Latest news with #PortageHighSchool
Chicago Tribune
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Richards out as Portage High School head football coach
Roy Richards is out as head football coach at Portage High School. He had been suspended with pay pending a personnel review. 'We recognize and appreciate the contributions Coach Richards has made to the program, and we wish him well in his future opportunities,' the Portage High School Athletic Department said in a statement Monday night. Tony Klimczak will remain as interim head coach during the transition, and off-season workouts will continue, the athletic department announced. 'Our priority moving forward is to mentor our students, motivate our students to be successful both on the field and in the classroom, support the overall health and safety of our student athletes, and instill a sense of Portage Pride in Portage football and all of our athletic programs,' the statement said. 'We remain committed to the continued growth and development of our football program and will take the necessary steps to provide both stability and support for our student athletes moving forward.' Four people spoke about the issue at Monday night's Portage Township School Board meeting. 'If he's gone, the team won't be the same,' football player Anton Mathis said. 'We feel like it's a mistake' to suspend coach, he said. 'He has been a big impact in our lives.' Nicole Rains, who has a son on the team said, 'They have learned a lot. They have grown.' 'This coach is very respectful. He teaches these kids academics. He teaches these kids how to be respectful,' she said. 'He promotes being a human over how to be a good player.' 'The coach has done nothing wrong but encourage these kids,' Rains said. 'Coach has never done anything wrong to these boys, and the ones who are crying about it are probably the ones who never had any morals.' The other two people who spoke had differing views. 'He's very divisive,' Jean Gholson-Warmick said. She told the board she has text messages to back up her opinion. 'He put on a big front at the team meetings,' but belittles dual-sport athletes, she said. 'You have to have an adult in the room.' When football players took a water break at the same time as wrestlers, Richards belittled the football players for interacting with the wrestlers, Gholson-Warmick said. 'It wasn't just one infraction; it was a month,' she said. Another parent, Fred Joseph, commended the administration for taking action against the coach. 'I personally, with my son, had a very negative experience,' Joseph said. As a coach, 'you are charged with the health and safety of our athletes first and foremost,' he said. Coaches are trained on issues like concussions and other issues to protect students' health and safety. Joseph's son, a freshman, was on the junior varsity team, playing two games a week, a total of eight quarters. But national rules say an athlete can play a maximum of five quarters a week, Joseph said. 'Those are rules put in place foR the health and safety of our athletes.' 'Fundamentally, it comes down to the health and safety of our kids. He had complete disregard for that,' Joseph said. 'We're not going to be debating issues with you,' School Board President Andy Maletta said before inviting public comments. 'It will not be a Q&A,' board attorney Ken Elwood said, because the administration and board are forbidden by state law to comment on personnel matters. No details of Richards' case were released. Richards had been with Portage High School two years, with a winless 2023 season and a 4-6 record last year. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Michigan City High School. In 2015, he left Morton High School in Hammond after 16 seasons, amassing a record of 118-66 before resigning as football coach and athletic director. He had been under paid suspension but was cleared of charges against him by the Indiana Department of Child Services, the Post-Tribune reported at the time. According to Post-Tribune archives, Richards said at the time that the school placed him on paid suspension to investigate a complaint about inappropriate behavior with a female student. Morton called in Indiana Child Protective Services to investigate the complaint immediately after it learned of the incident. Richards said then that the girl's boyfriend confronted him about touching his girlfriend in his office. A security camera in Richards' office captured the incident. The girl, Richards said then, had asked him who the 10 cutest football players were. Richards put his arm around the girl briefly and started pointing to the pictures of the players he had on the wall. In the CPS report, the girl said she was 'uncomfortable,' according to Richards.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Yahoo
Ohio teen pleads guilty in Porter County bomb threats; Lake County trial still pending
