What’s recently happened?
Snow Flurry, held at Wilbur Wright Middle School each year, is an activity led by Munster High School (MHS) students in order to help fifth graders feel welcomed in their transition to sixth grade.
“I did Snow Flurry because I did it when I was in fifth grade and really enjoyed it. I wanted to be part of that experience for the next kids,” Junior Keya Patel said.
The Girls Softball team completed the Tennessee Warrior Classic Tournament over spring break, finishing 6-0 and is currently 8-3 overall.
Chess Club also went down to State in March, placing sixth overall.
What’s coming up?
Unified Track will have its first meet on April 24, which is also the first home meet since the program began.
On April 22, the MHS Environmental Club will be having its first Earth Day event at school. The commons will be decorated and there will be compost stations throughout the lunches. The club has also been announcing weekly environmental facts for Earth Month.
Prom will be held for juniors and seniors on April 26. The dance starts at 6:30-9 p.m. at VIlla Cesare. With Prom concluding, there will be four weeks until school ends for the summer.
In those weeks before school ends, Advanced Placement (AP) testing will begin. Testing begins on the week of May 5-9 and continues into the week of May 12-16. This will be taking MHS students right into finals week, which will begin on May 19.
Staff spotlight:
Hannah Fus is currently in her ninth year of teaching. She teaches American Sign Language (ASL) l and ll at MHS. She does not currently see herself teaching outside of the ASL area, but does see herself teaching in the Deaf education side in the future.
“I always say that I didn't go out and find teaching, but rather teaching found me,” Fus said. “It's beyond difficult to find quality ASL teachers, not just here but nationwide. The former teacher knew I continued on with ASL in college and that it was my minor, so that is how I was approached.”
Fus began teaching at MHS to cover for the previous ASL teacher who had been on maternity leave and did not initially see herself as a teacher. By the end of her stint as the fill in ASL teacher, she knew she wanted to continue to teach.
“One of my expectations in the classroom is that not only students respect myself and everyone else in the room, but that I can extend a level of respect for them,” Fus said. “It also helps to bring upbeat energy and a positive outlook into the classroom. In this day and age, it seems like there's so much negativity everywhere. I always try to bring the positive energy whenever I can.”
As a foreign language teacher at MHS, Fus has a unique curriculum.
“We get to discuss so many different areas as a part of learning the foreign language,” Fus said. “The class is set up where we learn about how to go over so many topics in our lives, from our families and friends to our favorite activities to experiences we've had.”
In the upcoming school year, ASL lll is being added to the class course list. ASL has been recently approved to be a dual credit course through Purdue University Northwest (PNW), which allows students to get college credit along with their three year language requirement.
“For years, I’ve heard the rhetoric ‘Oh there needs to be an ASL III’ or ‘I would have taken your class, but I wanted the three years of one language.’ I’m beyond excited that ASL III is finally coming to fruition,” Fus said.
Fus can recall many occasions where students have shared the impact of being taught ASL in their day-to-day interactions, such as helping someone at work or signing with someone in public.
“Every time I get a story like that, it’s truly the best feeling,” Fus said. “Most recently, PNW offered a special lecture featuring a certified deaf interpreter who was a master storyteller. A good handful of my ASL II’s students attended that. The next day, they shared their experience in class and said they could understand almost everything she was signing without the assistance of a hearing interpreter. That was a proud moment for me.”
Student spotlight:
Senior Omar Aftab and Junior Brandon Walker have embarked on a business journey through MHS’s New Venture Development Course. They have developed a product called “Flip-E”, which is a binder that automatically turns pages through facial gestures after the user downloads an app.
“We are currently working towards InnovateWithin,” Walker said. “Our goal is to win State and use the $25,000 to develop our app so we can begin launching our business. However, the lessons we have learned in starting a business we believe in is something we will also have irrespective of our finish in InnovateWithin. The grit and dedication we have had to put in allows me to be comfortable knowing that regardless of what happens at InnovateWithin, we will be fine and can continue trying to make a difference in the world.”
They have competed in two competitions so far, the Society of Innovators Pitch Competition and the Blue Ocean Competition. The pair won the Society of Innovators competition and left with a cash prize to continue their product evolution. They have two main reasons for making their product.
“At a professional level, musicians have to spend money hiring someone to turn the pages for them,” Walker said. “We enable all musicians to have their own onhand page turner for much cheaper, for a longer period of time. There are many people with accessibility issues bigger than just disabilities such as a lack of feeling in a person’s hands or motor difficulties. An automatic page turner is critical to ensure that everyone can read, cook, or play music without having to worry about whether they can manage physically.”
Their ultimate goal is to establish Flip-E as a staple in music aide, as well as promote music education, which they are both passionate about.
“I have fond memories of sitting down at the piano. As I played songs, all of the negative emotions I was feeling would just be whisked away and I put my heart on the keys,” Walker said. “I think music serves as a similar tool to many others. It is something that is incredibly important to protect and promote in schools.”