Cheerleading Team Creates Fundraiser in Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month
The Portage High School Cheerleading team sold breast cancer awareness t-shirts from Oct. 5 to Oct. 9. The proceeds will be going to a breast cancer research foundation. One of the captains of the team, junior Jaden Amos, came up with the idea to sell the shirts.
“Last year, natural helpers had a successful fundraiser selling shirts so we wanted to do the same thing and give the money to charity since it is breast cancer awareness month,” Amos said.
After selling the t-shirts during lunch periods and through social media, by Oct. 7, the cheerleading team sold 52 shirts. However, at the end of the week, the team ended up selling over 200 shirts. Other cheerleading captain, Becca Wireman, was amazed by the outcome of the fundraiser.
“I was really surprised, after the first couple days of sales I wasn’t expecting to come near our goal [200 shirts] let alone go above it,” Wireman said, “I think we did a really good thing, doing that fundraiser, and to have so many people support it is great.”
PHS offers a new Latin Club
New Latin teacher, Michel Santaquilani, did not come to PHS with little to offer. Instead, he brought along the addition of a new Latin Club.
Initially, 20 students signed up to be in Latin Club but a few more have recently joined. Santaquilani decided that Latin Club would have a government similar to that of Ancient Rome. Tanner Simmons and David Martinez were elected at the two consuls, Grace Steorts was elected as treasurer. Everyone else in the club is the senate.
“I hope this year for a good foundation for the Latin club. If it can maintain its numbers, engage in certain social activities, and get others interested in Latin and Ancient Rome, it will have achieved that result.” Santaquilani said.
Upcoming Events:
Fall Play: This year, the PHS thespians will show us their evil side with the fall production of “The Bad Seed.” The play will be performed Nov. 20 through Nov. 22 in the East Auditorium of Portage High School.
On Oct. 4, the cast list was revealed and something unusual happened; the lead role in the play was given to a freshman. Freshman Natalee Cizmadja will be playing the role of Rhoda Penmark, an eight-year-old who appears to be innocent but in reality, she has a dark side.
When Cizmadja found out that she had been cast as the lead in the play, she could not believe it.
“I had the biggest smile on my face and then I got happy tears,” Cizmadja said.
Halloween Fun Fest: Honor Society is hosting their annual Halloween Fun Fest on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 in the commons at Portage High School. At the event, people can buy a wristband to participate in Halloween-themed activities and games.
Honor Society Secretary, senior Emily Sadja says that she hopes that more people come than they did last year. In order to achieve this goal, Honor Society plans to advertise the event more than they have before.
“People should come because it is a good family event and it will get people in the Halloween spirit,” Sadja said.
Student Teacher Juliet Bustos Enters Career in Education to Make a Difference
Journalism Teacher and Publications Adviser, Melissa Deavers-Lowie is not only teaching high school students about journalism, but she is also educating student teacher Juliet Bustos about education.
Bustos is currently the student teacher for the Newspaper, Yearbook, Broadcasting and Advanced Media, Journalism and English 12 classes.
Bustos worked in the retail business as a store supervisor at Victoria’s Secret. After being in the retail industry for six years, Bustos decided to switch careers and attend Calumet College of St. Joseph to become a teacher.
Although her friends who teach inspired her to become a teacher, Bustos says that she has always wanted to become a teacher.
“I feel like I was put on this earth to do something big, something for the greater good,” Bustos said.
Being a student teacher, Bustos says that she faces a few challenges. One challenge Bustos has faced as a student teacher is teaching to fit each student's needs. Bustos aims to provide differentiated instruction to her students, which is a method of designing lesson plans and delivering them to fit each student's individual style of learning.
This method can include using things such as visual or audio aids and is used to benefit the students who have a hard time retaining information with traditional education.
Bustos says that while it is difficult to use differentiated instruction in English classes, it is easy to use it in the journalism and student publications classes. Bustos says that she enjoys teaching journalism and publications classes because the subjects allow her to use teach differently.
While being a student teacher comes with some challenges, Bustos enjoys what she does.
Because she feels as though she was greatly affected by her former teachers, Bustos wants to become a teacher who inspires students.
“My goal is to be a teacher like Deavs [Deavers-Lowie]. I want to be like the people who have influenced me and I want to influence others.” Bustos said.
Katelyn Necco Takes On an Unusual Internship in Preparation for her Future
Juggling school and a job is a struggle many students face. Senior Katelyn Necco does not only juggle school and a job. Instead, Necco juggles school, sports, and a time-consuming internship at the Porter County Coroner’s office.
As an intern, Necco is on call every day during all hours except for the hours that she is in school. When called, Necco has to go to the scene of the death to take notes and pictures of the scene. She also puts the bodies into body bags and runs toxicology reports.
Although she is learning the skills necessary to become a coroner, Necco does not plan on becoming a coroner herself. Instead, Necco wants to become a deputy after high school and eventually become a full-time nurse. Necco is currently in the Health Occupations vocational class to prepare to become a nurse.
Necco believes that being an intern at the Porter County Coroner’s Office will benefit her as both a deputy and a nurse.
“I know this will benefit me [as a deputy] because being able to see both sides of the situation will help me understand more about dealing with it,” Necco said, “Working as a nurse, I will be able to relate to the families and understand the grief.”