The year is off to a fantastic start, and everyone seems to be settling into their routines. This year at PHS we welcomed 4 “new” teachers to PHS. While they may be new to PHS, they are certainly not new to the profession. We had the good fortune of hiring seasoned, veteran teachers to our department. We are also lucky enough to have Mr. Yuuki Guzman from VU. He is student teaching with Mr. Donovan McKiddy. I have attached pictures of each of these teachers, and will share a short bit of information about each of them with you.
Mrs. Brighitte Snemis is certainly not new to Portage. She taught here in the 1990s before leaving to raise her family. She filled in for a former teacher on maternity leave last year, and we are very happy to have her as a full-time Spanish teacher! She is teaching Spanish 1, 2, and 3 this year.
Mrs. Elisa Richard is new to Portage, but has taught for 7 years in North Carolina. She and her family recently relocated to the area. Mrs. Richard enjoys teaching freshmen, and has a busy schedule of both Spanish 1 and 2 classes. Mrs. Richard is also the advisor to the Spanish club!
Mr. Peter Panozzo is new to Portage, but taught for 29 years at Marian Catholic in Illinois. Even after all these years of teaching and working with young people, Mr. Panozzo brings a smile and a kind heart to school with him every day. This year he is teaching Spanish 1 and 2.
Mr. Steve Lombardo is not new to Portage. He also filled in for a teacher on maternity leave last year, and we were fortunate enough to have him return as a full-time teacher this year! Mr. Lombardo has many years’ experience teaching Spanish at the university level (at Purdue Calumet). He also has spent many summers in China teaching pedagogy and teaching methods to Chinese teachers. Mr. Lombardo is also our new French club advisor!
Students in Mr. McKiddy’s Spanish 3 and 4 classes are fortunate to have Mr. Yuuki Guzman student teaching this semester. He will be with us until December.
Our department is very excited to have our “new” teachers join us as we work every day to help the young people of our community develop and strengthen their speaking, reading and writing skills in foreign language, as well as to understand, appreciate, and share diverse cultures with their friends and families!