Homestead's Jazz Ensemble 1 qualified for State in early March. The band received a Gold Rating with Distinction. Additionally, 10 students received solo awards for their instrumental talent. This was the 5th time Homestead's Jazz Band has gone to state, and it was their 3rd time in a row doing so!

Sai Ramani - Alto Sax Adi Nichols - Flute

Greyson Chamoun - Alto Sax Zach Gratton - Alto Sax

Will Osborne - Tenor Sax Tony Tomaszewski - Guitar

Sam Birkey - Piano Hayden Tsoukalas - Trombone

Will Thornsbury - Trumpet Steve Edds - Bari Sax

DECA is an extracurricular event that many students at Homestead are familiar with. DECA is a competition meant to build future leaders and entrepreneurs by creating realistic situations that they might encounter in college and careers. 

Evan McMahon and Timmy Smith were partners for a category called Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision Making (STDM). In this type of event, both students take a 100-question multiple-choice exam and present an impromptu case study to a judge. Evan says he learned good business and networking skills from DECA. Liam Reed says he learned "good communication skills, financial literacy, and business smarts that you wouldn't find in any business class." 

Another student, Ella Emrick, participated in Marketing Management Team Decision-Making Role-Play with Addie Flemming. At first, she was too intimidated to join DECA, but with support from friends, she ended up joining and liking it. With Ella and Addie's hard work, they placed 2nd in their event and are advancing to the DECA International Career Development Conference(ICDC). 

Other students continuing to ICDC include Mallory Bobiliya and Ashley Wagner, Sai Shamyant Boda, Caroline Burns and Dhruvika De, Bennett Ganshorn, Trent George and Porter Vucich, Eric Ji, Issac Knight and Buvanajith Piyadasa, and Issac Schroeder. Additionally, Sai Shamyant Boda is now the Region 3 President and Vishnu Vijayachandran is the VP of Marketing. Even more students won medallions or were top ten finalists in their event. Congratulations on all these students' success!

Once again, some of Homestead's girl runners won another state championship, this time in indoor track. Caterina Perego, Domenica Casini, Lucy Kramer, and Addison Knoblauch competed in a distance medley relay at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. They competed in a division for larger schools. They placed 1st with a time of 12:07.36, beating second place by more than ten seconds and breaking the old state record! Sophomore Caterina Perego just tried to enjoy the day. She says, "You can't get good at something you don't enjoy." On the last two laps of the race, Lucy Kramer heard the announcer and knew a state record was possible. She would like to thank her coaches, family, and specifically her teammates for "not giving up."  Domenica Casini adds that she nearly dropped the baton she was handed and tried her hardest to make up for lost time, but, the moment she knew they were going to break the record was when Addison Knoblauch "was looking strong and was running incredible times" on her final lap. Three of these four runners will return next year and certainly have a bright future ahead as they finish out their high school careers. 

Additionally, Senior Ellie Irwin placed 2nd at state for high jump! She would like to thank her incredible coaches Mrs. Teusch and Mrs. Tiernon, as well as her parents, her team, and God. Ellie said that "there was nothing to doubt or worry about" because of all her hard work leading up to the meet. She tried to stay "focused and trusted in [her] training." Going into the outdoor season, she would like to jump some higher bars and go to outdoor state for hurdles.

On the boys' side, senior Eli Griffith won the pole vault. As the favorite to win going in, Eli tried to keep his focus and not let the pressure get to him. He would like to thank his family and Coach John for trusting his decisions along the way. Additionally, he appreciated the support from his teammates and claims it "was very cool to have the support from my whole team sitting on the bank of the track cheering me on when I was jumping. It was the first time my whole team, both boys and girls, cheered me on and it was a great feeling." Looking forward to the outdoor season, he hopes to win yet another state title. Ethan Widenhoefer placed third in the high jump. Going into the meet he tried to stay confident and relaxed so he could perform his best. He would also like to win a state title this spring. Finally, Michael White placed fourth in the long jump. Be sure to look for all these athletes as we head into the outdoor season!

The Homestead Media program is thriving under the direction of Adam Schenkel and Andy Dunn. The Indiana Association of School Broadcasters (IASB) holds a ceremony awarding students for their submissions in the broadcasting field. This year, 60 schools participated and over 670 entries were received. In the competition, 42 total categories were spread amongst 5 divisions. For each category, the top 3 submissions and 2 honorable mentions were awarded. Points are given out by placements: 1st place gets 3 points, 2nd place gets 2 points, and 3rd place gets 1 point. The points are then added up by each school. The school with the most points in each division claims the title of Division School of the Year. Homestead's Media Department was the School of the Year in each division, sweeping the board at the ceremony! They were awarded Radio School of the Year, Video School of the Year, Sports Media School of the Year, News Media Co-School of the Year, and Emerging Media Co-School of the Year. Students won 1st place awards in 14 categories, 2nd place awards in 7 categories, and 3rd place awards in 8 categories, with an additional 7 honorable mentions and 3 finalists.

Homestead's Media Program has won School of the Year many times before and have won Radio School of the Year in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2024. Homestead won School of the Year in the previous category of television before it was split into the other 4 divisions in 2020, 2021, and 2022. After the Television division split in 2023, Homestead won the Sports Media School of the Year. 

Seniors Bryce Garrett and Macy Gray have been in HHS in Depth for 3 years.. Bryce says the competition is submission-based, but the teachers of the course pick and choose the best student projects to send in. Bryce participated in Video Spot Production, Corporate Video, Cinematography, Video News Package, Video Show Open, Video Sports Package, Social Media Presence, Photojournalism, and Music Video while Macy participated and Live Air Personality, Live Radio Mews, and Radio Show.

Click the drop down below to see all of the Homestead awards!

Ten students from Homestead and Woodside participated in the Indiana Junior Classical League State Convention on March 7-9 at Indiana University in Bloomington. 178 students from 16 different schools attended the event. Homestead placed 2nd overall in Sweepstakes for Small Chapters. Students won 50 individual top five placings in a variety of academic, graphic arts, and creative arts contests. Every student who attended earned an award that contributed to the Sweepstakes win. Members from Homestead include include Katlyn Jaklich, Katelyn Schwab, Katie Shannon, Tristan Skidmore, Ella Smith, Annabelle Thurman, and Hannah Zandarski. Members from Woodside include Brishti Adhikari, Sophia Hill, and Joslyn Skidmore. Additionally, two students were elected to state office for the 2024-2025 school year – Ella Smith, Communications Coordinator, and Katie Shannon, Second Vice President.

Chapter Awards

2nd - Local Publications – (Newsletter edited by Katelyn Schwab)        

3rd – Sharon Gibson Community Service Award

4th – Helen Wampler Spirit Award (Club of the Year)

Certamen (Latin Quiz Bowl)

3rd – Intermediate Team

5th – Advanced Team

Every year, two high school students from Indiana are selected to join a program called the United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP). This program includes a $10,000 scholarship and a one-week trip to Washington D.C. This year, Homestead’s Layla Kelly was one of those Indiana delegates chosen by the Indiana Bar Foundation. She submitted essays, videos, and even was required to conduct an in-person interview before being selected for the program. In Washington D.C. Layla met President Biden who told “insightful stories about trusting ourselves and persevering in spite of self-doubt.” Layla was the first person selected from Fort Wayne since 1986. The trip was incredibly impactful primarily because Layla was able to interact with 103 other like-minded individuals. Congratulations on this outstanding accomplishment!