It’s not everyday that you get to sit down with a cancer survivor, a military veteran, a change-maker in the community, or a thriving high school student and get a look into what it’s like to live in their shoes. By sitting down with the members of this Region, we’re able to learn a bit more about their experiences, and also what makes them so great to have around.
It’s special moments like these that we are particularly proud to share on the GreatNews.Life sites, including Life in the Spotlights, Survivor Series, Veteran Spotlight, Leadership Life, City in the Spotlight, Voices, and more.
In no particular order, here are the top 10 feature articles on Portage.Life to recap the good news in 2023!
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Kale Nelson
Kale Nelson has been a Region resident since he was born, and he continues to enjoy the area as he begins to build a career for himself post-graduation.
As a kid, Nelson enjoyed watching his father coach high school sports, and as he began his high school career, he naturally gravitated towards playing sports himself. Nelson played baseball and basketball for Portage High School.
#1StudentNWI: Portage High School Unified Track Team strives for inclusivity
The Portage High School (PHS) Unified Track Team is back at it for another season of fun! Unlike other sports in the district, this unique team experience is not all about winning; it’s about feeling included. Unified Track is a sport where athletes compete alongside their partners in events like long jump, the 100 meter dash, and the 4x100 meter relay. The beauty of Unified Track is that on a roster for a meet, all participants are listed without anyone knowing who might be an athlete or partner. The environment is meant to be safe and positive where a disability does not mean inability.
Currently, the team has been competing in meets once a week against schools in the area. Although this sport is relatively new, it has exploded in popularity with fewer than 20 students in the first season and, now, 50 students just three years later.
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Rosemary “Rose” Martinez
It was 2019 when Rosemary Martinez opened Power Nutrition, a nutrition club in Portage. The mother of three wanted a career that would allow her to spend more time with her kids. That led her to owning Power Nutrition and additionally Ultimate Nutrition in Valparaiso.
Before Power Nutrition, Martinez and her kids lived in Australia for four years, where she worked as a hotel manager for Sheraton Hotels and Resorts. She came back to the United States looking for a new path.
#1StudentNWI: Portage High School transitions from end of school year to summer fun
As the 2023 spring sports season at Portage High School (PHS) wrapped up, the annual Spring Sports Awards Ceremony was held for the athletes involved in baseball, softball, Boys Golf, Girls Tennis, Boys Volleyball, and the various track and field teams. This night was to celebrate the accomplishments of the team as a whole, as well as individual successes throughout the respective seasons.
Each team awards a Most Improved Athlete, the Indian Award, and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) on their respective teams. A majority of the awards are voted on by the players of the teams themselves.
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Andrea Harbin
Andrea Harbin has been an insurance agent for 22 years. She did not grow up expecting to be an insurance agent, but she has fallen in love with what she does.
“If you would have asked me 23 years ago, I would have said there's no way,” said Harbin. “The last thing I ever thought I wanted to do in life was to sell anything for a living. If I had to sell something, insurance was the last thing on my list.”
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Carrie Biggs
Carrie Biggs always knew that she wanted to be a teacher. Born in Seoul, Biggs was adopted and raised in Portage where she played school with her friends, which is how she came to find her life’s calling. Today, Biggs has been a title one teacher at Aylesworth Elementary School for the past 28 years.
“When I was younger, I used to play school with my neighborhood friends,” said Biggs. “We always wanted to be the teacher. Then there was just something in me that liked working with kids. I was very fortunate to work at the YMCA’s Y-care program when I was attending Indiana University Northwest. It gave me a really good experience helping kids out and teaching them in a different capacity.”
A Portage Life in The Spotlight: Mary Martinez
A long time resident of Portage, Mary Martinez took the lessons she learned from her own mother, and it sparked a passion. She changes lives every day with her work in the hospital.
“Her success was all heart and hard work. I learned so much by watching my mom put everything into her business,” Matinez said. “I knew that hard work, strength, and determination paid off.”
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Paul Konrady
Longtime Michigan City Resident Paul Konrady is now a co-owner of his family’s Portage-based Konrady Plastics company that distributes and machines plastic. After graduating from John Carroll University, Konrady worked for several years on his own. When he retired, Konrady’s father, Bernie Konrady, came to him to see if he would want to work for the family company.
“I always knew I would like to work for the family business, and I was excited about the inside sales opportunity,” said Konrady. “I enjoyed doing sales. I'm pretty relationship focused, establishing relationships with customers. It was a good opportunity to get my feet wet and learn a lot about what we do at Konrady Plastics.”
#1StudentNWI: Portage scores a slam dunk with Manufacturing 360, the 100th Anniversary of Boys Basketball, Fegely Principal Ann Marie Caballero, and Evelyn Garza
The Portage Economic Development Corporation in collaboration with Portage Township Schools hosted the Manufacturing 360 event with nearly 100 Portage High School (PHS) students. During this event, various training and job opportunities were showcased for interested students.
For this trip, students visited the Construction Advancement Foundation (CAF), the Sheet Metal Workers Union, and a construction site run on Superior Construction. Before embarking on their trip, CAF Director of Professional Development Kevin Comerford showed students how to research careers in the manufacturing and construction fields. After, the students participated in various hands-on activities, including virtual welding, an excavator simulator, and more.
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Clarissa Espinoza
Clarissa Espinoza has always wanted to define her own reality. While many of her peers have chosen to make impacts in traditional jobs, Espinoza wanted to chart her own course. As a professional in the media industry, she simultaneously makes an impact while indulging her love for creativity.
“For the longest time, people wanted me to do the traditional jobs, but I looked for other outlets like psychology,” said Espinoza. “I went to college with the mindset that I wanted to do psychology, but I ended up in media studies. One of the things I love doing and being is creative, and working in the media industry is literally all about being creative.”