There will be a community prayer service beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17, at the Wawasee High School Auditorium in response to the recent tragedies in the Syracuse school and community. The whole Wawasee community is invited to come together for the prayer service.

“We recognize this is a difficult and sorrowful time for us as a local community,” writes Dave Winters, associate pastor of Vineyard Community Church, Syracuse, and on behalf of the Syracuse/Wawasee Ministers Association. “The purpose of prayer is to draw close to God and by doing so gain new strength, hope, healing and peace.”

Pastors, teachers and students will lead various parts of the prayer service. Prayers will be offered together specifically for hope, renewal, expressing grief, peace, and casting cares upon Jesus using such Bible passages as Psalm 23, Psalm 42, Matthew 11:28-30, and John 14:27.

Prayers will be offered for all who grieve, and for students, and for school administrators and teachers. The prayer service is being sponsored and organized by the Syracuse-Wawasee Area Ministers Association.

Kaely Bame

Airman Kaely Bame, a 2012 graduate of Wawasee High School, graduated from Air Force Basic Training on Friday at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas.

Bame is the daughter of Ron and Alecia Bame of Pierceton and Tisha Bame, North Webster. Her grandparents are Ron and Judy Bame, Sue and Mike Moore, and Art Hewitt and Faith Neher.

Bame is now in Tech School in Wichita Falls, Texas. After Tech School, she hopes to be stationed overseas as a Crew Chief.

Wawasee High School will hold their first Pow Wow student activities night 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, March 15, at the school.

The Pow Wow, a carnival type event just for Wawasee High School students, will be filled with games and activities designed to interest many types of students. The event is being organized by student members of the Warrior Leadership Committee in an effort to raise funds for a needy purpose and to raise student spirit.

The Pow Wow will be held in various locations of the high school and the agriculture building. There will be contests and tournaments for students including dodgeball, 3/3 basketball, euchre, chess, karaoke, pit crew races, and duck calling. Other activities include board games, Dance-Dance Revolution, dunk tank, photo booth, hacky sack, ping pong and tug-o-war.

According to Steve Wiktorowki, co-sponsor of the committee, “We felt a need to try and help unite everyone and raise spirits in a positive way after a year that has seen trying times for our student body.  We wanted to do something a little different and so we decided to take the idea of school carnivals that are popular on the elementary and middle school levels and adapt it to a high school setting.  We have tried to offer something during the night that will appeal to almost every student and we hope to make this an annual event. Our students are excited. This service to our students fits well our mission for the Wawasee Leadership Committee which is to honor and serve those in need within our schools and community.”

WHS faculty and staff,  as well as Yearbook and Student Council, are creating and supervising the carnival events. School officials state that they are thrilled to have so many come together with the student body and donate their time to create this first ever event.

Pre-sale tickets will be sold at lunch during the week for $3, and admission at the door will be $5. Concessions will be sold in the cafeteria and will include carnival type food.

Any local person or business who would like to donate prizes or money should contact Steve Wiktorowski in the high school athletic office, or WHS Assistant Principal Mike Schmidt in the main office, at 574-457-3147.

April Slone of the Beaman Home in Warsaw spoke to a family and consumer sciences class of eighth-graders at Wawasee Middle School Thursday afternoon. She addressed the topic of teen dating violence. (Photo by Tim Ashley)

Eighth-graders, or more specifically middle school aged kids, are starting to consider and enter into stronger boy-girl relationships. Though far less common a generation or two ago, middle school students are involved in dating relationships in today’s world.

And with the increasing use of the Internet and cellphones to communicate, it can create numerous concerns about teen dating violence.

In an effort to help expose more middle school age students to healthy dating relationships, April Slone, outreach coordinator for the Beaman Home in Warsaw, spoke to eighth-graders in Darcy Hively’s family and consumer sciences classes Thursday and Friday at Wawasee Middle School. Beaman Home provides shelter and services for victims of domestic abuse.

As part of her role at the Beaman Home, Slone has spoken to middle school students in Warsaw schools and also at Milford Middle School earlier in the school year. “I want to give them warning signs (of teen dating violence) because they are starting to think about dating at this age,” Slone said before an approximately 30-minute presentation Thursday afternoon at WMS. “I want them to know these things before they get to high school.”

Slone used the example of Heather Norris, a student at Indiana University who was murdered by her boyfriend. “She grew up in Indiana, so it can happen in this state,” Slone said, though she noted murder is an extreme result of an unhealthy teen relationship and does not occur often.

