Grove Gazette

L-R (Bottom): Andra Veleta, Macie Pascual, Caroline Wheatley, Cinthia Garcia, Alexander Fan;

A team of ten Center Grove High School students have had two projects advanced to the State Finalist round of the national Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. Each project earns CGHS a $2,500 prize package. The team includes Sam Anderson, Luke Dagley, Blake Downen, Alexander Fan, Cinthia Garcia, Macie Pascual, Andra Veleta, Mason Vrshek, Caroline Wheatley, and Ryan Zheng. The students are juniors and seniors at CGHS who are enrolled in Project Lead the Way courses for biomedical, engineering, and computer science. Teachers Andrea Teevan and Brent Schulz are overseeing the students.

One of their projects would address the many problems wheelchair uses face when entering and exiting the device by redesigning it. They plan to develop a way to utilize motors to assist in movement, and potentially incorporate a lift and added shopping cart space. The second project aims to highlight the high amount electricity utilized by AI through a browser extension that would track a user's energy usage due to AI and promote efficient energy practices.

The team is working on activity plans for their projects. They'll find out in late January whether either or both of the projects are named State Winners.

Three 6th Grade Robotics teams from Center Grove Middle School Central won the Rising All Star Award in the semi-state FIRST LEGO League Challenge competition to advance to the state competition on March 8th. The competition was hosted at Center Grove High School on December 14th.

The FIRST LEGO League Challenge is a research and robotics tournament for 9-16-year-old students. Teams must work for several weeks to plan, program, and test a fully automatic robot, as well as research a topic of their choice and create a presentation of their results.

Center Grove Middle School North's Spell Bowl Team placed 7th in the Class 1 Area Competition on November 6th. This finish qualified the team for the Indiana Association of School Principal's State Academic Spell Bowl Competition at Purdue University. All four classes competed against others at the state competition. Unlike the traditional oral spelling contest, teams in the Spell Bowl competition use one representative per round to correctly spell the contest words. Winning teams are named based on the cumulative total of correctly spelled words of all members. MSN's Spell Bowl sponsor is Amy Franklin.

Aspire Johnson County teamed up with CGHS to connect local trainers and employers with high school juniors and seniors exploring career opportunities on November 21st. More than 80 students participated in small group sessions, where they learned more about potential career paths from area business. Representatives include Endress+Hauser, Central Midwest Carpenter’s Union, Ivy Tech-Next Level Jobs, Ivy Tech-IT Careers, Conner Insurance, First Merchants Bank, Express Employment, Franklin Heritage Society, Franciscan Health, Community Health, and Halstead Architects.

Three CGHS freshmen placed third for the first time at Franklin College's 60th Math Day on November 23rd. The competition saw over 160 high school students from across the region, all showcasing their mathematical skills. The students who competed were Dathan Schramm, Jackie Sutton and Tanvi Jaddu. This achievement marks a significant milestone for the freshmen and highlights the growing strength of Center Grove's math program.

Maple Grove Elementary School took first place among the CGCSC schools and 14th overall in the 2024 Indiana Academic Spell Bowl on Monday, November 18. This year's competition was held at North Grove Elementary. The MGES Spell Bowl coach is Katie Jones who teaches 4th Grade Extended Learning.

The competition is made up of eight rounds with a different team member competing in each round. Each round includes seven words. Scores from each district competition are then ranked against schools statewide of the same size.

North Grove came in second among the CG schools, followed by Sugar Grove, Center Grove, Walnut Grove, and Pleasant Grove.

Fifty Center Grove High School students earned bids to the State Business Professionals of America in March during the regional conference December 7-14 in downtown Indianapolis. The students must place in the top 3 in their individual or team category to qualify for state. Teacher Teresa Tzaferis is the BPA sponsor for CGHS.

Center Grove High School freshman band member Margaret Walker was selected as the 1st chair clarinetist for the Indiana Junior All-State State Band. Walker will perform with the band at the Indiana Music Educators Association Conference on January 18 in Fort Wayne.

A Yellow Labrador Retriever named Hopper joined the Center Grove family in November. Hopper is a facility dog, trained by the Indiana Canine Assistance Network (ICAN). Christy Berger, CGCSC's Executive Director of Student Services, will serve as Hopper's primary handler. Superintendent Bill Long will be Hopper's back-up handler. In CG, Hopper will be lending a helping paw to students of all ages. He will empower students with emotional and social learning, offer life lessons, and use positive social cues such as bumps, bows, secrets, reading flashcards, visits, and hugs. More information about Hopper is available on our website at this link.

