A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Collin Czilli

In his first three years as a student at Portage High School, junior Collin Czilli has made an impact on the school and the community.  He is a student who strives to make a difference each and every day.  Czilli put in tireless hours of work with his involvement in many extra-curricular activities, while juggling a challenging academic schedule.

Czilli took an aggressive approach less than a month into his freshman year when he co-founded the school’s radio program Pow Wow Radio.  Since then, he has continued to stockpile accolades and accomplishments.

“The people at Portage High School are fantastic.  I love coming into this building.  You come in here and there are so many opportunities.  I could not imagine going to school somewhere else,” Czilli said.

Czilli is the online and opinion editor of the Pow Wow newspaper, the lead host of Pow Wow Radio This Morning, the producer of the Indians News Network and a staff member for Indians Sports Corner magazine.  Czilli is also a member of the Quiz Bowl team, the socials studies Academic Super Bowl team, Student Council and National Honor Society.

“Going to school at Portage for all three [middle, elementary and high school] has been great.  I would never want to go to school in any other district.  There are great administrators.  Mr. [Mike] Berta and Dr. [Ric] Frataccia have done fantastic jobs.  They have made this a great district,” Czilli said.

Although Czilli has had many great experiences inside the walls of Portage High School, perhaps his most memorable one occurred hundreds of miles away from PHS.  He received the opportunity to be a house page in Washington D.C. in order to garner knowledge that will benefit him when he pursues a career in politics.

“That was the best experience of my life.  I could never have a better experience.  I worked with 70 different people from all over the country; I worked on the house floor.  I was one of the few people who were allowed to walk in and out of the US House of Representatives chamber.  I was able to spend six weeks in Washington D.C. seeing everything, taking tours of the capitol dome, going and eating lunch outside the White House, it was amazing,” he said.

Two of the most memorable moments during his time as a page were when he was on the house floor when Gabrielle Giffords returned after being shot in the head and when he was able to shake hands with Vice President Joe Biden.

“The people were fantastic.  We never had a problem.  The people that were there were friendly people; people that were influential,” he said.

Czilli is currently working on Deb Porter’s political campaign.  Porter was his music teacher in elementary school.

“It’s definitely been educating.  I’m getting an experience that I will use in my political career.  I’m working for somebody who will make a great addition to the State Senate and I’m proud to work for her,” he said.

Czilli is also a proud employee of Ideas in Motion Media and PortageLife.com. He soaks up all of the good in the city of Portage.

“Portage is a great community.  People don’t get to see the side of Portage that I do as a student.  You can walk into Portage High School and find a place that is dedicated to education; you can walk into a park and find people that are dedicated to this community.  You find people who are dedicated to Portage, and that is one of the greatest things.”