Student Spotlights

Santiago González - 

By definition, a jack of all trades is someone who is capable of doing many different types of work, and not many people fit that definition as well as Santiago González. Santiago is involved in nearly everything he can get his hands on, from being elected as a board member on the student council to being a part of the history club, emerging bilinguals club, the yearbook club, LPS Theatre Company, and girls soccer, basketball, and softball manager. Aside from his involvement in clubs, Santiago has also spent 5 years in the LPS Orchestra where he is a part of the string quartet. 

Santiago has not always been a part of the LPS family, while we are glad he is now, he started in Maracaibo, Venezuela where he was born. He spent the first eight years of his life in Venezuela before moving to the United States. Santiago started his LSS journey in 2016 where he started 6th grade at LPS. He credits his Venezuelan roots as the reason he is proud to say he is bilingual. While he is still figuring out his post graduation plans, he is contemplating working in education. His plan is to do what he can to improve the education system, regardless if that is in an instructor role or as a part of the school administration. 

“My favorite thing about LPS is probably the people. Thanks to the many things I am part of, I have gotten to meet and get close to almost everyone at the school, students and teachers alike. I don’t have a single bad thing to say about any of the staff and I can be nothing but grateful to my teachers at LPS for everything they do for me and for everyone else.”

Hunter Owen - 

If you take time to go to a LPS lacrosse game you will see Hunter Owen protecting the goal. Hunter has been a part of LSS since 1st grade and is currently a sophomore and lacrosse is not the only group he is a part of. He also divides his year up with the LPS concert band, jazz band, and marching band. 

For Hunter, the fun of lacrosse comes from two places, friends and making saves.  According to Hunter, goalie can be a difficult position, however it all becomes worth it when he is able to make a late game save. The friends he has made through lacrosse has also helped to make the game more enjoyable. 

Music at LPS has a similar enjoyment factor to lacrosse. According to Hunter, when he started in high school in 9th grade, the band was still new, but despite that the community and faculty came together to help the program out. Through their help the students have been able to build good relationships through music. Being a part of three different bands has helped Hunter be able to play different instruments. Currently he plays the french horn for the concert band, the bass for the jazz band, and the mellophone for the marching band. 

While Hunter's post graduate plans are not settled, he would like to continue his music career in college, but even more important to him, he wants to stay close with friends during that time. 

Brett Godwin - 

From the football field, to the basketball court, to the baseball field, almost everywhere you look you see Brett Godwin. Brett is currently a freshman at LPS and is a quarterback, point guard, and shortstop in the three sports he plays. Sports have been a large part of his life as he has played all three since he was four years old. Football is currently his favorite sport because, “...the quarterback gets control of most of the stuff that happens and a lot of action happens.” 

Besides sports, Brett enjoys math because he is good at it so it is easy for him. In his free time from school Brett enjoys playing games and hanging out with his family. Brett also has a close connection with LSS. Chris Godwin, the LPS baseball coach, is Brett’s father. 

While Brett’s graduation is still a couple of years away, he has already started thinking about his options. While his plans have not been finalized, he plans on attending college to further his athletic career.

Elaina Wright - 

Elaina Wright can make sweet treats and sweet sounds. The sophomore at LPS is apart of the orchestra and sells her baked goods. Her parents and grandparents got her to play the violin at age 3, but she really started loving to play it once she joined the LPS orchestra. Elaina’s favorite part of the orchestra is all the people, “My favorite part about being in orchestra is being surrounded by musical and talented people that I can bond, laugh, and connect with. I love going on trips, competitions, and performing with people in the orchestra.” 

Elaina has always enjoyed baking, so in 2020 she started “Taste Just Wright”, where she sells her baked goods. She says that she started something so young, she enjoys looking back on it. Besides being apart of the orchestra, Elaina is also apart of many clubs including: Knowledge Bowl, FCS, Art Club, Technology Community, and Student Council Treasurer. Being apart of a new high school is special to Elaina, “... everything is a first and it's really special to have that opportunity and set traditions and customs that will last forever.”

While graduation is still a few years away, Elaina knows she wants to travel and go to college. 

Faculty Spotlight

Rachel Nanny - 

If you walk down the halls of LPS, you are likely to see student art work proudly displayed. One of the rooms you may see them in front of is 5th-8th grade art teacher, Rachel Nanny’s. Rachel is currently in her 12th year teaching. While she has been a part of LSS for the last six years, she has also been a part of Parsons Elementary and Decaturville Elementary. Rachel has always enjoyed being around art. She gets this enjoyment from her mom and the crafts she would do growing up, as well as decorating houses her dad built. 

During her time at Jackson St. Community College in high school and while transferring to UTM Rachel realized how much she missed out on by not having art classes available and how she wanted to change that for future students. “I realized everything that I missed by not having art classes growing up and thought that it would be awesome to be able to teach kids what I wasn’t taught.”

