Issue 4 by PHS Press

POWWOW

PW 6450 US Highway 6, Portage Volume 77 Issue 4 February 2016

BE THE CHANGE

News

February 2017

Super Bowl ‘BLITZ’ FACTS Atlanta Falcons 28

New England Patriots 34

Game Stats

Matt Ryan 17-23 284 yards 2 TD Julio Jones 4 catches 87 yards 0 TD LeGarrette Blount 11 rush 31 yards 0 TD

Devonta Freeman 11 rush 75 yards 1 TD Tom Brady 43-62 466 yards 2 TD James White 14 catches 110 yards 1 TD

Stats Provided by ESPN.com

A Super Bowl Recipe from Mrs. Kretz Leslie Kretz: Picture by Hope Anderson • one 12-count package Hawaiian sweet rolls, sliced in half (see directions for more details) • 3/4 pound cooked deli ham, thinly sliced • 3/4 pound Swiss cheese, thinly sliced • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds • 2 teaspoons dried minced onion • 2 teaspoons Worcesteshire sauce • 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste • 1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste • Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x9-inch or 9x13-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside. • Using a large serrated knife, slice the rolls in half so you have a ‘slab’ of tops and a ‘slab’ of bottoms; don’t pull the rolls apart and slice individually because you want to keep them connected. Place the bottom ‘slab’ of rolls in prepared pan. • Evenly layer about half of the ham over the rolls.

• Evenly layer the cheese. • Evenly layer the remaining ham. • Add the top ‘slab’ of rolls; set aside. • To a medium microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. • Add the mustard, poppy seeds, onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and whisk to combine. • Evenly and slowly pour the butter mixture over the rolls. Use a spatula to spread the mixture over the tops. Some of the mixture will pool at the base of the rolls. • Cover with aluminum foil and allow rolls to stand at room temp for about 5 to 10 minutes. • Bake covered for about 20 minutes or until cheese has melted. • Uncover and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until as done as desired. Baking time will vary based on the size of pan used, climate and oven variances, etc. Bake until as done as desired; watch to make sure they don’t burn since all ovens and ingredients vary. Slice into individual sliders and serve immediately. Sliders are best warm and fresh.

Table of Contents

February 2017

On the Cover

Winter checkup

The winter sports season is not over yet. For some teams the season just heated up with some teams heading off to semi-state while others just ending. See how the teams did and are doing. Page16-17

POWWOW

New Class

Inaguaration Day

Making a come back

Trump’s inaguration

English 11, 12, and Humanities teacher Patrick Moody is hoping enogh studenst sign up for the revised class Film Literature.

Former PHS student Lydia Gerike had the oppurtinity to go to President Trump’s inaguration and women’s march. She talks about her first had experience.

Photo by Hope Anderson

Pages 4

Page 7

Athletics

Opinions

New coach

Trump’s 100 day plan

6450 US Highway 6, Portage Volume 77 Issue 4 February 2016

Editor-in-Chief............................Lexy Young Managing Editor........................Jaden Amos Photography Editor..............Madison Perez Design Editor..............................Sierra Judy Staff Writers.............................Jessica Butz ............................Evan Gerike ...................Trent Haraminac ......................Tori Henderson ............................Haley Mergl .........................Darius Owens .........................Becca Rosado ...........................Jamie Valdez ......................Kaylee Darnell Staff Photographers............Hope Anderson ............Brooke Windle .............Nahtasha Del Valle Staff Designers.....................Emma Havrilla .................McKenzie Price

The PHS varisty baseball team recently got a new coach. See the new coaches goals and view for the season along with some insight from some varsity players.

Page 18

Staff writer Evan Gerike talks about President Trump’s 100 day plan and what it has done to the U.S. so far.

Page 19

News

February 2017

Participating in politics

There are many different ways to get >Editor-in-chief one’s voice @lexy_young heard in America. Senior Brittany Williams and social studies teacher Tom Erickson have made their voices heard in different ways. WIlliams attended the Pro-Life March on Washington on Jan. 27. Many people have called this march a protest, but Williams said that is not the case. “It wasn’t technically a protest,” Williams said. “It was a movement because of all of the violence in other protests. The goal of it was to assert certain opinions without causing more issues. It was more of a stand for showing people there are both sides. We wanted to show that there is the pro-life side of the issue.” Williams marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol Building after having a morning breakfast and fellowship session with other marchers. The marchers carried pro-life signs, and one group carried yellow umbrellas to represent “sunshine in a rainy time of issues” to bring positivity. “It was just a positive atmosphere,” Williams said. “It was all positive things; there weren’t any negative put downs on other groups. We were marching for ourselves instead of against something else.”

