Students from four Fort Wayne high schools are turning to an old-school medium to tackle serious issues.
The Bishop Luers, Homestead, South Side and Wayne students are among other northern Indiana teens who shot, wrote, reported, directed and edited episodes of a television series that premiered this month on WFWA-TV, according to a news release.
"TBH" : text speak for "to be honest" and the name of the nonprofit overseeing the venture : addresses topics including gun violence, suicide, child abuse and mental health, the release said.
"Students picked issues that they felt were important to relay from their perspective," Erika Celeste, TBH executive director, said in a statement. "If TBH's stories help one viewer know they're not alone, we've done our job."
The series, which airs at 11 and 11:30 p.m. Saturdays in March, began with 12 schools, including Garrett High School in DeKalb County and Oak Farm Montessori in Noble County, and an after-school program before the pandemic, the release said.
"I'm really proud of all the TBH kids for prevailing in spite of COVID shutting down their programs in the middle of filming," Celeste said. "Thanks to their creativity and tenacity, this is a very special series."
For more information or to watch online, go to www.tobehonestinc.com.
asloboda@jg.net
Documentary
• The Indiana Coalition for Public Education-Monroe County recently released a documentary exploring school choice in Indiana. "Indiana's Choice" was created by Hoosiers to examine the consequences of school choice policies on the K-12 public school system. Filmmakers interviewed teachers, students, administrators, researchers and parents to examine how school choice enables segregation of students and discrimination against students, families and school employees. Go to indianaschoice.com to watch.
Ivy Tech
• Since launching the Laptop Loan-to-Own program last spring, Ivy Tech Community College Warsaw has lent all 18 laptops to students, and 10 students own their laptops after successfully completing program requirements. Lake City Bank donated the computers. This program is one of four programs Ivy Tech has implemented in its Fort Wayne and Warsaw service area. Through these efforts, more than 100 laptops have been made available to students since the pandemic started. Ivy Tech students needing access to laptops can contact Chris Douse at cdouse@ivytech.edu.
Recognition
• Kelly Burnham of Woodlan Junior-Senior High School was named High School Intern of the Year by Indiana INTERNnet, the statewide internship matching organization. She interned at Miller's Merry Manor. Lori Heuer of Columbia City High School was named High School Career Development Professional of the Year.
• Warsaw Community High School seniors Jacob Kissling and Justin Park are winners of the College Board's National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program.
Teams from Purdue University Fort Wayne earned first and second place as well as the People's Choice Award at the Indiana Bond Bank's annual Flipping Finance Challenge. The competition featured teams statewide competing against each other and for Hoosier communities. The goal is to "flip conventional municipal project financing on its head," and come up with new solutions to finding funding for community projects. Honorees included Quan Luong, Khoa Dang, Haemin Ryu, Trang Dao, An Nguyen, Semir Kostic, Sydney Boyd, Caitlyn Flory, Michael Perkins, Thaine Boehme, Niko Albertson and Lucas Blevins.
• Mike A. Jones of Adams Central High School is one of eight agricultural teachers named as a finalist for Indiana's Ag Educator of the Year through Nationwide's Golden Owl Award. Finalists receive a plaque and $500 to help fund future educational efforts.
Saint Francis
• The University of Saint Francis announced Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson will be the featured commencement speaker. The ceremony is set for 2 p.m. May 1 at Memorial Coliseum and will honor the classes of 2020 and 2021.
Scholarships
• Applications for the Fort Wayne Central High School Alumni Association scholarships are due midnight April 16. Descendants of Central graduates may apply. Contact Dianne Bezdon at dbezdon19@comcast.net, Bonnie Baumgartner at bonniebum16@gmail.com, or Bonnie Arnold at bjarnold44@msn.com for an application.
• Latinos Count is accepting scholarship applications for the 2021-22 academic year. They must be postmarked or submitted no later than April 16. Fifteen $1,000 scholarships will be awarded. Special consideration will be given to applicants who are single parents. Contact Executive Director Steve Corona at 260-740-2527 or scorona428@gmail.com for information.
• Carroll High School student Liz Murphy and Nicolas Luna of Warsaw Community High School each received full-tuition scholarships from Grace College's Presidential Scholarship Days. The annual competition for high-achieving high school seniors awards more than $2.5 million in scholarships.
Trine
• Following a national search, Trine University has named David J. Fraboni II, a development professional with more than 35 years of experience in academic fundraising, as its new vice president for university advancement.
• Thomas Morrill, assistant professor of mathematics, co-authored "Quasimodularity of the k-th Residual Cranks," an article published in the International Journal of Number Theory. It discusses number theory, covering two perspectives on the same problem: modularity and combinatorics, the abstract study of counting.
• The Theta Phi Alpha sorority raised $7,584.68 for Vera Bradley's Foundation for Breast Cancer at this year's Big Man on Campus event.
• Trine has raised more than 1.3 million through the Trine University 2021 Gala Fund, which was set up to replace funds that normally would have been contributed at an in-person event. The amount includes a 300,000 match for Books and Beyond scholarships from Trine board chair alumnus Rick James and his wife, Vicki James, and The James Foundation. The university plans to host the Scholarship Gala as an in-person event in 2022.
Warsaw
• Warsaw Community Schools will hold a kindergarten roundup parent information meeting from 6 to 7:30 p.m. March 22 at the Performing Arts Center at Warsaw Community High School, 1 Tiger Lane, Warsaw. Masks are required when entering and exiting the building, but they may be removed once seated if facing forward. Those unable to attend may find information at www.warsawschools.org after the meeting.
Students and parents who have a favorite teacher can nominate the individual for Teacher Honor Roll. Send nominations to The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802; fax 461-8893 or email asloboda@jg.net.
To submit an item, send a typed release from the school or organization to Education Notebook, The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802; fax 461-8893 or email asloboda@jg.net at least two weeks before the desired publication date.