The recent school board meeting on Dec. 9 was a packed room filled with Spell Bowl members, athletes, National Merit Scholarship winners and participants in the Veterans Day committee. This event was held to recognize the amazing accomplishments of our district’s schools and students.
“It really takes a village to make a program this big so wonderful and meaningful. This year we applied for an award through the Indiana Department of Education, and it’s called the Purple Star Award. The Purple Star award is where a school has to meet certain criteria. They don’t just give it out for any old reason,” Mrs. Erin Novak (Principal) said.
Another group of people were celebrated, but this time for an academic reason. Prostman, Bibich and Watson placed in the top ten for the state Spell Bowl competition.
“We have some exciting news. On Nov. 18, Bibich won first place in the yellow division and third place in the state by correctly spelling 40 words. We had several nearly perfect rounds. We’re so proud of the hard work and many hours of studying put in by the parents and students. Thank you so much,” Mrs. Alison Petralia (Bibich Principal) said.
Next, varsity girls golf was recognized for their successful season.
“This season we went 17-0, so we marked an undefeated nine-hole match season. The girls won all three invites: the LC Invite, the Culver Invite, and the DAC Championship, which we actually won by 49 strokes. That helped us win the DAC outright. We also won sectionals, and then the girls won regionals for the third time in school history. Lastly, we advanced to state finals where we finished 15th. In the beginning of the year we were unranked, so to finish 15th was a pretty good accomplishment,” Mr. Andy Gurnak (Head Coach) said.
Girls cross country was also mentioned at the school board meeting.
“This season was a very special one. The team was the fastest team in school history with an average of 18:18 minutes at the state meet. Our varsity girls won every single regular season meet. They were DAC champions and were led by Macey Thompson (10), who was the individual champion. That was the first time in school history that LCXC has won the team and individual title. They went on to the state meet where they placed third overall. Macey [Thompson], Lana [Bruggeman (9)] and Chole [Neal (10)] placed in the top 25 making them a part of the All-State team,” Mrs. Morgan Garton (Head Coach) said.
In addition, boys cross country also had many achievements discussed during the meeting.
“These young men did not win a single cross country meet until they pulled off something we’ve never done at Lake Central in 22 years. We have never won the Duneland Athletic Conference, and these guys pulled it off at the end and really did a fantastic job. We were sectional champions for four straight years; five times in the last six years. They qualified for state where they ended up finishing 19th which was about three places higher than we were supposed to be. Though these young men are talented on the cross country course, we are even more proud of their academics. We had four men who were named IAT CCC Academic All State honorable mentions. That’s Owen Thompson [(12)], Owen Golder [(12)], Brandon Andree [(12)] and Dominic Negrete [(12)]. We had two young men who were named First Team Academic All-State. That was Kristofer Gardner [(12)] and Evan Smith [(12)],” Alex Thompson (Head Coach) said.
National Merit scholars were also recognized at the meeting.
“It is neat to see the elementary students winning the Spell Bowl and being recognized for their work because those students ultimately end up here. Those Spell Bowl champions are probably going to be in our National Merit pile of students to recognize someday, so it’s really nice to see the younger kids as well. National Merit commended students scored highly on the 2023 PSAT test placing them within the top 2-3% of test takers nationwide. They did not move on to the semi-finalist round but ultimately, being in the top two percent of all nationwide test takers is definitely something to be extremely proud of, and we are very proud of them,” Mrs. Novak said.
Lastly, students were acknowledged through the College Board National Recognition.
“The students in the following categories are eligible for this award: If you’re a first generation college student, meaning your parents did not attend college, African-American, Hispanic, Latino, Indigenous or Native, and/or attend a school in a rural area or small town. If those students scored in the top 10% of test takers from their award program in Indiana, earned a three or higher on two or more AP exams in 9th or 10th grade and earned an accumulative GPA of a B+ or higher, then they are eligible for this award. I have a very thick folder here, so again we are extremely proud of these students for their achievements,” Mrs. Novak said.