Lexy Young

Williams contrasted the ProLife March on Washington to other protests she has seen on the news. “At certain other marches there were issues such as limousines burning or conflicts with cops,” Williams said. “At the pro-life march people waited in line at the end of the marches to shake the cops’ hands and thank them for being there. It was kind of a change of pace.” Williams said that the police officers they shook hands with appreciated their kindness. “At the end in line at the Capitol Building, when we were all just shaking the cops’ hands thanking them for being there, one of the cops had tears in her eyes,” Williams said. “She told us, ‘thank you so much. You don’t understand this kind of stuff never happens.’ Especially because they experienced so much violence in D.C. as cops, those cops have it really hard right now.” Williams enjoyed participating in the March on Washington and said she would participate in something like that again although she hopes that is not necessary. Erickson was politically involved in a different way than Williams. Erickson was involved with a political action group while he attended Indiana University. The group Erickson took part in was called INPIRG, and it focused on environmentalism.

forms of expression

Displaying signs

Wearing political shirts

Petitions

Public speeches

Erickson said he latched onto the topic of coal fired power plants because, at the time, every body of water was contaminated with mercury because of the coal plants, and Indiana has some of the dirtiest coal plants. Erickson wanted to bring that to attention. Erickson brought the coal fired power plants to attention by taking a public health standpoint when he called state and federal representatives and community groups and individuals to ask for help. “It was time-consuming and it was usually a futile process,” Erickson said. “Most people didn’t care, but protesting sometimes results in that sort of thing. Ultimately, people as a whole do not usually care about something until you are able to show them that it directly affects them. Today, I think most people are fairly locked into a mode of thinking, and that mode of thinking tends to be tied directly to their pride. Protesting today is hard, somehow harder than before because of the hyper-tribal nature of people and their ideas.” Although Erickson did not stand out on a street with as one typically thinks of when considering protesting, his political actions led to an impact in the same way a march would. “Moral of the story is that protesting takes many different shapes,” Erickson said.

“Moral of the story is that protesting takes many different shapes,” Tom Erickson

Soap- boxing

Strikes

Writing commentary and blogs

Speaking to officials

5 10

Handing out flyers

Informing others

February 2017

News

Women marching through the streets to show to protest president trump and his views on women. Matt Rasnic|Indiana Daily Student

Meet the press: Former students attend inauguration Darius Owens >Staff writer @_Antwann_

Every four years, United States citizens watch as a new president is inaugurated into office , and, this year, two former portage graduates were able to witness this event in-person. Former Portage graduates and freshman at Indiana University Bloomington Lydia Gerike and Matthew Rasnic were given a chance to show their journalistic skills of photography and writing by witnessing the presidential inauguration. “I did not really know what to expect when I got to the inauguration, because this does happen every four years and I have never been to something like this,” Gerike top: a protester shows a said. sign at the Womens’ march. According to Gerike, Bottom: Two women hold a she and Rasnic were not sign supporting President there to report on president Trump. Donald Trump in a negative

or positive way; they were only there the give students a visual of a historical event like this. “Students were able to finally watch the man they voted for in the election sworn to oath into his presidential seat,”Gerike said. People came from all over came to show their support, but many were also there to protest and share their opinions of Trump. “Protesters held signs and stood in giant groups and chanted things to someone they felt was not worthy to run their country,” Gerike said. “Students knew that such a historical event would have a lot of security and that’s exactly what happened.” The day after the inauguration, people gathered and protested in the Women’s March on Washington. “We covered most of the students and asked them about their opinions, and we talked to people who went to

both the inauguration and the march even though they did not like Trump.,” Gerike said. Gerike said she covered the women’s march on social media and for IDSNews.com because this was possibly the largest post-inauguration event in history. In the days since Trump took office, he has criticized media organizations for creating fake news and failing to cover certain topics, such as terrorism. Gerike, however, has dedicated herself to learning the profession and says that her job is to tell the truth. Both Rasnic and Gerike work for the Indiana Daily Student, Indiana University’s student-run newspaper. While students at Portage High School, Gerike was the co-editor-in-chief of the Pow Wow, and Rasnic was the photography editor for the Legend and Pow Wow. Their work from the inauguration and women’s march can be found online at IDSNews.com.

