Latest news with #LakeCentralHighSchool
Chicago Tribune
21-07-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Indiana SAT results show students vexed by math, but increase reading and writing scores
Indiana juniors who took the state-required SAT exam improved their reading and writing scores, while posting a slight improvement in math. The 2024-25 scores on the SAT taken by 81,620 juniors showed a 2.7% improvement on the evidence-based reading and writing portion, but just a slight math score improvement from last year. The Indiana State Board of Education reviewed the scores last week after their release. A state law requires students to take a national college entrance exam and receive a passing score no lower than the national cut score. This year's 'at college-ready' benchmark score for reading and writing is 480, while the math score is 530. The College Board administers the SAT. In reading and writing, 54.5% of students scored at or above the college-ready benchmark but in math, just 25.4% received passing scores, compared to 25.2% last year. The pass rate for both reading/writing and math was 24.5%. State assessment guidelines will change next year, as the state board develops a new grading system in line with the state's new diploma standards, effective for the Class of 2029, who begin ninth grade year this fall. Students can choose from a diploma that offers three readiness seals — college-bound, workforce employment, and military enlistment. Under the new model, juniors will still be required to take the SAT, but the scores will only be used toward graduation if a student chooses that option. Board member B.J. Watts said last week he wasn't too concerned about the low math scores because it's likely many of the juniors who took the exam weren't planning on going to college. 'If we only pulled out students who are college-bound, scores change drastically. 'Students may not see their place in that test,' he said. Lake Central High School, one of the largest traditional public schools in Northwest Indiana, with nearly 3,000 students, had the most students passing both portions of the SAT at 51.1%. Its students also had the top math pass rate at 52.8%. Among charter schools, the Hammond Academy for Science and Technology (HAST) had the highest pass rate for both subjects at 21.3%. Among private schools, Illiana Christian had the top pass rate for both subjects at 57.6%, including 59.25% of juniors passing the math portionEBRW Math Both State 54.5% 25.4% 24.4% Lake County Calumet New Tech 23.6% 4.9% 2.1% Crown Point 72% 39.9% 38.7% East Chicago 31% 5% 4.2% Gary West Side 20.5% 9.1% 3.8% Griffith 54.8% 11.5% 11.5% Hammond Central 23.8% 2.6% 2.6% Hammond Morton 22.5% 1.7% 1.7% Hanover Central 69.4% 31.6% 30.1% Highland 59.4% 21.2% 20.3% Hobart 53.8% 19% 17.7% Lake Central 73.9% 52.8% 51.1% Lake Station 31.3% 2.5% 1.3% Lowell 56.3% 21.6% 21.2% Merrillville 37.4% 13.1% 12% Munster 83.1% 46.6% 46.4% Whiting 37.5% 18.2% 14.8% Porter County Boone Grove 71% 35.5% 34.4% Chesterton 69.1% 39.5% 38.9% Hebron 53.3% 16.1% 14.9% Kouts 56.4% 27.3% 25.5% Morgan 71% 38.7% 38.7% NWI Online School (Duneland) 33.3% 4.8% 4.8% Portage 43.4% 16% 14.2% Valparaiso 70.9% 38.9% 38.1% Washington Twp. 81.5% 29.2% 27.7% Wheeler 60.7% 39.3% 35.7% Charter schools 21st Century Charter 25.7% 2.7% 2.7% Gary Lighthouse 10.2% 3.7% 1.9% Gary Middle College 5.3% 0% 0% HAST (Hammond) 56.3% 21.3% 21.3% Neighbors New Vistas 20.8% 4.2% 4.2% Steel City Academy 54.2% 0% 0% Thea Bowman 26.5% 0% 0% Private schools Andrean 81.7% 40.9% 39.1% Bishop Noll 69.7% 22.9% 22.3% Calumet Christian 87.5% 18.8% 18.8% Hammond Baptist 74.2% 29% 29% Illiana Christian 84.8% 59.2% 57.6% Marquette 77.8% 47.6% 44.4% Portage Christian 63.6% 27.3% 22.7% Victory Christian 79.2% 29.2% 29.2% *Indiana Department of Education
Chicago Tribune
17-07-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
PNW summer seminar helps students become better doctors
Ernest Talarico Jr.'s students, for a brief moment, had a serious-yet-somewhat amusing question to ponder: Should a middle-aged male triathlete wear boxers or briefs if he and his wife want to conceive a child? It took a minute for the students — many of them students, residents and doctors from Vietnam — to overcome the slight embarrassment of discussing the patient's 'tighty whiteys' — as Talarico called them — to lighten the mood Wednesday afternoon. The discussion, however, part of Talarico's Advanced Problem Solving course at Purdue Northwest, was but a small part of a complete case study on reproductive care. The answer, which the students also gleaned from slides of the case study's sperm sample, was no, the man shouldn't wear constrictive clothing, nor keep