What’s recently happened?
Although New Prairie High School (NPHS) has many sports and clubs that provide different entertainment this time of year, nothing comes close to the show choir’s joy to community members. NPHS is home to a few different types of choirs, ranging from the amount of involvement that is needed outside of school to the types of performances.
Sing Sensation (SS) is the main show choir at NPHS, and it has had a very fun start to its competition season. Competitions for show choirs started at the beginning of February, but SS had a few special opportunities before its season began. For many years, the choirs at NPHS have gone on tours with the jazz band to each of the elementary schools part of New Prairie United School Corporation (NPUSC), as well as New Prairie Middle School, to showcase their winter performances.
“Seeing all of the younger students in awe of our sparkly dresses and us singing brings us all a ton of joy, it is one of the main reasons I like traveling to the schools,” said Junior Emma Shultz.
Senior Jersey Strieter has been a part of SS for four years as well as the Innovation Choir for four years, which has now transformed into an acapella choir. Strieter is currently dance captain of SS and has been working very hard over the past few years to get to the point she is now.
“I have been very proud when looking back on these past years and seeing the girls who did not have any experience grow and become a better version of themselves,” said Strieter.
The NPHS Show Choir has a long road ahead of it with a few competitions ahead, but as long as the performers know NPHS is cheering for them, they will sing their hearts out.
What’s coming up?
Academic Super Bowl (ASB) is a club not only offered at NPHS but also at many other schools in the state of Indiana. ASB unites students from different grades and backgrounds to study a variety of subjects pertaining to one broad topic that is decided each year. The club includes five subjects; math, science, fine arts, social studies, and English. Each subject has a captain assigned and four to five more members to each team.
Kristen Barden has been an English teacher at NPHS for 11 years but has also been the club mentor for ASB for 11 years. Barden is held in high regard by her students and helps each member study in different ways to prepare for the two annual competitions that ASB participates in.
“I like getting to learn a lot about a specific topic every year; I learn something new every year,” said Barden.
The first competition of the year is held at Purdue University Northwest and is typically the harder competition for the teams. However, the theme was released early in the school year, and the club started meeting right away to discuss the material.
“This year’s theme is ‘80s and ‘90s. I am the captain of the English team, and we will study poems and books that were important in that time or written about them,” said Sophomore Alia Nix.
Although ASB may not seem a typical exciting club, many members think otherwise.
“I like ASB because it is an amazing blend of serious and fun. There isn’t any looming pressure to succeed, and no one ever makes anyone feel bad if they don’t know something. I love learning things, but I also love how much fun we have in meetings and competitions,” said Senior Emma Holmes.
ASB has its first competition on February 29, and competitors are granted the best of luck by NPHS.
Staff spotlight:
Lindsey Cole is often regarded as an unsung hero by many of the students at NPHS. Although she’s only been working at NPHS for three years, Cole has made a lasting impact on the environment of the school.
Before working for NPUSC, Cole obtained a bachelor’s degree in management and human resources from Indiana University South Bend.
“Outside of school, my husband and I love to travel and camp. We spend a lot of time at Fort Myers Beach in Florida and at Indiana Beach in Monticello. We also compete in dart and bowling leagues,” said Cole.
Cole is considered both the guidance office and nurse’s office secretary and helps accomplish many tasks that are necessary for students to have a smooth day. When a student needs to see their counselor or the nurse, Cole is the first smiling face they see when stepping into the office.
“I set up the college recruiter visits and admissions days. I work on vaccination requirements, hearing/vision screenings, and medical consent forms. I also set up mobile dentist appointments for students. I distribute report cards, progress reports, welcome back packets, and end-of-year packets for the high school,” said Cole.
For many juniors and seniors, Cole’s notifications through email seem never-ending, however, the emails she sends are some of the most important notifications for students. Cole is in charge of finding different scholarship opportunities for NPHS students that have very different types of requirements, ensuring that there is a scholarship for everyone.
Cole is just getting started at NPHS and the school and students cannot express their gratitude enough for everything she does.
Student spotlight:
Emma Tulacz is a senior at NPHS and has been a nonstop powerhouse for athletics. While Tulacz is an accomplished student and works hard on academics, she also finds time for extracurriculars. Tulacz is not in one sport, but four, and is also a member of the National Honor Society. While being well-rounded in track and field, bowling, and volleyball; Tulacz has a special talent for swimming.
“I have been swimming for six years and I have loved it,” said Tulacz.
NPHS’s swim season starts in early winter, and Tulacz has been a part of the school’s team for all four years of high school and has accomplished so much. In swimming terms, there are school records as well as pool records. School records take into account records only scored by members at NPHS. However, whoever swims at the NPHS pool during a competition can break a pool record. In Tulacz’s case, she has done both.
“Within the last two years, my relay team and I have gotten four relay records, including 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay, and 400 freestyle relay (school and pool records),” said Tulacz.
While Tulacz’s accomplishments with her relay team are extremely impressive, her accomplishments while swimming solo are just as exceptional. Tulacz has broken seven total records overall these past four years with over 600 points individually. Her most recent record breaker, however, changed a lot for the school’s history.
“Most recently, I broke the fastest individual sprinting event, the 50 freestyle,” said Tulacz.
Not only did Tulacz break the record for the 50 freestyle, she broke it twice. Tulacz broke the record for the first time at Sectionals and for a second time when she was representing NPHS at the State competition.
NPHS is very proud of Tulacz and all of her accomplishments and will continue to root for her achievements in life as she continues her education at Purdue University to obtain a bachelor’s degree in business at Purdue University’s Daniels School of Business.