News

February 2017

Film Literature reborn After eight years, Portage High Schools is Rebecca Rosado bringing back the Film >Staff writer Literature class. @becca_rosado01 English teacher Patrick Moody, who currently teaches English 11, English 12 and Humanities, is going to be taking on the new class. Moody taught the class previously and is very excited to bring it back. Moody said every year the English department is asked to bring up elective proposals, and every year for the past eight years he has proposed Film Lit. This year, he finally got it approved. The process of getting the class approved included receiving approval from the English department, , administration, and guidance. Then, the class is offered to students. However, if not enough students sign up for Film Lit. by, a date to be decided in April, then the class will have to be cut. Moody says that the course will entail studying film as literature, so meaning students will be studying the grammar of films, along with the history of movies and movie making. “I want to caution students that this is not a blow off class,” Moody said. “It has a strong emphasis on reading, writing, and a lot of the higher level thinking skills. As well, project based learning is going to be a huge part of the class. At one point students will be producing and directing their own short movie.” Moody encourages students to sign up for this class. “It was the most popular class when it was offered here as an English credit,” Moody said. He also said that once the state deemed that the class would be just an elective, the numbers of students enrolled in the class began to drop. Film Lit. would be offered as an elective credit, if enough students sign up for the class. “I’ve had a student get a job straight out of high school in the film industry. They’ve told me, in part, that their inspiration to go into the film industry came from me.” Moody says that film is taken very seriously in college. And film studies is something that he believes that colleges and college students take film studies very seriously. Moody wants to get the word out that students that are seriously thinking about going into the film industry should take his class. “As I said earlier film is a popular form of storying telling, and actually I believe film is the most popular form of storytelling because of the wide variety that can come from it,” said Moody. Even though Moody said it’s going to be one of the most difficult electives, it is still going to be a fun class, “Now it’s up to the students to make this class a go, and I hope they do just that,” Moody said.

English teacher Patrick Moody lectures to his mod 10 English 11 class. As long as students sign up for the class, Moody will be teaching Film Literature next school year. Photo by Hope Anderson

February 2017

News

French teacher Andrea Flynn helps sophomore Sergio Martinez in class. Although hard to have two different languages being taught in a single class they are doing their best to make it work.

German and French classes combined Tori Henderson

Many German and French students were >Staff writer left without a teacher @torixhenderson when now-former World Languages teacher Jason Pecori resigned. Instead of hiring a new teacher, foreign language department head Andrea Flynn and German teacher Maria Gross decided to absorb the students into their existing classes. Pecori left behind a total of 78 French students and 46 German students from his six classes.. “After talking to [Head Principal Max] Gill, we decided that instead of getting a sub for the students, it would be much better for them if we were able to kind of re-home [them],” Flynn said. Although Flynn is a French teacher, she absorbed Pecori’s German students along with his French students by giving up her plan periods. The rest of the students were absorbed into existing German classes. “The students understand the position we are in, and they are very good for me in class. This is obviously not an ideal situation, but at the same time, we are really making the most of it. I prefer to look at this as an opportunity rather than a problem,” Flynn said.

On top of a French III and IV class, Flynn now has to accommodate German III students in one mod. “Mrs. Gross was very helpful in working with me to create the best possible scenario for these students. She does the lesson plans and uploads them to Schoology, and I help the students with what I can, grade it, and input into the system. So it’s a real team effort, but if it makes a difference for these students, we’re both more than happy to do it.” Students already in Gross’s classes now have to share the time they spend with her. The class is split in two, and she works with each class every other day. “It’s much harder to get things done when the teacher is helping the other class rather than us,” sophomore Angelo Herrera said. “You feel ignored, but she does give us time to talk over it after she is done with her lesson to German III and IV.” Herrera said that although Gross is stretched thin, she is managing well given her situation. “Sometimes she has to stop her lesson due to the other class being too loud or she stops to help the others that are doing a different assignment,” Herrera said. “Overall, I think she is doing fine but at times I think she’s being overworked.”

News

February 2017

New Faces In Government 1. Donald Trump 2. Neil Gorsuch • 45th President of the United States of America • First US President elected with no government or military experience. • Trump hotels and casino resorts declared a restructuring of its debt which led to a reduction of his individual ownership from 56% percent to 26% soon the company re-emerged from bankruptcy as trump entertainment resorts holdings. Information provided by thefamouspeople.com

3. Rex Tillerson • Nominated for Secretary of State • CEO of Exxon Mobile • Opposed US sanctions after Russia invaded Crimea in Ukraine, and Exxon spent millions of dollars to lobby against them. •Does not agree with everything that Russia and Putin are doing but understands that he needs to work with them.

