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Senior Rachel Stewart, the lead role for “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” is no stranger to pageantry, and she used her skills to represent Portage High School at the Distinguished Young Woman State Competition March 1. Stewart finished as a top 10 finalist and won $1,000 in scholarship money. The experience, however, was not simply a one day affair. “The week leading up to the competition nights was extremely busy but so much fun,” Stewart said. “They kept us moving from 7 in the morning until 10:30 at night, with activities such as bowling, touring Kokomo, working out with Courtney [Crozier] and Marci [Crozier] from ‘The Biggest Loser’ and giving presentations to elementary students about the ‘Be Your Best Self’ program. We also stayed very busy with rehearsals and learning new routines for the competition.” English teacher and DYW sponsor Carrie Martin said that the week preceding the competition is mostly a time for the contestants to learn their routines for the show. The time difference for preparation between the state competition and competition at PHS is significant. See DYW, page 7 Pow Wow Covering Real Issues for the Students of Portage High School Portage High School Issue 11 March 21, 2013 For the Portage gymnastics team, a wild ride had the happiest of endings March 16 as the Indians achieved the ultimate goal by securing the school’s first state championship since 1975 with a 112.6- 112.1 victory over second place Valparaiso. Portage entered the final rotation leading Valpo 85.1-84.725 with the Indians to compete on bars and the Vikings on the beam. It came down to Portage’s final two gymnasts with sophomore Madison Kurtz and senior Mackenzie Barcelli needing to average a 9.45 to give Portage a state championship. Kurtz posted a 9.5, putting Barcelli in position to seal the deal in the final routine of her gymnastics career. “I knew I had to stay calm and be solid,” Barcelli said. “I was kind of freaking out, but really just wanted to stay calm and focus on my bars routine that I’ve hit all year.” Barcelli notched a 9.65 to put an exclamation point on her high school career by becoming the state all-around champion and clinching the state championship for her team. “That was the best bars routine I have ever done in my entire life,” Barcelli said. “I knew right when I landed it that it was a great routine.” For Portage head coach Karen Barcelli, it was a storybook ending to her first state championship with her daughter providing the heroics to clinch the title. “She’s always been a pretty solid performer,” Karen Barcelli said. “I had a lot of faith in her, but I was just hoping everything would fall into place. I was just happy that they all did what they were supposed to be doing today. It didn’t even really dawn on me how good my daughter did, until later.” Like many of her family members, teammates, friends and fans, Mackenzie Barcelli was overcome by emotion after winning the all-around state championship with a score of 38.325, edging out second place Alex Nickel of Angola, who scored a 38.150. See STATE CHAMPIONS, page 2 PHS brings home state title Brandon Vickrey Editor-in-Chief Frataccia set to propose random drug testing Random drug testing within Portage High School may become a reality next year as the Superintendent of Portage Township Schools, Dr. E. Ric Frataccia, has created a plan that will work to identify students who use drugs and get them the help they need. “The reason is not to just catch people, it is to help them,” Frataccia said. “I have come to the belief that our kids need something to say to their peers that is truthful and gives them a tool to say ‘no thanks.’” Frataccia has been working up a plan of action over the past several years to combat drug use within the high school. Frataccia previously presented a plan to drug test students at a previous school district in which he served as Superitendent. “I ran it through the board in my previous superintendency, and it was voted down, but that was 10 years ago,” he said. “Life is a little bit different, and I don’t think the problem has subsided.” See DRUG TESTING, page 3 Collin Czilli Opinion Editor DYW Rachel Stewart reflects on state competion in Kokomo Joshua Lewis Features Editor The members of the gymnastics team pose with the state championship trophey alongside PHS Principal Caren Swickard, Athletic Director Kelly Bermes, head coach Karen Barcelli and assistant coach Paige Bomba. The team held off a strong Valparaiso team to take the state title for the first time since 1975. This is Portage’s first team state title in any sport since 2000. Photo by Jill Baker | PortageLife Stewart performs during the physical fitness segment of the preliminary program on March 1. The girls were split into two groups, performing two segments in each of the two preliminary shows. Photo by Collin Czilli Stewart poses during the Self Expression segment on the second preliminary night. She was one of 19 participants in the state DYW program held in Kokomo, Ind. Photo by Collin Czilli

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Page 1: Pow Wow Issue 11

Senior Rachel Stewart, the lead role for “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” is no stranger to pageantry, and she used her skills

to represent Portage High School at the Distinguished Young Woman State Competition March 1. Stewart finished as a top 10 finalist and won $1,000 in scholarship money. The experience,

however, was not simply a one day affair. “The week leading up to the competition nights was extremely busy but so much fun,” Stewart said. “They kept us moving from 7 in the morning until 10:30 at night, with activities such as bowling, touring Kokomo, working out with Courtney [Crozier] and Marci [Crozier] from ‘The Biggest Loser’ and giving presentations to elementary students about the ‘Be Your Best Self ’ program. We also stayed very busy with rehearsals and learning new routines for the competition.” English teacher and DYW sponsor Carrie Martin said that the week preceding the competition is mostly a time for the contestants to learn their routines for the show. The time difference for preparation between the state competition and competition at PHS is significant.

See DYW, page 7

Pow Wow Covering Real Issues for the Students of Portage High School

Portage High School Issue 11 March 21, 2013

For the Portage

gymnastics team, a wild ride had the happiest of endings March 16 as the Indians achieved the ultimate goal by securing the school’s first state championship since 1975 with a 112.6-112.1 victory over second place Valparaiso. Portage entered the final rotation leading Valpo 85.1-84.725 with the Indians to compete on bars and the Vikings on the beam. It came down to Portage’s final two gymnasts

with sophomore Madison Kurtz and senior Mackenzie Barcelli needing to average a 9.45 to give Portage a state championship. Kurtz posted a 9.5, putting Barcelli in position to seal the deal in the final routine of her gymnastics career. “I knew I had to stay calm and be solid,” Barcelli said. “I was kind of freaking out, but really just wanted to stay calm and focus on my bars routine that I’ve hit all year.” Barcelli notched a 9.65 to put an exclamation point on her high school career by

becoming the state all-around champion and clinching the state championship for her team. “That was the best bars routine I have ever done in my entire life,” Barcelli said. “I knew right when I landed it that it was a great routine.” For Portage head coach Karen Barcelli, it was a storybook ending to her first state championship with her daughter providing the heroics to clinch the title. “She’s always been a pretty solid performer,” Karen Barcelli said. “I had a lot of faith in

her, but I was just hoping everything would fall into place. I was just happy that they all did what they were supposed to be doing today. It didn’t even really dawn on me how good my daughter did, until later.” Like many of her family members, teammates, friends and fans, Mackenzie Barcelli was overcome by emotion after winning the all-around state championship with a score of 38.325, edging out second place Alex Nickel of Angola, who scored a 38.150. See STATE CHAMPIONS, page 2