Norris met her boyfriend while in high school and soon was subjected to emotional abuse. Strong in academics with many healthy friendships, she began to be cut off from those friendships because her boyfriend did not like her friends and wanted nothing to do with them. He also sat in the car and honked the horn instead of getting out and coming inside her house when picking her up for a date.

Eventually the emotional abuse escalated to physical abuse and he began to beat Norris, but she came back to him. Ultimately the worst possible result occurred in the form of murder.

Heather’s mother, Debbie Norris, lobbied for and was successful to have a state law passed, sometimes referred to as “Heather’s Law,” requiring the Indiana Department of Education to develop educational materials addressing teen dating violence. A couple of days before Slone’s visit to WMS, Hively noted Slone’s presentation fit in well with a class unit on communications, which involves goal setting and decision making.

Slone told the eighth-graders they should report noticeable changes they see in their friends to an adult. “You really don’t know everything, despite what you may think, and none of you has a degree in counseling yet,” Slone said. “It’s not up to you to fix the problem, but you need to tell an adult about it.”

Statistics for teen dating violence are sobering. One in three girls and one in five boys have experienced it. The boys numbers have doubled in this generation, Slone noted, and largely due to the Internet and text messaging.

“Girls will say things about their boyfriends on Facebook they would never say to their faces,” she said, and though it is on a computer or cellphone, it can still damage a person’s self-esteem.

She stressed Internet safety to the students, such as not “friending” people on Facebook they don’t know. And students should be careful what they post on their status updates because those are easily accessible. “You don’t need to tell everybody where you are going to be and when,” Slone said.

She also cautioned against giving Facebook passwords to anybody other than parents. Slone emphasized Facebook accounts, as well as cellphones, “can be used against you,” such as with posting inappropriate photos. Some will go to great lengths to make sure photos get in the hands of the wrong people in order to embarrass someone.

The eighth-graders were asked to fill out surveys after Slone’s presentation.

Wawasee High School’s theater department will be featuring “Thoroughly Modern Millie” beginning tomorrow.

The theatrical performance is a thrilling mix of music, dance and a hilarious plot. Set in the early 1920s in New York City, a young country girl arrives to strike it rich with her new ideas and disregard for love, but it seems that fate has other plans for her.

Filled with crazy characters and talented singers, this is a family friendly show that people of all ages will enjoy. So make it date night, family night, or just a night out with friends and come to see a production you won’t soon forget.

Show times are 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, March 21-23. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and children. Tickets are available at the door, by email egraceharden@gmail.com or by phone at 574-457-3147.

Shown with the diesel car Wawasee High School will be entering in the Super Mileage competition are, in front, from left: Andria Millberg, David Ryl-Kuchar, Randy Ricci, Austin Yoder, Tyler Morgan and Dylan Cousins. In the second row are Allen Coblentz (faculty advisor), Chase Corrigan, Ryan Schlipf, Nick Rozow, Donavan Navarro, Tristan Palmer, Doug Hapner, Brad Potulney, Austin Devalk and Kevin Carpenter. In the back row are Nathan Allen and Thomas Thystrup. Not pictured are Scott Sims and Spencer Gilbert. (Photo by Tim Ashley)

Wawasee High School will again enter the Shell Eco-marathon Super Mileage car competition in Houston, Texas. This year’s competition is April 4-8.

Wawasee will enter three cars — one each of diesel, electric and gas. The goal for the diesel car, which placed first last year, is to break 1,500 miles per gallon and take first place again.

The goal for the gas car is to break 1,800 miles per gallon and for the electric car is to break 300 kilometers per kilowatt hour.

Wawasee High School’s Key Club fared well in the Indiana District Convention held last weekend in Bloomington. The convention consisted of workshops and a guest speaker.

The club placed first in the video competition and will now compete at the international convention July 3-7 in Washington, D.C. Key Club also placed first in Single Service Award for its Stuff the Bus project. The club received honorable mention for Club Achievement and the Distinguished Faculty Advisor award.

Eventually fundraisers will be planned to raise funds for club members who wish to attend the international convention.

