It was the first week of sectionals when the tweet came out about Portage High School Superfans’ weekly color theme for their sectional matchup against Lake Central.
Naturally, it had to be some combination of black, red, and white, I thought. After all, this was Sectionals. This was the Superfans’ chance to show off the pride that has pulsed through Portage the entire year through all the ups and downs of the season; their chance to turn their student section at Lake Central into a sea of Indian school colors.
Purple and gold, the tweet read instead.
For Juan Lamar.
And then the tweet came from Chesterton High School’s student section: the new theme was purple and gold as well.
For Juan Lamar.
Juan Lamar passed away tragically on October 17. He was a former Hobart High School and Purdue University North Central student, athlete, and friend to anyone he met. Friends remember Juan for his smile, his kindness, and his passion for turning strangers into friends.
“No one will ever forget that smile,” Jaymi Galle, recent Hobart High School graduate and one of Juan’s best friends, told IIMM.
But this is not a story of remembering who Juan was, but rather a recognition of what he has created that lives on; a celebration of a man who did so much in so little time that he has unified a Region.
#DoItFor32.
That’s the phrase Brickies, Trojans, Vikings, Indians, and kids from every other school in Northwest Indiana are talking about. Right now, rivalries don’t matter, allegiances and alliances to schools are irrelevant.
What matters is living the legacy of Lamar and a Region coming together.
“Just to see the legacy he has left down here on earth makes me so happy,” said Galle. “Knowing the impact he had on his peers. It says so much about him.”
Some kids from other schools who tweet #DoItFor32 knew him very well. After all, Northwest Indiana is a tight community with cities and towns separated by short distances. Some kids who tweeted #DoItFor32 only knew of Juan Lamar and his never-ending kindness, but they knew any member of “The Region” is part of something special, and showing love and support is something that had to be done.
“It's been really cool seeing people from every school put down rivalries for some time to focus on being there for this family and showing support,” said Amy Petrocelli, a Senior at Chesterton. “It's bringing everyone together because if one of us were to lose someone close to us we would want the community to do the same thing.”
“I tweeted in support of The Region,” a recent graduate of Lake Central told me. “I wanted to show that this community is my home.”
Home.
Whether these kids go to Hobart, Portage, Chesterton, or any other school in The Region, Northwest Indiana is their home. And whether these kids knew Juan Lamar personally or not, every one tweeting #DoItFor32 is doing it because they know Juan Lamar made Northwest Indiana, home, a better place for everyone.
