Skip To Main Content

LSC in the News

Lafayette School Corporation

Here in the Lafayette School Corporation, we strive to nurture, inspire and empower our students, staff and families. 

See the entire video in District News or LSC in the News. 

JHS Alumni Share Their Stories

Graduates of Jefferson High School have gone on to do some amazing things with their careers. We sat down with seven alumni to hear their stories, and about how their time at JHS helped them develop successful careers. Thanks to our amazing graduates who shared their stories!

Roadtrip Nation: Creating a Roadmap for the Future

At 17, who knows with certainty what the future holds? Who can imagine what their career will look like in five years, much less 20, 30 or 40 years down the road?

A young person’s career path – or road trip, if you will – can go in all sorts of directions. And Roadtrip Nation is here to help students start their journey.

Roadtrip Nation sign

On August 28, Jarrett, Maya, Penelope and Tate – the “roadies” of Roadtrip Nation – made a stop at Jefferson High School, sharing these messages of discovery, encouragement and empowerment with students. Their goal: help students turn their interests into a career.

It all starts with looking at one’s interests, the group says. Is there a way to turn whatever holds your attention into a career? Perhaps a love of storytelling evolves into a career in journalism or being a writer; a fascination with video games and design and presto, a video game designer is born.

“It’s OK to be drawn any which way your interests tell you,” Penelope tells the assembled group.

And while students are in those early stages of discovery, it can be possible to get off track. Lots of negative noise can come from those around you. It’s your job, Jarrett tells the group, to learn to shed the negative noise.

“It’s a distraction,” Jarrett says. “Focus on the positive. It’s about the things you learn along the way.

“The more skills you appropriate, the more you learn about yourself.”

RN Roadies

The tools and resources available at roadtripnation.com can help students figure out their own journey. It’s normal and natural to feel a bit lost and overwhelmed. The most important thing is to follow your own instincts. You are the only one who knows what is best for you.

And there is no one “right” path. For each person, there are many possible roads to take. Roadtrip Nation shares stories of others and how their unique career path started, all with the goal of motivating young people to forge their own way - with courage and conviction. 

“We do this for you,” they tell the students. “Today is all about you.”

A Lifetime in the Classroom

Chuck Herber has spent 58 years in the classroom - and he keeps coming back for more

In the opening sequence of the JHS lip dub back in 2015, Patrick CasaSanta, Sylvia Mueller and Shane Shipley were in awe when they asked Chuck Herber about the longevity of his storied teaching career.

“Mr. Herber, is it true you’ve been teaching for 50 years?” CasaSanta asks. “Do you still like it?”

“I don’t like it,” answers an enthusiastic Herber. “I love it!”

Herber Lip Dub

Fast forward to 2024, and the answer is the same.

For 58 years – 38 of them at Jefferson High School – Chuck Herber has been working with students, mentoring, teaching, inspiring. Helping them transform into the adults they will become.

A graduate of St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Herber studied English – a rigorous program, he recalls. After stints elsewhere, stumbling about a bit, with a foray into graduate school – “I was young and single” – he ended up in the classroom. And after a few years, he knew he wanted to make the move to JHS. He first applied in 1977 but was rejected; nearly a decade later, he was contacted and encouraged to reapply.

“When [Principal] Denny Blind was hiring, he wanted to get good teachers,” Herber recalls. “And how do you do that? Through the interview process.”

Herber recalls making an intense curriculum presentation, followed by meeting with parents and current students. After two hours or so of exhaustive questioning, he sat down for the final interview portion.

“Then he [Blind] did something nasty and awful,” Herber says. “It’s hilarious. We met in the privacy of his office, with an ashtray and a lighter on the table.” Blind, who was vehemently anti-smoking, hoped to trip up smokers into reaching for a much-needed cigarette, which would then rule out those candidates.

Herber passed that test – which didn’t make his then-superintendent happy. “That blasted Denny Blind steals more teachers from this corporation,” Herber recalls him saying with a laugh.

He came for the job – one that held not only prestige, but the promise of a brand-new 4 megabyte computer. The school corporation came through on that promise, and Herber continues in his role to this day.

Much of his career has centered around journalism courses and production of the school’s award-winning newspaper, The Booster. He has seen the changes in technology, from using linotype galleys and paste-up boards to computer pagination, developing film and creating contact sheets to all-digital photography.

Much of the motivation for producing The Booster has come from the students, Herber says. They are the ones who sell ads to support the production and printing of the paper. And they were part of the impetus for a project that is currently underway to digitize and preserve all copies of the Booster going back to 1913.

“It’s always the students,” Herber says.

Chuck Herber

Herber has fought to keep The Booster publishing all these years. Students benefit from the skills they gain as young journalists. Not only do they learn about reporting, writing and designing a newspaper, but they learn about the business aspects – often firsthand, as they sell ads to support the production of the paper.

“I’ve never had a kid who worked for the school newspaper who did poorly in college,” Herber says.

His connection to the students inspired him, at age 44, to go back to school and become a certified counselor. While he never worked in that area, it was one more way to help. Knowing when to make referrals and early intervention helps students get the assistance they need.

Teaching has been Herber’s life for 58 years. And it’s a career, he says, that might have never happened had he been drafted back in 1966. When his number came up, he went to the draft board and asked, “Do you think, should I immediately inform my principal?”

The women at the draft looked at him and shook her head, Herber recalls.

“She said, and I’ll never forget it, ‘Honey child, you stay with me. We need good teachers; we can get lots of soldiers.’ “

“I just love what I’m doing,” Herber says. “I love being with the kids.  Can they be a pain in the neck sometimes? Of course.”

And then he quotes a favorite song from John Denver: “They are a promise for the future and the blessing of tomorrow.”

“On your down days, that keeps you alive.”

Fun Facts About Chuck Herber

No. of push-ups he can do: His best is 41.
He starts each day with a workout. “I’m interested in toning. It’s a great way to connect with the kids.

Favorites
Lessons: “When kids do their senior projects.”
A particular favorite: “How to Be a Millionaire by the Time You’re 40”
Book: Macbeth “I see how it applies to life – Bernie Madoff is Macbeth. Blind ambition can become total greed.”
Movie: Cecil B. DeMille’s “The 10 Commandments”
TV Show: “Father Knows Best”
Record album: The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
Newspaper: New York Times

And, naturally, The JHS Booster.