PHS brings home state title

Brandon VickreyEditor-in-Chief

Frataccia set to propose random drug testing

Random drug testing within Portage High

School may become a reality next year as the Superintendent of Portage Township Schools, Dr. E. Ric Frataccia, has created a plan that will work to identify students who use drugs and get them the help they need. “The reason is not to just catch people, it is to help them,” Frataccia said. “I have come to the belief that our kids need something to say to their peers that is truthful and gives them a tool to say ‘no thanks.’” Frataccia has been working up a plan of action over the past several years to combat drug use within the high school. Frataccia previously presented a plan to drug test students at a previous school district in which he served as Superitendent. “I ran it through the board in my previous superintendency, and it was voted down, but that was 10 years ago,” he said. “Life is a little bit different, and I don’t think the problem has subsided.” See DRUG TESTING, page 3

Collin Czilli Opinion Editor

DYW Rachel Stewart reflects on state competion in KokomoJoshua Lewis Features Editor

The members of the gymnastics team pose with the state championship trophey alongside PHS Principal Caren Swickard, Athletic Director Kelly Bermes, head coach Karen Barcelli and assistant coach Paige Bomba. The team held off a strong Valparaiso team to take the state title for the first time since 1975. This is Portage’s first team state title in any sport since 2000. Photo by Jill Baker | PortageLife

Stewart performs during the physical fitness segment of the preliminary program on March 1. The girls were split into two groups, performing two segments in each of the two preliminary shows. Photo by Collin Czilli

Stewart poses during the Self Expression segment on the second preliminary night. She was one of 19 participants in the state DYW program held in Kokomo, Ind. Photo by Collin Czilli

Page 2: Pow Wow Issue 11

With a year of experience under his belt and more to come, Mayor Jim Snyder is ready to continue taking on the challenge of handling the city of Portage.

Snyder gave his State of the City Address to Portage High School students and teachers on February 28. This included his accom-plishments in the past year along with what he plans on accomplishing this year.

“Portage elected officials put away their political parties and faced their problems with courage and are paving a future era of success and strength for years to come. This past year should serve as a lesson that when leadership from both sides comes together and works, there is no problem that cannot be solved,” Snyder said.

According to Snyder, personnel is the city’s greatest resource and best investment.

Snyder’s Human Resource Director Mitch Ripley and Consultant Steve Brady crafted a retirement plan for employee’s which ac-celerated the reduction of workforce. This workforce is now eight percent smaller than it was Jan. 1 of last year.

Another goal Snyder reached in his first year as Mayor was fixing the issue of trash collection. Snyder believes that Portage’s cost of garbage pick-up had been vastly out of control for years and that automated trash collection had to happen.

“The daunting task of achieving auto-mation was paying nearly $1.5 million in purchasing the new toters to get the plan started. Our only out-of-pocket investment in the automation of the entire city of Portage was $40,000 to install tippers on our existing trucks,” Snyder said.

Snyder was able to negotiate for over 24,000 toters by trading recycled materials for them. Valparaiso donated two trucks to

the city of Portage as well. “Recycling is not only an environmental-

ly sound practice, but an economically sound practice as well. Portage will save hundreds of thousands of dollars in landfill costs each year. Portage is now completely automated and this took less than 60 days,” Snyder said.

The recycling rate has increased this year to 17 percent as opposed to the 4 percent it was at last year.

Health insurance costs have dealt the largest blow to Portage’s budget deficit. These costs are budgeted by the state at nearly $2.8 million, however Portage spent $5.2 million in this past year. Portage em-ployees had five different health plans with various benefits, spread through eight differ-ent departments when Snyder entered office last year.

“I believe this is inherently wrong. A higher value was given to one department’s health needs over the other. For the greater

part of last year, we devised a plan that would change this nightmare in Portage for good,” Snyder said.

Beating crime is another issue Snyder considers a main priority. Portage SWAT has activated 20 times this year, which is more than the previous seven years combined. Crime has decreased 17.5 percent in the past year alone.

“We are in the process of adding two K-9 units to the police department and plan on adding two more by the time our term is over,” Snyder said.

Snyder has high hopes for the rest of his term as mayor.

“Portage leadership will continue to set its bar high, have a large vision and believe that we are the premier community to raise a family. We will communicate and correspond with our residents like never before, which will allow us to respond to their needs like never before,” Snyder said.

The turnover atop the Portage girls soccer program continues as Gina Swenson has been named the school’s third head coach in the last three seasons.

Swenson plans to provide some stability to a program that posted a 2-12-2 record in 2012 and cancelled its junior varsity season due to a lack of interest.

“The reason I want to do it is because Por-tage is such a big school and they used to have such a great girls soccer program and it has kind of gone by the waste side,” Swenson said. “I want to build that up.”

Swenson, who has committed to at least three years, is set to take on her first high school coaching job, but she has spent nearly 20 years instructing the sport at the club level, most recently with Northwest Indiana United.

According to Assistant Athletic Director Todd Strom, bringing in a coach that was committed to rebuilding the Portage program and staying at PHS was a high priority in the search for a new coach.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty when you continually have new coaches,” Strom said. “There are a lot of girls that you have to win over, and having a new philosophy ever single year is hard. I think with Coach Swenson, she is here for the long haul. That was something we were looking at when we were doing inter-views. We want someone who will dedicate themselves to Portage.”

Strom enjoyed coaching stability during his soccer career as he played for one coach for four years at Portage High School and one coach for four years at Valparaiso University. According to Strom, knowing what was expected of him throughout his career was very beneficial.

Swenson plans to use her club soccer roots as an advantage to help rejuvenate girls soccer at PHS.

“We’re going to work with a lot of the other club teams,” she said. “I’d like to work with some of the younger girls and get them working with the high school girls and just some mentoring and excitement built within the Parks Department and the Portage Soccer Club. We just want everyone working together so they’re excited about soccer when they get to high school.”

Swenson was very pleased with the turn-out at the meeting that she had two weeks ago. There were 27 girls that attended the meeting, while several girls that played last year were unable to attend. Swenson has not had the callout meeting at the middle schools yet, but she knows there are several girls that are interested.

“There are a lot of girls that are inex-perienced, so we are just going to have to take a different approach,” she said. “It’s going to be different from coaching club soccer because most of those girls have been playing their whole lives. We’re beginning from scratch pretty much, so we’re just going to take it one step at a time, and see how it goes. It’s going to take a couple years to build the program up, but I know that I’m ready for it.”

Severs resigned at the conclusion of her only season as head coach.

“All I can say is that I’m not going to speak on her behalf,” Strom said. “She resigned. She’s starting a family now. We’re going to move on.”

Multiple attempts to contact Severs were unsuccessful.

2 News Issue 11

Swenson named new soccer coach

Junior Patricia Mota gets set to head the ball during an Aug. 25 match against South Bend Washington. Photo by Ian DePerio

Brandon VickreyEditor-in-Chief

Katie PeksenakNews Editor

Snyder speaks to government classes

State champions Continued from page 1“Let me just say, I wanted to start cry-

ing, but I couldn’t because they had to take a picture of me,” Barcelli said. “I honestly didn’t really know. Right after we got done competing, my mom was bawling, we were all pretty much crying and we went down to talk to our parents. We knew we had won; I wasn’t concerned about how any of us had done individually.”

Barcelli exemplified the concept of going out with a bang, notching her personal best all-around score in the process of becoming the state floor (9.675) and all-around champions.

“Not even winning the all-around, but get-ting my personal best score for the final meet of my career was just a great feeling,” she said. “On top of that, winning all-around, it was like Jesus came down and touched me.”

Senior Lyndsey Cunningham also went out in style, achieving a career high 9.0 on the vault that helped garner Portage momentum for the rest of the meet.

