Life in the Spotlight

Simply put, Portage High School senior Eric Mesarch has rocked all aspects of high school. Mesarch, recently named the 2013 PHS Outstanding Young Man, has stood out in the classroom, on the baseball field, as a leader and as a person. Mesarch...

What inspired Mark Monks to become a police officer was the idea that he could help people and change the world. Twenty years later, he has realized that what he enjoys most is working to help others and informing young children about the duties of a...

A lot has changed in the Portage Parks and Recreation Department over the last quarter of a century. The programs have grown and evolved, Prairie Duneland Trail has formed, Imagination Glenn Park has expanded and the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk...

When Portage Parks Superintendent Jenny Orsburn was interviewed by PortageLife.com last month, she aptly dubbed Portage Director of Public Works A.J. Monroe as “Mr. Portage.” Monroe, a PHS graduate and longtime resident of the city, oversees the...

During the 2012 annual meeting for the Portage Economic Development Corporation (PEDCO), Portage High School senior Fallon Pugh was recognized for her outstanding work throughout the community. Pugh has spent over 30 hours of her high school career...

Fittingly, it takes a trip back in time to discover why Portage High School teacher Cathy Nye chose to dedicate her professional life to teaching history. As a child, Nye’s family vacations consisted of going to battlefields and museums, where she...

When some people think about getting blood drawn, they are filled with dread by thoughts of needles, pain and seeing their own blood. However, for patients at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Portage, getting blood drawn is a positive, uplifting...

Portage High School students who enter the PHS Media Center to study, check out a book, work on a project or simply escape from the stress of the school day are greeted by the smiling face of PHS Library Media Clerk Lorrie Cohen. Cohen goes out of...

Everything came full circle for Jenny Orsburn when she took her position as the Superintendent of the Portage Parks and Recreation Department. Orsburn, who has a business degree and a background in biology, started her career at the age of 15 working...

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...