exercising at such high intensity and taking high doses of Omega-3 fatty acids and nitrous oxide boosters. He also needed to stop blaming his wife — also part of the case study — for the fact that they were having trouble conceiving, as the students discovered later. The course is part of what Talarico calls 'building a better doctor,' he said as the students read more of the case study. Each of them has conducted research that they'll present at a symposium on Purdue University's main campus in West Lafayette in the coming weeks, capturing their own images and designing posters, he said. He's also had the students practicing their patient-interaction skills, with one student acting as the doctor and the other as the patient. Cailey Weber, a Biology major from Hobart, had to role-play breaking it to the male patient that he was the reason his wife wasn't getting pregnant, while Sarah Sues, a nursing student from St. John, got to explain to the wife that while she had some issues, the issues weren't rendering her infertile. 'Relearning all this in a different environment is inspiring,' Sues said. 'It's been intriguing talking with the (Vietnamese students).' Additionally, the students train on a table that mimics conducting an autopsy, taking them through all the systems parts of the body. For Phuong Ngan Nguyen Ba, a medical student currently living in Chicago, that's been a game-changer. 'I've already been through medical school in Vietnam, and we didn't have the technology then for this,' she said. 'If I were just starting med school, I'd prefer the table to explore first before a traditional cadaver.' The Vietnamese students are here for the month, Talarico said. Dhruva Magesh, an incoming Junior at Lake Central High School, met Talarico during a Science Olympiad meet in 2024. This is his second time taking Talarico's class. 'There's so much more to (medicine) than we can even imagine,' Magesh said.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Indiana couple caught committing obscene acts on one another while in audience of school dance recital
An Indiana couple were caught with their hands down each other's pants at a dance recital as members of the audience looked on in disgust, police said. Carly Ann Dominski, 44, and Steven Ulman, 49, were arrested on Saturday following the sickening incident inside the Lake Central High School Auditorium in St. John near the Illinois border. Staff members approached an officer from the St. John Police Department and told the cop that the couple were performing 'lewd acts' on one other during a large dance recital inside the auditorium, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Daily Mail. The officer said he saw Dominski with her hand down Ulman's pants and could 'physical see' that she was 'fondling Ulman's genitals.' The affidavit also stated that Ulman's left hand was down the front of Dominski's pants and that he was fondling her, noting that her pants were unbuttoned. There were several small children in the area as kids performed at the recital, and many in the crowd had turned to look at the appalling display. After being asked to leave the auditorium by the officer, the pair quickly left their seats and were seen buttoning their pants, the affidavit added. The two then fled to the parking lot and into their vehicle before officers moved in to stop them from leaving, the affidavit said. Officers said Dominski originally gave her name as Jessica Ulman, but after a search of her purse they found a Illinois license with her actual name. After a pat-down of Ulman, officers found a bottle of clear liquid that Dominski said was lube. It was later discovered that Dominski had outstanding warrants for identity deception, unlawful possession of a syringe, false informing, paraphernalia possession and theft. She was hit with charges of public indecency and false reporting, as well as the outstanding warrants. Ulman is facing a charge of public indecency. The two appeared in Lake Superior Court on Monday for their first appearance. A hearing in Ulman's case has been scheduled for next month. In the state of Indiana public decency is considered a Class A misdemeanor that can carry jail time of up to one year and a fine of up to $5,000. The incident happened inside Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana, on Saturday According to social media accounts, Ulman and Dominski have been together since 2013. In 2016, the New Lenox Police Department in Illinois said Dominski was found slumped over the wheel of her car with her then 3-year-old in the backseat. It was later determined she had been using methamphetamine and heroin, with paraphernalia found inside the vehicle, police told Patch.