• Nominated for Supreme Court Justice to replace Antonin Scalia • A favorite of Conservatives • Strong supporter of religious freedoms • Strongly against assisted-suicide laws • Seen by many as good replacement for justice Scalia, who will continue his practices. Information provided by politico.com

4. Betsy Devos • Nominated for secretary of Education • Architect of Detroit Charter School system • Member of the board of the foundation for excellence in education. • Served as the chair of the board of Alliance for school choice and heads the all children matter PAC • Chaired the boards of Choices for children and Great Lakes Education Project. Information provided by realclearpolitcs.com

4. Feb 1, 2017

Feb 7, 2017

Table of Contents

February 2017

President Donald Trump’s 100- Day Plan Evan Gerike >Staff Writer @evangerike

Donald Trump has laid out and started working through his 100 day plan for the beginning of his presidential term. The 100 day plan is the formal layout of the president’s plan of action is his first 100 days of office. President Trump’s 100th day of holding office is April 29th. In his 100 day plan, Trump states everything he wants to change or make happen at the beginning of his presidential stint. Trump’s plan is divided into three parts. The first section states that Trump’s administration will pursue the following measures to clean up corruption in Washington, D.C. in his first day in office. The first action is to propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose limits on Congress mem-

bers’ term limits. The Trump Administration also plans to place a hiring freeze on federal work forces. This action would stop all federal organizations (not including military, public safety, and public health) from hiring employees to its workforce. The second section of Trump’s plan is aimed towards the working class. Trump plans to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and renegotiate NAFTA, or the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is a trading accord between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. In the third part, labeled as restoring security and the constitutional rule of law, Trump plans to cancel every unconstitutional executive action issued by President Obama. He plans to begin removing illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas, along with the suspension of immigration

from terror-prone countries. Trump has already announced his Supreme Court nomination, judge Neil Gorsuch. After Trump’s first day in office, he will begin to work on a number of other actions. Trump wants to introduce legislatures to Congress such as the Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act, which is a plan to grow the economy, create jobs, cut taxes, and slowly relieve our national debt. Trump will begin to repeal Obamacare and replace it with Health Savings Accounts. The End Illegal Immigration Act will fund the building of a wall on the southern United States border, and establishes that Mexico will reimburse the United States for the cost. Although not all parts of the 100 day plan have been enacted or even began, many have, and President Trump has begun to keep the promises he made on the campaign trail.

1. Jan 20, 2017

Jan 31, 2017

Features

January 2017

Helping Hannah help others Hannah’s hope is a local charity started by Portage grad Mike Martinez. Helping families mainly in NWI, they thrive on volunteers- including our own Portage Cheerleaders.

Emma Havrilla >Staff designer @Emmahav10

Hannah’s Hope started in 2010 when Mike Martinez’s daughter Hannah was born with a prenatal stroke and passed away in 2012. “Before she passed away, I had this whim of an idea, my wife and I,” Martinez said. “Let’s have a golf outing and raise some money for kids with special needs.” His original goal was 10,000 dollars, which his wife thought might be a stretch. But the golf outing was a complete success and they ended up raising 17,000 dollars. “This spawned our mission now, which is helping Hannah help others,” Martinez said.” Every dollar we raise stays here in Northwest Indiana and helps kids with disabilities.” Hannah’s hope does not just give a check to a family, instead they make sure the money goes to what is really needed to help the child. “They can receive money through Jacob’s Ladder which we donate to or they can get money through our equipment assistance program, which can help pay for wheelchairs, braces, therapies, or whatever they need,” Martinez said. Martinez and his wife never actually meet the families they help. “Sometimes families will contact us,

we actually have a scrapbook of thankyou cards,” Martinez said. But for the most part we never meet the kids.” Hannah’s Hope helped one Portage High School student junior Kristin Gaffney’s brother. Gaffney said, “Hannah’s Hope means more than words can describe because it has impacted me personally.” According to Martinez, he did not even realize that he helped the family of someone he knew. “I actually just found out at the craft fair. I’ve worked with her for years and never knew,” Martinez said. Hannah’s Hope has become so successful that in 2016 they helped 89 families, just through the equipment assistance program. They also have a playground fund and are looking to build an all inclusive playground down in Founders Square. “From 2010 to the end of 2016 we have been able to raise and donate over 270,000 dollars,” Martinez said. In July of 2016, they helped so many families that their equipment assistance program ran out of money. According to Martinez more donations are desperately needed. Hannah’s Hope is fairly well-known in the region, but they don’t do much advertising. “We get around by word of mouth and social media,” Martinez said. Hannah’s Hope also does work with Portage High School. In November they worked with the

