The SACS Education Foundation has created a new opportunity to honor SACS employees and would like your assistance. Students, community members, and colleagues can nominate a SACS employee who has gone above and beyond to impact our students. Any SACS employee can be nominated, including teachers, custodians, bus drivers, and nurses. If you see a staff member who excels at their duties and goes the extra mile to help others, nominate them for this award by scanning the QR code on the flier. SACS staff spends so much time doing their best to make the learning environment for students as good as possible, so it is our turn to show them appreciation by acknowledging the work of the individuals. Take some time to think about who you know is making a big difference and submit the application by the 15th of each month, where the nominated staff members have a chance to win $250. This January, Mr. Haff, Social Studies

Thank you,
SACS Education Foundation

Click here to nominate!

If you have more questions, contact Mrs. Braman by email! abraman@sacs.k12.in.us

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual national academic competition that recognizes students across the country who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

Officials have announced the names of the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, and Homestead High School is proud to share that six Spartans have been chosen to continue on to the next level of this highly prestigious competition. Finalists will be announced during second semester.

Congratulations to John Cowan, Rhea Kavuru, Penn Lee, Ishita Pandey, Elliott Perkins, and Leah Steup – Homestead’s 2025 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists!

These six Spartans now have the opportunity to compete for 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring. We are proud of all of these outstanding students and their dedication to academic excellence. 

The book selected was I Must Betray You, by Ruta Sepetys. This historical fiction novel tells the story of the Communist regime in Romania and is based on events that took place in November and December of 1989 as the dictator was ousted by the citizens. The novel is told from the perspective of a 17-year-old living in Bucharest who faces difficult decisions about what part he should play in the revolution and what price he is willing to pay for his freedom.

Author Ruta Sepetys is a very well-known young adult literature author. She is a multi-time New York Times best-seller and a Carnegie Literary Medal award winner. Homestead Librarian Amy Acree reached out to Ms. Sepetys and arranged for her to Zoom with the entire student body on September 11th.

The students met in their Spartan 40 groups after lunch where Ms. Sepetys spoke briefly about the book and her life as an author, and then spent the rest of the hour answering student questions. Students had an opportunity to learn about her investigative process, how the book had taken seven years to research and write, and how she came to write books where the focus is on points in history where young people their age have been part of the catalyst for change. It was a privilege to have this highly decorated author speak to the Homestead students and faculty. After the event, Ms. Sepetys sent the high school an email saying that she was grateful for the very thoughtful and engaging questions the students had asked and that she had truly enjoyed meeting with our Spartan family.

Thanks go out to Mrs. Amy Acree, Homestead Librarian, and Nicole Vickrey, Language Arts Department Chair, and Assistant Principal Sara Hoeppner for organizing this opportunity to meet the author and for the work that went into creating an All-School Summer Reading Experience for Homestead High School.

Congratulations to the 704 students who earned the Homestead High School Honor Roll during their 2023-2024 Spring semester! Students must take at least five credits to be eligible for the honor roll. Students were eligible for the “Honor Roll” if they earned nothing lower than a “B-“ in all 2023-2024 Spring semester courses. Students were eligible for the “Distinguished Honor Roll” (names listed in bold) if they earned nothing lower than an “A-“ in all courses for the 2023-2024 Spring semester. These students were recognized for their outstanding achievement during their lunch period in the cafeteria ON Tuesday, October 1st. They received an honor roll certificate and a special treat. 

Students who made the spring semester Honor Roll!

Junior Meleah Hatch and Senior Isaac Morrison had the opportunity to travel to Spain in an exchange program last summer break. Meleah traveled to Ciudad Real, and Isaac traveled to Almeria. While there, they attended Spanish classes and cultural and community observation activities, including tours to historically significant sites. These students could only speak Spanish for 1 hour a week when they could talk to their families in Fort Wayne. When they returned to Fort Wayne, they both performed exceptionally on their final evaluation and were rewarded with an Indiana University Honors Program in Foreign Language Diploma. If you see these students in the hallways, be sure to congratulate them!

Homestead’s Performing Arts Program was well represented on September 14th when the Spartan Alliance Band traveled to Ohio to compete at the Bands of America Midwest Regional Championship held at the Glass Bowl Stadium on the campus of the University of Toledo. The band was named BOA Grand Champion of the Midwest region and was also recognized with the Outstanding Visual Performance trophy in the championship round. The band also swept the Class 3A Outstanding Music Performance, Outstanding Visual Performance, and Outstanding General Effect Awards. If you have never been to a band competition, we invite you to attend the Indiana State Scholastic Preliminary Competition and Open Class Invitational that will be held in our stadium at Homestead on Saturday, October 5th. Bands take the field at 11 am and Homestead will march at 8:45 pm at this all day event. This competition is the first step to qualifying for the 2024 State Marching Band Finals to be held at Lucas Oil Stadium later this semester.