Academic Super Bowl successfully competes at state competition
The Academic Super Bowl team competed at the state completion on May 9 at Purdue University. Four teams qualified for the competition and placed in various positions. Interdisciplinary placed 2nd, English placed 4th while Fine Arts and Science both placed 6th.
Each subject area is made up of a team of four and while some subjects did not qualify, Kevin Fuhs, senior enjoyed his last opportunity to compete at state. He believes all of the teams performed well.
“Most teams qualified, but not all,” Kevin said. “It ended up going pretty darn well.”
Kevin credits his coach’s hard work and dedication to the team as a reason to why they competed so well at state.
“We have a good coach with Mr. (Patrick) O’Neill,” Kevin said. “He is very dedicated at what he does. We all wanted to do well for him.”
The team as a whole has a mix of veterans and younger members. Kevin believes it is beneficial to have veteran team members. Having experience leads to better decision making, according to Kevin.
“Certain things make (Academic Super) Bowl unique,” Kevin said. “You need to make quick decisions. You have to take advantage of the amount of tie you have because you have less than a minute.”
For veteran members like Kevin, having the experience of competing in these short timed competitions has led to a calmer mind.
“The biggest stress reliever is just that I have done it before,” Kevin said. “I know what 30 seconds, 40 seconds feels like.”
Looking back on his final competition of Academic Super Bowl and of his high school career, Kevin is happy to have competed in state one last time. He was also happy to work with Coach O’Neill as well.
“I think it was gratifying to qualify for state,” Kevin said. “I really like our coach Mr. O’Neill and I wanted to win for him. I have done a lot of academic competitions. It was nice to end on a positive note. It was a positive feeling.”
Long Time Geometry Teacher Retires after 48 years at Munster High School
Mr. Stephen Wroblewski came to Munster High School in 1967 to teach Geometry, but most importantly football. At that time, he did not realize how much he would love teaching in the classroom as much as he did on the football field.
“I enjoyed teaching as a kid and in high school,” Mr. Wroblewski said. “I enjoyed football so I wanted to be a coach. The only way to become a coach is to become a teacher.”
Mr. Wroblewski found his first and eventually the only opportunity he needed to both teach and coach when he was hired at Munster High School.
“I started in the fall of 1967,” Mr. Wroblewski said. “It was my first steady paycheck. I have always taught Algebra and Geometry. They needed more Geometry teachers and that was my forte.”
Mr. Wroblewski coached athletics from 1967-1987. He coached the freshman football team for 13 years and was a Varsity Assistant coach for seven years. In 1971 he also led the Boys’ Golf team to a conference championship.
“I played football in college (at Franklin college),” Mr. Wroblewski said. “So (coaching high school sports) was a normal thing to get into. I wanted to coach when I got out of college.”
Mr. Wroblewski enjoyed coaching kids throughout the years. He also liked building relationships with his players and seeing the teams come together.
“It was kind of neat,” Mr. Wroblewski said. “They are nice people and they are going to be our leaders someday. The closeness of the teams (was nice to see) as they get to know each other. There are some people I still talk to.”
Watching the students come together and work hard for the same goal impressed Mr. Wroblewski.
“What was better than a classroom is that they played with a purpose,” Mr. Wroblewski said. “They played to win the game.”
While Mr. Wroblewski enjoyed his time coaching, he soon found himself enjoying the kids in his classroom as well. He started building relationships with his students and inspiring them in their work. He also created the famous Kite Day in the high school.”
“Actually, it was a lot of fun teaching,” Mr. Wroblewski said. “Despite what people say, kids are the same they were back then.”
Receiving cards from students thanking him for what he did for them or talking about funny memories with former students makes Mr. Wroblewski feel like he did a good job.
“I will get cards from kids saying ‘wow you really helped me with what I am doing’,” Mr. Wroblewski said. “When I run across ‘x’ student I ask them what they remember about class and that is how I remember. Kids see things differently than adults do.”
