GreatNews.Life Student Voices: Lake Central takes the pilot’s seat and dives into new holiday tradition

What’s Recently Happened?

On December 11, Lake Central High School’s Choir hosted their annual holiday concert starting at 6:30 p.m. with ticket prices starting at $5. The theater was filled with jolly tunes ranging from “A Bit of Holiday Cheer” sung by the choir to “Winter Wonderland” performed by the Handbell Choir. Many seniors participated in the event, which would be their last holiday concert in high school.

“My favorite parts of each choir concert are the small conversations you have backstage throughout the performances or the quick changes. The whispers and laughter are something I’ll never forget. As a senior and as these concerts go on, it definitely makes me sad because it is such a big part of my life ,which is coming to an end soon, so it’s bittersweet,” Senior Ashleigh Carroll said.  

Another festive event that the choir participates in every year is Christmas caroling at surrounding nursing homes in the area. There are a total of three show choirs at the high school that are scheduled to take part in the singing called Trebelaires, Counterpoints, and Da Capo. 

“I really love getting to sing with my friends, and also getting to sing for people. It’s so nice getting to put a smile on their faces during the holidays. I will definitely do it next year since the event was super exciting, and I made a ton of memories,” Senior Aila Drude said. 

What’s Coming Up?

During winter break, Lake Central art students are going to be featured in the Regional Student Showcase on December 20. This event is sponsored by the Promise You Art House located in Highland and starts at 1 p.m. and goes until 4 p.m. Other high schools such as Hammond Central, Morton, and Highland will also be joining in the event. 

“For the art fair, my teacher picked one of my pieces which was called ‘Cake Walk’ and featured a bunch of vintage cakes because I’ve been obsessed with them for a while now. I normally get inspiration from Pinterest just because it’s really easy to look on there. I’ve also been drawing forever,” senior Isabelle Barnard said. 

In addition to being displayed, the students’ art work and sculptures will also be for sale. To be chosen for this official event takes a lot of effort for art students. Barnard has learned various lessons throughout the years that have helped her become a stronger artist. In fact, this is her first year participating in the event. 

“My biggest advice is to work quickly while the paint is still wet. After that, you have to work on the finer details while it dries,” Barnard said. 

Staff Spotlight:

Lining the central hallway at Lake Central, called Main Street, are decorative trees representing several after-school clubs. Starting off this new holiday custom this year at the high school is art teacher Sara Sjoquist, alongside the Bible Club. 

The club sponsor and member came up with this idea during a meeting in November, and soon after, all the club sponsors in the building were notified of the event. Each club had the option to pay $45 for a tree to decorate with what they felt represented the club best for the 2025-2026 academic year. From that sum of money, $25 went towards purchasing the actual tree, while the rest went to charity. 

“We’re raising money for the Child Evangelist Fellowship. All the little signs above the trees have a QR code on them. You can scan the QR code and see the organization. What they do is they have good news clubs, which is like in public schools. It’s after-school programming, and then they teach kids Bible stories and all about Jesus. They also have fun games. Our funding is going to go to their programming, and they bring snacks to the schools as well,” Sjoquist said. 

This was only Sjoquist’s first year taking over the club, and the group was able to raise $340 dollars with 17 clubs participating. 

“This was a good way to advertise what people are doing in the clubs. It also helps get everybody to believe we’re in on this together. We’re doing this fundraiser as one. It’s just cool to hear everybody getting excited and pumped about it. We are all collectively participating. We’ve never had this kind of event. It just finally feels very festive,” Sjoquist said. 

Student Spotlight:

For the last several months, senior Genevieve Cosgrove has been working on getting her pilot’s license at only 17 years old. Growing up, she always knew she wanted to have some kind of career in flight, and eventually landed on piloting. 

“The reason that I wanted to get my piloting license is because ultimately my goal is to fly commercially. I know I’m going to pursue this as a career. There are a lot of steps in the process of getting it. Overall, it shouldn’t be that bad, especially with my current plans. In order to get to the commercial pilot rating, you have to get a private pilot license, which is the first step. Then, you have to get an instructor’s license and work your way up to commercial. You also have to get so many hours for each license,” Cosgrove said. 

She plans on attending college for this career and is already attending ground school night classes at Griffith Aviation. 

“Right now, I’m looking at Lewis University. I just got accepted there. I’m also looking at Indiana State and Purdue University. I got accepted to Indiana State as well. In grounding school, I am very close to officially getting the private flying license. There are just a couple of steps I have to complete before I take the test,” Cosgrove said. 

Since this career path is such an important responsibility, there are challenges Cosgrove has faced along the way too.

“The biggest challenge that I have is probably going to night school because it is from 6-9 p.m. After already being in regular school, I’m kind of drained, but I have to lock in and focus. Learning new material is tough, and it’s not because it is hard material. It’s just that there are all different kinds of terms that instructors use. Applying the terms isn’t as bad, though,” Cosgrove said. 

Even with these struggles, Cosgrove still plans on pursuing her career and has several goals she would like to reach someday. 

“Ultimately, I want to be a commercial pilot and work for an airline. Then, in the future, I would like to be a flight instructor. That way I will have more time on my hands later on in life,” Cosgrove said.