What's recently happened?
Munster High School (MHS) has completed its first month back. In the first month, there have been activities to help freshmen adjust to MHS culture. On Aug. 21, MHS held a club fest in the field house where freshmen were able to walk around and visit club booths, learning about all the MHS clubs and how they can join them.
“It helps them because it informs them of the opportunities we have,” Greg Ramos, senior and Link Crew member, said. “I had no idea about anything freshman year and I know I would have loved the club fair.”
Along with the club fest, MHS also had an Open House for parents to walk through their child’s schedule and speak with the teachers, as well as learn about the courses their kids are taking.
Lastly, MHS held a college fair for juniors and seniors in the field house on Tuesday, Sept. 3. At this event students were able to visit different colleges’ booths and get information about the school and their admissions process.
What’s coming up?
Homecoming Court has been announced in preparation for the Homecoming dance which will be held on Sept. 21. The court consists of six senior girls: Ava Adam, Maddy Clousing, Nina Garner, Suvali Giridharan, Diya Patel, and Kiersten Sangueza.
“When I was called down to Student Services I thought I was in trouble,” Sangueza said. “I kept thinking about anything I could be in trouble for. Walking into the office and seeing my friends there also made me even more ecstatic to share this experience with them.”
Student Services called down the girls to the office at the beginning of the day in order to get their permission to be on the court, but Clousing had a different experience.
“I was at home the day they announced it, so I was definitely caught off guard when my dad handed me the phone and told me the school needed to speak to me,” Clousing said.
Homecoming Court is a long running tradition at MHS so the student body always knows when to anticipate the list being released.
“It was never a deliberate goal of mine, but as I got closer to senior year, being nominated on the Homecoming Court was definitely something I respected,” Adam said. “Looking back to elementary school, I always looked up to the girls I saw in the parade, and someday, I hoped that it would be me.”
Students not only look forward to the Homecoming Dance but also to Homecoming Spirit Week dress up days and the activities during it like the ‘80s workout day for seniors and the Pep Rally at the end of the week.
“I’m most excited for random costume day because it’s like a pre-Halloween, and 80’s workout day because of our school’s morning workout tradition,” Sangueza said.
Along with school events like Spirit Week, peers get together outside of school at the football game, to get ready for the dance, and for pre-dance pictures.
“I love getting ready for events,” Clousing said. “Getting together at someone’s house while listening to music and getting ready together is always something I look forward to.”
As well as the basic Homecoming Week activities, the court members get a few extra activities to look forward to. The court members get to be in the pep rally, parade, and present on the field when the queen is announced during halftime at the Homecoming football game.
“I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t excited to be in the parade,” Adam said.” “However, I am truly most excited about spending more time with my friends—the other girls on court and my escort, Greg. I hope that this experience will become one of my most cherished high school memories.”
Staff spotlight:
MHS’s publications have kicked off the new school year with new Advisor Alexandra Sulewski.
“The transition to being in the classroom felt pretty smooth to me because I went from student-teaching to lesson planning things over the summer and then coming here,” Sulewski said. “I think getting the lay of the land, knowing where everything is, and who to ask questions were the tricky parts, but overall people are very welcoming and helpful here.”
Sulewski is a recent graduate of Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) and a former Crown Point High School (CPHS) journalist. She also student-taught at CPHS.
“I got into journalism when I was on my high school newspaper staff,” Sulewski said. “I joined because I thought that I wanted to be an author. I always really liked writing, but the idea of being a journalist was not something that had even crossed my mind until I took my first journalism class as a freshman in high school.”
Being in the school newspaper and touring IUB’s media school swayed her onto the journalism side of writing.
“My freshman year I started during COVID, so I had a lot of time to sit and think about what it is that I wanted to do with journalism,” Sulewski said. “I thought the best role for me to support journalism and to still be involved would be on the side of education because it was really important to me to get people to consider that as a field and give them opportunities to be a part of something that was so influential in my life.”
Student spotlight:
Last school year at the publications end of year banquet, Emily Dywan, senior, was announced as the “Crier’s” new editor-in-chief for the 2024-2025 school year. Dywan is the publication's current longest writer on staff.
“I joined the ‘Crier’ in the middle of my sophomore year,” Dywan said. “I hated to feel like an acolyte who just followed a club protocol without any say in what I wanted to do. My friend Sydney joined ‘Crier’ a semester before I did and she spoke so well about the team that I was convinced to join by that same winter.”
The former publications advisor, Sarah-Anne Lanman, had announced that she was leaving earlier on in the semester.
“When I was announced editor-in-chief last year, there was an edge of unease beyond my initial excitement,” Dywan said. “With Ms. Lanman announcing her resignation only weeks before, and our fellow publication, ‘Paragon,’ down to a staff of three members for the 2024-2025 year, I felt we were all headed directly into uncharted waters.”
Dywan also said that her mother has helped get her to where she is today.
“My mom is the heart of every single thing I do,” Dywan said. “She’s the origin of my creativity and the ever-constant presence reminding me that my voice matters. Everything I publish and put out into the world is a reflection of the love she’s passed on to me.”