“I think that Lyndsey hitting her first vault and getting a nine really pumped them up and really started something for the rest of the meet,” Karen Barcelli said.

Kurtz’s 9.5 on bars was pivotal in keep-ing Portage within striking distance entering Barcelli’s routine.

“Every time I’ve competed with that new skill, I messed it up really bad,” Kurtz said. “It was really ugly and disgusting. So, I was standing there and everyone was telling me to calm down, so I was standing there breathing,

because that’s all you can do. I landed, and I stood there, and I was like, ‘I just made the whole thing.’ It was just extremely exhilarat-ing.”

Junior Danielle Solis finished second on vault with a 9.850 to lead Portage to its first place team score of 29.2 on that event.

After winning the regular season dual meet against Valparaiso, the Indians had finished second to the Vikings in the Duneland Athletic Conference Meet, Chesterton Sectional and Valparaiso Regional. However, Portage came out on top when it really counted, silencing all the doubters and snapping a 38 year gymnas-tics state championship drought.

“All of our hard work has paid off,” Karen Barcelli said. “Everything we’ve been plan-ning toward has come together. It’s kind of surreal.”

-------------------------------------------------------1: Senior Mackenzie Barcelli performs a jump during her beam routine at the state gymnastics meet held at Ball State University in Muncie. 2: Senior Lyndsey Cunningham performs her beam routine at the state meet. Cunningham captured her personal best on the vault with a score of 9.0. 3: Junior Danielle Solis competes in her floor routine. Solis finished second on vault with a score of 9.850. Portage defeated Valparaiso 112.6-112.1 to take its first gymnastics state title since 1975. Photos by Jill Baker|PortageLife.com

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Page 3: Pow Wow Issue 11

Frataccia’s plan calls for students to be randomly drug tested on Mondays, but he reiterated numerous times that the testing will not be used punitively toward students, but instead to provide students with help fighting addiction and drug use problems.

“If they know that they are going to be randomly drug tested every Monday, then that gives our kids the truth and a tool to say, ‘I don’t want to chance it,’” he said.

Frataccia has spent the past few years studying the best ways to implement programs in the school that will help stu-dents that are facing drug problems. He is working with PHS Home School Adviser Tim Kunstek and the Porter County Sub-stance Abuse Council to develop a program that will help these students and educate others on the dangers of drugs.

“It is a dangerous mix to include alcohol and drugs in teen-age life,” he said.

Frataccia said he is looking for a way to pay for the testing and drug programs in an already strapped situation where money is hard to come by. He is working with the Portage Town-ship Education Foundation to identify possible funding.

“As a father, if I got a call that either one of my sons had

tested positive for something, I would want to know as a parent, so that I could do something to help him overcome what he is trying to overcome,” he said.

With such a contentious issue at hand, Frataccia realizes the concerns and backlash he will cause with both parents and students within the district.

“I don’t fear it. I anticipate it, but the part I am trying to work through is what happens when a kid tests positive. I do not want them thrown out, I want to get them help,” he said. “If I get a backlash, I get a backlash.”

Portage Township School Board member Jessica Bailey echoed Frataccia’s approach to the schools remaining drug free.

“Keeping the schools drug free is very important, but also a major challenge,” Bailey said. “When considering drug testing, we need to begin by researching the legality.”

Bailey is also concerned with the cost to the school system for adding random drug testing to the high school.

“The cost of the testing would have to be outweighed by the benefits brought by the testing,” she said. “There are a lot of factors to be considered before making this decision.”

Frataccia does not want students that deal drugs and dis-tribute them to be in the school system. He is prepared to send them a very clear message.

“I have been very strict with those who distribute drugs,” he said. “I want them out of my school. I want them expelled. If you are distributing drugs, go somewhere else, get away from here.”

For underclassmen at Portage High School, lunch really is the best part of the day. The West Cafeteria has been upgraded to include painted wall murals, new seating and a new television. “Remodeling the West Cafeteria has been a long term goal of the food service department. It has needed updating for many years and we are very happy to be able to finally accomplish that goal,” retired Food Service Director Jan Black said. Black retired in January and came back on Feb. 19 to see the cafeteria in its completion. “She wanted to see the students’ reaction when they saw it for the first time,” Food Ser-vice Director Marsha Stephens said. With multiple seating heights and booths, the students have a choice of where they prefer to sit and eat. “We really don’t think of it as a 1970s style, but instead as a college campus or restaurant style. We met with staff and some students be-fore we decided on a design, but the Indian logo continued to be the first choice,” Black said. According to Assistant Principal Brett Munden, the funds for this upgrade came from the Food Services Department of Portage Township Schools. “I really like the new arrangement. It has given the West Cafeteria the feel of a ‘student union’ like what you would find on a college campus,” Munden said.

Munden is not the only person who enjoys the newly renovated space. Freshman Haley Orshonsky believes

that the new cafeteria seating has made it much easier to socialize. “What has changed the most is the noise level in the lunchroom. It used to be incred-ibly loud because everyone was so near to each other and it was hard to have a conversation without yelling. Now that the seat options are more spread out, it is a whole lot easier to talk to your friends,” Orshonsky said. Freshman Sara Dailey said the decoration and layout are the first things students notice when they enter the cafeteria. “The décor is the most noticeable change. It’s a lot more vibrant, there are more posters and more colors. It reminds a lot of us of the high school cafeterias in the movies,” Dailey said. As freshmen are the youngest grade at PHS and newly adjusting to a high school environ-ment, makeovers like the one that the cafeteria received make students feel more welcome. “Everyone seems to be talking about how much they enjoy eating in there,” Munden said. The Food Service Department has been sav-ing money for several years in order to afford the upgrades. “It was many months in the planning and we are very excited about how it turned out. We are pleased whenever we can make improvements that positively impact students at Portage,” Black said.

3NewsMarch 21, 2013

Freshmen cafeteria receives upgrades Emily Evans and Ashley ConradPow Wow Staff

Top: New chairs and tables have been placed in the West Cafeteria. The tables include logos and wrappings on the tops. Bottom: The eatery also provides booth seating for students to utilize during lunch periods. Photos by Collin Czilli

World Language Honor Society holds inductions

German teacher Candis Carey places a medallion around Darrius Coleman’s neck during the WLHS induction ceremony.Photo by Jessica Marquez

The World Language Honor Society is a group of individuals that perform well in foreign

language classes and attend a candle ceremony. Held in the Portage High School auditorium, the ceremony accommodated teachers, parents and the 76 students inducted. During the ceremony, students are called up individually to receive a medal. As the candle is being lit, students are to say, “The borders of our language are the borders of our world,” in the foreign language that has been studied, while the teachers say it simultaneously. “This gives teachers an opportunity to pass the light of knowledge to their students,” Spanish teacher and World Lan-guage Department Chair Linda Peda said. In order to be inducted, students were required to take three consecutive semesters of a foreign language with A’s. These ex-pectations are more easily met, as the first year of a language is absolved and does not count against future progress. Senior Sarah Batey was inducted last year and again this year. She took German for four years and French for three. This is the first time in five years that a student was inducted twice. “Being inducted last year was an honor enough, so this being the second is awesome. All of this wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Frau Carey and Madam Flynn,” Batey said. French teacher Andrea Flynn believes it was the best cer-emony that the World Language Honor Society has had during her time teaching at Portage High School. “After 10 years of working at PHS, this is the first time the ceremony was held in the auditorium. I felt like it was more formal, and easier to talk to parents and recognize some outstanding students,” Flynn said.

