For two consecutive years, the administration has offered the Teacher of the Year award in which the faculty nominates and votes for two outstanding educators of that period. This year the recipients of the award were biology teacher Kalin Wells and AP calculus, Pre-AP pre-calculus, algebra 2, and college statistics teacher Ryan Race.

“It was a great honor to be nominated by my fellow teachers and even more rewarding to know that I am well respected among our teacher community,” Race said. “While I know that many teachers are deserving, I am very honored for this reward. “

Race has taught math and coached soccer at LHS for the past seven years.

“I accepted the job seven years ago coming from Houston and have really enjoyed living in the community,” Race said. “I have loved the attitude of the students, have really enjoyed my co-workers, and the the possibility of growth going from being able to teach algebra I my freshman year to moving all the way up to teaching calculus and becoming department head.”

Along with advancing his career, Race has also found success in other areas.

“My experience [at LHS] has been great,” Race said. “I met my wife here, who is also a teacher. I am working on my masters now for administration and she is working on basically her second masters so that she can teach dual credit English, so it’s been a very positive experience throughout the whole time.”

Race believes that every teacher within the district is worthy of this annual title.

“It’s all about caring for students and building relationships,” Race said. “I’ve been fortunate to be around long enough to build relationships through classes and athletics.”