What recently happened
This month, the Portage music department put on their spring concerts. To get in the spirit of the upcoming and highly anticipated spring season; the department put their musical and instrumental ensembles to work to bring the Portage community some remarkable performances.
The opening spring concert featured the jazz band conducted by William Timmerman; the following concert featured the advanced and regular band conducted Drew Rhoda; the third concert featured the advanced and regular orchestra conducted by Annalise Rhoda; and the final concert featured the regular and advanced choirs conducted by Jordan Dollins.
All of these musical concerts were held within the east and west auditoriums at Portage High School’s (PHS) auditoriums, and admission was open to the public. The Jazz concert was on March 1, the band concert was on March 8, the orchestra concert was on March 15, and the choir concert was on March 16.
What’s coming up
This week (March 14-18) the students of PHS are embarking on their final week of school before spring break. As the last quarter of the 2021-2022 school year approaches, two students, Kaylee Cole and Christopher Blankenship, share their hopes of the final quarter and their summer.
Cole is a sophomore at PHS and is most excited for her final quarter due to the upcoming lesson plans in her Biomed course, especially cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Cole is also excited that this summer she will graduate to upperclassmen status and in turn get access to more responsibility and leadership activities. Over the summer break, Cole plans to embark on a travel and beach volleyball team called EVP.
Blankenship is a senior at PHS and is very antipiciative on receiving all A’s and perfect attendance for his last quarter of high school. Since Blankenship has an apprenticeship for tattooing, he plans to spend his summer saving money, working, and continuing to perfect his tattooing career. For Blankenship, college is not in his vision for the next few years, but when he is ready, he plans to enroll at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) for their art and business degrees.
Teacher spotlight
Jake Spottiswood has been an educator for 10 years total, and has taught nine of those 10 at PHS. Spottiswood teaches dual-credit Government/Political Science through Indiana University (IU), Government, and Economics. For Spottiswood, his favorite course to teach is his dual-credit government class due to the fact that it teaches his students the importance of government, politics, and the understanding of different perspectives in society.
“I truly believe government is one of the most important subjects students take in school. Every person should have, at least, a basic understanding of how the government works and how it is set up. I love that there is always something new to learn, I love the social science aspect to it, and I know not everyone will love politics (I didn’t when I was in high school), but I hope I can at least persuade students that it is relevant to their lives,” said Spottiswood.
10 years ago, Spottiswood decided educating at PHS was the right career path for him due to an opening for a social studies teacher. Spottiswood applied and was hired, but this position also came with coaching the varsity football team. He started coaching varsity as soon as he was hired, and started his first year of teaching that fall.
When considering his experience at PHS, Spottiswood defines it as a school with so many amazing faculty, staff, and students.
“We have a lot of really fantastic teachers at this school that want the best for students. Not only do I have an amazing department that I am a part of: but outside of Social studies, there are a lot of really great teachers that work really hard,” Spottiswood said.
Spottiswood’s passion for education in government came from a course he took during his undergraduate education titled Constitutional Government. That course helped Spottiswood become more and more fascinated with politics.
“Economics was the last social studies class I thought I would teach, but I actually ended up liking it as I made myself learn more. But my true passions still remain in history and government,” said Spottiswood.
Since Spottiswoods passion for education lies under the realm of history, a few of his favorite historical figures are Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and John Lewis.
Student spotlight
Emily Fausch is many things at PHS; a friend, an advanced placement (AP) student, a volleyball player, a softball player, a musician, in ACES (Academic Champions Excelling in School), and the class of 2022’s valedictorian. With a 4.6 grade point average, Fausch is a hard working student and also a great candidate for college admissions.
Fausch has decided to continue her academic career at Valparaiso University (VU). Her five year goal at VU is to obtain her bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences, and then do two more years of schooling to become a Physician Assistant and graduate with her master’s degree. Fausch chose to spend her next five years of higher education at VU due to it being closer to home, their various degree options, and their beautiful campus.
For the ACES program Fausch is a part of, she decided to pick Rhoda, her orchestra teacher, as her mentor. She is equally thrilled to be the number one ACE as well as being able to honor one of her most supportive teachers.
“I am glad I have the opportunity to be an ACE and recognize a teacher that has helped me achieve the position I am in today. I chose to pick Mrs. Rhoda as my ace because of her dedication to help me become a better musician and person overall,” said Fausch.
Since PHS is in the midst of its final quarter, Fausch is most in anticipation for her senior prom, graduation, and her senior softball season.
“I have been playing softball since I was seven, so my senior season has been a long time coming,” Fausch said.
In this fast approaching and anticipated summer, Fausch plans to spend time with her friends and family, and she plans to make the very best of it.