Note to readers: Lisa Wicoff is one of five hopefuls seeking three seats on the USD 257 Board of Education. You can read our profiles on the other candidates, Nathan Cunningham, Robin Griffin-Lohman, John Masterson and John Wilson.
When Lisa Wicoff was a child, her parents carried a simple, but effective message.
“The one thing you should learn in school is you can learn anything,” she said.
“That was drummed into us, always,” Wicoff said. “You can figure it out, if you know where to look.”
Wicoff took that advice to heart, finding her niche in what has become family tradition in pursuing a career in education.
“We’re a family of teachers on both sides,” she said.
She worked as a substitute for several years, until her youngest child entered middle school, at which point Wicoff became a full-time instructor.
Over the past decade, she’s taught in several capacities, from special education (gifted) courses, science, math and English. She also shifted gears along the way, first as director of the Regional Rural Technical Center in LaHarpe, then as a career and technology education dean at Allen Community College.
Now, Wicoff teaches English for grades 6-9 in Yates Center.
“I love it,” she said. “I really enjoy teaching, researching different things and learning different educational trends. It’s a challenge just to keep up.”
She hopes to use that experience as a springboard to her next venture as she vies for a seat on the USD 257 Board of Education.
Voters will choose Tuesday, Nov. 4 from a list of five hopefuls to fill three school board seats. Wicoff is joined on the ballot box by Nathan Cunningham and incumbents Robin Griffin-Lohman, John Masterson and John Wilson.
WICOFF is an unabashed fan of USD 257, first as an alumna, then as a parent as her children proceeded through the school district.
But she sees several challenges, not the least of which is a slow-but-steady population loss in Iola and other schools across the state.
“The birth rate is down, and we’re going to see fewer students and fewer people,” Wicoff noted. “We’re going to have to be much more careful with how we allocate tax dollars in order to maintain the same level of education we want for our students, and to offer as many programs as we do.”
Iola’s strength is it’s large enough to offer multiple electives, but small enough that instructors can provide individualized instruction, Wicoff said.