In her free time Mrs. Nanny loves to travel with her family. She is even leading a group to Paris in 2025 and is excited about it. For Mrs. Nanny, family is important. Rachel and her husband Scott have one child, Oliver, who is a senior at Arlington High School. As with most houses in SEC territory, there is a friendly rivalry between her and her husband, Vols fans, and her son, an Ole Miss fan. 

Amy Roberson - 

When you walk into the LPS office you are likely greeted with a friendly smile. That smile will likely belong to Amy Roberson. Mrs. Roberson has lived in Lakeland for the last 14 years and worked the front desk at LPS for two years. Before working the front desk, Mrs. Roberson worked at preschool for eight years and was an assistant teacher for four year olds. Her family has a history of teaching, her mom taught kindergarten for over 30 years and her sister earned an elementary education degree. Despite this, Mrs Roberson initially majored in printing management. However, after having kids she found having the same schedule as them was nice.

Mrs. Roberson and her husband Mark, have two kids, Grant, a senior at Arlington High School, and Bryce, a freshman at LPS. They also have a labradoodle named Huey. Mrs. Roberson enjoys traveling and her “happy place” is at the beach. She has been to many different places including Italy, France, and the Bahamas. She has also been to 40 US states and plans to visit all 50. 

Tyler Ogden - 

The 2023-2024 school year saw the addition of a new grade at LPS, but it also saw the change in the head coach of the middle school football team. Tyler Ogden filled that role. After coaching for five years at Halls and Munford, Coach O, as the players call him, started his 6th year coaching/teaching at LPS. Coach Ogden graduated from the University of Memphis and worked as an equipment manager. 

For many people, football holds a special spot, and Coach Ogden is no different. “It put my life back on track when I was younger and has helped me throughout my professional career.” According to Coach Ogden, he enjoys the support from Lakeland. The staff, facilities, and kids are one of the reasons he chose to work here.

Coach Ogden recently grew his family. Coach Ogden and his wife Kensie introduced the world to their first child this school year. In his free time, he enjoys working on his house and his yard.

Tyler White - 

Walking through Disney World or the football locker room you are likely to run into Tyler White. Mr. White, or Coach White, as the students call him, has been a part of the Lion family since 2017. Mr. White has coached football, basketball, and baseball as well as taught high school English, middle school English, and PE/weightlifting. 

Now with 11 years teaching experience, and 16 years coaching experience, Mr. White chose Lakeland because of the community support, “I researched the process the community had gone through to open the school, and I knew it would be a place that had a lot of community support.” To him, coaching is more than just winning or losing, it is about the kids. “The students know how much I care about them and not just the sports and winning. So they work really hard and have great attitudes.” Despite playing many different sports while growing up at Tipton-Rosemark Academy, Mr. White says football is his favorite sport to coach because of the physicality and strategy behind it.

Beside teaching and coaching, Mr. White enjoys taking his two young kids, Tyson and Delainy, and his wife, Ashley, to Disney World. Tyson, his eight year old son enjoys doing everything with his dad. They like to play sports and wrestle. Delainy, or “Bit” as they call her, is five and loves to dance and play softball. Mr. White describes his family as, “A tight knit group of four,” who, “love doing all sorts of family things together.” 

In the classroom 

Health Science

Students in our high school health science class had a special guest stop in to teach them today. School nurse Raina Laessig took time to come and talk to students about her job as well as teach them how to take vitals.

The class started off with a small talk about the daily operations of a school nurse. They also learned how the skill that they are learning in health science can translate into many different post graduate opportunities. Our students then learned how to work basic medical tools to take vitals with. These vitals include: blood pressure, heart rate, height and weight. We want to thank Nurse Laessig for not only taking time with our students, but providing them with care when they need it.

LES Robotics Club

Robotics and programming have become vital to our daily lives. LES has started a program that helps introduce kids to these concepts early on. The LES robotics club started meeting in 2022 and meets every other Tuesday. Headed by Mrs. Nan, the club aims to teach students the basics of robotics.

Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice teacher and retired police officer, Mr. Kittrel Robinson, led his class outside to participate in a mock traffic stop. With help from high school SRO Stephen Potts, students learned what procedures police officers have to take when conducting a traffic stop. These steps include alerting dispatch of your intentions and checking for officer and public safety. Students were able to get great insight on possible post graduation occupations. LSS is always very appreciative for all the amazing work and safety our SRO officers provide for us.

Theatre (5 minute skits)

The LPS Theatre Company showed their skills off to the school members and the public today by performing five minute skits. Students have been practicing their skits in Mr. Jeffery White’s theater class all week to prepare for today’s performances. These skits were written completely by the students after being given a topic to base their skits on. Each group of roughly four students have five minutes to show off their talents. We want to thank everyone who took time out of their day and to come support our amazing students. We also want to say how impressed we were with all of the students' performances!