GreatNews.Life Student Voices: Big Wins and Big Moves: Football, Early Grads, Cheer Coaching, and a Rising Swimmer

What’s recently happened?

The La Porte High School (LPHS) Football team made it to the Sectional Championship for the first time since 2014. 

Students were ecstatic to be able to see this year’s team be able to continue playing, and even more so with Michigan City, due to the longstanding Johnson Road Rivalry that has extended past football and into basketball. 

While the Slicers did not win, they put up a good fight, with the final score landing at 28-21. This game was a big step in a new direction for Slicer football, and both football players and students are excited to see the outlook for next season.

The callout for next season is Friday, November 21, in Shultze Hall at 10:35 a.m.

What’s coming up?

It is almost the time of the year where select seniors will be graduating to get a jump start on their careers, college, and more. LPHS has a plethora of early graduate students this year. Students graduating a semester early include Maria Ayala-Castro, Lillian Becker, Allie Binder, Jazlynne Burnett, Lucas DelRio, Clay Eldridge, Jenna Freel, Klarissa Hensley, Annabelle Hiser, Jaylee Jordan, Hunet Krout, Lyneiah Lovekin, Connor Magil, Sofia Martinez, Faith Maupin, Cameron McCarthy, Layla Parker, Spencer Purnell, Alyssa Solner, James Whitman, and Eyvette Yeaney. Students graduating a full year early include Scottie Byrd, Allison Little, Kaylynn Riley, Landon Sommerfeld, and Josie Whitfield.

Little will be going to college a full year early at Valparaiso University for clinical psychology, after graduating LPHS with academic honors. During this time, she will be saving money and gaining experience through internships.

“I’ve wanted to graduate early since eighth grade. I didn’t really have a reason other than it looked good on resumes. Looking back, early graduation has taught me a lot about work ethic and discipline. It’s a hard thing to do, especially if you go for academic honors too. Now I’m reaping the rewards of my hard work,” Little said.

Lillian Becker plans to go to Ball State University this upcoming school year for elementary education. In the meantime, she will be gaining teaching experience throughout the community.

“I’m super excited to graduate early so I can spend my free semester volunteering at the local elementary schools,” Becker said.

When graduating early, many sacrifices had to be made. This includes taking less elective classes and more online courses, not gaining as many cords or awards, and limited classes. However, these Slicers took on the challenge and are working towards a bright future.

Staff Spotlight:

Jennifer Goss is an LPHS administrator, career and technical education (CTE) teacher, and cheer coach, and she has created a lasting impact on her students.

Goss began working at LPHS in 2021, and in that time, she has worked with and started many programs such as the A.K. Smith Career Center and Slicer Squad, which allows certain high school students to be ambassadors for their extracurricular activities and bring positivity to the local elementary schools. 

“For the last few years, I’ve accompanied cheerleaders and football players to Crichfield for a special reading day. I can recall seeing elementary students in the stands at football and basketball games pointing out the high school that came to their school. I had a goal of building school spirit across the district using high school students in marching band, cheerleading and football to serve as positive role models. Each elementary school has their own Slicer Squad that shows up every home game Friday to greet and high-five students during morning drop off. They serve as positive role models and ambassadors of Slicer spirit,” Goss said.

Goss also brings about school spirit when she is coaching the LPHS Cheer Team. At each football game, basketball game, and pep rally, the team performs a new and unique routine to keep the energy flowing. Goss works hard to keep her athletes motivated and healthy. She coached for a couple of years in the early 2000s before moving to LPHS and becoming the assistant coach. This year, she is the head coach. 

“I try to keep a good balance of hard work and fun. I have high expectations of my athletes and those expectations are communicated and held up all year long. We communicate, we discuss things we can change, improve, and redo. We talk as a team about ways to make our routines better. Every cheerleader knows they can have the space and freedom to speak openly to better our team. I have the most amazing cheerleaders and liftmen, and I make sure they know how much they mean to me and the school as often as I can,” Goss said.

Goss has made an everlasting impact on LPHS with her positivity and her new ideas. The Slicer Squad has brought joy to all the elementary schools across La Porte, and she hopes to continue making LPHS a better place.

Student Spotlight:

James Quadlin is an LPHS sophomore who is excelling in nearly every aspect. Between academics, swimming, and music, he is working hard to achieve great things.

Quadlin has been swimming for five years, and his main events are the 100 breaststroke and 500 freestyle. So far, he has earned three medals at sectionals and has already qualified for State finals. Ever since he joined in sixth grade, he has been very passionate about the sport, and he hopes to continue into college. 

Outside of sports, Quadlin plays oboe, alto saxophone, and Bb clarinet. He has been pursuing music since he started middle school. His passion for music has only grown through the years, especially with his oboe. Last year, he played at Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) State Finals with a solo piece and was given a silver medal. This year, he is taking on another solo with the hopes of being state bound as well as performing for an ensemble. 

“I think college bands always play really fun and challenging music. Music has helped me through some of my toughest times. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of all of the other awesome things I do,” Quadlin said.

Even with the many things he does outside of school, he is currently taking many Advanced Placement (AP) classes, such as AP Seminar, AP Pre Calculus, and AP World History. His hope is to take as many AP classes as possible so he can become valedictorian. His determination to be valedictorian has kept him going through all of the difficult classes. He also tutors students in many of his classes to help himself and others.

“Since I only swim, I use my free time to help others in my classes. It makes me so happy when I see someone’s face light up when they finally understand a complex topic,” Quadlin said.

Quadlin is currently working on becoming lifeguard certified, along with the many other accomplishments he has received already. In the pool, on the stage, or in the classroom, he’s chasing the same thing: the feeling of giving everything he has. His goal is to continue doing so throughout high school.