#SuperSchoolShoutout: Lakes Lancers!
Posted on 01/24/2024
This week, we’re showing our #CPSDPride with a #SuperSchoolShoutOut to Lakes High School!
Established in 1962, Lakes is one of two high schools in CPSD. A diverse population of more than 1,000 students walk Lakes’ halls every day. The school’s vision is to empower each student to become a lifelong learner and engaged citizen.
This year, Lakes welcomed a new principal, Ray Kurtz, who was previously an assistant principal for Clover Park High School. He worked at Lakes more than 10 years ago and was excited to return and work alongside a great team of educators, both new and familiar.
“My first year has gone terrific so far,” Principal Kurtz said. “The students are fantastic and have a great culture. I’ve been really impressed with their work ethic and moral character because they stand up for one another and use their student voice to advocate for themselves.”
Principal Kurtz is excited to continue leading Lakes as students and staff work together to create a welcoming and inspiring school environment where students are encouraged to be their best selves both inside and outside of the classroom.
“There are a lot of great things already happening at Lakes, and I want us to work on celebrating ourselves more for all the achievements students and staff make each day,” Principal Kurtz said. “I want the whole Lakewood community to share in our successes.”
To continue our Super School Shoutout to Beachwood, we'd like to honor algebra teacher Molly Hurd and senior Aidan Balda.
Molly always wanted to be a teacher and has now taught at Lakes High School for nine years. “My elementary school teacher inspired me, so I initially thought I’d work with younger kids,” she said. “I realized having intellectual conversations with older students would be really exciting,” she said.
Molly has worked at Lakes her entire career and did her student teaching down the hall from her current classroom. “I love being a Lancer because the staff and administration here are so amazing,” she said. “The kids all work really hard, and I think this is our best year yet.”
Molly prides herself on being welcoming and kind so her students feel comfortable approaching her, even when they are struggling. “Some students enter math with the idea that they’re bad at it,” she said. “My strength is being super understanding, always encouraging them to try their best and looking for improvement.”
Aidan is flying through senior year with confidence because he has been hired as a general assembly mechanic for the Boeing Company after graduation. He previously took Lakes’ aerospace and manufacturing CTE course and earned an internship with Boeing’s CORE Plus Aerospace program last summer.
“Because of the aerospace class, the Lakes students who did the internship were way ahead of all the other students who had only taken woodworking and stuff like that,” Aidan said. “The class helped me find my love of engineering, and I can’t wait to get started at Boeing this fall. I want to work my way up and become an inspector for the company.”
Aidan also plays varsity baseball and runs cross country. After completing his internship this summer, he and his fellow students presented to the mayor of Lakewood, the city council and the CPSD school board on the CTE program.
Go Lancers!