Angela dornbosNews Writer

Drug Testing Continued from page 1

Student Council hosts Morgan Township student exchange days

The idea of life at a different school is one that crosses the minds of many high school students. This experience was fulfilled for certain Portage High School students through Student Council’s Morgan Township Exchange. Fourteen PHS students visited Morgan for a day while about 20 Morgan Township students came to Portage to experience life at PHS. “This was my second student council exchange because we had an ex-change with Washington Township last year. My favorite part of having the Portage students come was getting the chance to meet

new people and seeing their reactions to Mor-gan,” Morgan Township senior Maren Richards

said. Richards believes that two main differences be-tween Portage and Morgan are the size of the schools along with some of the rules and how they are enforced. “One of the biggest dif-ferences I noticed between Morgan and Portage was the sheer size difference between the schools and the amount of students. Since there are so many students at Portage I can see how it would be pointless to try and make the rules super strict because there’s no way to keep track of that many students,” Richards said.

Another aspect of life at PHS that was new to Rich-ards was the dress code. “Our dress code is very strict and it was a little bit of a shock to see how some of the girls at PHS were dressed,” Richards said. PHS freshman Lydia Gerike participated in the exchange as well and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. “I really enjoyed Morgan Township. The students were so friendly and welcoming. Everyone at Morgan is very dedicated to their school,” Gerike said. Seeing the way Morgan students reacted to PHS was an aspect of the experi-ence Gerike found interest-ing. “Portage has a lot more diversity in their student

population, which re-ally seemed to come as a surprise to the Morgan kids. We have many more extracurricular and sports options than Morgan. They don’t even have a football team because their school is so small,” Gerike said. According to Gerike, both days of the exchange were eye-opening to Portage and Morgan students. “Since Morgan is such a small school, it was interesting to see how they reacted to things like class sizes and crowds in the hallways. Even though our school is much bigger and more hectic than theirs, the students from Morgan had a great attitude about learn-ing the ropes. They were able to keep up with us the whole day,” Gerike said.

Katie PeksenakNews Editor

Page 4: Pow Wow Issue 11

4 Sports Issue 11

With three straight deep postseason runs, a decade of consistently posting winning records and a constant stream of talent that results in a large senior class each year, all indications are that the Portage baseball program is poised for another successful season.

However, the elephant in the room regard-ing the Indians is a string of three straight sectional championship losses and a sectional title drought that dates back to 1995.

“We don’t really bring it up,” head coach Tim Pirowski said. “We don’t dwell on it. It’s frustrating of course, but to win three games in our sectional is a tough thing. To get to the sectional championship three years in a row is an accomplishment. Obviously, we have bigger goals than that, but it’s not a motivating thing or something that we bring up at all.”

Last season, the Indians won 25 games, but fell to Valparaiso 18-8 in the sectional final.

“I don’t know,” senior Tyler Soberg said when asked what Portage has to do to win a sectional. “We thought last year would have been third time’s a charm; we’re just going to try hard this year and hope for a sectional championship.”

Portage’s quest for a sectional title begins with a home date with Elkhart Memorial on Tuesday. That will be followed by a trip to Ten-nessee for a Spring Break Tournament, giving the Indians a chance to spend time together off the field while taking on top tier competition on the diamond.

“I think it will allow us to build some team chemistry with the fact that we’re going to be spending a lot of time together in Tennes-see in hotels and on the bus and all that,” Pirowski said. “It also allows us some nice weather and to play some teams that are hopefully going to get us ready for our DAC opponents.”

Pirowksi said Crown Point is the favorite to win conference, while Lake Central is also poised to compete for the title. He added that Michigan City will “probably be a player this year for the first time in a long time.”

Portage’s lineup is loaded with senior vet-erans like C.J. Haupt, Eric Mesarch and Tyler Soberg. However, Portage is faced with the task of replacing several key arms, including ace Kris Springman.

“We hit it hard on our pitchers this offseason and I think it’s going to pay off for us during the season,” Pirowski said. “I expect our pitching to be even better than last year with overall depth.”

Two new faces will fill pitching voids as senior Tyler Retherford plays high school base-

ball for the first time, while junior Kevin Jones transferred from Chesterton. Senior Ty Kniola is the lone hurler who pitched a significant number of varsity innings last season.

Pirowksi tabbed junior Chris Klenk as someone ready to have a breakout season. He said there are four different spots in the lineup that are still up for grabs.

After receiving their first taste of varsity baseball as juniors, Portage’s seven returning seniors will

transition to a leadership role to help ease the burden on the 10 first year varsity players.

“Seeing the varsity level pitching last year really helped,” Soberg said. “I think it’s going to help this year with how I perform at the plate. We really try to help [the underclass-men] with their mechanics and stuff. If we see them doing something wrong, we just try to straighten them out.”

Baseball program keeps restocking

Brandon VickreyEditor-in-Chief

Junior Jonathan Velez takes a cut at a ball during a preseason practice inside the fieldhouse. Velez made the varsity roster for the first time this season. Photo by Emily Hensley

Senior outfielder Anthony Samano eyes a baseball during a preseason practice in the Portage High School fieldhouse. Photo by Emily Hensley

Baseball Quick Hits First Game: Tuesday vs. Elkhart Memorial 4:30 at PHS

Players to Watch: C.J. Haupt, Eric Mesarch, Tyler Soberg

Potential Breakout Player: Chris Klenk

Soph-omore Noah Kunstek

said that after working hard since late Oc-tober, the boys golf team is ready to start dominating.

“Five of our six best players are return-ing this year including Nick Lewis, Jordan Henson, Tep Junyanid, Noah Kunstek and Tyler Gonzalez. My expectations are really high for this team,” head coach Richard Kretz said.

This is junior Matt Bliss’s first year playing golf. Bliss said he is hoping to find some success this year, whether for the team or just having fun.

“I find myself needing to work on my patience in golf. It is a very humbling sport and it has taken me a while to be able to shake off a bad shot and focus on the next one,” Bliss said.

Bliss said he loves playing with this group because they are hardworking and want to compete. Bliss said he will have good memories from playing with these people.

Last season, the team finished 7-13 overall and 4-10 in the Duneland Athletic Conference. The Indians finished third in sectionals, which qualified them for region-

als. Kretz said the team did not play to its potential in regionals, and he is ready for it to step up this year.

“I would like to think that with a year of experience under their belts, all of our guys will step up since our season ended on a disappointing note in the Regional. We lost several very close matches last season, especially in the DAC,” Kretz said.

Kunstek said that this year he has been really focusing, and he is more determined than ever.

“My favorite thing about golf is the fact that you play against yourself. When you mess up, you can only blame yourself. I am more committed this year and I have more experience for this season. As a team we need to work hard and strive to get better,” Kunstek said.

Kunstek said that Chesterton and Valpo will be their biggest competitors.

“If we work as a team and individu-ally stay focused I believe we can do it. I believe in our team as well as all of our players,” Kunstek said.

