What’s recently happened?
Recently at the Hammond Area Career Center (ACC), students and faculty are just coming back from the much-needed holiday break. For most of the students, this is just another spring semester, but for the seniors who attend, this is the beginning of the end of high school for them.
“It feels unreal that the second semester is already here,” said Christian Schoop, a senior in the construction program. “I have made so many new friends here, and I love doing construction, so I’m really going to miss this place.”
Most seniors feel this way and some of the teachers do as well about their capstone students.
“Seeing my first-year students turn into capstone students and just the level of maturity that they have has been amazing,” said Kristine Johnson, the dental instructor at the ACC. “The students who decided to come back and want to learn more about dentistry were really cool, and I am going to miss them once they leave.”
In addition, sophomore and junior students from Whiting High School, Munster High School, Griffith High School, Hammond Academy for Science and Technology (HAST), and others came to tour the ACC and the different programs it has. They have the chance to come to the ACC either as juniors or seniors if they are interested.
“Munster brought 80 students to come to tour the ACC, so it was pretty hectic,” said Matthew Kowalczyk, a member of the student advisory committee at the ACC.
What’s coming up?
Coming up at the ACC is its open house on January 22. This is an opportunity for students and their parents to learn more about the ACC and all of the different programs that are offered.
“The open house is a great way for the students that came and toured to bring their parents and see what exactly their kids are talking about,” said Amanda King, who is in charge of student acceptance and enrollment. “Parents get to see what kinds of things their kid will be doing when they say they aren’t at their sending school instead of worrying and thinking their child is skipping school.”
Programs also have SkillsUSA and Health Students of America (HOSA) Regional competitions coming up. SkillsUSA is a competition for students in areas such as welding, construction, media, and culinary to show off the things they have learned over the course of the year.
HOSA, on the other hand, gives students in the EMS and CNA programs where they showcase their skills and hopefully get the chance to compete at the state level down in Indianapolis later this semester.
“Having done Skills last year, the chance to go again and hopefully place higher than last year is definitely something I am looking forward to,” said Teagan Sullivan, a capstone student in the Radio/TV program at the ACC. “I did extemporaneous speaking last year, and I plan on doing it again so hopefully I can place higher than silver.”
Staff spotlight:
Kristine Johnson is the instructor of the dental program at the ACC. She has been teaching there for several years and loves every second of it.
“I absolutely love everything about the dental profession. I was a dental assistant before I became a teacher, so I have been in the dentistry profession for a total of 33 years and it has been nothing but amazing,” Johnson said.
She says that her favorite thing about being a teacher is when she sees students light up when they finally understand a new or complex lesson.
“I love when my students are doing something or I’m explaining something to them and it clicks, that is such an amazing feeling and it makes me feel good as a teacher. I also love when my students send cards or little messages to me and keep me updated with things in their lives, it feels good that I taught them things they take with them for a lifetime. I think as a teacher, anytime you get to make a lasting impact on a student, much less a group of students, it feels amazing,” she said.
Outside of school and in her free time, Johnson spends time with family as well as reading and riding her bike when it is nice outside.
“I love spending time with my kids and grandkids. I live across the street from my son, so I spend a lot of time with him and my grandkids. I also enjoy reading almost any kind of book – it lets my mind run and keeps it busy which is sometimes very needed. In summer and spring, I enjoy riding my bike around the neighborhood and just being outside and getting some fresh air. Staying active is also important to me. Eating healthy is important, too, so that I can keep my teeth clean,” she said.
Student spotlight:
Lila Garcia is a student in the dental program at the ACC and a junior at Whiting High School. Dental is one of the moderately popular programs and gets a lot of students year in and year out.
“I was interested in the dental program because dentistry is always something that I have wanted to learn more about and been passionate about so when I saw the dental program, I signed up almost immediately,” Garcia said. “I really just find the entire thing fascinating. All the different teeth, how to clean them, do fillings, and keep your mouth healthy – all of it is just really really interesting. I love Ms. Johnson. She is an amazing teacher and she makes the program fun to do and makes it interactive instead of lecturing, and I can definitely see this as something I do later down the road.”
Outside of school, Garcia enjoys listening to music and drawing different things as well as hanging out with her friends.
“I really enjoy listening to any kind of alternative music and drawing, sometimes at the same time depending on the day and what else is going on,” she said. “I also enjoy hanging out with my friends and listening to music with them.”
She also says that anybody who is even remotely interested in the program should come check it out and give it a try; it’s more fun than you might think.