As some teachers come and go at other schools, some LZHS teachers plan on working here until the end of their career.

Although there are new faces at LZHS, there are teachers who have been teaching here for 9 to 28 years. Due to the staff and students at LZHS, Terry Geoghegan, social studies teacher, said he would not want to work at any another school.

“I am in awe of my colleagues and how they teach,” Geoghegan said. “They all want to prepare their students for the best. They are not afraid to make mistakes in order to succeed. A good portion of the students are eager to learn and some really want to learn and succeed. I am also amazed that so many students continue to learn and go to college and my goal is to help them become critical thinkers and be able to analyze situations to prepare them for what is next.”

John Keyzer, technology education teacher, said he also enjoys the atmosphere and staff, but what he loves the most is teaching a subject that his students are interested in.

“For the most part, kids here are fantastic and they tend to value education, especially those who take my classes,” Keyzer said. “A lot of students who want to become engineers take my classes and they see the value in what they are learning. Other classes are dictated by content [teachers] have to teach, but I have a lot of flexibility, so I am able to talk to engineers and former students at universities and bring that information to the class.”

Although Marcus Sipiera, science teacher, does not have as much flexibility in what he teaches, the dedicated students are the reason why he loves teaching at LZHS.

“Academically, our students do well,” Sipiera said. “I love to teach because students generally give a good effort trying to grasp chemistry. The students and teachers here are generally friendly and open to you, which makes teaching that much easier.”

Along with the hard-working staff and students, Megan Bajor, English teacher, said she enjoys the supportive environment.

“I like how sharing our community and school are and how supportive they are,” Bajor said. “People are open here and any idea is shared. There is no competition here and we are all very supportive of one another.”

This strong, supportive system within the staff is something teachers who leave LZHS miss, according to Bajor.

“I have friends who have taught here and ended up moving and working at another school. Every single one of them says they miss the camaraderie and supportive staff they worked with here,” Bajor said. “You grow close to the people you work with, and they are all very caring.”

Other than the people they interact with every day, Geoghegan and Sipiera enjoy LZHS’ traditions, such as Charity Bash.

“I really think Charity Bash is a great event,” Sipiera said. “It does a wonderful job [of] bringing the community and school together for a worthwhile cause.”

As for the rest of their careers, Geoghegan, Keyzer, Bajor, and Sipiera all plan on teaching at LZHS until their retirement.

“I will probably teach until I am 60 years old,” Geoghegan said. “I am very lucky I found something I really like. I honestly do not know what I would do if I was not teacher, and with that said, I feel lucky to be where I am.”