Their season will tee off April 3 against Griffith. Their first home meet is April 9 against Boone Grove and North Newton.

“It will come down to how committed the guys are, and their mental toughness,” Kretz said.

Five of top six golfers to return this seasonLauren WinickySports Writer

The Winter Sports Awards

Banquet is the time for the athletes who have worked hard to earn awards for their efforts.

The banquet was held at the East Audito-rium on March 7.

Athletic Director Kelly Bermes gave a speech before coaches recognized their teams.

“The Portage Indians who played a winter sport have gotten 99 wins,” Bermes said. “And we are not finished yet.”

The gymnastics team was recognized with head coach Karen Barcelli talking about the team’s success this year.

The team finished 7-0 in Duneland Ath-letic Conference regular season meets.

“I cannot remember when the team was considered ‘champs,’ which is a good feeling,” Barcelli said. “We have gotten so far and we are proving our purpose this year.”

Mackenzie Barcelli received the MVP award for gymnastics.

The cheerleading team made it to nation-als this year and finished third behind Lake Central and St. Lawrence. Seniors Jena Alaniz and Emily Jahoda both received the three-year letter awards.

“I was surprised by lettering for a third time. I did not think I would stick with this sport through high school, but I have enjoyed it,” Alaniz said.

The boys swim team had high expecta-tions in the beginning and stepped up in the end. The Indians had a record of 7-3 in dual meets.

The team was also ranked fourth in the Duneland Athletic Conference and beat Lake Central after being defeated by each meet for the last 15 to 20 years.

Junior John Fannin was a diver on the team and made it to state this year, placing 17th.

“When I got 17th place, I just looked on the bright side and keep the same mentality to keep moving forward,” Fannin said. “After hearing of my coach’s story when she won 17th place her senior year and beat over 700 divers, that is a great job. This motivates me to do my best.”

The girls swim team won the Academic Award for winter sports with a 3.037 grade point average.

Head coach Greg Mundt was nervous to

find out how this season would turn out.“I will admit I was nervous with not hav-

ing any seniors this year and it was up to the freshmen and sophomores. Luckily, we had the best freshmen this season,” Mundt said.

Sophomore Jordan Parker won the MVP award for girls swimming with senior Lauryn Sanders becoming a three year letter winner.

The boys basketball team was also success-ful, according to head coach Rick Snodgrass.

“Last year we had doubters, but this year, that was not that the case with this team. The team came back this year and we had more wins than we have in years. I am really proud,” Snodgrass said.

Sophomore Jordan Collazo earned the Most Complete Player award this season.

According to Collazo, the award was unexpected.

“When the award was announced, I thought that [sophomore] Jordan Simpson was going to get the award, because we have improved as individuals and as a team,” Col-lazo said.

The girls basketball team notched 13 wins this season to mark the highest win total since the hiring of head coach Chris Seibert.

“This season, the girls have only put in determination to improve. They have had stayed committed and because of their efforts, they have been rewarded for their ac-complishments,” Seibert said.

The Top Indian Award was given to senior Nicki Monahan, who has been named All DAC and recently the school’s all-time leading scorer for girls basketball.

“When I broke the record I felt accom-plished. It was a goal I had set at the start of the season and it was a great feeling once I broke it because it proves that hard work pays off and dreams do come true. When I won [the Top Indian Award], I was honored to win,” Monahan said.

The varsity wrestling had a successful sea-son while managing to work through injuries and tough work outs. The team finished with a 21-8 record and sent four wrestlers to the state meet. According to head coach Leroy Vega, whenever they needed a pin, the boys got a pin in order to win.

Senior Dylan Logsdon earned MVP and four year letter winner for this year in wrestling.

Winter sport athletes honored at banquetAlexis CoffmanSports Writer

Page 5: Pow Wow Issue 11

5Sports March 21, 2013

With a new coach at the helm and several key contributors from 2012 graduated, the Portage

girls tennis team will look to accomplish a variety of goals during the 2013 season, including the one detail of defeating conference foe Valparaiso. “We are hoping to make some noise in the DAC [Duneland Athletic Conference],” head coach Joe Reid said. “In the sec-tional, we want to compete and do our best against two really good teams in Chesterton and Valpo. We have the toughest sectional in Northwest Indiana, so if we can compete, we can win.” Reid, who formerly coached at the varsity level at North Judson and the junior varsity level at Crown Point, will take over as the new head coach in place of former head coach Joe White after serving as the junior varsity head coach last season. “[White’s] knowledge of the game and experience as a head coach have been a tremendous support for me as I help our girls achieve their goals this year,” Reid said. Reid named seniors Bailey Lauritzen, Lauren Zack and Kaley Liang, along with junior Mandy Haupt, as some of the players to watch for the upcoming season. Haupt and Liang are expected to compete at No. 1 and No. 2 singles respec-tively, while Lauritzen and Zack will compete together at the No.1 doubles spot. Haupt’s expectations include keeping a positive attitude throughout every match. “Some individual goals I have set are to always stay posi-tive and improve every day,” Haupt said. “Tennis is a very mental game and I want to be very headstrong this year so I can pull through the many tough matches that I will face at No.1 singles.” Lauritzen feels that a close-knit group of girls will be an advantage for the team in order to create more of a family atmosphere. “I’m expecting our team to be smaller than it’s been the past two years so that, hopefully, all the girls can be closer and more like a family,” Lauritzen said. Liang feels that the team has the potential to have a strong season and make a postseason run. She also hopes to conquer a weakness that has plagued her in the past. “I’ve set the bar really high because this year I feel like we have not only the skill, but also more motivation, drive and a good mentality,” Liang said. “For me personally, my goal is to work on having the right mindset when I step onto the court. It’s always been my weakness, but this season I want to overcome it.” Although under direction of a new head coach and having to adjust to a new practice regimen, Zack said Reid is a coach that does not only have one focus during practices. “Coach Reid has been focused on trying to work on every aspect of the game throughout the week at practices,” Zack said. “The major difference between him and Coach White is that he just has a different teaching style.” The Lady Indians will open up their season with an April 8 road match against Marquette High School before the home opener the following day against Wheeler.

tennis starts fresh, aims to beat Valparaiso

The gymnastics team placed second in regionals as rival team Valparaiso stole the win. Although the team

did not grab first place, the girls came back and won state. State took place at Ball State on Saturday, March 16. Sophomore Madison Kurtz said obtaining second was not very satisfying, but she was very excited to return to state. Junior Daniele Solis said the team was very excited for state and gave it their all and had no regrets. “We expect a win. If you come that far and that is not your purpose, there is no point in going. You must believe to achieve,” head coach Karen Barcelli said. The team had to work together in order to do well at state. “We are preparing for state just like any other meet. Confidence, cleanliness and passion in our routines is key for this week,” senior Lynsdsey Cunningham said. Although the team prepared for state like they would for any other meet, they said competing at state was very different. “Preparing for state in gymnastics isn’t like preparing

for state in other sports. We have four events. That’s four different routines. We are preparing by doing 15 routines on each event. When you add that up it’s 60 routines. That is a whole lot of routines but we will be solid and ready to compete,” senior Mackenzie Barcelli said. Karen Barcelli said it is as if the girls are related, and the girls are not afraid to speak their minds to each other. “We act like sisters, we talk like sisters, we fight like sisters and it makes us an even better team. We have passion and heart, some of the teams there do not, and it’ll come back to haunt them,” Cunningham said. With the season coming to an end, the team will be say-ing goodbye to teammates. “We have begun a legacy. It is up to them to be commit-ted throughout the offseason. There will be some open posi-tions on varsity, and any of them are capable of filling them. They must be willing to work hard,” Karen Barcelli said. Mackenzie Barcelli said she is looking forward to seeing Portage gymnasts continue to succeed following her gradu-ation. “[My] advice for our girls next year, stay strong, work hard and keep the passion and heart we have now, because that’s what puts us apart from the rest,” Cunningham said.

