Class of '96 Houin now PCSC Attorney

By Carol Anders

Correspondent 

 

PLYMOUTH — During a regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday night, the Plymouth School Board officially appointed Jeffery Houin to the position of Corporation Attorney.

Houin is originally from Plymouth and graduated from Plymouth High School in 1996. He competed on the Plymouth Speech Team all except his junior year, when he attended Wentzinger Gymnasium in Freiburg, Germany as a recipient of the Congress-Bundestag student exchange scholarship.

He received his bachelor's degree from Ball State University and then held several sales and management positions with RadioShack and RadioShack.com in Indiana and Colorado.

He and his family returned to Plymouth in 2003 where he first worked as an advertising representative for the Pilot News Group before attending the University of Notre Dame Law School.

While in law school, Houin said he was able to apply his Plymouth Speech Team training to earn one of only four positions on Notre Dame Law School's prestigious Moot Court Showcase Team.

Since returning to Plymouth, he has also returned to the Plymouth Speech and Debate team as an assistant coach.

After law school, Houin began a private practice in South Bend before joining the Indianapolis-based law firm of Doyle Legal Corporation, P.C. to open their South Bend office.

Houin said, “I am happy to bring Plymouth Community School Corporation to the list of prominent clients of Doyle Legal Corporation. For me personally, it is an exciting opportunity to work with administrators, teachers and board members from whom I have learned so much over the years. I owe much of my career success to the Plymouth community and the Plymouth School Corporation, and I look forward to applying that success as legal counsel for the Corporation.”

Doyle Legal Corporation, P.C. is a full service law firm with offices in Indianapolis and South Bend. For more than 20 years, Doyle Legal Corporation, P.C. attorneys have provided legal services to an ever expanding base of corporate and individual clients at the state and national level.

Houin said, “The success of our practice can be measured only by our clients' satisfaction. At Doyle Legal Corporation, P.C., we work hard both to earn our clients' business and their satisfaction.”

Story reprinted by permission of The Pilot News

Plymouth students head to Washington

By Carol Anders

Correspondent

PLYMOUTH — Five Plymouth teenagers were given an unexpected opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. this week.  The trip was made possible as a part of Title I Migrant Grant.

 

According to Jeni Hirschy, Riverside Intermediate Assistant Principal and ENL/Migrant Coordinator for the schools, they received a last minute call from the state informing them that there was enough funding left to offer the educational trip. The week long experience is a part of partnership with the U.S. Congress, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. State Department, the White House Historical Association, the Smithsonian, and other Washington institutions.

 

Since 1971, over 700,000 students and teachers have graduated from the programs.

Accompanying the students on the six-day trip was Rebecca Ippel, Plymouth High School English as New Language teacher. Ippel volunteered to make the trip even though it meant leaving Plymouth at 4:00 A.M. on Sunday to make a flight out of Indianapolis.

 

The idea behind the trip is to inspire students from all walks of life to help them better understand the role they play in the United States democracy. Students are given time to meet in small groups with the elected officials in Congress and attend Congress sessions. Evening activities are also a part of the learning experience as students get to know each other.

 

Participants will tour the Iwo Jima Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Korean, Vietnam and World War II Memorials, Capitol Hill, Smithsonian American History Museum, and visit the Supreme Court and Library of Congress.

 

Hirschy explained that students are classified a migrant if they have moved to this area for the purpose of agriculture. She said, “Many families choose to stay in the Plymouth area, but the students can still receive migrant educational opportunities until the families have lived in the area for three years.

 

Funding for several migrant programs for students comes from three grants (Title I, Title III, and Non-English Speaking) that the school system must apply for each year.

 

Because some of the students do not have adequate transportation to the school buildings, an onsite classroom has been set up at the Red Rock Inn where several families are housed. Hirschy said they offer core standards activities and even offer specific class work to help students with the needed tutoring for Texas certifications that are much like Indiana’s ISTEP testing.

 

A summer reading program with two Plymouth teachers is being held for children pre-K through grade 4 at the Plymouth Public Library. Teaching the classes that began on June 13 and will end on July 7 are Tammy Greelee and Vicky Hite.