An Ohio teen has pleaded guilty in connection with a string of bomb threats he called into Porter County schools in 2023. Ryan Krajewski, 19, of Medina, Ohio, admitted Wednesday in Porter Superior Court to five counts of intimidation, each Level 5 felonies. If Porter Superior Judge Jeffrey Clymer accepts, Krajewski would face a three-year cap on each charge – with a sentence ranging up to 15 years total. Lawyers will argue how long his sentence should be and which parts could be served in some combination of prison, community corrections, home detention, probation, and other possible conditions he would have, including GPS monitoring. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop two counts of intimidation. His sentencing hearing is set for July 11. A charging affidavit accused Krajewski of calling in threats to Valparaiso High School, Portage High School, Wheeler High School, Union Township Middle School and the Valparaiso Police Department between Jan. 9 and Jan. 26, 2023. The alleged calls began with a voicemail at 8:32 a.m. Jan. 9, 2023, to Valparaiso High School detailing a bomb threat. 'You have four hours until the bomb goes off and I will be there,' the suspect said in the call that was among many replayed at the hearing. The second call was placed to the Valparaiso Police Department three minutes later and routed to the Porter County Sheriff's Dispatch Center where a dispatcher engaged with the suspect for approximately 15 minutes. A heavy voice distorter was used on the second call, but the caller identified himself each time as a specific VHS student, though a different one each time. The high school went into a lockdown and Valparaiso Police Detective Sergeant Mark LaMotte, who took the stand first, said he was bombarded by several distressed parents in the parking lot who had to be asked by the superintendent of Valparaiso Community Schools to move their vehicles because they were blocking ingress for emergency vehicles. That evening taunting voicemail messages were left at VHS that included racial slurs, but no threats of violence. On Jan. 17, 2023 at 11:23 a.m., a call was made directly to VHS in which the suspect said to the receptionist, 'I planted explosives in the building … I'll see you soon Jenny. You'll be at the end of my barrel.' More calls were received later that day and on Jan. 26, during which the suspect claimed he was in the school parking lot and in the school with an AR 10, a shotgun, and multiple pipe bombs at his disposal. Additional calls were placed Jan. 26, 2023 to Portage High School, Wheeler High School, and Union Township Middle School making the same threats. The entire Portage Police Department's detective bureau, 25 patrol officers, several off-duty officers who happened to be in the area, as well as emergency services personnel staged themselves down the street in the Meijer parking lot for the PHS call while nine Porter County sheriff's deputies responded to the Wheeler calls. In Lake County, Krajewski made threatening calls on Jan. 26, 2023 to Hobart High School, records allege. 'Hello. You have an hour until I come into your school and blow everything the (expletive) up! And, I'm going to shoot everybody who remains,' the message said. 'Do you understand? I'm not having a (expletive) good day here. So you can enjoy that.' That trial is set in July. At one point, he was suspected in more than 30 other 'swatting' cases, including one involving a leader of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles and another involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, records show. Post-Tribune archives contributed. mcolias@
Chicago Tribune
17-04-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Ohio teen pleads guilty in Porter County bomb threats; Lake County trial still pending
An Ohio teen has pleaded guilty in connection with a string of bomb threats he called into Porter County schools in 2023. Ryan Krajewski, 19, of Medina, Ohio, admitted Wednesday in Porter Superior Court to five counts of intimidation, each Level 5 felonies. If Porter Superior Judge Jeffrey Clymer accepts, Krajewski would face a three-year cap on each charge – with a sentence ranging up to 15 years total. Lawyers will argue how long his sentence should be and which parts could be served in some combination of prison, community corrections, home detention, probation, and other possible conditions he would have, including GPS monitoring. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop two counts of intimidation. His sentencing hearing is set for July 11. A charging affidavit accused Krajewski of calling in threats to Valparaiso High School, Portage High School, Wheeler High School, Union Township Middle School and the Valparaiso Police Department between Jan. 9 and Jan. 26, 2023. The alleged calls began with a voicemail at 8:32 a.m. Jan. 9, 2023, to Valparaiso High School detailing a bomb threat. 