Lakeland principals team up to celebrate staff

Lakeland High School Principal Jimmy Hoffman and his wife, Betty Kiefer Elementary Principal Lisa Hoffman, are trying to build something positive.

They collaborate at home and on family trips to create the best workplace culture possible at their schools.

“We’re not just about fun,” Jimmy said. “But we are fun — with high expectations.”

So it should’ve been no surprise when the Hoffmans came up with a big idea to celebrate their schools' teachers of the year.

“I was surprised,” LHS counselor Frank Vieira said of being named teacher of the year in a staff meeting Wednesday. “I work with the most wonderful people you could ever find. It’s definitely the glue that keeps me here.”

Vieira said he truly expected one of his coworkers to win, but was quite pleased with the size of the prize nonetheless.

The Hoffmans, with the assistance of Ryan Villa of All Travel Guru, awarded each of the winners a $2,000 voucher to take them anywhere in the U.S.

Betty Kiefer Elementary advanced learning instructor Mary Conrath was taken by surprise when Lisa handed her the voucher at a staff meeting Wednesday.

“I’m going to go to the beach,” Conrath said. “The warmer the better!”

At the beginning of the year, the Hoffmans asked their teachers to vote on teacher of the year, and to provide their reasoning in feedback and comments. They were looking for staff who were a joy to work with and who went above and beyond.

Lisa Hoffman read some of the comments Conrath received, and her coworkers recognized her immediately in the positive traits.

Teachers wrote, she “always makes sure our kids are safe,” or is “always helping with a smile." She’s “extremely thoughtful and willing to help others,” and also “so quick to lend a helping hand” or “so quick to step in and find the positives.”

Conrath also expected one of her coworkers to win.

“I love what I do,” Conrath said. "I didn't expect any of this. It was fun to just be able to vote for other teachers and give comments. As Lisa said, everybody voted for everybody. We are a family. I don’t think there’s anybody on staff who wouldn’t feel safe talking to each other if they were sad or frustrated.”

And that’s exactly the spirit of collaboration and culture the Hoffmans were trying to inspire with the award and everything else they do throughout the year.

“The first and foremost, the foundation to any successful school, is a good culture,” Jimmy Hoffman said. “That doesn’t mean a school with a good culture doesn’t have problems. Schools with good cultures do have the same amount of problems, they just go about them in a different way.”

To celebrate staff, the Hoffmans organized a weekly teacher appreciation award, where they pass a trophy to the teachers of the week who demonstrate positive attitudes, are fun to work with and, generally, go above and beyond. The weekly award culminated in one the teacher of the year award. Jimmy hinted that teachers would get something big at the end, but gave no idea what to expect.

Vieira is excited to make the best of it. He’s thinking he’ll travel to a national park, anywhere he can do a lot of hiking. Probably a trip to Utah for a tour of Zion, the Grand Canyon and Arches.

Next year, the award will be something else, as the Hoffmans ask other local businesses for donations and support.

“There are people in this community that really honor and cherish what you do,” Villa said as he presented a voucher to Conrath.

A positive culture for staff positively impacts students.

“It makes the work environment that much easier to work in,” Jimmy said. “Your school will never reach its potential if the culture and climate is not where it needs to be. When you think of all the public schools, if your school culture and climate is not healthy, it doesn't matter what lessons or what tests you give out. If your school's culture is rich, everything is possible.”

The strategy is working.

Wednesday night, Lakeland High School had an award ceremony celebrating $9.4 million in scholarships offered to students and roughly $3.4 million in scholarships that students accepted. Around 32 seniors are going to out-of-state colleges, about double last year's total, and 61% of seniors received at least one scholarship, LHS career advisor Carrie Paquette said.

Most athletic scholarships were merit-based and the average GPA for student athletes is 3.3, with other students averaging 2.8.

The numbers indicate the school fosters growing academic excellence, Paquette said.