Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin are the four proud houses of the mystical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The widespread fandom surrounding the intense “Harry Potter” series has enraptured Ethan Moore within its magical grip since he was just nine years old.

After taking the Sorting Hat’s quiz on Pottermore for the second time to reveal his true house—which turned out to not be Ravenclaw—he was glad to be sorted into Slytherin. “It is gratifying to see that I am ambitious, clever and all of those good things that come along with being [Slytherin],” Moore said. His character traits in real life were reflected accurately and his character development recognized in his new-found house.

Slytherins are often perceived as sneaky, prejudice people who suffer from hubris, but Moore disproved that stereotype daily. “You just have to set an example for others. …
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Lights. Camera. Action. With two lead roles already accomplished and having stood in the spotlight for seven different shows, Chloe Cronkright has become attached to the sensation of the theatre stage. Excluding elementary performances, Cronkright has seen and performed in various musicals. “I feel like I need an outlet to express myself because I’ve been told that my personality is ‘too much,’” Cronkright said.

Having a big personality has not been a major obstacle according to Cronkright. “It’s good to be like that for theatre because you have to be really extra,” Cronkright said. Cronkright believes her most dynamic role to be Lina Lamont from the musical “Singing in the Rain;” being that “it was challenging, but it was also exciting,” Cronkright said.

Besides performing in school, community theatre has been a sizable inspiration for her. “I’ve done a lot of community …
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In the middle of the summer, Brianna Weldy packed a bag and travelled across the ocean to completely different country. Nappanee Missionary’s youth group had planned a trip that focused on helping others through the Christian faith. They held a church camp to care for the country’s children directly and teach them the gospel. They went on trips of street evangelism to reach out to others in the area.

Weldy has been attending church her entire life. Over the years she had developed a routine; church with her family on Sundays and youth group her friends on Wednesdays, sitting in sermons and listening to others talk about how God.

Two years ago, however, she decided to change things up. It started with a trip to Chicago; a big city completely different from where she was raised. She proclaimed her faith to total …
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It was a midsummer day when Riley Weber set up her tent. The Venturing Scouts were out for a camping trip. In normal routine, Riley begun her rock wall adventure. “We often go rock climbing or kayaking,” Weber said.

She was surrounded by her best friends as she courageously started to climb the rock wall. “They’re like a second family that I have and I can go to them about anything that I do in my life,” Weber said.

When she begun to approach the top of the wall, all of her friends were cheering for her. Her adventure began first in Girl Scouts for two years, before she left and moved up to the Venturing Scouts. “My brothers had always been in Boy Scouts, and I had always gone to their meetings and hung out with them,” Weber said.

Weber demonstrated her …
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In the comfort of her own home, Sitting in her living room with her family. She had discussions and talked about her day with her family.
Jordyn Martin said, “I feel most comfortable talking with my family to relieve stress.”

Jordyn sat down with her family every day after school and talked about her day. She says that her family understands her the best.
She also said, “I like sitting down and talking with my family because I don’t get to see them that often.”

With her sister being in college and her parents working that’s a time that they caught up with each other.
“Getting home and talking with all of my family about extracurricular activities too,” Martin said.

hen she had a hard time with school work or problems at school, she pushed through them and when she got home talked about them. “They …
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Being encouraged by her mother, Mallory Watson continued to push through her competitions even when things got hard or stressful. She has struggled with balancing all of her activities- cross country, track, cheer, and yearbook.
Watson has questioned whether or not to drop her other sports. In the end, she realized that it was not as bad as it seemed. Watson said she could be a leader in unique situations like the time when she stepped up her junior year to be captain of the cross-country team. She had shown leadership when no one else would.
She knew when to step up and how to be the person who was remembered. She has continued to show leadership qualities throughout her time involved in these activities. “Any kind of environment, I can put myself in that leadership position,” Watson said. She has recognized …
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Over time, peoples’ interests change. From stuffed animals to makeup, from dolls to skateboards; maturity evolves people and what they believed they would love forever. However, sometimes the change is not a choice; sometimes, events force people to leave what passions they thought defined them and find new ones. For junior Sydney Moren, it was an ATV accident at the beginning of her fifth grade year.

Although Moren’s injury took place nearly six years ago, it continues to haunt her today. “Nearly everything I’ve done from 5th grade to high school has had some some of impact going back to my accident,” she said. “Being so young it was emotionally traumatizing to have a such a large vehicle run over my entire leg.” 

Moren had been an avid athlete in many sports, such as track. Sports were a huge part of her …
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Elladee Escobar (12) prepares to set the ball over the net. Escobar has been playing volleyball since fifth grade. “ My older sister played volleyball for her highschool, ever since I watched her play, I knew I wanted to play volleyball too”, Escobar said. Her senior year she will be co-captain for the DePue high school varsity volleyball team.

She takes a deep breath in, pulls up her knee pads and starts on into the gym. Overwhelmed, she looked around at all the other girls playing. Hearing sounds of the shoes squeaking on the floor and the volleyballs bouncing everywhere, she pursues onward. Little fifth grade Elladee Escobar walks into her first volleyball practice. 

“In fifth grade I was diagnosed with ADHD. That point in my life was really hard for me because I struggle with school a lot. My …
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Smile on her face, Tomlin looks through clothing items at Urban Outfitters July 10. Tomlin enjoys shopping with friends to clear her mind. “I like to express myself through clothes,” Tomlin said. “It is a fun way to display my creative side.”

Hamilton Southeastern junior Sophia Tomlin finds passion after diagnosis

   Heart pounding and hands clammy, she nervously walked to the front of the classroom as instructed by her sixth-grade teacher. After missing a quarter of the school year, then-sixth grader Sophia Tomlin was ordered to tell her peers exactly why she was absent for so long. Despite her anxieties, she told them. 

   Tomlin was diagnosed with alopecia, an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks its own hair follicles. To combat bald spots, her mom shaved her head. She was devastated. Her curly dirty blonde locks now resided …
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Eyes focused on her notebook, senior Alexis Proudman from Crown Point High School draws a concept sketch for a robot. Proudman and her team were tasked with constructing a large robot in only six weeks. “We build robots that can be six feet tall and weigh 120 pounds,” Proudman said. “They’re a lot bigger than [typical team robots] and we build them from scratch.” Photo by Hayden Sisemore.

Senior Alexis Proudman leads Crown Point robotics team

   It wasn’t until the day of the competition that the Crown Point robotics team tested its design. The robot, which stood nearly six feet tall when fully extended, had been designed and assembled by a team half the average size in less than six weeks. Not one member of the team had built a robot with an elevator, a robotics mechanism used for …
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