WHS Key Club members include Aaron Becker, Andrew Busse, Gabe Camarena, Jessica Camarena, Sara Christner, Brittany Eryman, Brooke Fick, Alyssa Ford, Kamryn Foy, Lexy Greene, Kyra Hackworth, Nick Hise, Riley Johnston, Ally Kuhn, Jordan Kuhn, Katie Kuhn, Brooke Miller, Patrick Navarro, Jon Ruiz, Abby Sommers and Kyle Weber.

In front, from left, are Autumn Yoder, Taylor Freel and Josh Webber. In the back row are Jerrica Bontrager, Meghan Fretz and Kyndall Fisher. (Photo by Tim Ashley)

On Thursday, Wawasee Middle School hosted the North East Lakes Middle School Conference Academic Super Bowl competition. WMS placed third overall out of eight schools.

The topic for this year’s competition was “The Glory that was Greece.” WMS will host the state Academic Super Bowl competition April 27. The social studies team, shown here, placed first at the conference competition.

In front, from left, are Jarrod Peace, Josh Webber and Autumn Yoder. In the back row are Luke Tyler, Tristin Beery, Conner Erlenwein and Meghan Fretz.
(Photo by Tim Ashley)

Wawasee Middle School’s Interdisciplinary Academic Super Bowl team placed first at the conference competition Thursday.

Kristi Harris, math teacher at Wawasee High School, has been selected to the 2013 LearnZillion Dream Team.

More than 3,000 teachers, instructional coaches and administrators from across the country applied and only 200 were chosen to the highly selective Dream Team. These teachers were chosen based on their understanding of the common core state standards and their ability to create high quality, highly conceptual lessons easily understood by students.

Harris will receive an all-expenses paid trip to San Francisco in May for TeachFest, through the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. TeachFest is an intensive professional development conference that kicks off the Dream Team experience.

Based on the “hack fest” model popularized by computer programmers who spend weekends coding and trading tips, teachers will spend three days at TeachFest working with common core experts, content specialists and other Dream Team teachers to better understand the new standards and the best ways to teach them. LearnZillion provides teachers with the technology and support they need to translate their classroom expertise into screencasts, a sophisticated but simple use of the computer screen for teaching.

After TeachFest, Dream Team teachers will capture their proven approaches and teaching methods to concise lessons that will then be made available for free to every student, teacher and parent through LearnZillion’s online platform at LearnZillion.com.

More than 100,000 teachers are registered for the free site as well as 1.5 million students. More than 400,000 teachers and students view LearnZillion lessons each month from hundreds of countries around the world. Throughout the process, Dream Team teachers are motivated by the concept of “scaling their impact” beyond the walls of their own classrooms and schools.

By sharing their lessons online, all students and teachers can benefit from the expertise of the Dream Team teachers.

LearnZillion was founded by former teachers Eric Westendorf and Alix Guerrier who met at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. For more information, visit www.LearnZillion.com.

(Photo by Fox News)

On Sunday, March 31, the unthinkable happened at the final game of the Midwest Regional Finals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Kevin Ware, a player for the Louisville Cardinals suffered an injury that officials report is both uncommon and unnerving in the sport of basketball.

As the 6-foot-2 basketball player proceeded across the court, he made a light jump that ended terribly wrong. Ware’s leg seemingly snapped in half as his leg fractured completely out of his skin. Though all hope seemed lost, one Warsaw native was there to help save the day.

Ralph Reiff, a Wawasee High School graduate and director of sports medicine at St. Vincent Hospital, was among the first on scene to assist the injured basketball star. He and his team of trainers and physicians were able to escort Ware to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis in approximately 30 minutes.

“By all accounts it went well,” said Reiff on his team’s instantaneous reaction to Ware’s injury. “In general terms, everything went according to plan and there were no flaws in the process. Sure there is always a certain amount of nit-picking about what you could have done, but we had an emergency response in place.

“As we go through setting up for the event, we develop a scope of care – who has what responsibility, where are we covering. Accidents that occur must have a process. The paramedics we have on staff communicate with staff, teams and other paramedics.”

Reiff, who volunteered to work on the medical team for the event, said he and his team had discussed the best responses to several emergency situations over the past four days. One major concern of the Lucas Oil Stadium is the elevated court, which makes an emergency entrance and exit slightly more difficult.

Though his success in assisting Ware seamlessly has brought Reiff’s name into the spotlight, this isn’t the first time Reiff has covered a major sporting event.

Reiff began his athletic training career at Butler University where he managed athlete health care, weight rooms and equipment for all sports, as well as worked as an assistant professor. Reiff has managed medical aspects of numerous NCAA events including Men’s Final Four Basketball Championships as serving as athletic manager for several Olympic and World Championship events.

