Mr. Arifee, age 29, grew up in Merrillville and has a home in Crown Point. He is Muslim and ethnically from Afghanistan. He teaches both regular 8th grade science and honors on the blue team. Mr. Arifee has been teaching for about 4-5 months, since the school year started. He has many hobbies, such as, playing sports, working out, and cooking. He also has a cat named Escanor. Mr. Arifee enjoys watching sports, specifically football. He watches anime, plays games, and enjoys playing pool (the table game). He is the sponsor of the Science Club, coach of the Academic Spell Bowl, and helps coach the wrestling team unofficially. 

   Mrs. Delinck is a Math and Algebra teacher for the eighth grade blue team. She has been a teacher at Merrillville since 2007, 17 long years, but has been teaching for 19. She has two children: one in fifth grade and another in third grade and they are in several activities. Mrs. Delinck has no pets because her husband is allergic to them. In her free time she likes to garden. She has taught first grade in the past, but has mainly only taught the eighth grade.

    Mrs. Delinck has three pairs of Christmas shoes her husband got for her. They are snow themed, candy cane themed, and green, red, and merry themed. She uses them to be festive and show off how cool her shoes are to all the kids.  

Ms. Jenkins is a 7th Grade Science teacher on the Orange team. She has been teaching for 19 years, but has been teaching in Merrillville for 12 years. She has no pets, but she does have 2 children, a boy and a girl. She likes to work out, roller skate, and she loves buying shoes. She is a 7th grade A team volleyball coach. She would like to go to the Caribbean over the summer. Her favorite food is Mexican food. Ms. Jenkins is an amazing teacher, and I am proud to say she is my team leader. 

Mrs. Lowe Is the 7th grade Health teacher; she teaches all teams. She has been teaching for one year at Pierce, but has worked in Merrillville for four years. In her free time she likes upcycling clothes and traveling with her husband. Mrs. Lowe does not currently advise any extracurriculars. She does not have any pets, but she has three kids: one girl (25) and two boys (19 and 13). Mrs. Lowe is a great teacher and inspires so many kids and I am glad she got to inspire me. 

Mrs. Manthe teaches 7th grade art and teaches all of the 7th grade teams.  Every trimester she gets a new group of students. This is Mrs. Manthe’s 3rd year at Pierce; she used to teach in a different school system. Mrs. Manthe has many pets. She has 12 chickens, 2 dogs, and 2 cats. Mrs. Manthe enjoys cooking for her family, gardening in the summer, canning, hiking, and anything artsy.

 Mrs. Sabinas-English 7 Red

     Mrs. Sabinas has been teaching for about fourteen years now. She has worked in Merrillville for twelve years. She used to coach for a middle school dance team. Her hobbies are DIY, painting, and her favorite hobby is doing puzzles. She likes to dance, sing, and act. She is good in English and Science, but she is especially good at writing.

      She has two kids, a boy and a girl. She also has a dog named Blitz; he is 13 pounds. Also, her dog's favorite word is pooper because everytime she calls him Blitz, he doesn’t come, but he only comes when she says “pooper.” She likes pink, but she likes to decorate in red. Mrs. Sabinas is a wonderful teacher and she helps us with our work if we ask.

 Mrs. Soliz is the 7th grade Orange Team English teacher. She has been teaching for 2 years and enjoys teaching 7th grade. Mrs. Soliz has 1 daughter and a dog. Her dog’s name is Eleanor, but they call her Eli. She likes to read novels and her favorite book is The Inheritance Games. Her favorite movie is Sweet Home Alabama. Her favorite food is tacos on flour tortillas with loads of cheese and sour cream. She loves the boy band One Direction. Last but not least, her proudest/biggest accomplishment is her daughter.