Lisa Onsum reinvents her career

Chemistry teacher Lisa Onsum (she/her) first studied nutritional science before becoming a registered dietitian at a hospital. However, she decided that wasn’t the best long-term career and returned to school for a master’s degree in education. On the way, Onsum discovered her love for teaching chemistry since its content builds on itself rather than requiring memorization.

 “To me, it is really, really, really important to teach for understanding and depth of understanding,” Onsum said. “It’s never my goal for students to just take in information and spit it back out, but to truly understand.” 

While teaching, Onsum enjoys seeing students’ “light bulbs” go off. She said she feels grateful they are understanding difficult concepts. Onsum decided that she was best suited to teach high schoolers after volunteering at elementary schools and having her own children.

“When I spoke with a few different teachers at Inglemoor, it was clear that this was a really warm and welcoming community,” Onsum said.

Outside of school, Onsum enjoys hiking, kayaking, reading and spending time with her family. She’s currently revisiting her old hobbies by taking gymnastics classes — which she began in middle school — and seeing what her body remembers. Onsum said that some parts of gymnastics, like vaults, came back easily to her, but other skills like the uneven bars are still quite difficult. Onsum typically takes a class one evening a week at Gymnastics Connection, but she’s been going to fewer classes while adjusting to Inglemoor. Nevertheless, she said it was still a good way to challenge herself physically. 

“It brings me a lot of joy!” Onsum wrote in an email.

Colin Portugal launches into Viking basketball coaching

Anyone who has driven onto campus in the morning or stayed late after practice has probably seen Colin Portugal (he/him), one of the campus supervisors and the varsity coach for both the boys basketball and baseball teams. He begins his day by directing traffic and greeting students as they arrive on campus. Once the morning rush ends, Portugal shifts into his other duties — reviewing camera footage and making sure everything on campus runs smoothly. Each task, no matter how routine, connects back to his mission: to keep the school environment safe and positive.

Outside of his supervision duties, Portugal brings the same sense of structure and energy to coaching. As head coach for two varsity sports, he finds meaning beyond just wins and losses. He looks further than materialistic objects like trophies and instead finds meaning in the connections and teamwork that players develop during sports.

“What I enjoy most about it is the competitive nature,” Portugal said. “I played here at Inglemoor High School — basketball and baseball — and to be able to still have that competitive nature with the alma mater that I played for — I’m very invested, and I love that.” 

Portugal said that building friendships with his players is what makes coaching so special for him. He finds joy in seeing his team succeed in areas beyond sports.

 “I’ve helped a lot of kids write letters of recommendation for jobs or colleges,” Portugal said. “When they get accepted, you feel good for them, knowing that you maybe had an impact on that.”

Balancing two sports and a full-time campus role isn’t easy, but Portugal said he thrives on the structure. By focusing on his supervisor role before all else and then helping out and coaching his team, he finds balance in a schedule that most would be terrified of.

“While I’m here on campus doing my campus supervisor role, I really try and let that be the forefront,” Portugal said. “That’s what I’m on campus to do.”

After the final bell, his focus changes. He goes home, eats a meal and is back at school from 6 to 9 p.m. to work with the basketball team. When he’s not at school, Portugal is a die-hard Mariners fan. He tries to go to as many of their games as he can, but when he can’t, he’s still excited to attend other games.

“Mariners games are my happy place,” Portugal said. “I love being at T-Mobile Park.”

He also enjoys staying active. His weekends consist of exploring new cities, going on long car rides and traveling to as many places as he can.

From his early-morning traffic duty to late-night practices, Portugal’s constant presence on campus keeps Inglemoor orderly and safe.

Nathan Beck enriches Vikings’ language and literature with creativity

English teacher Nathan Beck (he/him) said Inglemoor isn’t very different from his old school, Bothell, which has helped him adjust smoothly. Beck finds the staff, especially the English department, unified and supportive. He said its similar to the environment that sparked Beck’s love for creativity. 

Beck enjoys writing novels, screenplays and music and creating board games. In fact, he is currently writing a young adult contemporary fantasy novel that takes place in the Northwest, incorporating supernatural elements. 

“I feel like I was born to teach,”  Beck said. “I’ve loved English my entire life. It was always my big dream to read and write for a living.”

Beck has always loved school and enjoyed learning. As a kid, Beck was always thrilled to attend school, so it wasn’t a surprise that he became a teacher, choosing to teach high schoolers because they are still open-minded, which allows him to mentor his students as they go through challenging experiences. 

 “I’m always looking for the fun and creative. Those are my two priorities as a teacher,” Beck said. “I love trying to come up with new and different ways that maybe haven’t been done before.”

Beck finds joy in seeing his students realize they are much more creative than they originally thought they were, incorporating creativity into his projects and even the classroom by going all out when decorating it for each season.

“The best part of being a teacher: giving the kids the kind of experience that I had when I was in high school,” Beck said. “I just imagined young me.”