This week’s life in the spotlight Lynda Hodges has been a part of the Portage School system since 1992. Lynda started her career as the first computer lab coordinator at Jones Elementary and has since gone on to work as the High School registrar before starting her current position as the secretary to the Principal of Portage High School where she has remained for the past five years.
Having grown up in Northwest Indiana and lived in Portage for the majority of her life, Lydia has been an intricate part of the Portage School Systems, a place that she truly enjoys working at on a daily basis. Lynda has three major projects that she coordinates every year: Graduation for seniors, The Aces Banquet which honors the top 30 students in the senior class as well as the teachers who have impacted their lives, and starting shortly after graduation in June of every year, she begins the summer long process of getting the materials together for the beginning of the following school year.
This year this project took a major leap and the yearly handbooks went electronic including additional resources and links to help the teachers through the 2016 school year.
Lynda’s favorite part of working for the Portage school system would be the people she works with on a daily basis.
“The office staff, the principal and assistant principal are out of this world. They are the reason I keep coming back,” Hodges said.
She says that she does not have a lot of direct contact with the students, but the ones that she does have made an impact on her. One of her favorites of the three projects she heads every year is graduation.
“It is thrilling to see kids who have worked hard, some who have struggled to have to get there and are so proud that they made it. That really is special to see that happen.” Hodges said.
When asked about Hodges contribution to the community she said, “My contribution to the community, although behind the scenes and you would probably never know my name or know who I was; is to keep the principal and assistant principals jobs flowing easily. My job is helping the school run efficiently in that way.”
Hodges and her husband have also been a part of the school's athletics programs for many years. Her youngest daughter played softball at Portage which her husband coached, and Hodges was a team mom. She says that she is a fairly low key person and that outside of traveling to her daughter’s college softball games. she said that she, "likes helping people, helping the people I work with, and the students who I work for.”