Though Reiff has traveled around the world with his work, his interest for athletic training first began here in Kosciusko County. As a high school student, Reiff played numerous sports including baseball, basketball and football. In 1975, Reiff suffered a very serious knee injury that would forever change his life. According to him, it was after medical treatment for that injury that a medical professional caring for him first sparked his interest in his future career by suggesting it as a good fit for him.

When asked what suggestions he would have for high school students hoping to follow in his footsteps, Reiff said that after obtaining an athletic training degree, students should seek out volunteer positions for the events that spark their interest.

“I’ve done an awful lot of volunteer work outside of my job at Butler and St. Vincent. My biggest piece of advice is to volunteer,” he explained. “Find an organization to work for with access to the type of events that interest you. Event organizers are always looking for medical personnel. Indiana has great programs for athletic training. There is no lack of options here.”

Though his direct work with Kevin Ware came to a close on Sunday, Reiff said he plans to follow up on his condition through media releases from his team’s sports director and possibly more after the Final Four competition.

“The athletic trainer from Louisville did a great job caring for his team,” he added. “I will be following up through media releases through the sports director [on Ware's condition]. Once they are done with Final Four, I will follow up.”

Two sheds at the softball diamonds at Wawasee High School are gone and all of the contents destroyed after an accidental fire sparked by a lawn mower.

Turkey Creek Fire Territory was called to the fire at 3:43 p.m. Sunday. Fire chief Mickey Scott said the sheds were totally destroyed by the time firefighters arrived at the scene. There were two riding lawn mowers in the two sheds, which also contained softball equipment.

The fire started after an official had used one of the tractors to drag the softball field and placed it back into a shed.

The sheds were located near the diamonds, which are located on the far north side of the school property, south of the Syracuse-Milford Road.

According to an official with the high school athletic department, the buildings contained various items to take care of the ball fields – such as drags and rakes – as well as equipment for softball. All contents of the sheds belonged to Wawasee Community School Corporation.

The Wawasee Kiwanis had built the sheds but with the opening of the parks department new facility the Kiwanis left the buildings for the corporation’s use. School officials were making an inventory of items in the building this morning.

SYRACUSE — “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything,” Bill Ballenger said of young people today. “There just seems to be this grey area everyone operates in, where nothing really matters anymore.”

Break the Grey, Ballenger’s nonprofit faith-based organization, seeks to restore absolutes in the eyes of the youth. Ballenger, founder of Break the Grey, knows the trouble youth can get into when they live in a life where there are no absolutes. Originally from Franklin, Ind., Ballenger found himself in White’s Residential and Family Services in Wabash after getting into drugs and dealing and eventually running away from home.

A few years later, he and his new wife were arrested at home for his role in local violence and burglaries; their daughter was taken from them and they were sentenced to six years in the Indiana Department of Corrections. It was his first offense.

During his time in prison, Ballenger made a promise to himself and to God he would make a change in his life. He began Break the Grey as a pop rock band called Ballenger, recording music in 2001 and, in 2005, he started speaking at schools.

“Our organization is a faith-based organization, however, because we work within the public school systems, we can’t and we don’t bring any of our faith into it,” Ballenger said. “Even though we don’t share any of the biblical references in schools, they know something is different about us.”

Syracuse-Wawasee Ministerial Association has been working with Wawasee High School in the wake of the student tragedies around Kosciusko County.

Next week, Ballenger visits Milford Middle School students at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday. He’ll visit Wawasee Middle School at 2:20 p.m. the same day. On Thursday, April 11, Break the Grey will have a school assembly at Wawasee High School at 8:15 a.m. to present his message to more students lost like he was.

“Can you imagine trying to focus nowadays in school? There’s so many different things going on in your life and if home is terrible, school’s going to suck for you,” Ballenger said. “We try to really focus on what they could be, not all their mistakes. We’re here to talk about it and get it out on the table, the issues we’re dealing with as teenagers.”

“We’ve got to do something. None of us are perfect and the schools are trying. Across America, it’s the same thing,” Ballenger continued. “In almost every school, I ask the question, ‘how many of you know at least one person that has made a decision and they’re, today, dead because of it?’”

According to Ballenger, at least 20 percent of students in most of the schools he visits for Break the Grey raise their hands. “They need some hope right now,” Ballenger said. “We don’t spend any of our time telling them to not do any of those things; all we do is try to raise awareness and ask questions.”

