For nearly three decades, Neshaminy High School’s (NHS) Lisa Schmidt has been teaching geometry, helping students, and contributing to the positive community of teachers at Neshaminy.

In recognition of her 28 years of commitment to NHS and her resilience both inside and outside of the classroom, The Playwickian recognizes Mrs. Schmidt as the Teacher of the Issue for March.

Being raised by teachers, Schmidt grew an appreciation for how amazing it was for her family to be off at the same time. While other families’ schedules may not have aligned, between summer, breaks, and holidays, her family always had time off to spend with one another.

The way that Schmidt discovered her knack for teaching geometry can only be described as unique. As a junior in Catholic school, the nun who taught her class would instruct Schmidt (known by her maiden name of Bishop at the time) to teach the class while she slept.

“Every day the teacher would say… ‘Ms. Bishop, you come teach the class,’” the geometry teacher elucidated. “She would always be asleep and I would be up there trying to teach the class.”

After that first experience, Schmidt hated the thought of ever having to teach geometry again. 

“When I thought about teaching math, I thought: I’ll teach math, but I will not teach geometry,” Schmidt stated. 

However, her perspective slowly shifted over time. She taught geometry at a summer school as her first job. Then, when starting at NHS, she began teaching geometry as well.

The beginning wasn’t easy for Schmidt, describing her past mental state as thinking, “I don’t know if I can do this forever… it’s just so much work. There were nights I’d be in this building until eleven o’clock working on lesson plans.”

But everything changed when she had kids of her own.

“I kind of got over [those feelings] when I became a mom,” Schmidt explained. “I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, these kids.’ I just love them like they’re my own.”

Ever since then, the way she views her job has changed completely.

“I love it because… it’s not abstract like algebra,” Schmidt expressed.  “It’s very visual. Through teaching, I realized… I really am such a visual learner.”

While her views on teaching may have taken a turn for the better, that doesn’t mean that she hasn’t encountered any hardship over the last 28 years.

Last year, Schmidt found out that her son’s cancer had returned after a previous run-in with the illness in the years prior.  Due to this, Schmidt decided to stay home and help out her son in his recovery.

This change posed particular challenges for Schmidt. She wouldn’t be able to attend school in person, out of concern for bringing home bacteria that could hurt her son, whose immune system was largely compromised due to the cancer treatment.

“It was hard to be away for that period of time. At the same time, I was so fortunate that I had a job where I could be with him… it was very physically… and, mentally challenging for him.”

As tough a year as this was for the Schmidts, they persevered not only with their own determination but with a helping hand from the Neshaminy community.

Throughout it all, the one thing that helped him handle his emotions was working out. Mrs. Schmidt stated it as “how he deals with the anger of it all.”

But, due to his weakened immune system, he had to stay out of the gym. So, in response, the NHS teachers banded together to donate money and equipment to build the Schmidts their own home gym.

“You’re in this situation and you sort of feel alone, but at the same time you know that all these people [are checking in],” Schmidt recounted. “Mr. Capecci would always check in and… [ask] ‘What’s my guy want to eat?’… People would call and ask ‘How’s he doing?’… there was always so much support.”

Schmidt goes so far as to describe her fellow math teachers as “family,” believing that they “take care of each other” and “help each other.”

This year, after her son fully recovered, Schmidt returned to teaching in front of her class, and her absence was definitely noticed. Since coming back, Schmidt has had several students seek her out before school, in between classes, and in the hallways to say hello and tell her how much they’d missed her.

Now, after shaking off the rust, she’s back in her element and ready to teach the next wave of geometry students with the same passion she’s always held for her job.

“I always say: I feel so blessed that I picked a career that I love,” Schmidt emphasized. “I am so passionate about this job… and  I love my students. I love my peers. I love the school, and the staff… and I have a lot more years in me to go, so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”