One can find a lot of things to miss after spending 48 years of their life at, however, for Mr. Wroblewski, he will miss the students the most.
“I enjoyed the students,” Mr. Wroblewski said. “The students keep you young. The students think the weekend starts at 2 p.m. on Friday. The kids are always busy. They have tons of activities and things to do. I will miss the kids number one.”
Mr. Wroblewski believes Munster High School was the perfect place to work and to spend his entire 48 year career at.
“I was guaranteed a job,” Mr. Wroblewski said. “It turned out to be one of the best school in Indiana in its infancy and even now it is. This is a great place. When you find a good place you usually stay there.”
Despite Heartbreaking Loss, Baseball Team Looks Back on Great Season
Going into the final inning in the opening round of Sectionals, the Baseball team thought they were going to be moving onto the round as they led Lake Central 2-1. Lake Central led a surprise comeback by scoring four runs and just like that the team’s season was over.
Although their season ended with an incomplete feeling, Grant Rademacher, senior, is happy when looking back at the team’s accomplishments this season.
“I am very proud of the team,” Rademacher said. “We won conference and had a 20 win season.”
The team also helped Coach Robert Shinkan earn his 600th career win. Rademacher believes they team performed well thanks to their pitching and the bonds they formed on and off the field.
“I give credit to our strong pitching,” Rademacher said. “We had good team chemistry. We played 21 outs every game.”
For seniors like Rademacher, this was his last season to play with the people he has been with for the last 13 years. Their bonds and experience from playing with each other over the year led to a successful season.
“The team just got along,” Rademacher said. “We are real good friends in school have played together since Little League.” Rademacher’s favorite moment of the season came earlier in the season when the team beat T.F South on a walk-off hit in the seventh inning.
“We had a lot of walk-off victories this season,” Rademacher said. “The T.F. South game was huge. We were down the whole game and were able to come back in the seventh and win it. It was a real exciting game.”
Games like that showed what the team was made of this year, according to Rademacher.
“It says that we are really competitive,” Rademacher said. “We were a strong team and had a desire to win.”
Rademacher will miss a lot about playing baseball now that he has since graduated from Munster High School.
“I will miss the overall enjoyment of the game,” Rademacher said. “I am going to miss the people I have played with for a long time. I will miss Coach Shinkan the most. I will miss playing for my school.”
Softball Overcomes Early Challenges to Play through a Successful Season
The Softball team faced adversity in the beginning of the season. Their coach Beth Thornburg had surgery, which forced her to miss some time.
“We didn’t really have injuries, but our coach had surgery,” Madelynn Moore, now senior, said. “We really didn’t know how to play without her. The other coaches are not like her. She is one of a kind.”
While the team maintained a winning record in her absence, her coaching method was missing during games against tough opponents like Lake Central, according to Moore.
“We played well without her,” Moore said. “But we faced our toughest opponents.”
Coach Thornburg’s return served as a morale boost and the team was able to fix their issues to play out the rest of what would be a successful season.
“It really helped because we were laid back,” Moore said. “She was not on our case for plays we messed up on. She came back and we fixed those problems.”
The team followed the same fate of the baseball team. They lost to Lake Central in Sectionals as well. Despite being ousted from the playoffs early, the team does have some achievements to look back on. They finished the season with a record of 24-7 while going 12-0 in conference games.
“This year we played really well as a team,” Moore said. “We hit well and fielded well. It wasn’t just one person, it was the whole team.”
Moore credits the team’s play to seniors like Taylor Kotzo, who helped the team in many aspects, according to Moore.
“The seniors were really good this year,” Moore said. “Taylor Kotzo was really good this year. We all looked to our seniors throughout the season. Especially when Coach Thornburg was gone.”
Now a senior herself, Moore looks to follow the same path as the seniors before her have previously done. She looks forward to her opportunity to lead the team next year.
“I have been playing varsity since my freshman year,” Moore said. “I cannot wait to lead like the other seniors did in the past.”