Portage High School’s (PHS) National Honors Society (NHS) recently sold candy grams at every lunch for two weeks straight. A candy gram is a candy cane with a personalized letter attached and can be bought and sold to students, teachers, or faculty of PHS.
All candy grams are one dollar and all of the proceeds go to the Gabriel Horn Homeless Shelter. NHS sponsored this shelter due to the fact that with the proceeds from the candy grams, the shelter is able to buy holiday necessities. Candy canes are sold due to the fact that it’s festive, easily transportable, and COVID-19 safe.
What’s coming up: Vaulting into the season
This January, the gymnastic season begins for PHS. Only eight girls are a part of the team, and one of those eight is a senior. Even though the gymnastics team is quite small, their abilities, teamwork, and perseverance are quite big.
Jenna Cruz is the only senior on the gymnastics team and has been a part of the team since her freshman year. To Cruz, being the only senior on the team isn’t that noticeable or inconvenient due to the team's immensely strong bond.
Since Cruz has been on the gymnastics team since ninth grade, she is one of the team captains. Through this experience she has learned that being a leader is all about responsibility and being as open to education as her teammates.
Cruz is beyond excited to begin gymnastics season since it is her favorite season of the year.
“I believe this year holds so much potential for our team and I am so excited to see how much we will achieve,” she said.
Teacher spotlight: Teacher by day, coach by afternoon
Portage Alumni Abagail Trzeciak teaches United States History, Government, and Sociology at PHS. But her teaching only begins there. Trzeciak also coaches two sports, girls’ cross country and track and field.
Trzeciak arrived at PHS five years ago and has enjoyed every minute of teaching and coaching since. In her opinion teaching and coaching has become gradually easier every year, but does become tiresome.
When thinking of coaching and teaching and which is more enjoyable, Trzeciak determines that both are amazing but for different reasons. To Trzeciak, she enjoys teaching because of the subject she teaches and how students can find the amazing joy of education. For coaching, Trzeciak believes that seeing students work hard and with that hard work achieve their goals and dreams is something super amazing.
Since Trzeciak has been a teacher and coach before and after COVID-19, she has noticed a difference in how students behave as of today.
“Some students have changed for the better as a result of covid. I have seen some want to help others and work harder because tomorrow is never guaranteed. At the same time, I have also seen some students ‘shut down’ because of covid. I think the pandemic has really shown that people are not cookie cutters. Everyone is different and responds to adversity differently,” she said.
Even though Trzeciak attended Portage education systems K-12, she finds working at her old high school quite enjoyable.
“Since I had previously attended Portage K-12, teaching and coaching is sort of comforting. I feel comfortable asking for help and there are lots of familiar faces. It is also nice to be able to talk to students about school and sports having been a student and an athlete here myself,” Trzeciak explained.
When looking back Trzeciak did not initially intend on becoming a coach for any sport, it wasn’t until a parent volunteered her name to become an assistant coach. After that everything fell in place for Trzeciak.
From an early age, Trzeciak knew she wanted to work in school settings but was unsure about what to teach until some amazing social studies teachers came along. After her teacher’s profound influence and interest spark in social studies, Trzeciak was more than determined to become a history teacher.
In more current times, the younger generations have gotten a shallow reputation. But from Trzeciak’s perspective of teacher and coach their reputation is not what most presume.
“Teaching and coaching have both taught me that the future generation is passionate and driven if the task at hand is important to them. The future generation gets a bad reputation, but it usually stems from a difference in what is important. Older generations prioritize different things compared to the younger generations today,” she related.
Student spotlight: Dreams can come true
Jennifer Neubert is a senior at PHS who has aspired to be a student at Valparaiso University (VU) since eighth grade. This quarter her dreams became reality.
Recently, Neubert was accepted into VU for the graduating class of 2026 and was awarded a $27,000 yearly scholarship. Immediately after finding out about her acceptance, Neubert excitedly told her sister and they celebrated.
Neubert intends to major in Pre-Medical Biology and minor in Forensic Science. Neubert’s major and minor is no guessing game, due to the fact that she has found a passionate love for both biology and forensics. After graduating, Neubert intends to pursue a career as a forensic lab technician.
Although Neubert will miss some of her teachers after graduation; she is also very relieved that she will not have to wake up at 5 a.m. for school anymore. With a semester left in high school, Neubert is nervous but extremely excited to begin the next chapter of her life. Neubert is even more ecstatic about her VU enrollment due to the fact that her sister also attends the school.
“I’m excited to join her at VU! We’re super close and she actually introduced me to the campus when she first started there. She’s my best friend and biggest supporter,” Nuebert said.
Since Nuebert is already involved in a few extracurriculars at PHS, she is super excited to see what VU has to offer. In her opinion she would love to join any extracurriculars involving volunteering, debating, and/or current issues.