'You have four hours until the bomb goes off and I will be there,' the suspect said in the call that was among many replayed at the hearing. The second call was placed to the Valparaiso Police Department three minutes later and routed to the Porter County Sheriff's Dispatch Center where a dispatcher engaged with the suspect for approximately 15 minutes. A heavy voice distorter was used on the second call, but the caller identified himself each time as a specific VHS student, though a different one each time. The high school went into a lockdown and Valparaiso Police Detective Sergeant Mark LaMotte, who took the stand first, said he was bombarded by several distressed parents in the parking lot who had to be asked by the superintendent of Valparaiso Community Schools to move their vehicles because they were blocking ingress for emergency vehicles. That evening taunting voicemail messages were left at VHS that included racial slurs, but no threats of violence. On Jan. 17, 2023 at 11:23 a.m., a call was made directly to VHS in which the suspect said to the receptionist, 'I planted explosives in the building … I'll see you soon Jenny. You'll be at the end of my barrel.' More calls were received later that day and on Jan. 26, during which the suspect claimed he was in the school parking lot and in the school with an AR 10, a shotgun, and multiple pipe bombs at his disposal. Additional calls were placed Jan. 26, 2023 to Portage High School, Wheeler High School, and Union Township Middle School making the same threats. The entire Portage Police Department's detective bureau, 25 patrol officers, several off-duty officers who happened to be in the area, as well as emergency services personnel staged themselves down the street in the Meijer parking lot for the PHS call while nine Porter County sheriff's deputies responded to the Wheeler calls. In Lake County, Krajewski made threatening calls on Jan. 26, 2023 to Hobart High School, records allege. 'Hello. You have an hour until I come into your school and blow everything the (expletive) up! And, I'm going to shoot everybody who remains,' the message said. 'Do you understand? I'm not having a (expletive) good day here. So you can enjoy that.' That trial is set in July. At one point, he was suspected in more than 30 other 'swatting' cases, including one involving a leader of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles and another involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, records show.
Chicago Tribune
15-04-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Portage launching virtual school for Northwest Indiana
Portage Township Schools is launching PACE Virtual Academy, aiming to draw students from across Northwest Indiana for online courses. The Portage Township School Board approved the plan Monday. 'This will be technically our second high school that we'll have here at Portage Township Schools,' Director of Communications & Communications Melissa Deavers said. 'This could be a really good option for kids in Northwest Indiana,' she said. The PACE (Personal Academics and Customized Excellence) plan calls for students to take four-week courses one at a time, earning the same number of credit hours as a semester at a traditional high school. Online instructors would be backed up by mentors at Portage High School to offer in-person support to help the students keep on track to finish one-fourth of the coursework every week. 'It's not just a virtual school. It's something that we're going to take very personally,' Director of Instructional Technology Tim Pirowski said. 'There is a little bit of a stigma with virtual education,' he said, but PACE Virtual Academy is being set up differently. 'A lot of these virtual schools set these kids up and say go, then they forget about them. We're not going to do that,' he said. With virtual schools, a common pitfall is to enroll students in six courses at a time, setting them up for potential failure, Pirowski said. Having them take one course at a time encourages deeper engagement. Beverly Hills-based is providing the actual teachers for the course, with teachers available 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. to help students and homework help available online 24/7, Associate Superintendent Michael Stephens said. Staff at Portage High School will serve as mentors, not instructors. 'What they are is a real Portage touch place for these kids so they know they have someone they can reach out to,' Stephens said. 'They kind of make it more of a human relationship than an instructional relationship,' he said. Mentors will be available to motivate students who seem to be struggling or provide advice. Students will have a separate entrance at Portage High School to meet with mentors or to have a comfortable space to do coursework, Superintendent Amanda Alaniz said. That's the primary reason the virtual school is targeted toward Northwest Indiana students. Driving to Portage from southern Indiana to meet with a mentor would be too burdensome, Deavers noted. Portage High School has lost about 300 students to other virtual programs in recent years, Pirowski said. Recapturing some of those students is one aim of the program. 