If you would like to learn more about Hannah’s Hope and how you can volunteer, visit their facebook page or website for more information.

cheerleaders and held a craft fair in the field house. The cheerleaders worked with the 90 different vendors that partook in the fair. “We just love the cheerleaders,” Martinez said.“Anytime we have an event they are always willing to help.” At the craft fair, the vendors had the option to tip the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders were then presented with the tip money in the envelope. Head cheerleading coach Jen Willis said that they often gave the tip money back to Hannah’s Hope. “We are always happy to donate the money back to Hannah’s Hope,” Willis said. This was not the first time the cheerleaders have helped the foundation. They volunteered at many other fundraisers including their golf outing. According to Willis. This also will not their last time, Willis says they have plans to hold events in the future that will get students involved. Hannah’s Hope is more than just a foundation to Martinez, it is his mission. “God put me on a mission, it’s like an exit on a highway, there’s no exit ramp. I’m stuck on it for the long run. But this three year old, who never spoke a word, never took a step, taught me more about life than I could teach her. Ever,” Martinez said.“And I feel like I was blessed.”

PHS Cheer is teaming up with Hannah’s Hope

Find a cheerleader at school before February 28th and ask about ordering a “Hannah’s Hope” shirt. All proceeds will be donated to the charity!

Features

February 2017

Money for Munden Senior Lexy Young starts a Go-Fund me for Portage teacher Miss Munden after a school policy stopped a fundraiser from donating money to her

Sierra Judy

Last school year, Jessica Munden had to stop her dream job to go through chemotherapy after she was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and had to take time off to receive treatment. Munden had to undergo 18 chemo treatments, which is six cycles, and each cycle is three weeks. Senior Lexy Young has Munden for Tribe Time, and she remembers Munden telling the class she would not finish the school year last year. “I remember how sad she was last year when she told us she couldn’t finish the year,” Young said. “She is the nicest person ever. Even though she would have every reason to be bitter, she isn’t.” It was this mentality that prompted Young to create a fundraiser to help Munden with the cost of her treatments. She made plans to organize a 5-on-5 volleyball and basketball tournament called Project Unstoppable. The purpose of Project Unstoppable tournaments is to raise money for a person who has had a setback in his or her life. Young thought that Munden deserved to receive the money made from Project Unstoppable. When Young told Munden about Project Unstoppable she was overwhelmed. “I cried,” Munden said. “It was completely unexpected and I was very honored to be chosen.” Due to a school policy, the money was unable to go to Munden. Young was devastated that the money was unable to go to her. “When I couldn’t give her the money I cried,” Young said. “I felt horrible because I told her I could help her but I really couldn’t. Feeling helpless is an awful feeling normally but for someone I admire so much and want to help so much, that sad feeling

>Design Editor @sierrajudy389

was multiplied by ten.” Young says that a teacher recommended that she open a GoFundMe account, since Young still wanted to help Munden. “I honestly thought the GoFundMe was going to be kind of pathetic,” Young said. “I figured ‘well maybe we can get like $200 from it or something. Any amount of money helps.’ But here we are almost at $3,000 and it is outstanding.” Again, Munden was overwhelmed when Young told her about the GoFundMe. “I was a little taken back, like all of a sudden it came out of nowhere,” Munden said. “But I’m just really humbled that they even thought about a GoFundMe. My financial situation is not the greatest and I was in shock for a little bit.” Munden did not want to look to see how much the GoFundMe would raise. Her dad finally made her look after the first day. “The support was out of control,” Munden said. “I cried and my family cried from the amount of support the community showed.” The GoFundMe has raised $2,360 with 123 people donating. There were also cash donations that were made outside of the GoFundMe. Young is proud of the community. “Being at a total of almost $3,000 makes me so happy,” Young said. “It feels great to know that we can help a great person so much. A lot of people have complimented me on this GoFundMe, but it is not me. It is the 123 people that donated that did this. Not only am I happy to help her, but I am so proud of the school and community to come together for such a great cause. It’s especially heartwarming to see this unity in a time where everyone seems to be very divided.” Munden cannot thank everyone enough for the support. “I am incredibly thankful, and I feel loved,” Munden said. “This is something that I was missing last year

