Monday, May 5 wasn’t just celebrating the Duneland School Corporation’s new Project ADAM certification: it was celebrating the months of work it took to get there. 

The road to a Project ADAM certification is a long one, and it started more than a year ago when CHS decided to start checking things off the certification list. Project ADAM was started by the family of Adam Lemel, a student from Wisconsin who went into cardiac arrest during a basketball game and didn’t have quick enough access to an AED. 

In the May 8, 2025, edition of the Dune News, Bridget Martinson listed checklist items for a school’s certification. 

“To become certified, a school must create a detailed cardiac emergency response plan, ensure AEDs are properly placed, easily located, and properly maintained,” she wrote. “Staff must be trained in recognizing and responding to cardiac emergencies and complete a live readiness drill observed by a Project ADAM representative with an active response from local emergency medical responders.”

Chesterton High School was individually certified in August of 2024. The other Duneland schools have been working toward the certification since then. 

Student journalist Ella Tonelli wrote an extensive article about CHS’s certification last year.

“The best way to help and honor Adam’s memory is to stay informed on how to administer CPR and to make sure there are trained professionals and AEDs on hand in the community,” she wrote. “All the staff agreed on how essential to the safety of the community it was to not only be able to say they are certified but to actually be able to save a life in the event of an emergency.”

With this new Project ADAM certification, students, parents, and staff alike can breathe a bit easier knowing that if any cardiac-arrest related emergencies occur anywhere in Duneland schools, the response will be safe and swift.