By Kenzie Gamlin, HCCSC Communications Intern
HCCSC has a set of core values that represents the beliefs of the corporation as a whole. Previously, those who have exhibited behavior that follows these values have been verbally recognized during Board of School Trustees meetings, but Superintendent John Trout thought that this was not enough to recognize such achievements.
Trout decided to put forth a process in which administrators from each school may nominate students or staff to be recognized by the school board for demonstrating core values. After their nomination, they may be recognized officially at a school board meeting.
The first official recognition ceremony occurred during the board meeting on Oct. 17. Three individuals were honored for demonstrating the core value of High Achievement, High Expectations and Accountability. This core value gives recognition to those that have achieved high honors or gone above and beyond what is expected of them.
Those that are recognized with this achievement were invited to a school board meeting in which Director of Secondary Education discussed their accomplishments. After being verbally recognized, Director of Elementary Education Jay Peters gave the individuals an official certificate in honor of their core value and took a picture with the individuals to remember the moment.
The three individuals recognized on Monday were Huntington North radio and TV teacher Nick Altman, Huntington North golfer Adalyn Cutting and Flint Springs kindergartener Muzamel Shirzad.
Altman is a Purdue Ft. Wayne graduate and has been teaching at Huntington North for 16 years. Along with teaching radio and TV classes at HNHS, Altman also handles being the WVSH 91.9 radio station manager and televisions productions advisor. Within these roles, he helps and manages students interested in broadcasting and television. They work on covering live radio broadcasts of Viking sports and creating visual content for other HNHS events.
For the 2020–21 school year, Altman was selected as Huntington North’s Teacher of the Year and the Secondary Teacher of the Year for HCCSC. Through this, he represented HCCSC as a nominee in the State Teacher of the Year award for 2022.
In addition to this accomplishment, Altman was also honored at the College Football Playoffs National Championship as one of the 18 teachers representing Indiana’s Teachers of the Year. At the CFP National Championship, Altman had the opportunity of a four-night stay in downtown Indianapolis with a multitude of events to celebrate the teachers. A couple of these events were a day-long professional development summit, recognition on the football field while holding the Big 10 Conference banner during the national anthem and interaction with speakers such as Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
Cutting is a sophomore at Huntington North. She plays golf with the Lady Vikings golf team and has had an impressive second season with the team.
Cutting shot a 92 at the Eastbrook Sectional on Sept. 17 at the Arbor Trace Golf Club. The score qualified Cutting for an individual spot at the East Noble Regional.
Cutting then took the trip up to Noble Hawk Golf Links on Sept. 23 for the regional match, where she shot a 100.
Shirzad is a kindergartener at Flint Springs Elementary School. Shirzad and his family come from Afghanistan. They stayed in a refugee camp for approximately one year after fleeing from their home country. He and his sister, Bushra, started at Flint Springs at the beginning of the 2022–23 school year.
Shirzad and his family knew very little English coming into the U.S. and many things were found to be quite exciting to Shirzad. For example, when the family was taken on a tour of Flint Springs, the act of turning on the lights of the hallways shocked Shirzad and he looked at the key that lit up the school with amazement. Many daily occurrences are culture shocks to Shirzad. He has a completely new environment with completely new expectations.
No one adjusts to big changes automatically. However, Shirzad has done an excellent job of settling into the classroom environment. He asks questions using his teacher’s name and says goodbye to her on his way home. Shirzad impressed staff by counting all the way to 39 by himself. And, with some assistance from his teacher, he was able to make it to 100. At this point in the year, the hope for kindergarten students is to count up to 30.
“He is a sponge, and he soaks in all the knowledge he can,” said Flint Springs Principal BreAnne Dyer in her nomination. “Most recently, he was able to communicate with me that he was worried his bus was ‘sleeping’ when it was a bit delayed in arriving at the school for dismissal. He is able to communicate, and this boy has a bright future. I am so thankful for David Kline, who has been a wonderful liaison between the family and the school. I am thankful for our teachers and staff for embracing this family, and I am thankful for the Shirzad family for entrusting us with this fine boy!”