being around my students, being at the school and teaching. Not being here is what made it so difficult last year and to be back and being surrounded by the school it is great. Portage is an awesome place to be and I love everyone to pieces.” Project Unstoppable raised $300, which will be donated to Ovarian Cancer research Munden’s name. “Her positivity and genuine personality literally just radiates from her and I always have looked at her and seen a strong woman,” Young said. “She battled through chemotherapy and is so wonderful I really admire her. Project Unstoppable, to me, was for someone who had a major setback in his or her life but didn’t let it stop them. Miss Munden is like the poster child for that.” Munden currently has to go through chemotherapy again after her doctors discovered more tumors in her abdomen, but this time it is a lower dose once a week. “We are hoping that after the first four rounds of treatment the CT will show that they are shrinking and that they will eventually go away,” Munden said. “I may have to go through maintenance chemotherapy forever, but hopefully it will not be as bad as last school year.” While going through chemotherapy, Munden also has an eight-year-old son to take care of. Munden says the support from him is overwhelming. “I have the strongest little boy ever,” Munden said. “At first he was really upset about me losing my hair, but he got over it and said that I look ‘punkishly cool.’ He told me to be a ‘bald and proud mom.’ He calls me his warrior.” Munden said that it is hard to raise a child while going through this. “Some days I just feel horrible and he knows it so he will cuddle with me,” Munden said. “I really try to focus on him when I feel good so it balances the days I don’t feel that good. He is happy that I’m back teaching and doing what I love.

Features

February 2017

Treat yo self Are you lonely on Valentines Day? Are you that one person in your friend group that doesn’t have a significant other? Do you deserve a reward for being a seriously rad person? Well then you need to treat yo self this Valentines day! Follow these steps to turn your day from lonesome to AWESOME!

1. Buy yourself breakfast Stop at Dunkin Donuts and buy a box of heart shaped donuts. You can enjoy all twelve donuts to yourself, because hey. you’re single!

2. Buy yourself flowers On the trip home from Dunkin, make a pit stop at Walgreens to buy a bouquet of flowers. All of the flowers will be at a discounted price, so even consider getting two! While you’re there, you can take a look at all the frantic people who forgot to buy their lover a gift and smile because you don’t have to worry about that!

3. Take a nap Now that you ate all 12 of your donuts in one sitting, you’re gonna be wiped out! Take a nap somewhere; on the couch, in your bed, in a tent, in your car, ect. Today is your day, you TAKE this nap.

4. Watch a rom-com You just woke up from you’re nap and you’re feeling really groggy. You probably also just checked your instagram and your feed was filled with pictures of cute couples, gross. The only way to make yourself feel better? A good cry. Turn on Netflix and find your favorite sappy rom-com to cry to! When it’s over you’ll be thankful you don’t have to worry about your significant other dying unexpectedly, because you don’t have one! N E T F L I X

5. Order a pizza Later that night, you’re stomach is going to start rumbling- it’s dinner

time! Order a heart shaped pizza (BAM pizza has a special) and set up a candle lit dinner for yourself. Once dinner is over, get to bed early so you’re ready to actually be productive the following day! And dream sweet happy dreams because Valentines Day is only once a year.

February 2017

Features Features

Make valentines day one-derful Whether you’re happy to be single or looking for a lover, we have what you need! Use our pick-up puns to catch yourself a date or follow our five steps to treating yo self.

Emma Havrilla >Staff designer @Emmahav10

Which Pick-up Pun should you use on your valentine? PINK OR PURPLE

YELLOW OR WHITE

BLUE OR GREEN

“I feel a connection”

“I’ve been checking you out”

“You’re just my type”

“You’re ultra-fine”

“You’re acute one”

“You give me porpoise”

“You are purrrrfect”

“Owl be yours”

“You’re my significant otter”

“You make me hoppy”

“Be my boo”

“I want to merry you”

“I’m lucky to have you”

“You red, white, and blew my mind”

“I’m on a hunt for your number”

“Let’s taco ‘bout us, baby”

“You got a pizza my heart”

“You’re my butter half”

“I love you a latte”

“Nice buns”

FRESHMEN

BLACK

RED OR ORANGE

SOPHOMORE

JUNIOR

SENIOR

February 2017

A Pink Boutique

And Black Tux

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Hours:

Mon: 3-7 Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri: 12-7 Sat: 12-5 Sun: 12-4

Dresses by top designers such as: Sherri Hill Jovani Paparazzi Tiffany Designs And more

