The Portage Exchange Club welcomed three outstanding seniors as Students of the Month at the January 23 meeting. The three represented students of the Career and Technical Education Department.
Exchange member and PHS Assistant Principal John Zack, who previously was a teacher in that department, talked about the programs available to students. Twelve of the two-year classes are housed on site at PHS. Others are held off campus at other PTS buildings or other schools.
“The classes are great because they give students an in-depth view of the field in which they’re interested and allow them to talk to people already in the field,” Zack said.
Eric Premil is in the first year Industrial Mechanics. He is learning about welding, pipefitting, using precision instruments and other millwright activities. He maintains a 3.5 GPA. He has applied for an apprenticeship at Thorgren in Valparaiso and hopes to attend Purdue North Central an major in Construction Management.
Marcus Rogers is in his second year of Automotive Technology. He has loved working on cars since he was about four years old. Besides his work at school, he works nearly 40 hours a week at Valparaiso Transmission. He plans to attend the University of Northwestern Ohio in Lima, Ohio, and earn an associate’s degree in the automotive field.
Cloe Carda is in the Education and Early Childhood Careers Program. She originally planned to become a teacher, but now she wants to study nursing at PNC and become a pediatric nurse. She has a 4.1 GPA.
“I like the Early Childhood program because I’ve learned about the safety regulations and been able to interact with the kids. We change grades every so often, so I’ve worked with most of the grades. I’m with the fifth graders now,” Carda said.
Carda has played softball at PHS and is the captain of the girls’ volleyball team. She also works at the Portage Day Care Center.
She was accompanied to the meeting by her mother Janice.
R to L: Marcus Rogers (Automotive Technology), PHS Assistant Principal John Zack, Cloe Carda (Early Childhood Development, Eric Premil (Industrial Technology), Portage Exchange Club President Peggy Berbesque