When John Arredondo attended Portage High School, he instantly fell in love with the school and decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life there. He had such great teachers that he decided he wanted to go into education.
“I was in Outstanding Young Man, when I was a senior that was in the second year of the program, and one of the questions they asked us was where do you see yourself in 20 years,” Arredondo said. “So here I was, in front of everybody on a Saturday night, and I said I see myself still in Portage, teaching social studies at Portage High School. At the time, I said, either as the Student Council adviser or having the job as the assistant principal that supervises Student Activities.”
In 2005, Arredondo’s dream was realized when he was hired to teach social studies, co-advise the student council and serve as an assistant coach for the boys cross country program.
“It’s just ironic how it actually did work out that way,” he said.
Arredondo, now in his eighth year at PHS, still holds his position as assistant cross country coach in addition to teaching and coaching girls track and field in the spring.
Arredondo listed Ron Hancock, Ralph Mundt, Christine Kearn and Jill Mangold as some of the great teachers that he had at PHS that led him to follow in their footsteps. He displays a passion for Portage that is evident when he discusses his reasons for returning.
“I had a good experience here,” he said. “I made sure that I got involved with different activities. Literally, I love Portage High School. Coming back here and teaching is my dream job.”
As a coach of the girls track and field team, Arredondo has instructed elite Portage athletes such as Tori Bliss and Kristi Evans. He has enjoyed seeing the boys cross country team get back to the level of success it was at when he and head coach Tom Erickson were in school. He said that special moments also occur in the classroom each day.
“That moment is when you’re teaching something and you just get awesome feedback,” Arredondo said. “I’m fortunate to where my students will tell me positive and negative things. Often times, it’s more positive. ‘That was a really cool lesson today,’ or ‘I love how you tell stories.’”
Arredondo is inspired by his two-year-old daughter A.J., who will be three in April.
“Right now, she’s what keeps me going,” he said. “I do what I do because I want to hopefully make a better life for her. There’s sacrifice involved in that; she doesn’t get to see dad as much, I have seven pictures of her on my desk, so she is the light of me.”
Although it may be hard for students to picture teachers outside the classroom, Arredondo described himself as a normal guy. He enjoys running, cycling, playing guitar, hanging out with friends, going out to eat and going to the movies. He enjoys watching sports outside of running and roots on the Chicago Bears and Chicago White Sox.
Arredondo is one of the biggest advocates of bringing “Portage Pride” to PHS.
“The one thing that I wish the students of Portage High School would buy into is instilling that Portage pride that used to be here in the ‘80s and ‘90s when we were dominant on the athletic field; Portage had this mojo then,” he said. “There was a mojo that we had that we were just as good as some of the surrounding communities, and I think we’re starting to get that back.”