After the assemblies, Ballenger and his group of interns who run the program try to stick around to talk to students who are struggling.

“The stories that these students come and tell us about what’s going on at home or what’s happening to them, or what’s happened to them, that’s how I know it works,” Ballenger said. “Students know if something really cares or not.”

Break the Grey interns also follow up with students after the group leaves the area through social media.

“I’ve got to help think about their choices. We all think about it when we’re at the funeral home, visiting and paying our last respects. Break the Grey is trying to bring it out into the open and talk about it now.”

Thursday night, after all the assemblies have taken place, Ballenger and his crew will return to Wawasee High School for a concert with Ballenger featuring Forever at Last as the opening band.

Tickets are free to students, but every entrant must have a ticket, which will be available at both Milford and Wawasee middle schools as well as Wawasee High School. Dairy Queen in Syracuse will also have a limited number of tickets available, which will be open for pick-up on Wednesday, April 10. Doors open at 6 p.m. for the show, which goes from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and will close with a prayer.

The Lake Area Community Band will kick off its 25th season with a joint concert with Wawasee High School’s concert band 7 p.m. Thursday, April 18, in the Wawasee High School auditorium in Syracuse. Admission is free.

Lake Area Community Band is under the direction of Martin Becker. The group performs throughout the summer in Elkhart and Kosciusko counties.

Rehearsals are Mondays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Wawasee Middle School and new members are always welcome. For more information, visit www.lacband.com or find the group on Facebook.

Wawasee High School entered three super mileage cars in the annual Shell Eco-marathon competition last week in Houston, Texas, and two of the three cars placed in the top 10.

The diesel car obtained 907 miles per gallon and placed third out of six competitors. The electric vehicle obtained 140 miles per kilowatt hour and placed 9th out of 25 competing.

And the gasoline vehicle obtained 695 miles per gallon and placed 12th out of 31 teams competing.

It was a fun-filled, music-filled, sobering morning for Milford Middle School today. Students got to meet with Bill Ballenger, founder of Break the Grey, and his gang of interns for discussions on life, sobriety and friendship at a school assembly unlike any other. Students even got to attempt to perform popular dances like GS Boyz’s “Stanky Legg.”

The interns of Break the Grey introduced the program through a musical-montage of a girl being “played” by a boy she really liked and eventually being swept off her feet by a better suitor.

Other performances involved a girl who lived a rough life. Her family fought at home, she got into fights at school and she smoked and drank. Eventually, the girl felt there was no other choice but suicide, but a friend rushed in just in time to save the her life.

Ballenger then spoke to students about the importance of showing love to friends by keeping them safe. He said it was better to lose a friendship than for a friend to lose a life.

Ballenger and Break the Grey also visited Wawasee Middle School Wednesday afternoon. They’ll take on Wawasee High School Thursday at 8:15 a.m. to spread their message of love and life.

The band “Ballenger” will be at Wawasee High School for a free concert for the youth at 7 p.m. Thursday night. Doors open at 6 p.m. The first 50 students to show up will receive a Ballenger T-shirt along with a backstage tour prior to the show.

A Wawasee High School student was taken to Goshen General Hospital this morning after apparently being struck be a vehicle as he walked to school.

According to reporter Tim Ashley, the superintendent’s office of Wawasee School Corporation said the student was walking to WHS when he was hit by a vehicle. It happened near the railroad tracks where Main Street meets Syracuse-Webster Road.

The boy was taken to Goshen General Hospital for evaluation. A Wawasee school bus driver stopped to render help, but the boy was not riding on the bus.

The student’s condition is not yet known, although his injuries did not appear to be severe.

Syracuse Police and EMS responded.

Three Wawasee High School Academic Super Bowl teams qualified for the state competition May 4 at Purdue. Students on the teams are, in front from left, Ashley Helfers, Stephanie Camargo and Katie Zartman. In the back row are Emma Donahoe, Maddison Hite, Brett Heinisch, Michael Hernandez and Kristi Streby. Not pictured is Brandon Fox. (Photo by Tim Ashley)

If there is such a thing, Brett Heinisch, senior at Wawasee High School, would qualify as an Academic Super Bowl “veteran.” Counting three years of middle school and now in his fourth year of high school, he’s participated on an Academic Super Bowl social studies team all seven years.

