Here at Kearsley High School you may know our beloved French teacher as Madam LoFiego, but many do not know that she has worn many hats over the years besides teaching French. For example, she has been a principal, athletic director, coach, and many other things.  Within every job opportunity she has had, she has done so with a great passion and love for every individual child she has taught and coached. 

Although it is hard to believe that teachers have a home life, they most definitely do! The first thing Mrs. LoFiego does when she gets home is greet her two red labs. She states, “The first thing I do is feed them and then sneak in a few dog snuggles.”  Mrs. LoFiego is  also known to be the“Uber mom” for her son and daughter. She spends the majority of the time running them to their after school activities. When you are as busy as Mrs. LoFiego, you must have a motivational song. She expresses that her favorite is “The Distance” by Cake or “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. She questions, “ How can you listen to either of those songs and not want to sing and dance?”

Mrs. LoFiego didn’t always want to be a teacher. She originally wanted to become a doctor. She always had a great love for science and helping others. What she realized was that she could accomplish that being a teacher, too. She never once regretted making that switch from medicine to education.  Since going into education, she has had some great eye openers. When she was in school, she never took the time to appreciate  the time of putting lessons together. Everyone ends up thinking that being a teacher just means getting summers and holidays off. While that is true, it’s also going home examining the work from today and seeing what went well and what did not go so well. You also have to be able to figure out what still needs to be taught and how to demonstrate it to the class and must do that for all five classes. Teaching takes hard work and dedication and is also a work in progress. There is always something to improve on.

Although she does have a love for teaching, it does come with some challenges and learning experiences. It takes a lot of grit, hard work, and you have to be able to build relationships. Her first ever teaching job was at an alternative school where she taught students that had been removed from their original schools. These were kids who may have dealt with drugs, violence or truancy. She learned early on that school can be a safe place for many kids because homelife was not. The lives of these kids were incredibly hard. She expressed that the “school staff became extended family” for many of the students. She also stated, “it gave me a great perspective to start my career off with.”

Mrs. Lofiego is often challenged with knowing that you can’t make everyone happy. At certain points in teaching you must do what is “best and what’s right for each student,” even if that means they might not be happy with the outcome. With every challenge she always tries to find that silver lining. With her positive outlooks and problem solving skills, it got her through some tough times. She often faces challenges with having to say “no” for she is a “sucker for taking on too much.” Everyone faces hard things in their life, even teachers. It is important to always persevere and remain focused on the big picture!

As a teacher, she has shared so much compassion for each child. Teaching and seeing her students’ faces everyday is her main motivation for getting up everyday. She always finds happiness in watching students’ faces light up when they realize they CAN do it. She also loves learning new fun facts from her students. “ Did you know that Nigeria has 1000 species of butterflies and moths?” She learned that from a 7th grader. She commented, “better and smarter everyday.” 

When you are a student you never really think about how every teacher you have has lived through high school just like you. Every teacher has had similar experiences, felt the same feelings, and even made some of the same mistakes. Every student has a passion for something whether it’s football and basketball, or choir and theatre. For Mrs. LoFiego, that was track and cross country. She was an amazing athlete and even ran in college but unfortunately had to stop due to an injury. She took that passion, and drove it into coaching for 31 years.

Mrs. LoFiego has some great memories of coaching. She recalls long bus rides with the boys she coached at the time and “looking at Pinterest fails” and laughing until they were crying.  She also took many trips with her former teams where they encountered bears and rattlesnakes as well as meteor showers and tidepools. There were so many great memories of running in the rain and  endless card games and stories. Coaching is a huge part of her life along with so many priceless memories! 

While reflecting on the achievements of her past teams and students, Mrs. Lofiego takes pride in their successes and milestones, yet, she considers her greatest accomplishment to be having children of her own. She expressed, “it is amazing how the human body can create an entire additional body.” 

From the wise words of Mrs. LoFiego, “Find something you love to do and do it! Don’t chase the money, chase happiness. It sounds super cliché – but if you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life!”

She emphasizes  the importance of following your heart and staying true to yourself. Mrs. Lofiego believes that as humans, we should strive to avoid judging others and to always practice being kind. As she often reminds herself , “you never know what someone else is going through at that moment. We as humans need to be better about being open hearted.”