Lakeland High School
November 2019
The mission of Lakeland High School is to empower students to develop their individual potential by acquiring the knowledge, skills, and values needed to contribute to a healthy, productive community.
Tis the Season
As you scroll down in the newsletter you will see I reprinted an article from our student newspaper, The HawkEye, that was very meaningful titled, Brotherly Love. I highly encourage you to read this as it provides a great perspective of what is truly important in life.
Mr. Derrick
STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Samantha Daniels (10th grade), Jakob Brady (11th grade), Taya Johns (12th grade), Nicholas Nowell (9th grade)
ATHLETES OF THE MONTH
Hannah Dansereau (swimming), Abigail Neff (volleyball)
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
Name: Brad Schultz
Position: Janitor Years at LHS: 3 months
What do you like about working here at LHS? I really like a lot of the faculty here at LHS. Everybody is nice and I enjoy chit-chatting with them.
What are your interests/hobbies outside of work? I enjoy documentaries about history, the universe and the planet. I enjoy reading, and anything the gets me in the woods. I also enjoy playing Dungeons and Dragons as well as miniature table-top combat games.
What else about you is interesting or would you like to share? *Maybe you’re working on a special project. I have hitched hiked around the U.S. for 4 years, east to west coast and everywhere in the middle. My dad played triple AAA ball for the Boston Red Sox in the 60’s. I’m big into anything supernatural. I’m a native of Michigan...big Detroit Lions!
Brotherly Love - (copied from our student newsletter - The HawkEye)
Brotherly love
By Acacia Werner
Can you imagine meeting your brother after living almost your whole life without him? That is just what happened to Tyler Elizondo. Tyler’s childhood wasn’t like most others’. In their late teens, Tyler’s parents gave birth to his older brother Trenton; three years later they had Tyler. Shortly after Tyler was born, his parents separated. His dad left with Trenton and denied the older brother from seeing anyone from his mother’s side of the family except Tyler. Tyler was very young however, and had no way of contacting his brother. Tyler’s mom made some poor decisions and Tyler’s grandparents became his guardians. He had to grow up fast because his grandma was a paraplegic and much of her care was his responsibility. Tyler started growing up fast so he could take care of his grandma because she was paraplegic. He also helped his grandfather with anything he needed to do around the house and he developed a very close relationship with them.
Adjusting to life without his mom was one thing, but when his grandparents died, he was devastated. Tyler’s aunt, her boyfriend, and his son Jacob Paddock were happy to invite Tyler into their lives and their home. In the 8th grade Tyler started attending the Lakeland School District and started growing closer with Jake and his classmates. After not having any siblings growing up, adjusting to the idea of having support and companionship was foreign. “I’ve never really had someone there for me. Jacob became that person,” he said.
Tyler always wanted to meet his older brother but had no way of contacting him. He had no contact information for his dad and he now knows that their dad didn’t allow Trenton to have social media while he was living with his father. When Tyler was recently able to find Trenton’s Instagram page, he messaged him and asked if he would like to meet sometime. His brother never responded through Instagram, but Tyler didn’t give up. He ended up texting him on Facebook a couple months ago inviting Trenton to his graduation this spring. It took Trenton only a day to respond, saying that he would love to go. The boys also made plans to meet.
Just days later Tyler took Trenton to Tubbs Hill so they could hang out and catch up on life. “You would think there would have been a barrier, but we instantly clicked.” Tyler also took a photo with Trenton and sent it to his mom. His mom was extremely excited that he and Trenton finally met. Even Tyler said, “My mom was really happy that he and I finally after 14 years. You could see the relief that she had that we finally met.” The brothers have stayed in contact and have plans to travel together, to continue to learn about one another and to make up for the time they missed out on. Better late than never.