Long road leads to eventual gymnastics state championship

Senior Mackenzie Barcelli performs on beam at a home meet against Hobart. Photo by Ashley Conrad.

Peyton Hulse Sports Editor

Eric MesarchContent Editor

No-hitters, defeats of Lake Central and Crown Point and unde-feated pitching records. What is missing is a

strong postseason run. The Portage High School softball team will be looking to accomplish this goal along with several others, setting the bar high for their postseason expectations. “A conference title and a sectional title are obvious ex-pectations,” head coach Lisa Hayes said. “However, we also want the girls to continue to become better individuals on and off the field. Playing as a team is a high expectation of this program.” After posting an 18-8 record last season, coming up just short of a Duneland Athletic Conference title behind Lake Central and losing in the semifinals of the sectional to Crown Point, the Lady Indians have their eyes set on beating out teams like L.C., Crown Point and Chesterton to prove them-selves worthy of being one of the best teams in the state. “These past two years we have learned from the coaching staff that if we work hard and play as a team, anything is possible,” senior pitcher Heather Zengler said. “And I believe if we do these things, state is a real possibility.” As a first-year member of the varsity squad, junior first baseman Taylor Mora is excited to experience the many dif-ferences between the junior varsity and varsity levels. “I wouldn’t say I’m nervous for the season, but anxious because it is my first year on varsity,” Mora said. “I plan on contributing my skill on the field and my support off the field.” In preparation for this season, many players said the team was able to get much stronger due to a rigorous offsea-son workout and conditioning schedule, which was run by strength and conditioning coach Dan Clark. “Our success last year and the competitiveness of our conference really drove us to push ourselves in our condition-ing and strength training,” senior catcher and captain Haley Hodges said. “Coach Clark kicked our butts and has really

helped us become the best athletes we could be.” Along with conditioning and strength training, sopho-more pitcher Kiley Jones said she spent a lot of her offseason working on her pitching mechanics and picking up speed. “Offseason is my time to get better,” Jones said. “All off-season I was pitching indoors and at different lessons during the week. My main goal was to pick up velocity on my pitch. The faster the pitch is, the harder the batter has to work. My personal record has so little meaning to me compared to our team record. That may sound cliché, but this year’s team, we are going places.” Hayes named Hodges, Jones and senior outfielder Lauren Murray as some of the many players to watch for the up-coming season. All three were named All-Conference players last season, while Murray picked up All-District honors and Hodges walked away with a DAC Co-MVP award and was selected as a First Team All-State player. The team will be led by a talented group of seven seniors, four of which have already committed to play softball in col-lege. Hodges will be playing for the University of Southern Indiana, Zengler will pitch for the University of Saint Fran-cis, outfielder Jena Alaniz signed to play alongside her sister at Taylor University and first baseman Stephanie Upton signed her letter of intent with Purdue North Central. “It’s our last chance to really make an impact on this program,” Hodges said. “I really want for us to have a lot of fun and make great memories that we can take with us when we all go our separate ways. I’ve loved being a part of the softball program. The girls are great to play with and the coaches have been really awesome too. I’ve learned so much from Coach Hayes and she’s really become a role model for me.” As they continue to practice and prepare for season opener on March 26 at home against Andrean, Hayes hopes that the support for the program grows and continues. “The coaching staff is extremely proud of this group of players,” Hayes said. “They have worked hard to earn their spots on the team. Hopefully the parents, students and community continue to support Portage softball the way it

Softball sets eyes on stateEric MesearchContent Editor

Junior Gabby Ziulkowski plays against teammates at practice. Photo by Olivia Forester

Page 6: Pow Wow Issue 11

Editor-in-ChiefBrandon Vickrey

Content Editor

Eric Mesarch

Design EditorEmily Evans

Opinion Editor

Collin Czilli

News Editor Katie Peksenak

Features Editor

Joshua Lewis

Sports EditorPeyton Hulse

Photo EditorOlivia Forrester

Sports WritersAlexis CoffmanLauren WinickyBrandon Weis

News WritersAshley Conrad Mallory Lopez

Nick BlueMary Clancy

Features Writers

Tyra Allen Amber Nelson

Angela DornbosCaleb Ingersoll

Alexis Sosa

PhotographersTaylor Mlynski Emily Hensley

AdviserMelissa Deavers-Lowie

6 Opinion Issue 11

Pow Wow Editorial PolicyThe Pow Wow is a student-produced newspaper. As an open-forum publication, we do accept letters-to-the-editor. All letters must be grammatically cor-

rect, free from errors and 200 words or fewer. Letters must include your name. E-mail submissions can be sent to [email protected]. Letters will be run in

the next available issue of the newspaper.

As Washington enters, yet again, another budget battle, it is time for Democrats to realize that increasing taxes is not enough to get the country out of debt, and, in return, Republicans must learn that compromise is not always a bad thing.

It is no secret that the budget of the United States is in a severe situation. This country does not take in enough revenue to cover its current expenses and it spends way too much on everything. The answer is not just tax increases, nor is it spending cuts, it is combination of both.

I really do not understand why both parties are unwilling to compromise on these issues, like spending. There is not a person in this country that can claim that spending is too low while maintaining a straight face. As a country, we spend too much each year on social security, Medicare, Medicaid and defense. There must be cuts across the board in order to begin to think

about balancing the budget. As a Democrat, I should be against cuts to entitlements, but I realize they are aiding in bankrupting this country, it is time to reform them and find ways to spend less each year.

Likewise, we spend too much each year on defense. Since Sept. 11, the defense department budget has

increased each year to close to $800 billion. I do not understand why both defense and entitlements are off the table for discussing. There is no feasible way to balance the budget and begin to cut the deficit by cutting from education, foreign aid and the government payroll. There are simply not enough funds when defense and entitlements are excluded to get the budget into the black again.

Taxes are a major issue as well that will again be on the table. While I agree that more revenue helps, it is not a cure all to the problems we, as a nation face. Again, it is not feasible to balance the budget with more revenue sources. The decision to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire was a step in the right direction. More revenue will help, but cuts are needed as well.

The two parties have to come together and cut equally from everywhere. As a moderate person, I am all for reducing government spending responsibly. I know that cutting only from entitlements will ultimately hurt the wrong people. The poor and the elderly will take a major hit, which cannot be allowed. I also know that by cutting solely from defense and national security we will leave this country vulnerable. There are always ways to make all parts of the government more efficient and cost less, defense and national security included. Is it really necessary to have the base in upstate New York for training in deep snow combat, no. We will probably never fight a war in the snow again anytime soon. Is it necessary for the Navy to maintain as many ships as it does, no. Is it necessary to overpay doctors for medical visits out of Medicare, no.

