On WestSouthwest, we have a rebroadcast of an interview from last year on the history of the Portage School District.
Tom Vance was Community Relations Manager for the Portage Public Schools for 12 years (he is now Communications Officer for the Kalamazoo Community Foundation). Vance is also Editor of An Oral History of Portage Schools: Cleora Skinner to Pete McFarlane.
Vance conducted interviews for the all but one of the subjects in the book (it's not known who conducted the interview with Portage's first superintendent Cleora Skinner). He talked with former superintendents and school board presidents to get a sense of how the district grew and dealt with several challenges.A version of the interview orginally aired in December of 2017.