February 2017

Features

Student’s father at Fort Lauderdale shooting Shooting events described by Alex bayer Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Airport was the location of a shooting on Jan 6. With a total of five people dead, six people with extensive injuries and almost 40 others being injured throughout the intensity of the shooting, there was one student at Portage whose dad was also at the airport at the time of the shooting. Senior Alex Bayer had the fear that he may not see his father again. Senior Alex Bayer’s father, Tim Bayer, was at the airport because he was working construction on it. He was with his team building a terminal for the airport at the time of the shooting. Alex had the feat that he may not see his father again. “My dad texted our family group chat saying, ‘There’s a shooting going on at the airport right now, I am safe.’ Then I was on the phone with my family during school talking with them all about it. He then continued to keep us updated.” Alex said. “I remember he said he was on his job site when he started to hear gunshots, and then a bunch of people ran onto their construction site.” When Alex found out about the shooting, he was in Gym class. “When I found out, I was so scared,” Alex said. “I had to explain to my teacher what was going on and asked if I could change so I could be on my phone. Like, my dad said he was safe, but there was still that sense of fear. I needed to make sure everything was okay.” Alex said his entire family was nervous, but his dad kept in contact with them so they knew he was safe. “He was kind of like joking to make it seem less bad, I did my best to keep up with the news while it was going on but I knew he was going to be safe,” Bayer said. Tim had been in Florida for about two months prior to the shooting, and it made Bayer even more uneasy considering the fact that he had already not seen his father for two months. Being away from family is hard, but being away from family when they are across the country and there is a shooting going on, is even harder. “Make sure you tell your family you love them, often, because, granted, my father was able to be safe,” Alex said. “Other people’s family members were not able to and lost their lives.”

Kaylee Darnell >Staff writer @_kayleedarnell

Photo illustration by Madison Perez

ing to an End Sports News

February 2016 2017 December

Girls Basketball

Overall Record: 10 - 15 DAC Record: 1 - 6 Highlight of the season:

“The highlight of this season I think is when Kaitie Clausen hit the game winning three to tie the game against Laporte and everybody was so happy jumping up and down.” Serena Flanagan said.

Layla Melendez goes up for a shot while playing Lowell. It was a tough fight but the Indians won 53 to 38.

Girls Swimming

Overall Record: 5 - 6 DAC Record: 3 - 4

Highlight of the season:

“The highlight of this season I think is when we had a dual meet against Lake Central and we haven’t been this close is points between our two teams in a long time.” Avery Johnston said.

Erin Burke swims strong during seasons meet. Although the girls swam hard the lost to Crown Point.

Gymnastics

Overall Record: 5 - 3 DAC Record: 4 - 2

Highlight of the season:

“The highlight of this season I think is seeing the improvement of everyone’s skills and our team score.” Emma Garzella said.

Cassie Prohl preforms a beam routine at a home meet this season.

Winter is Comi

December February 2016 2017

Jessica Butz >Staff writer @jessicabutzz

Sports News

Boys Basketball

Overall Record: 7 - 13 DAC Record: 0 - 5

Highlight of the season:

Evan Galindo dribbles the ball trying to get to the hoop while playing Kankakee Valley. The game resulted in another win for the Indians.

“The highlight of this season I think we have a lot of team chemistry, everyone on the team gets along with everyone else, and there’s always a positive attitude.” Michael Delgado said.

Boys Swimming

Overall Record: 7 - 6 DAC Record: 5 - 2

Highlight of the season:

“The highlight of this season I think is when we beat Crown Point for the first time in sixteen years.” Luke Tilford said. Jacob Mendoza swims during a great senior night. The boys won against Valpo by scoring 119 points.

Wrestling

Overall Record: 17 - 3 DAC Record: 7 - 0

Highlight of the season:

Chester Swopes wrestles against Laporte. He contributed to the victory by winning his match.

“The highlight of this season I think is when we beat Mater Dei at team state. That dual meet was insane.” said Drake Guerrero.