Center Grove has chosen Megan Curtis as the next Director of Elementary Teaching & Learning. Mrs. Curtis comes to Center Grove from Southwest Allen County Schools where she most recently served as the literacy specialist. She started her career in Dekalb County Central United Schools where she served as an 8th Grade Language Arts teacher and Literacy Coordinator. She has also served as a 5th Grade teacher in Southwest Allen and an assistant principal at Adams Central Elementary in Adams Central Community Schools.

“Megan’s instructional expertise, passion for literacy and commitment to student success will be a tremendous asset to our entire school community” said Lynn Simmers, Ph.D., assistant superintendent for Teaching & Learning.

Curtis holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Purdue University Fort Wayne. Curtis replaces Marcy Szostak who left her position to take another one within the district.

Christina Flatter has been appointed the next Assistant Director of Transportation for Center Grove. Her appointment was approved by the CGCSC Board of School Trustees at its November meeting. Mrs. Flatter has worked in a support role in the Transportation Department for the last five years. Prior to Center Grove, she worked for 19 years in transportation for Clark-Pleasant Schools. Flatter holds a technical certificate in Business Administration from Ivy Tech. She is currently working toward a Transportation Director Certification through IASBO. She will replace Mark Howe who plans to resign from his position at the end of the semester.

The Center Grove Alumni and FriendsHall of Fame will recognize graduates and community members for their professional achievements and personal contributions to improve the lives of others and society. Visit centergrovealumni.org to view eligibility requirements and submit a nomination.

Center Grove High School's U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) presented the national colors at the Thursday, November 21 Board meeting. Members of the color guard included Moriah Cluff, Megan Frey, Nolan Beck, and Casey Hammons. The CGHS instructor team includes JROTC Senior Army Instructor LTC (R) Richard Mcilrath and JROTC Army Instructor CSM (R) James Garber.

Center Grove Elementary School was in the Board spotlight for Thursday, November 21. Principal Lori Green recognized three exceptional CGES Knights including 2nd Grade teacher Kim Andrews, instructional assistant Chrissy McComas, and 5th Grade student Kennedy Smith.

Construction is nearing completion on the Center Grove Academic Pavilion. This addition to CGHS is three stories (50,000 total SF) located on the west side of the High School, adjacent to the new natatorium. This project will add 18 academic classrooms, a collaboration space, and a secondary food court. This project also includes additional security cameras and additional space for the bus parking lot.

To make room for this project, the Professional Resource Center (old Maple Grove building) was torn down. The project will cost $19,750,000 and will not impact the tax rate for White River Township taxpayers. Work on this project is expected to be completed in spring 2025. The design (pictured) allows for a second pavilion to be added with additional classrooms as growth continues in the future.

Center Grove opened a new facility on the high school campus late this fall that provides an instructional hitting space for Softball and indoor practice practice space for boys and girls golf. The building sits on the high school campus, just east of the football stadium. It includes three hitting cages for softball and three hitting bays for boys and girls golf. The space is utilized by CGHS cheerleading teams. This project was achieved without impacting the tax rate for White River Township taxpayers.

Center Grove Schools is currently hiring for a variety of part-time and full-time positions including teaching and non-teaching positions, as well as opportunities in our transportation, food service, and custodial/maintenance departments. If you're looking for a great place to work that aligns with your students' schedules, check out the available positions at centergrove.k12.in.us/applynow

The Center Grove High School Girls Soccer team finished as State Runners-Up in the 3A State Soccer Championship on Saturday, November 2 at the Michael Carroll Soccer Stadium at Indiana University, Indianapolis. The team fell to the Noblesville Millers 3-1. They finished the season 16-5-3. The team is coached by Myron Vaughn.

CGHS senior Lauren Hopper was the Mental Attitude Award recipient. The award is give to a senior who best demonstrates excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability during their high school career.

CGHS Assistant Athletic Director Katie Fisher received the Champion Educator Award. This award recognizes an educator who goes above and beyond to challenge their high school students to become the best versions of themselves. During the state championship game in each team sport, the IHSAA honors an educator from both participating schools who was selected by their school for their commitment to student success.

Center Grove High School senior Tyler Lane won IHSAA #1 Singles Tennis State Runner-Up on Saturday, October 26 at Park Tudor High School in Indianapolis. Tyler’s overall record in his final season as a Trojan was 21-4.

Eight Center Grove High School senior student-athletes were recognized on Wednesday, November 13 during the Fall Signing Day. They have all committed to continue their academic and athletic careers at a college or university.

The students include:

• Addie Crowe: Grand Valley State - Soccer
• Reese Dunkle: Stanford - Volleyball
• Emilee Franklin: Charleston, WV - Lacrosse
• Maggie Marlin: Robert Morri - Soccer
• Hallie Mimbela: Indiana State Cross Country - Track
• Hayley Smith: Saint Francis - Soccer
• Lyla Weir: Charleston, WV - Lacrosse
• Ellen Zapp: Oakland - Volleyball