April Educator Spotlight: Keaton-Hatmaker & Lottig
April Educator Spotlight: Keaton-Hatmaker & Lottig
Congratulations to our April Educator Spotlight honorees, Hayes Elementary teacher Tara Lottig and Garfield Middle School head custodian Sherry Keaton-Hatmaker! Please click on Read More to learn more about these two outstanding employees and how the model our Vision of a Lakewood Educator!
SHERRY KEATON-HATMAKER
Sherry Keaton-Hatmaker has only been the head custodian at Garfield Middle school since November, but she has already made a big impact on the building and a positive impression with the staff and students. Sherry says it’s been quite an adjustment after 15 years on night shift at Lakewood High, but thanks to her reliance on Vision of a Lakewood Educator competencies like collaboration, communication, creative thinking and a growth mindset, it’s been a smooth transition.
“Sherry has been on-it since the moment she stepped foot into her role at Garfield,” says teacher Liz Street, one of Sherry’s four nominators.
With a little advice in hand from her husband, Lakewood High head custodian Randy Hatmaker, Sherry tackled her new job with a can-do attitude and customer service-friendly style that has the staff taking notice of the improvement in the building’s appearance. “She is motivating to others when we see her constantly working around GMS,” says Liz. She’s an Energizer Bunny adds teacher Dave Corrigan, who also nominated Sherry.
For her part, Sherry enjoys working together and constantly communicating with her second-shift crew and maintenance staff to make sure everything that needs attention is attended to. She has let staff know that she welcomes any feedback and communication from them in order to help her keep Garfield working more smoothly.
A bonus that Sherry did not count on when she made the move to middle school was how much she likes being in the building with students. She enjoys their helpful, polite and playful attitudes after being on the solitary third shift so many years.
Liz sums up what Garfield feels about its new head custodian: “We are very fortunate at Garfield to have her help make our school a great place for our students to learn and our staff to work.”
TARA LOTTIG
If you know Hayes Elementary third grade teacher Tara Lottig and the work she does, then you know that she is the embodiment of what the Vision of a Lakewood Educator is. In an intentional but seemingly effortless manner, Tara incorporates the tenants of the Vision while working with both her colleagues and students.
She models collaboration by working together with her grade-level team, sharing ideas to best serve students, taking part in district and building leadership teams and being part of the task force choosing a new math curriculum.
In the classroom, Tara collaborates with her students on project ideas and then empowers them to collaborate on their own. For instance, last spring, student input was a key part of envisioning what the Third Grade Wax Museum would look like.
“Students’ voices are so important,” Tara says. “I love seeing them take our collaboration as a class and then do their own thing in a small group.”
Tara strives to make all her students feel welcome and works to expand their global perspective. Recently she read the class a book on the Muslim holiday Ramadan and invited one of her student’s to share about their family’s Ramadan traditions. Her welcoming smile at the start of the day signals to students who may need an empathic ear that she is there for them if they need to talk, no matter how serious or silly the matter may be.
Tara’s nominator, Hayes Principal Eric Fortuna, appreciates Tara for the positive presence she is in the building and says he is grateful for the great role model she is for her colleagues.