 

Those in grades 1-6 were invited to attend “Camp Invention” at Riverside Intermediate. “Camp Invention” promotes science experimentation and includes creative enrichment programs.

From July 18-July 29, students from migrant families can attend regular summer school classes held at Riverside Intermediate and Lincoln Junior High.

 

Field trips are especially educational and enjoyable for the students as well, according to Hirschy. She said in “Camp Discovery” this summer students are learning about journalism as a theme and will have two field trips to local businesses. Other topics covered during the camp include art and family and consumer science classes. Students were invited to Martin’s Super Market to learn cake decorating just in time for Father’s Day.

 

Ending the summer programming will be a trip to the Chicago Art Institute. The one-day trip on August 1 will be paid for by the Migrant Education funds. Students will be bussed to Chicago on a Cardinal bus.

 

Hirschy praised Norma Rodriguez and Carolina Figueroa of the Plymouth School staff for their valuable help with both the students and their families in communicating the various summer offerings.

 

Reprinted by permission of The Pilot News

Plymouth native hopes to bring music to Africa

Joe McKesson with Sarah McLachlan at the iTunes launch

By Rusty Nixon
Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

NASHVILLE, TN - A love of music and a concern for others has driven one Plymouth native to action in the fall.

In September Plymouth High School grad Joe McKesson will be leading a group of young singers to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of an outreach of the United Front Against River Blindness. Joe's friend Joy Becktler enlisted his aid to reach out to children in the African nation stricken with the disease.

"It's the kind of mission that you just can't say no to - you have to be involved," said McKesson. "Flies get into the eyes of these children and cause this terrible disease and this is a chance for us to use music to reach people and transform lives."

OPERAnauts travel as the entertainment arm of the humanitarian effort to the Congo where they will perform an opera, share musical exchanges with children, and offer a singing educational component in master classes, demos and workshops with students at local universities and ESL schools. They will also be performing the opera La Petite Carmen an abridged version of Bizet's Carmen, reducing the opera to its emotional roots.

"Music is such a huge part of the culture and daily life of the communities of these children afflicted with this disease," said McKesson. "We want to give these children their voice back that the disease has stolen from them. Music can be a way for them to communicate and become a part of their communities through voices and singing. Right now they are ostracized but hopefully this will be a way for them to reintegrate into their culture. We hope to give them back the music this disease took away from them."

The group will also be performing La Petite Carmen at the American Embassy in Kinshasa as part of the trip. Joe has reduced the opera to its core in the 50 minute performance. Instead of the large tapestry of Spain, bullfights and gypsies, the focus is the people and the choices they make that lead to tragedy. Carmen herself not so much a "bird of fancy", but more a woman making all the wrong choices, trying to tame a bull, which will only lead to her ruin.

"It's impactful and the story is very poignant to the people we will be performing for," said McKesson. "The idea that women have choices - by itself - is something that those in the region may never have been exposed to. We're playing at the American Embassy but we will also be doing some open theatre performances so that anyone in the community can come and see."

Joe has worked with Becktler before but this will be the first international project that he has participated in. The strife in the region isn't without its consequences to the group.

"We will have bodyguards everywhere we go - its one of the most dangerous places in the world," said McKesson. "There are always riots during elections and we will be there during their election time so we are preparing for that as well. This is very exciting for us because lots of other groups have tried similar missions to bring opera to the region and failed."

If successful Joe hopes to extend the OPERAnauts mission to this country.

"It's a kind of program we've talked about taking into say a WalMart in an impoverished area," said McKesson. "There used to be programs bringing the arts to those who aren't usually exposed to them in schools but those programs in most places around the country are long gone. This could be the only exposure that these children get to culture."

The trip is underwritten by the United Front Against Riverblindness (http://riverblindness.org/) but the group is looking for a small amount of extra funding.

"We have a documentary film crew that we'd like to take along with us," said McKesson. "And we are bringing two professional opera singers with us and we'd like to pay their salaries. We only need around $9000 more. We're premiering the opera on July 29th in Philadelphia in the Abele Library in Le Meredien Hotel as a concert to help raise the rest of the money, and of course we're happy if someone is willing to help out in any way."

To help or for more information you can go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1793379215/operanauts-to-dr-congo.

