Teacher Spotlight
In his 46-year career at West Side High School, Johnson has helped shape the lives of hundreds of young athletes as a teacher and coach in basketball, football, wrestling, and track.
Johnson moved to Gary and began his teaching and coaching career at West Side in 1968 after he earned his master’s degree from Indiana University. While teaching and coaching back then, Johnson played semi-professional football with the Calumet Steelers, Joliet Explorers, Chicago Owls and Lake County Rifles!
Inspirational athletes that become coaches themselves is one of Johnson’s legacies. Back in June of 2014, West Side’s track team Cougars won the State Boys Track Championship. With tears in his eyes, Johnson stood near the podium during the awards ceremony, drenched with water his proud team poured on him in good spirit.
Johnson’s devotion to helping young people succeed in life earned him a nomination for the Gary Frontiers Service Club's 2015 Marcher and Drum Major awards.
After the West Side track team he coached won the Indiana State Championship, Johnson was selected by the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches to coach the Indiana Track and Field All-Star team for the 2014 Midwest Meet of Champions against Ohio and Michigan.
Johnson was also recognized as the 2014 Track Coach of the Year for the state by the Indiana Association and Cross-Country Coaches.
Student Spotlight
Tah’Jhane Richardson, a senior at West Side Leadership Academy, is a true role model for young ladies at West Side Leadership Academy. Richardson has attended West Side since the 7th Grade. She is known by everyone in school for who is she and what she does.
Tahj, as everyone calls her, has participated in softball, is supervisor of the school’s new Entrepreneurs Club store, Cougar Cave, manages the boys basketball team, and has been Homecoming Princess her freshman, sophomore, and junior year!
Richardson is also involved in the Honor Society, Academic Super Bowl, Volleyball, Student Council, and the Principal’s Advisory Committee.
After graduating high school with her Honors Diploma, Richardson plans to attend Purdue University Northwest in Hammond to study Law and become a Criminal Justice Lawyer. Along with school, she hopes to continue playing Softball at Indiana Purdue University Norwest and since she will be close to home, she will assist her high school coaches Ron James and Paul Day with the 2018 Softball team.
When asked what she will miss most about being at West Side, Richardson responded, “It is bittersweet to leave my school. I have been here for so long. It is basically my second home.”
Richardson concluded, “I will continue to help out with different things at the school that I can. Walking into West Side at 9:10 am and leaving at 6:30 pm is what I will miss most!”
What’s happening at West Side Leadership Academy
The month of February brought us lots of love, joy, fun, and tears.
During February, the girls basketball team ended their season with a win against the Lighthouse Lions at Sectionals right before their loss at Regionals to the Northwestern Tigers following, ending at a score of 23-61.
At the end of February, the girls and boys basketball teams held senior nights, congratulating senior ladies, Tahtianna Pritchett, Jada Dixon, and Dejanai Edwards and gentlemen Jason Randolph, Tieonte Mitchell, Keontae Lee, and Jaylin Hughes. Senior cheerleader Patricia Bell was there as well!
Now that March is upon us, underclassmen have began taking ISTEP tests while seniors are preparing to say goodbye to high school and paying their dues of credits still needed to complete the year.
Our boys basketball team will play Griffith High School in their first Sectional game on March 2. If they win, they will then advance to the Sections Championship to play the winner of the Hammond High and Hammond Clark game.
Spring is around the corner and softball and baseball practices and other outdoor sports have begun. Thanks to Mr. Paige, Westside now has a refreshed tennis court and the girls and boys tennis teams have been revived and begun practicing!
The Cougars Are Coming!
The title says it all. Having two under .500 season, the Cougars have a big chip on their shoulder. Their season is respectively 13-9 and this will be the first time they have a winning record with Head Coach Christopher Buggs.
“These seniors are what we started with. We knew this group would be good because we had time to develop them into good players and also good men. This team is really focused, especially the seniors," explained Buggs. "They are becoming very respectable young men right in front of our eyes. People from all across the Region are starting to feel the Cougar pride, even the newspapers."
Reporter Steve Hamblin stated, “I was impressed with the pace this team played with against the Trojans, well-coached and quite fundamental. They worked the half-court offense with precision.”
West Side is coming, and they are coming fast. They have faith that they can go far this March and have a fan base that will support them through all their ups and downs.