Sam Porter has not spent much time in the Lima City Schools but the Lima West Middle School seventh grader is glad she’s here now.
“I wasn’t going to be here, but now I don’t want to leave,” she said of West after just a couple months of being enrolled there. “It is really fun. I love this school.”
The daughter of Dana Mears and Tim Porter was a recent Spartan of the Month at West. The honor goes to students with good character and those considered leaders in the school.
“She has an attitude and willingness to help others,” science teacher Chris Richards said in his nomination letter. “She is polite and respectful. She is always ready to learn something new. I would love to have a classroom full of students like her.”
Sam says the recognition really helped her with the transition to her new school.
“It made it a lot easier,” she said.
Next up for Sam, is getting more involved in her school. Growing up playing football with neighborhood boys, Sam is hoping to get the chance to play for West’s football team next year.
“When it’s not football season, I am watching reruns of the games,” she said of her beloved Ohio State Buckeyes. “I am not really interested in girls’ sports. None of them seem fun to me. Playing against guys doesn’t scare me.”
Sam is also involved with G-Force, a youth group that teaches teens important life lessons at Cornerstone Harvest Church.
Most enjoying math and science at school, Sam wants to one day work as a mechanical engineer. The decision comes both from her love of science and from working on cars with her dad.
“Working with my dad on his jeep is just fun for me,” she said. “And I just like science a lot. Learning about it is a lot of fun.”