ISSUE ONE VOLUME 53
CRIER
8808 Columbia Ave. Munster, IN 46321
Continuing the Cycle
August 23, 2019
KEEPING OUT The Fieldhouse has been closed due to the floor needing to set after renovation.. Gym classes and practices have been forced to find space elsewhere. “(The Fieldhouse) will be accessible by the end of the month,” Mr. Mike Wells, Principal, said.
(Starting at top, and going clockwise) FLORAL FUN Flowers were put in the newly painted front of the school. PHONE IN Mrs. Ally Novotney, attendance secretary, answers the phone at her new desk in the Main Office. ROLL STANGS A mustang wall decoration before it was hung up in the Main Office. A FRESH COAT The media center’s windows and roofs were painted red over the summer. POINTING TOWARD THE FUTURE Mr. Mike Wells, Principal, directs construction workers in the main office. HANGING OUT Students wait outside after school at the main entrance. photos and graphic by Charlie Hofferth and Robert Young
The school continues using Referendum funds to make improvements Alexis Lindenmayer Editor-in-Chief
Last week, students returned to school to find it looking a little different than it did in the Spring. Just like last year, various renovations and changes were made over the summer in order to improve school safety and unify the school under a Mustang aesthetic.
Attendance
After getting called down to Attendance, students were probably surprised to learn that the office is no longer located in Student Services. Mrs. Ally Novotney, attendance secretary, now has a desk in the main office. “It makes so much sense to move attendance to the main office,” Mrs. Novotney said. “There are over 1,500 students at Munster High School and this way I see them arrive and leave from the main office.” Along with the relocation, the school is saving trees as tardy passes are no longer being written for students who come in late in the mornings. They will simply sign in at attendance, and head straight to class. If a student is more than five minutes late, it is counted as an unexcused absence. “It really took up a lot of time as far as writing all these passes if you have 50 kids and they get there within five minutes anyway,” Mr. Brian Clark, Assistant Principal and now in charge of Student Services, said. “It doesn’t matter if they have a tardy as an excuse, so it really doesn’t matter if they have that pass or not.”
Fieldhouse
The once crowded Fieldhouse now sits empty after a summer’s worth of renovations. There are now
seven total locker rooms, new floors and additional lines on the courts for an added badminton unit in gym classes. The red banners are also coming down to soon be replaced with pennants that will go on the walls instead. State runner-up banners and state championship banners will stay up. The closed Fieldhouse has caused hassles for gym classes and fall sports since no one is allowed to enter the locker rooms or walk on the gym floor. Gym teachers are forced to find different activities that don’t involve a gym or changing into gym uniforms. “We’ve been doing a lot of low impact activities such as walking the track and team building,” Ms. Charity Schmidt, physical education teacher, said. “Walking the track does get old because you are still sweating in the clothes you wore to school, which is not ideal.” Along with gym classes, sports are also feeling the effect of no access to a gym. Volleyball normally plays on the Fieldhouse courts, but they have been relocated to the Wilbur Wright gym for the time being for their practices and upcoming games. According to Mr. Mike Wells, principal, the gym floor will be ready for Homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 7. However, the pep rally will have to be outside due to the concern of scratching the floor with the heavy bleachers.
Construction
The most defining renovation done this summer is the bright red paint that now coats the schools’ exterior and parts of the south pod’s door frames and trim. While the outside may not be completed now, painters are currently working on covering up all the old burgundy paint. According to Mr. Wells, the out-
side painting should be done in the next three weeks. Less noticeable changes were also made this summer like roofing and air conditioning. “(Roofing) is something that they spent a lot of time working on,” Mr. Robert Snyder, Assistant Principal, said. “There are all these units that are up in the ceiling that help to deliver the air conditioning and heating. They replaced 100 of them or something like that. They had a whole pallet of them, so that’s not something that you guys necessarily look down a hallway and see.” Mr. Wells explains that this is far from being the end of renovations and improvements. “The south part of the building, where S115 and S117 are, they’re painting those walls and they painted all the world language (hallways) within the last week,” Mr. Wells said. “They’re finishing up all the painting in the south part and then they’ll be working their way north as the months progress.”
A NEW LOOK The athletic complex is being named after John Friend, former athletic director and hall of fame inductee. photo by Robert Young