Friends honoring a friend

By Rusty Nixon
Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

PLYMOUTH - For a third year a group of high school friends will make good on a promise.

Mark Lindsey, and Tony Plothow made a promise to good friend Craig Woolfington (all PHS class of 1985) as he struggled with cancer that his daughter Kate would not have to worry about her college education. The two joined forces with Ted Hayden and for the third straight year the trio will host the Craig Woolfington Memorial Golf Outing to make good on that promise.

"We really want to work to keep Craig's memory alive," said Lindsey. "He was a Plymouth guy. He and his family are very well liked in the community and we just don't want to let his memory fade away. That's why it's so nice when people who were involved the very first year we did this are still coming back."

The event will take place on Friday, July 15 from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Plymouth Country Club. There is still room for teams for golf and items for the silent auction that will be raising money for three different charities in Woolfington's name.

"We've been contributing to Kate college fund, that's why we started," said Lindsey. "We've been able to raise about $10,000 for her so far. We've also contributed money to the Craig Woofington Memorial Cancer Research fund that goes to Purdue University to help find a cure and for the first time we were able to give a $1000 scholarship in Craig's name to a PHS student headed for Purdue. Emily Walden was our first scholarship winner this year.

"Actually we've raised in the neighborhood of $25,000 for funds in Craig's name through the Marshall County Community Foundation."

Cut off date for golf teams is July 12. The event has a Facebook sight, search 3rd Annual Craig Woolfington Memorial Golf Outing.

Info for Alums who have groups on Facebook

Over the next few months, Facebook will be archiving all groups created using the old groups format. When a group is archived, its wall posts, photos and discussion threads will move to the new groups format, but group members will need to be re-added.

A short film on the successes of just a few Plymouth Alumni

High honor caps off historic PHS Band season

PLYMOUTH - After another successful year of accomplishments, the Pride of Plymouth Bands and school administrators were recently notified that the band department was again being recognized by the Indiana State School Music Association as a recipient of the prestigious “All-Music Award.” 

This award is given only to schools that participate in all facets of the state music associations competitions and earn the top award of a Gold Rating at every event.

This news came at the conclusion of the year as the band was celebrating their recent tour of Washington D.C. after the band was selected to represent the State of Indiana in the National Memorial Day Parade.  The tour was a huge success despite record high heat indexes in Washington on parade day.

To earn the “All-Music Award” a band must compete in the ISSMA marching band District competition and advance to the Regional contest with a Gold Rating.  The group must then compete in the solo and ensemble competition and advance at least one solo and one ensemble entry to the state finals level.  The group is then required to attend the ISSMA Jazz Contest in March and the ISSMA Concert Band Contest in April and earn Gold Ratings at both events. 

These benchmarks proved to be no challenge for the Pride of Plymouth as the marching band went far beyond Regionals and made their first-ever trip to the state finals.  During solo and ensemble competitions, Plymouth had numerous students advance to the state finals competition.

The announcement of this award will make Plymouth one of only a small handful of schools in the state to have received this award annually.  This was the eighth consecutive year that the Plymouth Band has received this award from ISSMA.  The large banner that is presented by the state will hang inside the high school band room along a long display of previous banners.

“The students in the band take a lot of pride in this award and the fact that Plymouth is one of only a few schools in the state that has received this award annually," said PHS Band Director Bryan Ames. "During solo and ensemble competition preparation, it is not uncommon for us to have between thirty and forty students attending the event to help us qualify for this award.  It also takes a lot of preparation to ensure annual outstanding performances from the marching band, jazz band, and concert bands." 

“This award was like the icing on the cake of a really great year.  The band program had so many outstanding moments this year.  The marching band going to state, the winter guard and drumline making state finals, great concerts and competitions by the jazz band and concert bands, and the marching band being selected for the National Memorial Day Parade have all made this a year to remember.”

As summer begins and the band members enjoy some time off from events, the band directors and staff are already busy preparing the events for next year. 

“The band staff gets very little time off during the year," said Ames. "We have already been meeting and planning out details for the upcoming marching band season and band camp is just around the corner in late July. We had a great year and now it is time to begin looking at what we can do to make the upcoming year even better.”