Opinion

February 2017

Trump needs to repeal Travel Ban Evan Gerike >Staff Writer @evangerike

One of President Trump’s first executive orders as President of the United States was to ban immigrants from seven different countries in the Middle East from entering the United States. With that one order, our president has ruined one of the main principles our country stands for. Our country was founded on the idea of freedom. Our Constitution protects the freedoms of press, religion, speech, assembly and ability to petition the government. Our country was built from the ground up by immigrants, and only a small portion of our population is native. If Europeans had faced an immigration ban when they had headed over to the United States, America would not be America as we know it. The idea behind the ban is to block possible terrorists from entering our country from Middle Eastern countries. Trump claims his ban is not Muslimbased but said in December 2015

that he wanted to ban Muslim combined. immigration. While the plan does In defense of Trump’s avoid calling it a Muslim ban, ban, Kellyanne Conway, the the seven countries Counselor to on the list (so far) are the President, “If the judicial all Muslim majority cited the nations. This does give “Bowling Green system does its an underlying feel that massacre,” a the ban is based towards job, the travel non-existent Muslims. terror attack ban will not be The White House involving Iraqi put back in place. wants to use this ban nationals. The to prevent radicals and fact that the The entire plan in terrorists from entering White House our country and causing unconstitutional.” has to come up harm in our nation. with Islamic However, the chances of terror attacks these immigrants being terrorists to defend the ban proves the ban is low. The chances of a Muslim is not necessary. terror attack are nearly equal Shortly after the ban was compared to an American-born imposed, a federal judge in New terrorist carrying York temporarily blocked the out an attack. ban. Those who arrived in the In defense of United States after the ban was the ban, the White issued could not be removed House released a list from the country. In response, of 78 attacks that the White House, and especially they believed were Trump, has attacked the judge. not covered by the Trump has reacted in a childish media. In fact, most way saying that the blocking of of these stories were the ban is “ridiculous and will not only covered, be overturned,” and that even a but covered heavily “bad high school student” would around different understand and agree with the media sources. ban. Trump’s Supreme Court The New York Times alone has nominee Neil Gorsuch, however, covered most of the attacks called Trump’s attacks on judges named. demoralizing. On the list of 78 attacks, If the judicial system does its which were supposed to have job, the travel ban will not be put a majority of attackers from back in place. The entire plan the banned countries, most is unconstitutional, and should were carried out from Western not be put into action in order to countries. According to CNN, 16 protect the integrity and rights of of the attacks were carried out by our country. French terrorists, the most of any By banning immigration country. The United States had from these nations, Trump has the second most with 13. Of those over-exaggerated the risk of 29 terrorists, only two had family attacks from immigrants while ties to the banned countries. simultaneously leaving the ideals There are nine terrorists from of America behind. the seven banned countries

“With that one order, our president has ruined one of the main principles our country stands for.”

arch, ead

February 2017

Sports

Head baseball coach Bob Dixon takes a break from conditioning with his players during practice on Feb. 9. Dixon, a former assistant coach for the team, took over for former head coach Tim Pirowski. Photo by Nahtasha Del Valle

Dixon moves to head baseball coach Portage’s new varsity baseball head coach Bob Dixon is stepping up to the plate this season. After being assistant coach under Tim Pirowski, Dixon will be taking the position as head coach this upcoming spring. Dixon says that going into this season as head coach will not be too much of a change because he served as assistant coach under Pirowski for about 13 years. Dixon says that he and Pirowski were pretty much always on the same page with coaching strategies . “Now, it’s just taking what we had built in the past. Now I get to be the yes-man on it all,” Dixon said . Dixon says that being a varsity head coach was something on his bucket list. “It’s an opportunity that I’ve been looking for a long time. I’m an alumni of Portage, which is a good thing,” Dixon said. Senior Michael Retherford says that he’s looking forward to having

a new coach for a senior year. “I don’t think it will be much of a difference because Dixon has been the assistant coach, so everyone knows him,” Retherford said. Senior Shayne Devine said that he feels that Dixon will be a good spark for the team. Dixon is looking for many qualities from the varsity players this season. All around, Dixon would like to see a good attitude, discipline, desire, hustle and the want to win. “Anybody that is qualified to play varsity will play, freshman all the way through. From a freshman I’m looking for a mature player. They’d have to be above and beyond most freshman and have a high quality standard,” Dixon said. Retherford says that the team will be very young this year because the team does not have many returning seniors. “It’s different. In a few years, the younger guys will be really good because they will have had a

lot of varsity experience. This year will be a learning experience for all of us,” Retherford said. Devine added that the team will be fine having underclassmen. “Having sophomores on the team will be good because it gives them a chance to learn varsity speed and gives the team a better outlook for the future,” said Devine. From the past years, the only thing Dixon said that he would change is the discipline. He would like to see a more regimental type of team. “Coach Pirowski had pretty much set a lot of good qualities for the team, and I’m basically going to follow a lot of those and keep it going for the boys,” Dixon said. Coming into this season, Devine and Dixon both have high hopes. To prepare for the season, Devine says he has been taking the practices and workouts very seriously. Dixon has many goals for the boys and plans to accomplish

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