Hoffman, coach of the dance team, gets her team ready for upcoming Nationals. The team qualified in the summer and is now gearing up for the competition in February.
“At camp in the summer we perform a home routine and if that home routine is good enough then they will give us a bid to nationals,” Hoffman said.
This year the dance team saw many new faces. With some of her girls not having gone to Nationals yet, Hoffman is excited to share this experience.
“The whole experience is very exciting. We have a lot of new people that have not been to Nationals yet so it’s always exciting to watch them perform and come off the floor for the first time. When you come off of the floor at Nationals, you get to watch the routine again on the screen, and kind of see how your team did and so that moment is always exciting,” Hoffman said.
Unlike a lot of sports, dancing doesn’t have a designated season. Dancers perform in both winter and fall sports, as well as their own competitions, constantly working and perfecting their moves.
“Because we have a lot of new dancers on the team this year it has been fun to watch them improve, especially in the category Kick. Kick isn’t a category that they do at the middle school level, so we really have to train them on the technique and how to do it properly so it's been a lot of fun to watch them improve drastically in their technique this year,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman now practices with her team excitedly getting them ready for nationals. Crown Point wishes her luck in Florida.
Student Spotlight
This month’s student spotlight is Crown Point’s, Carter Beckman. Beckman is a senior and this year he played on the Varsity Soccer team.
“What got me into soccer was all of the YouTube videos I saw of all the stars like Ronaldo and Messi. I'd always watch the videos of their skills and I’d try to go out back and do them myself,” Beckman said.
From there, Beckman channeled a love and drive for the game that carried him to where he is now.
“The reason I wanted to join the team was to continue to play and especially the thought of playing for my school and playing with and in front of some of my best friends who I’d known for years, it was always such a fun thought for me to be able to show my skills that I’ve worked so hard to develop off to the people who have supported me since the beginning,” Beckman said.
Through sports like soccer, students like Beckman gain the opportunity to learn and develop different skills like cooperation and communication.
“Soccer has impacted my life in ways I never thought it could. In some ways, I feel like I've learned more about life with a ball at my feet than I have anywhere else. I’ve learned the value of hard work, but most importantly I’ve learned how to pick myself up after failure, and how to continue to strive for what I hope to accomplish even if people say it isn’t possible. I’ve learned to overcome fears, and strive to achieve things I didn’t even know were within me to achieve through soccer,” Beckman said.
Different experiences in life come with different trials. A definite trial for the team this year was the game they had to play against Chesterton. Not expecting to go home happy, the boys were met with an unexpected surprise.
“By far my favorite game of my high school career was the Chesterton game this year. We weren’t expecting to even score a goal let alone win the game. Winning against a top-five ranked team in the state in overtime, being able to have a big impact on that game, and being able to celebrate what felt like the greatest underdog story in years in front of all my friends and family was a feeling I’ll never forget,” Beckman said.