This is not a simple problem to solve, I and many other realize this, but Washington is doing absolutely nothing but pushing this problem off month after month after month. It is time for both sensible Republicans and sensible Democrats to come together and fix this country’s problems. They should ignore the extreme wings of their party, stop worrying about reelection and do the job we sent them there to do.

Latest budget battle needs cuts all across the boardCollin CzilliOpinion Editor

[email protected]

State champion gymnastics team deserves recognition

To some of the Pow Wow readers, this column may not seem like one worth writing. The argument presented is too obvious and seemingly lacks a counterargument or potential rebuttal. However, there are other members of the student body that are oblivious to many of the great accomplishments of their fellow classmates.

For those in need of a wakeup call: the Portage gymnastics team winning the state championship is a pretty big deal. The lady-Indians may not get the attention of football or basketball, but the 2013 gymnastics team has proved that it deserves more recognition than any other team in any other sport at PHS in the last decade.

“No one really knew what we could do,” junior Danielle Solis said. “Nobody even knew who we were, half of the kids in the school don’t even know we have a team, and here we are, we won state.”

The last time Portage won a gymnastics

state championship was 1975, and the last time a team brought a state title home to Portage in any sport was the 1999-2000 school year, when the Indians captured state titles in boys cross country and softball.

Although the gymnastics team has not been fully appreciated by the entire student body, nor has it

typically received as much media attention as other sports, that does not mean everyone has ignored the state champs.

Principal Caren Swickard and Athletic Director Kelly Bermes are both former gymnastics coaches and gymnasts. Although they have moved on to run the school and athletic department as a whole, gymnastics still has a special place in their hearts. The gymnasts called Swickard and Bermes their biggest fans and said both were crying and kissing the gymnasts following the meet.

Students that did not take in a Portage gymnastics meet this season missed the chance to watch an enthralling storyline develop and culminate in a state

championship. This provides a perfect example of why the greatest athletic drama does not always unfold under the Warpath lights on a Friday night or on the gymnasium hardwood during the winter. Sometimes, moments just as exciting occur in the pool, on the mats, on the diamond, on the course, on the track or on the pitch.

“I don’t consider any sport a minor sport,” Portage boys basketball coach Rick Snodgrass said. “Every single sport is a great sport; it should never be about revenue.”

The outburst of support following the gymnastics state championship proved the community members are beginning to realize that gymnastics is anything but minor. The PortageLife.com Facebook post breaking the news of the state championship received 210 likes, 24 comments and 29 shares.

“We’ve definitely pulled a following within the last couple of years, but people have been so positive with us and it is really important that we get the community involved,” head coach Karen Barcelli said. “We’ve really tried hard the last couple of years to do that. I’m just really glad that they appreciate us and what we’ve done.”

Brandon vickreyEditor-in-Chief

[email protected]

Respect must be given in order to be received

Dictionary.com defines respect as esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability. Respect can affect one’s whole life. If one does not get the respect that one deserves, his or her self-esteem is hurt.

It is no secret that the class of 2016 is one of the most disrespectful groups of students at Portage High School. While I am a freshman myself, I know as much as anyone else how abusive the class is to the staff, the building and our peers. We are apathetic of others feelings and only associate with our own cliques, showing no respect to those outside of them.

This is not right. We, as a class, need to show more respect toward our peers. We all deserve respect, but in order to get

respect, we also have to give it. While this is cliché, it is also true. Respect has to be given as readily as it is received.

The amount of respect one receives has in turn an effect on how much respect one gives. It is important to give others respect because if others receive no respect, how can they reciprocate what they themselves do not receive?

Adviser Tim Kunstek agrees with this mantra.“We try to teach students that respect isn’t a given, you earn

it, and the only way you can earn respect is to give respect,” Kunstek said.

The school system has implemented a system of core values, better known as the five critical values, in order to counteract this problem.

“In addition to the core values [honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness and compassion], we have Day of Caring and promote random acts of kindness,” Kunstek said.

It is not only staff members such as Kuntsek, but other students of Portage High School as well that feel this way.

“I feel that with each freshmen class that arrives at the school, they become more and more disrespectful,” senior

Regina Lopez said. Outward appearances also have an effect on people’s opinion

of the freshmen class. We are, for lack of a better term, silly and over dramatic about situations that are not really important.

“[To make the freshmen seem more mature they should] try to not get into childish shenanigans, and get over themselves,” Lopez said.

But who is to blame for this lack of respect? There is no one person or group of people that can be held responsible, but one thing is certain.

“It all stems from the home. If people’s parents don’t teach their children how to respect others, they [the children] aren’t going to have the ability to respect others. It really is sad that parents don’t care enough to teach their children respect,” Lopez said.

Contrary to popular belief, random acts of kindness can go a long way. Small acts like helping someone pick up dropped books in the hallway, or sitting with someone who is alone at lunch can help someone who is going through tough times a lot. This can even inspire that person to show respect to others.

Nick BlueNews Writer

Page 7: Pow Wow Issue 11

7Features March 21, 2013

Martin said that the contestants for the state competition only have a week to learn their perfor-mance routines ,while the contestants for the competi-tion at PHS have three to four weeks to prepare. Five segments were judged in order to determine the winner, with Self-Expres-sion being worth 15 percent, Fitness 15 percent, Talent 25 percent, Academics 20 per-cent and an interview worth 25 percent. “I felt that I did very strongly in all of the catego-ries on both the preliminary

nights,” Stewart said. “I was a little more anxious on

finals night because we had to do all three categories (Fitness, Talent and Self-Expression) back to back. I conquered my biggest fear of public speaking on finals night when I had to answer an onstage question that I did not know ahead of time. I am extremely thankful that I was able to have this experience to step outside of my comfort zone and grow as a person.” Martin shares Stewart’s opinion of her performance on finals night. “She did awesome and is

a natural on stage,” Martin said. “She [only] messed up a little on Self-Expres-sion, but she collected her thoughts for a moment and kept going.” Through her performance in the competition, Stewart won $500 dollars in scholar-ship money for being a top 10 finalist and $500 for writ-ing the best “Be Your Best Self ” essay. Before departing for Ko-komo, Stewart felt anxious about meeting the other contestants. “Rachel was very nervous about if she would fit in, but she met a bunch of girls that felt the same way and these people she thought she had to compete against are

actually now her friends,” Martin said. Scholarship money is not the only prize Stewart walked away with from the competition. “I definitely made many lifelong friendships while I was there,” Stewart said. “It was amazing to be around 18 other girls who have so much in common with you. Although the experience was nerve-racking, it was reliev-ing to know that we were all in the same situation. Out of all of the girls, four of them will be attending the same college as me. I plan to stay in touch with all of them and I will never forget the incredible memories we made over the week.”