Chicago Tribune
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Guest column: Why science funding matters to Indiana
Cuts to science funding threaten life expectancy, our economic and job growth, and our work opportunities. Last week the government cut 'indirect costs' to universities and medical centers, which cover shared resources like buildings, utility bills, computer networks, and support staff. Indiana will lose $69 million this year in critical research funding due to those cuts, devastating science infrastructure across the state. (These cuts are on top of and unrelated to cuts targeting diversity). With even deeper science cuts proposed, the future of science is at risk in Indiana, along with the jobs, medical advances, and economic growth it drives. I am concerned about these losses in Indiana because my own journey to becoming a scientist started in Lake County, Indiana. I grew up in Schererville and graduated from Lake Central High School. Back then, I worked as a waitress at Bakers Square in Merrillville, on Route 30. When I wasn't working or at school, I was often at the Southlake Mall or reading at the Barnes & Noble. As a senior at Lake Central, my guidance counselor suggested I apply to Indiana University in Bloomington — it was the only college I applied to. I was accepted and became the first in my family to attend college, something that was only possible with federal aid for students (FAFSA). I studied genetics, neuroscience, child development, animal intelligence, and even met Jane Goodall when she visited the Anthropology Department. As a student learning how to do research, I wasn't just reading about science from the floor of a strip mall anymore — I was meeting the people doing the work. This showed me that scientific work had always been close to my home in Indiana. Today, I am a scientist and professor of developmental neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University. My research focuses on how children's brains develop and how human intelligence first emerges. I was the first scientist to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify a part of the human brain critical for mathematical development in preschool children. I also showed how this brain region is genetic, shaped by evolution. This discovery helps doctors and scientists identify children at risk for learning disabilities, allowing for earlier interventions and better outcomes. I work alongside scientists developing more effective strategies for teaching children with disabilities. Our research is building a better understanding of how learning begins in the brain to prevent and treat disabilities. None of this — from training, to research, to advances in our understanding of children's brain development — would have been possible without public institutions like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The MRI machines that allow us to see brain activity and the labs where we conduct neuroscience research are funded by those institutions, along with the salaries of the scientists who run studies and train young researchers to use MRI technology and data. My 'indirect costs' are the space, software, safety experts, and technical staff that support the MRI machines. Research from these institutions provides immense public benefits. It improves both public health and our economy. In 1900, the average life expectancy in Indiana was just 47 years. Thanks to scientific innovation — like new medical treatments developed by federally funded researchers — by 2021, it had risen to 76 years. Brain research has taught us how to remove brain tumors, stop strokes from spreading, and develop cures for childhood diseases like epilepsy. Thousands of researchers in my field dedicate their lives to understanding the brain, hoping to develop treatments for learning disabilities, cancer, Alzheimer's, and dementia. These treatments do not yet exist because brain science is complex and takes decades of work, only possible through continued federal funding. Unlike research done in corporations, findings from NIH and NSF are shared publicly. Data sharing is a key requirement of federal grants, ensuring results benefit everyone, not just private companies. Public science is something that makes American science unique, and it allows scientists to work more collaboratively and quickly than in other countries. Moreover, research funding largely supports people, whose salaries are spent in the local economy. Statewide, NIH funding alone contributed over $1 billion to Indiana's economy and supported tens of thousands of jobs. Without steady funding for the NIH and NSF, this vital research — and the jobs, health improvements, and opportunities it creates — will disappear. My hope is that science funding will be increased, not cut, so that other young people in Indiana have the same opportunities I had to work for the greater good, making discoveries that save and improve lives. Science makes lives better in Indiana, and people in Indiana deserve to benefit from the next generation of discovery.
