Three students at Tippecanoe Valley High School are giving back to children receiving treatment in hospitals by hand making blankets to comfort them during their stay.

Juniors Olivia Trippiedi, McKenzie Murphy, and Susan Nickerson came up with the idea as part of a project for their student leadership group Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy (KYLA).

The three teenagers have been raising funds through donations, and have even incorporated their mission into Student Resource Time (SRT) at the high school. SRT is time set aside every Thursday for students to get caught up on homework, or to explore different enrichment activities such as music appreciation, cooking, painting, and many other subjects.

In this, the second year of SRT clubs, students are creating clubs based on their passions. Trippiedi, Murphy, and Nickerson asked to create an enrichment club based on their KYLA project. After raising money to purchase the materials, they secured a sponsoring teacher and recruited students to help them during SRT.

“Seeing everyone involved, it just means a lot.  McKenzie, Susan, and I, we all have a passion for kids, so we came up with the idea of doing something for a children’s hospital,” said Trippiedi.

Trippiedi said one person making a blanket takes about an hour and costs about $10 in materials. In groups of three, that time can be cut to less than 40 minutes. There isn’t really a production goal; they just want to make as many blankets as they can with the amount of donations they collect.

“We all have a passion for kids and for nursing,” said Murphy. “A lot of times kids in the hospital get stuffed animals, but blankets are something you can’t really grow out of. It’s just something to comfort them and something for them to hold on to,” she said.

Each blanket has a tag specially designed by the three teens that gets sown onto the blanket. They plan on hand delivering the blankets to Riley Hospital for Children and other pediatric hospitals later this semester.

“I would like the kids to know that there are people out there who care for them. If they’re in a bad place, there is someone who loves them. This is just a simple reminder that they’re covered by love,” said Nickerson.

If there are donations left over, but no more time to make the blankets, the money will be given directly to the hospitals. Anyone interested in making a donation to help purchase materials can contact high school math instructor Alissa Trippiedi at (574) 598-2100 or email [email protected].

Photo from left to right: Juniors Susan Nickerson, McKenzie Murphy, and Olivia Trippiedi hold some of the blankets made during Student Resource Time. The three girls started the initiative “Covered by Love” and have been collecting donations to purchase materials.

The Tippecanoe Valley High School student council will host a blood drive on Friday, February 3^rd from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the high school gymnasium.

This is the third of four blood drives the high school student council hosts throughout the school year. The American Red Cross provides scholarship money to students depending on the number of blood donations collected at the blood drive.

The blood drive is open to anyone who meets the donor requirements outlined by the American Red Cross. Community members can also donate blood as long as they register before the event. People can register by calling Crystal Heckaman at (574) 598-2129 or email [email protected].

According to the American Red Cross, a blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

A blood drive hosted by the Tippecanoe Valley High School student council on Friday, December 2, collected 54 units of blood for the American Red Cross.

