Out of all the applicants in the Indiana High School Architectural Design Competition, 100 were chosen as finalists. Twenty-six of these finalists are from Lake Central. On May 3, at the Indianapolis Artsgarden, these 26 finalists’ drafting projects were displayed for the public to see.

“We had to create a campsite that was located in a wooded area. The campsite had to include a cell tower and a fascinating landmark to make the site memorable,” Nicholas Grimmer (10) said.

Every entrant had the same guidelines. Once all the projects were on display, the judges browsed the entries and chose the winners.

“The judges are the deans of the architectural programs at Notre Dame and Ball State. The dean of Notre Dame told me that Lake Central is the architect prep school of Indiana,” Mr. Garrett Gray, Vocational, said.

Before the winners were announced, there was a keystone presentation to see two architects do the same project on the spot.

“There was a new idea they tried out this year. There were two architects that designed the site during the presentation. It was different, and like nothing I had seen before. It was a good lesson for us young architects,” Austin Praski (10) said.

The final minutes of the presentation were approaching and the contestants’ nerves were at an all time high. With three Awards of Excellence on the table, Joseph Dorsch’s name was called.

“My students work hard, and all of the winners deserved it,” Gray said.

Although everyone was not able to win a prize, this competition still motivated the participants.

“[The presentation] was an all around great experience. It has inspired me to go into the architectural field in college.” Liam Norris (11) said.