Ms. Bates’ Culinary Arts class is finishing off first semester with sweet holiday cheer. Bates curated the perfect list of six cookies for her students to learn how to bake. It is in the Indiana Next Level Pathway Standard to produce a variety of types of cookies, and Bates added a holiday twist.

Culinary students will be making drop, rolled, and molded cookies. Drop cookies are dropped onto the baking sheet. They will be making red velvet, snicker doodle, and lace cookies, which are a family tradition for her. Rolled cookies are rolled flat and cut into shapes. The rolled cookies they will be baking are sugar and gingerbread cookies. Molded cookies are formed by hand into specific shapes. They will be making Italian Christmas cookies for their molded cookie.

“Making Lace cookies is a family tradition of mine, and I wanted to share that with my students,” Bates said.

These holiday cookies don’t end the fun, as Bates plans to assign a design-your-own cookie project inspired by Crumbl Cookie.

If you are interested in the recipes Bates’ Culinary Arts class will be learning how to make, visit her room (F.10) for more information.

​

​

​

The holidays are full of sweet treats, twinkling decorations, and warming traditions. One of my favorite Christmas-time traditions is driving around and looking at displays of festive lights. Listed below are some of the places I have been to or heard good things about for you and your loved ones to check out this winter.

Washington Park Festival of Lights - Michigan City has a yearly free-of-entry display of holiday lights placed around Washington Park Beach for a drive-through experience. I have to say these are my favorite to visit each year. Every year growing up, my grandparents would take my siblings, my cousins, and me to see these lights, wearing Christmas pajamas and listening to Sunny 101.5 on the radio. The display begins on December 6th and goes through January 3rd from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Address- 115 Lakshore Dr, Michigan City, Indiana

Sunset Hill Farm County Park- Located in Porter County, Sunset Hill Farm has a drive through light display showing from November 26th through January 1st. I experienced these winter lights for the first time this year, and they did not disappoint. The paved path was lined with beautiful lights and the dancing flowers were my favorite. According to Sunset Hill’s website, the lights turn on around 4:30 and turn of around 10 p.m. For more information, you can visit their web page.

​https://www.portercountyparks.org/winterlights​

Address- 775 Meridian Rd. Valparaiso Indiana

Glendale lights - Glendale lights are a must-see drive up holiday light show like no other on this list. This is a house covered in over 30,000 LED lights programmed to music on 91.3 FM, all done as a hobby by the owner of the home. The lights are on an alternating schedule with one set of songs on even days and one set on odd days. You can make two unique nights out of this experience. This special light show is tucked away in a neighborhood on Powell Drive in La Porte. These lights will be on display from November 28th through December 27th from 4:45 - 9:45 p.m. For more information and a song set list, you can check out their website.

​https://glendalelights.net/​

Address - 321 W. Powell Dr. La Porte, Indiana

​

​

​

The first snowfall of the year on November 10th brought roughly eight inches to the city of  La Porte and school closings across Northwest Indiana. LPHS canceled school with no eLearning that will be made up on February 13th with one of the scheduled built-in snow makeup days.

With the development of eLearning days and the ability to have online instructional class time without having to make up a school day, the classic snow day feels like a rare snowflake to find.

On the snowy day off, I visited Kesling Park with my friend to play in the snow as if we were still little kids. The parking lot was full of families and teenage friend groups bundled up in coats and gloves, dragging sleds behind them. We buried each other in the snow and rolled down the hills while laughing and giggling like little girls. In that moment, college, careers, and growing up didn’t cross my mind once.

Being a high school senior who is graduating early, I feel like I’ve pressed fast forward on entering adulthood. This nostalgic snow day was probably my last, and I soaked it all in as the snowflakes fell onto me. I believe classic snow days like this with no school are as important as summer break beach days for everyone from children to adults. If you get the chance to have child-like fun, take the opportunity. You’re never too cool to play in the snow.

LPHS has one more planned snow make-up day scheduled for February 16th. Once that day is used, three eLearning school days are available. After those days are used up, school days are added to the end of the school calendar. Currently, students are scheduled to finish Friday, May 29th. If there are extended days off because of weather, the school district may utilize live eLearning days.

Let's hope with the increasing dependence on technology, we can hold onto this treasured wintertime tradition.

Mrs. Rice’s AP Environmental Science classes took an afternoon scenic and educational hike through Indiana Dunes State Park on Sunday, October 12th.

Rice offered this hike for students to get extra credit. They learned how succession takes place in dunes compared to rock through primary succession.

“The hike was really fun, and it was cool to see how the lesson Ms. Rice taught really works in nature. I got a mug from the park gift shop, and I really like it,” an APES student said.

Rice plans on scheduling a few more field trips for her students this year. She hopes to go on a Hoosier river watch during the second semester, and she also plans to go to the St. Joseph Energy Center and Water Treatment Plant.

“Getting to talk with my students and show them around the dunes that are so close to our home that a lot haven’t explored is my favorite part of this hike,” Rice said.

AP Environmental Science is offered at LPHS for all juniors and seniors who have taken Chemistry and Biology and passed with a B. The course explores scientific topics required to understand the natural world and how humans interact with it. They cover topics like air pollution, water pollution, climate change, population, and ethics.