After seven years of preparing for and participating in intense competitions where students have a very limited amount of time to answer questions, Heinisch likely has a few historical facts and dates firmly entrenched in the mind.

Heinisch was among nine WHS students covering three Academic Super Bowl teams — social studies, fine arts and interdisciplinary — who qualified for the state competition Saturday, May 4, at Purdue University.

To qualify, a team had to place in the top five in its class statewide in the regional competition, held April 16 at Northridge High School.

Wawasee’s social studies team made up of Heinisch, Brandon Fox and Michael Hernandez and coached by Mary Lou Dixon finished fourth in statewide scoring. The fine arts team coached by Holly Sautter and including students Stephanie Camargo, Kristi Streby and Katie Zartman placed fifth statewide. And the interdisciplinary team consisting of Emma Donahoe, Fox, Ashley Helfers, Maddison Hite and Zartman also placed fifth statewide.

The English team of Helfers, Zoe Berg and Owen Donahoe narrowly missed qualifying for the state competition by only one question and placed sixth.
Heinisch said he enjoys learning about history and social studies in general. “I like competing to see who knows more,” he added.

Preparing for a social studies team competition includes studying a book of possible questions that can be posed, as well as summaries of the book and then answering practice questions. During the half of the year when the conference and regional competitions are held, team members spend about six hours each week preparing.

Helfers, a junior, is in her third year overall of Academic Super Bowl and her first with the interdisciplinary team. Being on that team requires combining knowledge needed for the other teams.

She enjoys learning and was looking for a place to become involved when she began her freshman year. “Academic Super Bowl seemed to suit me well,” she noted. And, as Heinisch does, Helfers enjoys competing against other schools.

Kristi Harris, a math teacher at WHS, is the overall coordinator for Wawasee’s Academic Super Bowl teams. Other team coaches include Sarah Holsopple, Stephanie Szynal and Cyndi Thornburg.

From left, the SkillsUSA entrepreneur team of Yaritza Barrientos (West Noble), Brooke Truman (Wawasee), Taylor Brooks (Wawasee) and Beatrice Harlan (Fairfield) qualified for the national competition in Kansas City. (Photo by Tim Ashley)

Cosmetology students at Fairfield High School have been using their skills and talents since the start of the school year while running their SkillsUSA club and working toward completion. SkillsUSA is an organization where high school students can compete in both leadership and trade skills contests.

This year, Fairfield has three competitions the students could compete in: cosmetology, esthetics and entrepreneurship.

The entrepreneur team of Taylor Brooks and Brooke Truman, Wawasee High School; Beatrice Harlan, Fairfield; and Yaritza Barrientos, West Noble High School, were the first-place team during a competition April 20 at Walker Career Center in Indianapolis. They presented a salon business plan and will now represent Indiana at the national competition June 24-28 in Kansas City, Mo.

Fairfield held its local competition in January and a regional competition was held in February in Fort Wayne. This was the second year an entrepreneur team from Fairfield qualified for the national competition.

SkillsUSA also has community service projects and this year’s projects focused on Faith Mission in Elkhart and Hello Gorgeous, a national organization giving makeovers to women struggling through the effects of cancer and its treatment.

Angie Higginbotham and Lisa Firestone are the faculty advisors. If interested in supporting the Wawasee Area Career Center as the students move on to the national competition, call 574-831-2184.

Wawasee High School students inducted into the Academic Hall of Fame Saturday are, in front from left, Seth Helfers, Andrew Busse, Aaron Becker and Joshua Olson. In the second row are Alexis LeCount, Kaci Whitehead, Jennifer Slabaugh, Jenna Rhodes, Caitlin Hoover, Jenna Coy, Anne Beer, Breann Johnson, Leeann McGuire and Alisha Brower. In the third row are Glendora Hochstetler, Taylor Spangle, Elizabeth Sommers, Emma Donahoe, Rebecca Snavely, Lanae Haessig, Maddison Hite, Kenya Hendrickson, Delaney Brooks, Alexandria Rairigh and Courtney Emerick. In the fourth row are Kasey Shell, Brooke Miller, Kelsey Beans, Jordan Kuhn, Emily Harden, Joscilyn Bailey-Schrader, Tori Coble, Jessica Camarena, Brittany Frecker and Jordan Edington. And in the back row are Thomas Thystrup, Jonathon Ruiz, Jonathan Bollenbacher, Dylan Cousins, David Ryl-Kuchar, B.J. McBride, Benjamin Rairigh, James Heath and Brett Heinisch. (Photo by Tim Ashley)

During his brief remarks at the Wawasee High School Academic Hall of Fame Banquet Saturday evening, WHS Principal Don Harman emphasized the word “outstanding.” The students inducted in the hall of fame are outstanding, their educators are outstanding and their parents are outstanding, he said.