Freshmen All A Honor Roll

Quintin Allen

Shelby Baker

Alyssa Bell

Caleigh Byrer

Colt Demske

Amber Evans

Valeria Jimenez

Faith Kamp

Kaitlyn Lewis

Aleesa Marshall

Alexis Michael

Jace Potter

Luke Prater

Delaney Sandbakken

Tucker Shull

Tanner Trippiedi

Shakira Vail

Kirstyn Yoder

Freshmen A & B Honor Roll

Evelin Alarcon

Allison Atwell

Amy Baca

Allison Betten

Cade Brouyette

Jaydin Conley

Emma Craig

Kole Dillon

Mayde Fear

Wendy Garcia

Nathaniel Heckman

Bethany Johnson

Kelton Johnson

Jakob Jones

Jadyn Kolesiak

Olivia Livengood

Tahya Lybarger

Allison Miller

Roni Newsome

Jalen Potter

Misael Ramirez

Jorge Rosas-Jimenez

Mercedes Roszak

Michael Schuster

Mitchell Smith

Tracy Smith

Grace Smythe

Jasten Snapp

Mason Stephen

Jaxon Torpy

Dortha Tucker

Jillian Walls

Jessy Weitzel

Makenzie Woodcox

Karina Young

Sophomore All A Honor Roll

Sophia Bussard

Hannah Durkes

Olivia Ellenwood

Billy Gillman

Hannah Jansma

Sarah Myers

Makenzie Oldham

Emily Peterson

Rachael Randall

Shayleigh Shriver

Sarah Tucker

Dylan Wood

Kamile Yocum

Sophomore A & B Honor Roll

Alexis Aguilar

Damian Banghart

Kennedie Brooks

Laura Campos

Madison Francis

Cameron Gearhart

Alexandra Gomez

Joshua Hazard

Andrew Heltzel

Tiphanie Hodge

Elijah Holder

Jonathan Humes

Patrick Kelley

David Krebs

Hannah Lewallen

Haley Lewis

Sierra marshall

Kylee Masterson

Noah Miller

Marlea Myers

Brant Norris

Gabrielle Olson

Cameron Parker

Justin Peconga

Hanna Prater

Kelly Randall

Grace Revere

Kaitlin Shepherd

Olivia Smith

Lauren Sponseller

Chevy Teeter

Maria Vargas

Anna Walters

Lucas Walters

Junior All A Honor Roll

Hannah Ames

Brenna Baney

Cody Craig

Bryce Cudney

Mackenzie Fear

Jalyssa House

Hunter Hyden

Kelsey Justice

Gary Klinger

Addy Miller

McKenzie Murphy

Susan Nickerson

Asia O’Connor

Cheyene Oldfather

Amy Ortiz

Dakota Parker

Gretchen Runyon

Bradly Shepard

Olivia Trippiedi

Junior A & B Honor Roll

Cora Alber

Daisy Arroyo

Seth Baird

Olivia Bell

Alyssa Brito

Chase Brower

Tyler Craft

Alejandra DeLaRosa

Bailey Engholm

Macy Engstrand

Garrett Feldman

Hannah Gibbons

Drew Hartman

Kaitlynd Heiden-Moore

Seth Hoffman

Trent Houchin

Derek Hunsberger

Travis Hyden

William Johnston

Victoria Kratzchmar

Jacob McDonald

Adam Myers

Angelica Ortega

Michael Paseka

Makayla Sandbakken

Kaleigh Shumaker

Lea Stouder

Camden Tucker

Jack Utter

Eric Wright

Carissa Ziemek

Senior All A Honor Roll

Abigail Betten

Amanda Heltzel

Guadalupe Hernandez

Alexander Kromkowski

Andrea Moquete

Adrian Velazquez

Christopher Wilhite

Senior A & B Honor Roll

Joseph Alspaugh

America Baca

Victoria Biddle

Meredith Brouyette

Hannah Brower

Bryston Canada

Madison Conliff

Alexia Durkes

Hunter Early

Jerrid Edmonson

Mael Ferrier

Lindsay Gamble

Brianna Haney

Victoria Heredia

Daniel Horton

Audrey Jackson

Jeremy Julian

Baylee Kolesiak

Keegan Larimer

Ponesupuk Mahamat

Dylan Manwaring

Monika Marshall

Jared Mikel

Lucas Mills

Laira Myers

Kennedy Niedbalski

Braydon Ott

Kaitlyn Prater

Diana Ramirez Rosas

Angela Ramirez

Sierra Rudd

Rosio Sanchez

Sydney Schaeffer

Melissa Schmidt

Gracie Schwenger

Anne Secrest

Christopher Secrist

Aerin Shewman

Yarley Smalley

Dylan Sponseller

Mikaela Thacker

Morgan Thomas

Motoko Tsuzuki

Cole Walters

Riley Weitzel

Avander Wimsatt

John Young

 

 

A familiar face to Tippecanoe Valley High School will now serve as head football coach.

Stephen Moriarty has been hired to lead the football program. The appointment was made official by the school board at the Jan. 16 board meeting.

Moriarty has almost two decades of coaching experience, with several of those years coaching assistant varsity linebackers and offensive line at Tippecanoe Valley. He says serving as head football coach has always been a dream of his since graduating from TVHS in 1995.

“I have great pride in what I have accomplished as a coach and where I have coached. Through teaching discipline, loyalty, and character, I will build a program on all levels that will revive the old and build a new tradition,” said Moriarty.

Moriarty graduated with a teaching degree from Purdue University in West Lafayette. He is currently the assistant superintendent at the Kosciusko County Highway Department.

Moriarty is also active in the community as a board member of the Mentone Youth League, a member of Mentone United Methodist Church, and a member of the Mentone Lions Club.

Kerlin Motor Company, Tippecanoe Valley High School, and members of the local community raised $4,600 for Tippecanoe Valley’s Boomerang Backpack program at the Drive 4 UR School test-drive event during the fall semester.

Rick Kerlin, owner of Kerlin Motor Co., officially presented a check to the board of trustees at the Jan. 16 board meeting.

More than 200 people test-drove a Ford vehicle in the high school parking lot on September 2^nd as part of Ford Motor Company’s Drive 4 UR School program.

Ford Motor Company donated $20 for each test drive with funds going to Boomerang Backpacks, a program that provides food for students and their families throughout the weekend.

To date, Ford dealerships across the country have helped raised more than $30 million for local schools and non-profits with the Drive 4 UR School and Drive 4 UR Community programs.

