GreatNews.Life Student Voices: Whiting High School Auditorium is Back this January!

What’s recently happened?

For the past 20 years, the Whiting High School (WHS) Science Olympiad team has hosted its own invite to compete against other schools. On December 6, 2025, the Science Olympiad team hosted its last-ever invite. Each year, the invitation receives numerous compliments about its quality, but now, coaches are ready for students to put more focus on other invitations.

 “I have been involved in running the Whiting Invitational for 20 years. We have gotten lots of compliments from the other schools for years about the quality of our invite. It has been fun, but also a lot of work. There are quite a few schools that now run invitationals, and I have gotten to the point that I would like to concentrate on coaching the team and going to other invites instead of always worrying about running our own,” said Coach Jeremy Long.

When Whiting wanted to host its first invite, not many schools in Northwest Indiana were hosting. By hosting, this gave the team more opportunities to compete before regionals and state. 

The news of the last invite was shocking to many former and current members. Many schools have been coming to this invite since it started, and it’s weird to think they won’t be coming back. To others, they felt it was important that the team hosted. 

“I believe it was important for the team to host an invite not only for morale, but to allow Whiting’s team, and all teams, to understand their current standing in relation to other teams. It creates a closer bonding experience for all students involved. I hope the Whiting Science Olympiad continues its family-like essence and continues to pursue a love of science,” said Esmeeralda Garcia, 2023 Science Olympiad alumni.

“I personally enjoyed the fact that it was at home, and we were running it from our own building. I loved watching kids from other schools play ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’ to pass the time while waiting for awards. Allowing us to host also showed us, as a team, a better view on how things would run, and was a unique experience which I believe many of us enjoyed,” said Emmanuel Flores, 2025 Science Olympiad alumni.

Members of the team who will be here next year are going to need time to get used to not seeing it on the schedule next year. The invite signals the start of the season, but it’s understood why this is the last one. 

“I’m really sad about not getting to have a Whiting invite next year because it feels like a tradition, but I understand it’s a lot for Mr. Long to put together,” said Junior Finn Monroe. 

The team here at Whiting has had a lot of success in the past, even going all the way to Nationals in 2015. The team’s long-awaited triumph stems from extensive work that began in September. Thanks to the help of coaches Jeremy Long, Science Olympiad alumnus Hector Cossyleon, and Hunter Priesol, the team has no doubts about reaching state again this year. 

“I first started as a coach for the Whiting Science Olympiad team back in 1998. We didn’t understand what it took to be successful in those early years, but by 2003 our team made it to state for the first time, and we have never looked back,” said Long. 

What’s coming up? 

The auditorium is getting ready to reopen. After two years of construction, the auditorium will be ready for students to be welcomed back in January 2026. 

After much pushback with construction, this is something everyone has been waiting for. Students are ready for extracurricular activities to come back in full capacity. Areas like the Music and Theater department are probably the most excited for this reopening. The band and choir can resume concerts in the auditorium, rather than the gym, and the theater department can prepare for a spring play. 

“I can’t wait for the auditorium to come back, as a theater department member. We have been working so hard to get the program back to what it used to be, but there is only so much you can do in a classroom. I believe that once we get the auditorium back, we’ll have all the room we need to bring back great shows,” said senior Ling Nhol. 

The elementary students already got a preview of what the new stage looked like this past week as they watched a Christmas movie before going on break. This is just one example of the activities that can return, and students and staff can’t wait to see it all come together. 

Staff Spotlight:

Brian Popiela is an English teacher at WHS. He teaches English 9 and Dual Credit English 104. He is also the class of 2028 sponsor. He has been teaching English for 23 years, and this is his fourth year at Whiting. 

While he doesn’t have a favorite class to teach, he likes the fact that all students taking honors courses start and end with him. 

After graduating from Lake Central High School, he attended Ball State University, getting his Bachelor’s degree in English Education. Later, he also got his master’s degree from Morehead State University. After teaching at another school for over 20 years, he says he likes the familiarity at WHS. 

“Having gone to college for a short time at Calumet College (CCSJ) I was familiar with the city.  The students take it for granted, but I like the small community here,” said Popiela. 

When first going to college, he was working to become a philosophy major. However, in his first year at CCSJ, his English composition instructor saw something else in him and asked if he ever thought about going into English. It was not at all what he ever saw himself doing, but now he loves what he does. 

Popiela encourages new ideas. That is the one thing he always tries to inspire in his students. 

“Don’t be afraid to be creative. There’s a lot of concern with college and career readiness in education, but we can’t forget that we can add something new, original, or beautiful to the world,” Popiela said. 

Student Spotlight:

Ling Nhol is a senior at WHS and has been attending since Pre-K. Nhol is a member of the Spanish Club, Tattler, and co-editor of the Reflector. 

Nhol’s goal this year is to create lots of memories with friends to appreciate years down the road. He aspires to get into college and pursue the degree he wants. 

He is a member of the Student Council, Tattler, Reflector, Art Club, and Spanish Club. His favorite extracurricular is the Tattler because of all the new things he’s learned. 

“I was a part of the Tattler my first two years of high school, but didn’t rejoin last year. I’m so glad I did this year because I got to do so much more this time around. I like talking to people and reviewing movies with my friends for articles. Most of all, I love getting to make all the art for the paper that I do,” Nhol said.

Ling is currently thinking about pursuing Marine Biology or Art in college. He loves sea life, but keeps his passion for art close to him. He is currently unsure where he will be going for college, but can’t wait to see where life takes him.