Fall Break is rapidly approaching, and there are a few things students, teachers, and parents need to know.

Parent-teacher conferences are on October 16, which means students do not have to report to school. Parents can sign up for conferences on Skyward. If a parent has any trouble, they can reach out the the teacher directly and get a conference set up. Conferences are set up in 10-minute slots. Students and staff have October 17 off.

The first midterm ends on October 15, so ensure all assignments are turned in well before that to give teachers time to grade. Grades are pulled on 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

After we come back from fall break, there will be 40 days left of the semester.

The PSAT is on the 23rd of October, which will be a Senior Capstone Day for all seniors. Seniors must complete two requirements from the Capstone and check in with their SRT teachers to ensure that they have done this. Students in grades 9-11 will report to SRT for testing and will remain there for the rest of the day after the test.

Thanksgiving Break will be November 24-28.

Senior photos are scheduled for Thursday, October 2nd and Friday, October 3rd in Schulze Hall.

Senior photos are quite a different concept from students' typical yearly photos, which often leads to some confusion. The first photo set seniors take is strictly for their IDs that are required to be carried in school for safety purposes. This is why seniors did not receive order forms for this first set of photos.

Students will be given a pass with a time during their English class to report to Schulze Hall for their photo. If students are aware in advance that they will not be at school the day they are scheduled, they can talk to Ms. Parker in room J.12. It is strongly encouraged that students dress professionally, as if it were an interview or a headshot. Off-the-shoulder tops are not recommended because of the angles at which these photos will be taken. The photographer will take two to four photos in different poses, and the student gets the freedom to choose which shot they want to appear in the yearbook.

Shortly following the photo date, students will receive an important email regarding the selection of their picture. It is required that students log in and choose the photo they would like in the yearbook, or the photography company chooses for them, which isn’t always what the student would prefer.

Students will receive ordering information after the photos. This order form will preview each photo pose captured, giving the buyer the opportunity to choose.

With any questions or concerns regarding senior photos, you can visit Ms. Parker or contact her at eparker@lpcsc.k12.in.us.

La Porte High School's Reflections Magazine is in production, a magazine that has been published for nearly 50 years, and English teacher Brenda Cooper has been advising the magazine for 28 years. This year's theme is Overgrown.

Students can submit their pieces to be considered for publication in the magazine, and then the submissions are reviewed by members of the class, who decide what is published.

“Submissions are arranged into groups of around ten pieces per group. From there, they are uploaded in Canvas. Students open a folder and read each piece, then evaluate using a Google form on Canvas. The top-scoring pieces are then submitted for the magazine,” Cooper said.

Once the pieces are selected and decided, it takes a few weeks to assemble the magazine. Then, it's sent out to Hawkins to be printed. Cooper hopes to have the magazine printed by the end of the school year. It costs around $9 to print each issue, and they sell them for $5.

It’s an honor to be selected for the application class and allows students to push themselves as writers and editors.

“Being featured in Reflections magazine for the last three years has given me the opportunity to expand my confidence and passion for writing. I am proud of my accomplishments and how I've grown through the publication of my pieces,” senior editor Kirsten Slucter said.

If anyone would like a copy, please see Cooper in J.15 with $5.00 to pre-order your copy.

As of April 20th, the La Porte Starbucks location has been closed for a remodel for six weeks. This brief closure has been a hot topic among LPHS students and teachers. One teacher was especially affected by the coffee drought.

Erin Parker, English teacher here at LPHS, is an avid Starbucks coffee drinker and relies on it as her pick-me-up almost every morning.

Parker didn’t see the six-week closure sign in the window until the day before the closure, which left her little time to adjust and find a new option. She tried Dunkin and Biggby coffee and was not fond of either, so she had to resort to other options.

“My best friend brewed a whole thermos of coffee and gave it to me to make it through. Then I bought Keurig pods to make coffee here at LPHS downstairs. While this was happening, I remembered I had an old Keurig in my classroom, so I ordered a new water tank and took it home, only to find out that it didn't fit. I needed to figure out a solution fast, and I just caved and bought a coffee pot, and at the ripe age of 38, I learned how to make a pot of coffee via Google and YouTube. I have been making it each morning before work, and I am proud of myself and how it's turned out,” Parker said.

Parker, along with many other La Portians, have driven to the Michigan City location to obtain their well-loved drinks.

Starbucks employee and LPHS student Alexis Hall had to adjust to this change and work at the Michigan City location during the LP closure.

“Working at the City location wasn’t too bad. I feel like that store is less busy than LP overall,” Hall said.

Dunkin in La Porte has seen an increase in customers, judging by how busy the parking lot has been. Starbucks reopened on May 16th. If you're looking for a splash of coffee, you can try out other locally owned locations such as A Whole World Of Good, Rocky Mountain Cafe, HotSpot Cafe, and Cafe Trilogy. All of those locations open at 7 a.m. except for Cafe Trilogy, which opens at 8 a.m.

Did you survive the Starbucks remodel of 2025?