A total of 44 WHS students were officially inducted into the Academic Hall of Fame. It’s proof academic excellence and earning good grades still brings rewards, and those 44 students will be part of a group photo placed near the main entrance of the high school.

To be eligible for the hall of fame, students must have a grade point average of at least 10.0 on a 12 point scale by the end of their 11th trimester of school.

After a meal catered by Dan’s Pies, with the assistance of culinary arts students at WHS, the names of the students were read aloud by Mike Schmidt, assistant principal. Each student came forward and had their picture taken with Harman, and then with the teacher they chose as the one who they feel had the most impact on them academically. A group photo was taken at the end of the banquet by Sunrise Photography of North Webster.
2013 Inductees

Following are the names of the 44 students, names of parents, college the student will attend, their major and the teacher they chose:

• Joscilyn Bailey-Schrader, Wyatt and Melinda Bailey, college undecided, accounting major, Kristen Records.
• Kelsey Beans, Jeromi Beans and Misty Johnson, Goshen College, peace, justice, conflict and sociology major, Sara Harrison.
• Aaron Becker, Garet and Lisa Becker, Wabash College, chemistry major, Frau Baird.
• Anne Beer, Randy and Deb Beer, Ivy Tech and Purdue University, farm management major, Mariah Roberts.
• Jonathan Bollenbacher, Dan and Deb Bollenbacher, Ohio Technical, auto and diesel program, Brad Craig.
• Delaney Brooks, Jason and Jan Brooks, Saint Mary’s College, psychology major, Casimir Szynal.
• Alisha Brower, Ken and Twilla Brower, IPFW or Ivy Tech, radiology major, Isaac Dorrel.
• Andrew Busse, Scott and Wendy Busse, joining Marine Corps, Cory Schutz.
• Jessica Camarena, Gabriel and Magdalena Camarena, Indiana State University, biology major, Carolyn Baker.
• Tori Coble, Rex Coble and Charlotte Swing, Huntington University, nursing major, Amy Miller.
• Dylan Cousins, Joseph and Maria Cousins, Purdue University, engineering technology major, Allen Coblentz.
• Jenna Coy, Allen and Sherri Coy, Purdue University, animal science major, Esther Henderson.
• Emma Donahoe, Neil and Lori Donahoe, Hope College, chemical engineering major, Hans Griepentrog.
• Jordan Edington, Dr. Tom and Michelle Edington, Taylor University, biology/pre-med major, Kerry Murphy.
• Courtney Emerick, Robert Emerick, Purdue University, psychology major, Trevor Shields.
• Brittany Frecker, Steve and Sue Frecker, college undecided, biology major, Kim Nguyen.
• Lanae Haessig, Dave and Kim Haessig, Grace University, education major, Richard Roose.
• Emily Harden, Greg and Joan Harden, Purdue University, elementary education major, Cyndi Thornburg.
• James Heath, Bill and Lynette Heath, Purdue University, electrical engineering major, Mary Brower.
• Brett Heinisch, Doug and Heidi Heinisch, Indiana University, political science major, Mary Lou Dixon.
• Seth Helfers, Keith and Tammy Helfers, Purdue University, plant science major, Mary Jane Ploszek.
• Kenya Hendrickson, Bill and Penny Hendrickson, college undecided, dietician/nutritionist major, Devin Baire.
• Maddison Hite, Bret and Mellissa Hite, Indiana University, human biology major, Pam Schumm.
• Glendora Hochstetler, Glenn and Geri Hochstetler, Indiana University, nursing major, Bill Eby.
• Caitlin Hoover, Patrick and Sharon Hoover, Ball State University, zoology major, Connie Meadows.
• Breann Johnson, Greg Johnson and Lori Garner, IUPUI, physical therapy major, Karilyn Metcalf.
• Jordan Kuhn, Ron and Anita Kuhn, Trine University, chemical engineering major, Michael Casey.
• Alexis LeCount, Gary and Misty LeCount, University of Indianapolis, psychology major, Emily Gough.
• B.J. McBride, Bill and Sylvia McBride, Anderson University, psychology major, Paula Fiscus.
• Leeann McGuire, Michael and Carrie McGuire, IUPUI, finance and economics major, Carole Keiper.
• Brooke Miller, Steve and Cheryl Miller, Purdue University, exploratory major, Cindy Bryan.
• Joshua Olson, Cathy and Dan Olson, Ball State, painting and biology major, Tim Koontz.
• Alexandria Rairigh, Bob and Kathy Rairigh, IPFW, visual communications and design major, Trish Miller.
• Benjamin Rairigh, Bob and Kathy Rairigh, IPFW, major undecided, Melinda Roose.
• Jenna Rhodes, Thomas and Kristi Rhodes, Manchester College, marketing major, Lauren Richard.
• Jonathon Ruiz, Martin Ruiz and Victoria Hays, North Central College, physical therapy major, Traci Henn.
• David Ryl-Kuchar, Anthony and Beverly Ryl-Kuchar, Purdue University, major undecided, Dr. Joyce Dubach.
• Kasey Shell, Kevin and Corrie Shell, Huntington University, missions major, Denise Potter.
• Jennifer Slabaugh, Brian and Kathy Slabaugh, college and major undecided, Jerid Stoffel.
• Rebecca Snavely, Michael and Charlene Snavely, Purdue University, flight major, Sarah Holsopple.
• Elizabeth Sommers, Anthony and Amy Sommers, college undecided, biology major, Tim Devlin.
• Taylor Spangle, Brian and Tamie Spangle, college undecided, biology/chemistry major, Janay Hackleman.
• Thomas Thystrup, Bo and Mona Thystrup, Purdue University, engineering major, Cheryl Miller.
• Kaci Whitehead, Jim and Sally Whitehead, IPFW, computer graphics major, Kristi Harris.