A day in the life of:Lynda Hodges serves as Office A secretary

Every secretary is a special-ist in his or her respective areas of the school. As “Secretary to the Prin-cipal,” Lynda Hodges’s specialty is assuring that the main office runs efficiently. Hodges’s main responsibility is to assist Principal Caren Swickard in her day-to-day business. She also has several special projects that keep her busy year-round. “I help Mrs. Swickard with anything I can. She is very self-efficient, but I try to help her by taking phone messages, sending out mass e-mails to the staff, typing letters or agendas and scheduling appoint-ments. Anything I can do to lighten her load just a little,” Hodges said. Every day is different for Hodges. She arrives at school before 7 a.m. each day and tries to get as much done as possible before 3:30 p.m. rolls around. Some of her typical daily responsibilities include answering and directing phone calls, distributing interschool mail and incom-ing faxes, directing students to the appropriate offices, preparing and distributing meeting agendas, updating

calendars and compiling weekly reports from the administration building. She also prepares and submits the payroll, updates the school website, manages student personal databases, creates duplicate diplomas for former students and co-ordinates the monthly Tribe Pride drawings. Hodges plans and coor-dinates the ACES banquet, organizes the graduation cer-emony and welcomes back the staff and teachers at the start-up of school every year. She usually starts plan-ning the projects just before Christmas and continues to work on them well into the next school year. For the ACES ban-quets, Hodges reserves the banquet hall, schedules the caterer, creates, prints and mails out all of the invita-tions to parents, teachers and distinguished guests. Sending thank you letters to the donors, creating and printing programs, creating certificates and making up a seating chart are also part of her responsibilities. Ordering the medals and apple awards are also on her to-do list for this event. At the beginning of the school year, she sends out “Welcome Back” letters to

all of the staff and faculty. Ordering basic classroom and office supplies, updating personnel files and creating the teacher handbooks are her biggest priorities. She also distributes teacher grade books and creates an up-dated version of the faulty phone lists. Her largest project is graduation. She verifies the spelling of every senior’s name and prepares the seat-ing charts for the auditorium and the football stadium. Hodges must coordinate the dates. Cap and gown announcements and the preparation of the diplomas are also her job. Almost the entire ceremony and diploma distribution is prepared by her. “This job keeps me con-stantly busy, but I wouldn’t necessary call it difficulty, but there are some stress-ful times, like graduation,” Hodges said. “It’s a job that is interesting and fun. I love my job. First and most importantly, I work with the best people in the world. The administrators and the sec-retaries are all awesome and make it fun to come to work every day. Each and every day is all little different, so there is definitely no getting bored here,” Hodges said.

tyra AllenFeatures Writer

Hodges answers her phone while working at her desk. Many students are unaware of the many tasks that Hodges handles while working in Office A. Photo by Olivia Forrester

PHS World Language Department celebrates World Language Week

Na-tional World Language week is

celebrated at Portage High School from March 4-8. World Language Week is the week when the world language students celebrate their diverse language through different activi-ties. This week is celebrated because the week recognizes the diversity of the world, according to Spanish teacher Linda Peda. Each year the language teachers at PHS get together and create a week of a variety of different activities to introduce the students to other languages taught at PHS. The world language teachers try to change the activities each year. On Monday, all language classes learned a song in the language that their learn-ing. Peda taught her students a song and a dance to go along with it. Tuesday, students had the opportunity to go to different classes to make crafts. German teacher Candis Carey’s craft activity was making paper lanterns. Span-ish teacher Sarah Paris played a French game called petogue. Latin teacher Tom McKeown made bishop hats in honor of the new pope. Spanish teacher Jennifer

Magallanes taught salsa dancing. Peda taught students how to make salsa. French teacher Andrea Flynn made the eiffel tower by using toothpicks and marshmal-lows. Spanish teacher Donovan McKiddy had the students do papel picado, which is a tissue paper cut to form different shapes and objects. On Wednesday, teachers taught stu-dents different languages. Paris’s class learned how to say different colors in French. Thursday was the gathering of all the food. All students in all language classes brought in food to share with every dif-ferent hour. In the morning classes, Carey made Austrian pancakes. The afternoon classes were given tacos. “My favorite part of world language week is getting to eat all the food the other classes bring in,” senior Tylar Fiscus said. Finally, on Friday all the students went into the west auditorium to watch the movie “Life is Beautiful.” The movie was played in Italian, but there were English subtitles. “Most students enjoy the change of everyday routine and welcome learning about different countries, languages and their culture,” Peda said.

Mallory LopezNews Writer

Students grab food during one day of World Language Week. Students participated in many dif-ferent activities throught the World Language Department classrooms. Photo by Taylor Mlynski

DYWContinued from page 1

Stewart does the physical fitness routine that was choreographed for the participants of the competiton. Photo by Collin Czilli

Page 8: Pow Wow Issue 11

8 The Back Page Issue 11 | March 21, 2013

Meet the Indian: Woloszyn serves as president of NHS, balances multiple activities

There are students in school who dedicate themselves,

and then there are the fully devoted ones who are practically involved in everything. Senior Tiffany Woloszyn, the National Honor Society President, is an example of the latter with her extreme commitment to academics and extra curriculars.

“As National Honor Society president, I have to make the agenda, schedule the meetings and just make sure everybody stays on task,” Woloszyn said.

Woloszyn was elected and nominated by her fellow students, who thought she would fit best as the National Honor Society President.

“I am very honored to be elected the president. So far it has been a huge respon-sibility and I’ve been trying my hardest to get stuff done. And just having everyone’s trust, it’s just all really exciting,” Wolo-szyn said.

Woloszyn participates in many clubs and special activities, such as Choraliers, winter guard, color guard with the march-ing band, Student Council and Natural Helpers.

Woloszyn has a busy schedule on her hands that take up a lot of her time. She still manages to balance her academics will all of those activities and maintains a cumulative grade point average of 3.8 and a GPA of 4.16 for this year.

National Honor Society, led by Wo-loszyn, has contributed by recognizing teachers in February and generously giving them gift bags as a thank you for every-thing they have done. They have also made blankets and created beaded bracelets and sold them in the support of Autism.

Woloszyn said that NHS is currently in the process of working on numerous other projects.

“National Honor Society teaches me life skills, leadership and how to be responsible and manage my education. It also looks re-ally good on a recommendation or applica-tion for college,” Woloszyn said.

Caleb IngersollFeatures Writer

Senior Tiffany Woloszyn performs a rifle rou-tine as her talent for the annual Variety Show. In addition to being a member of color guard and winter guard, Woloszyn is also involved with Natural Helpers, National Honor Society and Choraliers. Photo by Emily Hensley

What Grinds Your Gears?“When my ‘What grinds your gears,’ suggestions don’t end up in the Pow Wow.”

-Freshman Sara Dailey

“What really grinds my gears is that they say school isn’t a place for sleep. Then home isn’t a place to work.”

-Senior Tyler Blair

“What grinds my gears? Freshmen... enough said.”

-Senior Brandon Fields

“Rotating government and econ classes grind my gears. They are a pointless waste of time and energy.”

-Senior Collin Czilli, Pow Wow Opinion Editor

WaterCo�ee

TeaOther

0

2 people who prefer water 2 people who prefer co�ee 2 people who prefer tea 2 people who prefer other drinks

Cheryl Clapp – “I am addicted to

McDonald’s iced tea. Not any one

else’s, just McDonald’s. I buy two

each morning on my way to work, so

that I have one to drink right away,

and another for lunch. If it’s a really

hard morning, I’ll drink both in the

morning, and go out for lunch to get

another one. I am truly addicted.

Just love the taste.”

PHS staff members reveal their favorite beverages for during school

GOT TO HAVE IT“Water is a big one as well, but if I do not get my coffee, I am not happy. . . at all.”

March