Athlete of the Month

Junior Emily Sibert

Junior Ivan Munoz has been a wrestler to watch out for. He is a previous state champion. After winning state while attending Shepherd Middle School, he has been working hard to become better and better with hopes to win state again. Even though he has been to state many times he has only placed first once in 2018.

This year he went to IHSA state finals and placed 6th. He fought hard and earned a good overall spot. He is looking forward to the future that wrestling may bring him. During his sophomore year he placed 2nd in Fresh/Soph State.

The reason he is good at wrestling is because of how long he has been doing it. Ivan has been wrestling for 9 years and travels all over the country to wrestle. This year Ivan is going to participate in the Virginia Beach duals individual tournament in March, where he is hoping to qualify for Fargo in North Dakota this year. “I believe in hard work,” Munoz said.

Even though wrestling is not a team sport Munoz still tries to help everyone to his fullest extent. “He’s really kind and helps others when he can,” junior Wyatt Redding said. His coaches also acknowledge his effort. “ He’s a hardworking young man that has really stepped up this year with his work ethic and wanting to be a better wresteler,” Coach Kevin Aughenbaugh said.

With his future very bright, Munoz likes to keep working to achieve his goals. Even when a match doesn’t go his way, he gets right back up and tries again. Munoz said when he tries again, he tries more.

Book of the Month

Senior Molly Etscheid

“All the Bright Places” by Jennifer Niven has been flying off the shelves of the library, leaving many students on a long wait list to get their chance to read. Many students like the book or may be attracted to it because “it’s a heart-wrenching love story between two broken people,” librarian Kelley Getzelman said.

“All the Bright Places” is a compelling and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die. She is popu- lar, and he is the school freak. These two high school seniors might have never gotten to know each other if it were not for a crazy coincidence.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school where they both are contemplating jumping, it is unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It is only with Violet that Finch can be himself-- a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who is not such a freak after all. And it is only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink.

How far will Violet go to save the boy she has come to love?

Senior Brooklyn Lawson read the book last year and said she had heard about it on TikTok. Her favorite part of the book was when Violet and Finch were in the closet together; “It felt like such a vulnerable thing for Finch to show Violet,” Lawson said. However, she did not like the ending.

In 2020, the book was turned into a movie featuring Jusitce Smith as Finch and Elle Fanning as Violet. It’s available to stream on Netflix.