A winding road leads to influencing German students at South

Lauren Nemeh, Guest Writer

Lisa Richman German teacher at South, never imagined that she would become a teacher. She also never imagined that she would teach at the same high school she attended.

“I had zero intention of being a teacher, I first wanted to be a vet. Then I had plans of being a translator,” Richman said.

After trying out different careers, Richman finally found her place as a teacher.

Lauren Nemeh
German students gather during class.

“I will never forget the feeling the first day I got to teach. It was the best feeling of sense that I finally found it,” Richman said.

The decision of becoming a german teacher seemed quite familiar to Richman.

“I lived in Germany as a child and have spent a lot of time in the country. I love the country and the language. I also studied german in the same room that I teach it now,” Richman said.

Although Richman currently teaches German, she also has great memories of teaching English classes as well in the past.

“I’ll never forget once one of my English students at the end of class said, I had no idea you could learn so much about life through literature,” Richman said.

Throughout Richman’s teaching career, her mother has had a positive impact on the job she has today.

“I was at the University of Michigan working on my masters degree on my way to my PHD. When my mom who worked at Defer called and said Lisa the job at South just opened,” Richman said.

Students as well as Richman value the opportunities German has offered them. According to junior Susie Moesta, she values the friendships she has built by taking german at South.

“I think that German has allowed me to meet people that I would not meet before,” Moesta said. “Since we do so much speaking in class, I’ve gotten to know a lot of people I would not have met before.”