'Education is not one-size-fits-all,' Alaniz said. 'PACE Virtual School meets students where they are and empowers them to learn at their own pace while still achieving and earning their high school diploma.' Offering flexible options, including hours, online makes graduating from high school more feasible for students who might not be able to complete their schooling at a traditional school. 'Life happens, whether it's kids that need to support their families and work' or care for younger siblings, Pirowski said. Pirowski went to virtual school graduations in Michigan. 'A lot of those families didn't even think it was possible to happen for them,' he said. 'Sometimes we expel these kids, they don't come back,' Pirowski said, so keeping them engaged with virtual instruction is a good option. 'We want to serve our kids, and we want to keep our kids here in Portage,' Pirowski said. Some Portage High School students are already taking classes online. 'It's a completely different model that we have going on here,' Pirowski said. 'We went with Subject because it's a more engaged platform,' he said. 'They want to be storytellers. They want to be known as the Netflix of education.' provides flexibility for accommodating special education students with individualized education plans, including eliminating one of the options on a multiple-choice quiz, Deavers said. 'Subject does have all their own teachers. They do all their own grading, they give all their own feedback,' Pirowski said. courses are unlike some competitors because assessments tend to be more dynamic than just multiple-choice questions, he said. Multilingual opportunities are available as well. School Board member Matt Ramian asked if PACE students would be eligible for athletics. No, Pirowski said, because there could be some issues with engagement after their sport's season is over. Deavers expects to begin a marketing campaign for the new virtual school on May 1. The first day of school is set for Aug. 18. 'I think this is really going to take off,' she said.
Chicago Tribune
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Portage choir director's new song performed by Indianapolis Children's Choir Master Chorale
Portage High School choir director Jordan Dollins is accustomed to writing musical arrangements for friends. Now, however, he's written a song anyone can sing. Dollins wrote his arrangement of 'I'll Tell Me Ma,' an Irish folk tune, for his husband, a middle school music teacher, to use for his choirs. His husband wanted something fun and upbeat for kids. 'It's the Irish version of a kids play song,' Dollins said. The boys in town wonder who the new girl, the prettiest girl in town, is. It was 10 years ago that Dollins wrote the song, but now it has been published by ICC Publishing House and performed recently by the Indianapolis Children's Choir Master Chorale, a high-school-aged choir considered one of the best youth choirs in the United States. When ICC Publishing House published his piece in 2023, Dollins was over the moon. 'That was the first thing I ever had published, so people I don't know can buy my music,' he said. He worked with that choir in January, for an afternoon, to give suggestions of what he heard in his head versus what he heard them sing. At a reception for the event, Dollins spoke with fellow composers about pieces they wrote, then 'sat down and watched a pretty fantastic concert.' 'It was really special to be able to hear that for the first time with such a spectacular performance,' he said. 'I started writing my own music in high school,' about 20 years ago, Dollins said. He entered some contests in high school, which gave him a confidence boost. Although Dollins has written arrangements for various musical groups, none of his works had been published before. 'As a choir director, I know that sometimes the printed stuff out there is great for some groups out there, but that group is not my group,' he said. 'For my concert choirs, I will do some arrangements if necessary,' Dollins said. Right now, he's working on two or three other arrangements, which helps him 'flex some muscles a bit, keep being fresh.' Portage High School's choirs do very well in Indiana State School Music Association contests, he said, with the concert choirs consistently getting gold ratings for years now. The show choir has been winning gold awards during his entire tenure at PHS, he said. Dollins credits the elementary and middle school music education students receive at Portage for helping him build strong choirs. He spoke about being married to a fellow music teacher. 'Sometimes all that we do is talk about music and work, and some days I need to talk about anything else,' he said. It's nice being able to bounce ideas off somebody who gets it, he said. In his car, though, Dollins turns off the music. He listens to podcasts or silence after hearing music all day.
