GreatNews.Life Student Voices: Valparaiso High School participates in end-of-year activities

What’s recently happened?

Spring is a busy time for students and staff at Valparaiso High School (VHS). On the nights of April 9-10, the 19 students in Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) art classes showed off their work at the annual AP/IB Art Show.

“I thought it was cool to see everyone’s different themes. It was impressive that everyone could come up with their own idea and make so much art about it,” Junior Ashley Wieser said.

On April 21, VHS’s Academic Super Bowl (ASB) teams faced off against schools around the Region at their area meet at River Forest Middle School. Social Studies, English, Science and Math got first in their class, and Fine Arts got second in their class. Sadly, none of the teams had a high enough qualifying score for State.

Starting off the month of May, the Student Council presented VHS’s annual Mr. VHS Show, which is a “Mock Beauty Pageant” for participating senior boys. This year’s contestants were Seniors Julian Campos, Daniel Nathan, Maximilian Wojciechowski, Eli Shelton, Andrew Harris, Evan Snyder, Timothy Klimek, Vincent Fraley, and Colin Welch. Each contestant answered questions about why they should be Mr. VHS, performed a talent act, and dressed up for the formal wear section. At the end of the night, Evan Snyder was crowned 2026’s Mr. VHS.

A few days later, on May 4, VHS hosted the 3rd Annual Valparaiso Community Schools (VCS) Future Educators Signing, which honored seniors Lydia Becker, Haley Campbell, Reese Cardwell, Owen Chaddock, Cadynce Clark, Ashley Jenkins, Myliyah Klimczyk, Khloe Kontos, Ava Moe, Lilah Owney, Bryston Pemberton, and Lailah Wheaton, who plan to pursue a career in education after high school.

“There’s such a magic to being able to teach the next generation,” Senior Bryston Pemberton said. “Going into music, you’re teaching the next generation of musicians and that is so unique. It was nice to be appreciated at the signing and cool to see the other people going into education.”

What’s coming up?

As the school year wraps up, many students and staff start to look forward to summer activities, but even so, the final hurdles of AP tests and finals are still coming up. AP testing at VHS happens in a two-week window, with roughly two exams per day. This year, testing started May 4, and will go until May 15. Tests still to come include classes like Calculus AB and BC, English Language and Composition, and Environmental Science.

After AP testing finishes, students will begin studying and preparing for their finals, which are generally on the second-to-last and last weeks of school. Finals account for 20% of a student’s class grades for the semester, which makes it a stressful time for some. For seniors, though, finals don’t have to be as stressful with senior exemption. If a senior has a certain attendance record and grade in a class, then they can be exempt from taking their semester two finals in the classes where they qualify.

After this, VHS’s annual Boat Regatta will take place in the school’s pool on May 19, after homeroom. During the Boat Regatta, students from VHS’s engineering classes team up and build boats to race. The boats, each of which have their own theme (some old themes include a banana boat, and a safari-themed boat) race to the end of the pool and back, though most of the boats end up sinking in the pool.

After finals, the last day of school, May 28, quickly approaches. Many end-of year traditions will take place: seniors will attend Senior Breakfast, and then Senior Superlatives for the year will be announced in the auditorium. After these events, students will be let out for summer break.

Staff spotlight:

Social Studies teacher Amy Sorrick has been part of the community of Valparaiso for many years. As a Valpo native, Sorrick herself attended VHS, where she now teaches classes like U.S. History, AP U.S. History (APUSH), and Sociology.

Sorrick credits many of her teachers in the Valparaiso Community Schools (VCS) system for inspiring her to make a job out of her love of teaching.

“My German teacher was probably one of the biggest reasons,” Sorrick said. “She seemed to really enjoy the subject, but also enjoyed the kids, too. I loved the teachers that really enjoyed what they taught.”

In terms of gravitating to the subject of social studies, Sorrick explained that she had always had a curiosity in history.

“I think it’s fascinating,” Sorrick said. “I always try to tell students who think they don’t like history, that they do. They just don’t know it, because history is a lot about learning specifics, but it’s also about stories and people like stories.”

Because Sorrick teaches both history and sociology classes, she offers a unique perspective to the students she has in each class.

“A lot of times in sociology, I will reference things I teach in history,” Sorrick said. “A lot of the students I have in both classes, and I’ll remind them of the things that brought about change in history. When you start examining things, you have to understand how we got here and exist the way that we do.”

In addition to teaching, Sorrick was also involved with VHS’s Hope Club for five years, and just finished her second year coaching the Social Studies team of VHS’s ASB.

As the year wraps up, Sorrick hopes that students at VHS will remember to take advantage of the opportunities that they have.

“Remember to laugh, because life is stressful,” she added. “Have an appreciation for others. Everyone has their own direction, so our paths might look different, but everyone has similar stresses. Life can be hard, so appreciate the small things.”

Student spotlight:

Junior Laura Blanco Rocamonde is one of the many foreign exchange students that have studied at VHS throughout the years. Blanco Rocamonde, who has been at VHS since the beginning of this school year, is from the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia, which is in the Northwest of Spain, above Portugal.

“I wanted to participate in a foreign exchange program because when I was very little I saw all the American movies,” Blanco Rocamonde said. “I always told my mom that I wanted to be in the school there, and I always loved English and learning new cultures. I really love to travel and I think doing this can help you to understand that your culture is not the only one or the best.”

For Blanco Rocamonde, high school in America had some pretty big differences from her school back in Spain.

“At first it was a little difficult because it’s hard to change your first language,” Blanco Rocamonde said. “My least favorite thing is the mealtime because in Spain we have lunch at 2-3 p.m. and we have dinner at 9:30-10 p.m. In my school in Spain we stay in the same class with the same people all morning. But my favorite thing here is the lack of pressure with the exams because in Spain, the exams are harder than here.”

Blanco Rocamonde’s favorite class here at VHS is Child Development.

“In Spain, we don’t have those types of classes,” she said.

As Blanco Rocamonde’s school year in the US wraps up, she reflects on the experience.

“I’m so happy to have the opportunity to live my dream and I’m so sad that this adventure is coming to its end.”

After completing her education in Spain, Blanco Rocamonde wants to go to college to be a teacher, or focus on tourism and foreign languages.