Josh Ekovich, left, replaces Tom Wogomon as head football coach at Wawasee High School. Wogomon left the program earlier this year to take the head coaching job at Northridge. (Photo by Mike Deak)

SYRACUSE – To select the new head varsity football coach, Wawasee High School chose to promote from within. During a brief meeting late Monday afternoon in Syracuse, the Wawasee school board unanimously approved the hiring of Josh Ekovich, age 28, to replace Tom Wogoman who resigned earlier this year and is now the head football coach at Northridge High School.

Ekovich had been the offensive line coach under Wogoman the past two seasons, as well as the strength and conditioning supervisor and head JV football coach, and maintaining staff continuity was a major factor in Ekovich being selected. Steve Wiktorowski, Wawasee athletic director, told the school board the committee formed to find a new head coach felt it was very important to keep the coaching staff together as much as possible. Ekovich was chosen from a group of candidates originally numbering 25 before being narrowed to 10 for first interviews and three for second interviews. Five of the 25 were in-house candidates.

Wiktorowski added the selection process was “very thorough and time consuming” and between two interviews lasting nearly three hours, Ekovich was asked “some very tough questions.”

“We feel he (Ekovich) will help the strength and conditioning program for all of our athletes, not just football,” Wiktorowski noted, and Ekovich is familiar with the “Warrior Way” attitude of character and community service being promoted in the Wawasee system.

Though Ekovich is two years shy of age 30, he does have football coaching experience including two years (2008 and 2009) as an assistant offensive line coach at Saint Francis University in Fort Wayne, where he played football and three times played in the national championship game. He was also the DeKalb Middle School head coach and varsity assistant for one season (2010) before coming to Wawasee.

While being interviewed by the selection committee, he emphasized he could help maintain consistency and keep the current coaching staff together as much as possible. He noted he wants an opportunity to “give something back to kids like I was given when I played football.”

Ekovich said he is attracted by the Wawasee position because the community reminds him of what he grew up in and he feels comfortable in it. The offensive system he plans to run will be similar to what Wogoman utilized, but with a few tweaks.

As far as his goals, winning the Northern Lakes Conference and a sectional title are obvious ones, but developing kids “who want to work hard and play hard” is another major goal, he said. And he acknowledged the expectations are high because Wawasee has been successful in recent years.

Ekovich is married to Jeni and they have two children: Tyler, 4, and Kalyn, 1. The family lives in Avilla presently. Josh is a 2003 graduate of New Prairie High School in New Carlisle and a 2008 graduate of Saint Francis.