Pictured from left to right: Rick Kerlin, owner of Kerlin Motor Company, and Jon Hutton, assistant principal at Tippecanoe Valley High School

Twenty years ago, Tippecanoe Valley High School offered many hands on programs in the areas of Agriculture, Art, Printing, Drafting, and a few others.  Today classes across the curriculum offer students many more opportunities to work with their hands or with technology. At the high school and middle school all students are one-to-one with laptops or tablets for use in their daily classes. Teachers utilize a program called Chalkable, a learning management system, which is similar to the blackboard programs at the college level, to share assignments, give feedback and collaborate. Classes like Project Lead the Way use specialized computer programs to instruct students as well as give hands on experiences in programming, drafting, architecture, and office systems.

In business classes this year, TVHS offers a programming class in which students learn and use different computer languages and systems to program. In Digital Applications students can earn Microsoft Certifications in different programs like EXCEL, Publisher, PowerPoint, One Note and many others.  We are proudly displaying their accomplishments to both acknowledge them and encourage others to follow this path. Students are better prepared for their future with these skills and leave ready for tasks they need to perform in college or the workplace.

Students experience greater opportunities this year to engage in career path exploration than ever before. Tippecanoe Valley provides daily bus transportation to the Warsaw Area Career Center (WACC) where students participate in a variety of career and technical education programs (formerly known as vocational education). Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw, and Whitko are all partners in a vocational cooperative which offers classes to students through the WACC.  Students at the WACC are taking part in a variety of courses like Culinary Arts, Early Childhood Development, Precision Machining, Broadcasting, and Health Sciences (this is actually a Certified Nursing Assistant program), Criminology, Aviation, Marketing, and Business Foundations. Tippecanoe Valley has created an opportunity for students who otherwise would not have access to these programs. The result has been the number of students involved has more than tripled from previous years.

TVHS continues to add college level classes to allow students the opportunity to begin their college experience while still in high school. Advanced College Placement Composition was added last year followed this year by Advanced College Placement Literature. Students can also explore possible careers as well as earn dual credit in the areas of business, mathematics, foreign language, US history, engineering, and political science.  As we continue to broaden our class offerings for students, we hope to encourage students to take advantage of the potential opportunities to earn enough credits over the course of their four years at Tippecanoe Valley High School to equal a year of college.  This serves both a financial and time saving benefit for our students and supports Tippecanoe Valley’s vision of doing whatever it takes to equip students to be outstanding – today, tomorrow, and beyond.

At Tippecanoe Valley we are not waiting for the future.  We are making it today.

Christmas is a little brighter this year for more than one hundred families in the Tippecanoe Valley area after receiving assistance through the Miracle Tree program.

Miracle Tree is sponsored by Mill Creek Missionary Church and has been going strong for years in the Rochester area. Tippecanoe Valley teachers Darren Parker and Crystal Heckaman helped expand the program this year after noticing a growing need for it in the their school district.

“Our school corporation makes a great effort to care for kids at Christmas time, but we had so many programs going in so many directions. We wanted to combine all of our efforts into one massive project,” said Heckaman.

122 families in need were shopped for this Christmas. Families who expressed an interest in receiving help this year were assigned a number. Those numbers were then placed on ornaments and hung on trees inside Bell Memorial Public Library in Mentone and Akron Carnegie Public Library in Akron. The numbers let sponsors know how many children were in each family. Sponsors were then provided a wish list for the family they selected.

All of the gifts were presented to the families on December 14 at a special event that included food and activities for children.

The Tippecanoe Valley High School Student Council was one of the largest sponsors this year, adopting 10 families. Financial donations allowed the student council to purchase $100 worth of gifts for 48 people. In previous years, the student council would take elementary students shopping for Christmas, but decided on a new approach this year through the Miracle Tree program.

“We had a great crew of  students, staff, high school student council members, Mill Creek Missionary Church members, and  people in the community that came out to set up, serve food, help with various activities, and help tear down,” said Heckaman.

Several area businesses including The Log Cabin in Rochester, Viking Foods in Akron, Kroger in Rochester, Jarrety’s Place in Rochester, and photographer Shelly Craig donated their time and resources to help with the event.

A Tippecanoe Valley graduate who recently completed basic training for the U.S. Army, returned to school to speak to students about his experience.

Tommy VanMeter graduated from Tippecanoe Valley in 2016 and recently finished basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia. VanMeter spoke to students on December 21^st at the Burket Educational Center about how his short time in the military has already impacted his life in a positive way.

“We are very proud of Tommy for his service. His picture will now be up on the Military Wall of Fame in Burket,” said instructor Micah Lukens.

VanMeter is planning to continue working towards the title of infantryman, a title the U.S. Army says is responsible for defending the United States against any threat by land, as well as capturing, destroying and repelling enemy ground forces.

According to the U.S. Army’s website, job training for infantryman requires 14 weeks of One Station Unit Training, which includes Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field.

During his time in basic training, VanMeter earned the title of expert shooter by hitting 36 out of 40 on his shooting.