Northern Indiana is full of people working hard every day to make their communities a better place. Since 2011, GreatNews.Life has been putting the spotlight on the people spreading this positivity in the Region with our Life in the Spotlight series. New articles are published every Wednesday, so be sure to check back often to learn more about the stories of great people doing great things in Northern Indiana.
Before working as the Communications and Media Manager for the City of Crown Point, Mary Freda was just a girl who loved writing stories. “Ever since I was a little girl, I would take my dad's yellow legal notepads and I would jot down stories or...
In 2009, Amy Segally found a new passion in fostering animals. Not only did Segally want to foster dogs and cats, but she also wanted to help as many kinds of animals as she could. By the end of 2012, Segally and another volunteer, who was also...
For more than 20 years, Mark Langlois has been a Language Arts teacher at Kahler Middle School (KMS). In those 20 years the relationships and legacy he’s led has been more than ideal. Currently Langlois teaches sixth grade Language Arts at KMS and...
Stefanie Osika is the reading interventionist teacher at Veterans Elementary School in Hobart. She began teaching in 2004, and has been inspiring students and making a difference ever since. “I started teaching in 2004, and this is my 18th...
In 2002, Anna Villanueva started working as a student employee for student activities and athletics at Indiana University Northwest (IU Northwest). Villanueva decided to start working at her place of education because she wanted to participate in the...
11 years ago Michelle Duca decided to find a non-profit organization for animals titled Kibble Kitchen Pet Pantry. At her non-profit, low-income individuals all over Porter County could access food and supplies for their pets. Then in 2015, after...
Jennifer “Jenny” Guillen is a physical therapist who has been working at Franciscan Health Crown Point for the past 10 years. Guillen found her passion for physical therapy after she got injured while running track in high school. Before...
Kyleigh Conley is a registered nurse (RN) at St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart, Indiana. Conley has been an RN for three years so far and hopes to continue in that line of work. She went to nursing school at Purdue University Northwest (PNW) in...
Dan Plath is Chief of Resource Management at the Indiana Dunes National Park for the National Park Service. Plath was inspired to start working for the National Park Service when he started to see the destruction of nature as a kid. “We had miles...
In 2009, Javier Heridia began his career of coaching at Bishop Noll High School (BNHS) in Hammond. At BNHS, Heridia was the assistant boys varsity coach and loved every aspect of his job. Heridia continued to work at BNHS until 2013 when he was...