GreatNews.Life Student Voices: John Adams has a productive March

What’s recently happened?

Over the course of this March, a lot has happened at John Adams High School. Not only have multiple academic clubs gone to competition, but many of the IB courses are working hard before spring break. 

One of the notable events that happened for academic clubs is the Robotics Clubs’ trip to Lafayette, Indiana for its second and last competition for the year. Although the team didn’t make it to State, they learned a lot this year about the robot itself as this year the students built an elevator onto the bot that was difficult to work around. Many teams from all over Indiana were kind enough to help figure out the issues with the elevator and get them back up and working for competition. These types of events are a great example of how teamwork and kindness can boost morality overall and make people’s days better.

The Spanish Club hosted an event called Sabor Latino, which was a dance that only played Hispanic music to fundraise. People in attendance complimented the music choice and the vibe of the whole event, stating that it was quite fun.

John Adams Orchestra participated in the South Bend Music Festival on March 31, which included the John Adams Band, the Riley High School Orchestra and Band, and Washington High School’s Orchestra and Band. Although tickets were free, it was still a great event for students to mingle and create memories and music together.

What’s coming up?

Coming up in April for John Adams is spring break, which takes place in the second week of the month. 

Before students are able to kick back and relax though, many IB students are working very hard to get their work in for the IB program. On April 1, there is an open exhibit for the IB Art students to showcase the projects that they have been working on for one to two years. After the exhibit, IB Art students will submit their work to be graded by the graders on the IB website. 

Students in SL IB Sciences also have to submit their IAs, or internal assessments. For IB sciences, students come up with a research question they must expand on with their own research and experiments to prove or disprove their hypothesis. Students have been working hard all semester on these projects and similar to the exhibit, they are due April 4, which is coming up quickly. 

Besides academics, John Adams has a few other events coming up in April, including a talent show and an Earth Day event hosted by the Spanish Club. The talent show had scouted people out around January, and will soon be displaying the students who signed up. Although John Adams has hosted similar events in the past, this time students are hoping that even more people will show up in support of their fellow peers. 

Staff spotlight:

Sarah “Mrs. C.” Cukrowicz is a physics and integrated chemistry physics teacher at John Adams, although, in the past, she has taught Earth and Space Science and seventh and eighth-grade science.

In addition to teaching, Cukrowicz is also a mentor for the John Adams Robotics Club. She lets the club use her room as a space for building and storing the robot, and she is quite skilled in wiring, soldering, and coding. 

“My favorite school-related moment this year was teaching some Robotics students how to solder at competitions,” Cukrowicz said.

Right now in her physics classes, her students are learning about circular motion and her ICP classes are learning about chemical bonding. 

Outside of her classes and school, Cukrowicz has many hobbies.

“I read, knit, and play video games in my free time,” Cukrowicz said.

Student spotlight:

Junior Analise McKenna is involved in many things both inside and outside of school but still manages to find time to be a kind friend to many other students. At John Adams, she is included in Quiz Bowl, Mock Trial, Spanish Club, and orchestra. On top of the many extracurriculars she participates in, McKenna also has a full IB schedule, which is a lot of work. 

Outside of school, she participates in fencing. 

“The fencing season is almost over, so I have my last two tournaments of the year over spring break. I’m practicing four days a week right now, but I was going a little less during Mock Trial,” McKenna said.

McKenna’s dedication to fencing is quite inspiring as she has many fencing achievements. Recently, she even was able to apply for an honorable mention in All American for fencing. 

Right now, Quiz Bowl is still going on for McKenna, but most meetings are just practice for the rest of the year. Comparatively, she was able to go to State for Mock Trial and the team did well. 

Over this past year, McKenna has been working quite hard for the John Adams Orchestra, participating in both ISSMA and ISSMA State for the large ensemble and a solo she did called “La Folia.” McKenna was able to get gold on all performances, even at State.

Although she’s not sure what exactly she wants to go for in college, she has a passion for many different subjects.

“I love biology and the idea of healthcare,” McKenna said. “I also like government and politics, so I guess we'll see! I also think a music minor could be fun.”