Doing the Math: Mrs. Strobel Adds Up to More Than Numbers

By Hayley Stout

03/24/2026

For many students, math can feel like a subject filled with numbers, formulas, and frustration. But in Mrs. Strobel’s classroom at Licking Heights, math is about much more than solving equations—it’s about building confidence, making connections, and preparing students for the real world.

Now in her third year at Licking Heights and sixth year in education overall, Mrs. Strobel teaches Algebra 1A, Algebra 1B, and Honors Algebra 1. Her path to teaching began with two simple passions: a love for math and a desire to help others. Those interests came together naturally and led her to the classroom.

“I believe education is one of the most important things in society,” she says, a belief that shapes the energy and purpose she brings to her students each day.

While algebra is her primary focus, Mrs. Strobel is especially passionate about teaching concepts students can carry beyond the classroom. Topics like basic statistics and the difference between correlation and causation are among her favorites.

“These are things students will actually use in real life,” she explains. “Understanding how data works helps you make better decisions and keeps you from being misled.”

That real-world connection is central to her teaching philosophy. For Mrs. Strobel, success is not just about finding the right answer—it is about effort, growth, and persistence. Her message to students is simple but powerful: work hard, believe in yourself, and success will follow.

Beyond academics, one of the things Mrs. Strobel values most about Licking Heights is the school community.

“My favorite part of teaching here is the culture and the connectivity,” she says. “The teachers support each other, and the students are friendly and outgoing.”

It is those relationships that leave the biggest impact. Whether it is a quick conversation in the hallway or a thoughtful note left on her desk, Mrs. Strobel says the small moments matter most.

“Something that always makes me smile is when students write or draw me notes,” she says. “It really means a lot.”

Outside the classroom, Mrs. Strobel brings that same energy to the court as head coach of the Licking Heights boys volleyball team. She gave a proud shoutout to her players—Eric, Jackson, Ryan K., Solomon, Sam, Stef, Ritesh, Melish, Ryan A., Prajouis, Sungam, Mason, and Surya—for their hard work and dedication throughout the season.

Her influence extends beyond math and athletics. Mrs. Strobel also connects with students through shared interests. She enjoys a wide range of music, including pop, alternative, and punk, and has recently been listening to artists like Hayley Williams, PJ Harvey, and The Last Dinner Party.

When it comes to relaxing, she enjoys both salty snacks—especially pretzels—and sweet treats. She is also an avid reader, with The Hunger Games ranking as her favorite book series.

If she had not chosen teaching, Mrs. Strobel says she could have seen herself taking a very different path: working as an engineer at NASA, fueled by her fascination with space and how things work.

A fun fact many students may not know? She attended the same high school as LeBron James—a connection that always sparks conversation.

When asked about her funniest teaching moment, Mrs. Strobel laughs and admits there are too many to count. Like many teachers, she says it is often the unpredictable, everyday classroom moments that become the most memorable.

At the heart of it all, Mrs. Strobel’s impact reaches far beyond equations and graphs. Through her encouragement, passion, and genuine care for her students, she is helping shape not just stronger math students, but more confident and capable individuals.

And if there is one lesson she hopes students carry with them, it is this: success is built through hard work, connection, and confidence.

In Room ___ at Licking Heights, students are more than just names on a roster—they are known, supported, and encouraged every single day.

Band Spotlight: Aubrey Cortright

By Danny Deering

Aubrey Cortright is a senior at Licking Heights High School and a dedicated member of the Licking Heights Marching Band color guard. Now in her second year with the program, Aubrey performs both flag and rifle, with rifle standing out as her favorite.

She says rifle is her favorite because she enjoys learning new techniques and values the challenge that comes with mastering them.

This year, Aubrey also takes on a special role in the marching band’s show, My Immortal, where she performs as a soloist in movement two. Outside of marching band, Aubrey stays active as a member of the school’s swim team.

Although she is not a squad leader, Aubrey still sees leadership as an important part of her role on the team. She believes it is important to help younger members grow and succeed, especially since they will one day be responsible for guiding the next generation of performers.

Aubrey says one of her favorite marching band show themes was En Route.

“En Route because it was really fun and upbeat,” she said.

Her favorite event the band has performed at was the 2024 Pumpkin Parade in Circleville, Ohio, a memorable experience for many members of the program.

When asked what she enjoys most about color guard, Aubrey did not hesitate.

“Making unforgettable memories at football games,” she said.

For students considering joining marching band or color guard, Aubrey offers honest but encouraging advice:

“It won’t be easy, but the memories and friends you’ll make will be all worth it.”

Through her dedication, positivity, and commitment to supporting others, Aubrey Cortright has made her mark on the Licking Heights color guard and helped create memories that will last long after the final performance.

Licking Heights Band Spotlight: Micheal Britton

By Danny Deering

12/01/2025

      Michael Britton is a clarinet player for the Licking Heights Marching Band. He is a senior at Licking Heights High School. Michael plays clarinet, bassoon, and trombone. He has been in the band for six years and started marching band in his freshman year, 2022. Outside of school, he spends his time playing in 4H Band and playing games with his online friends and his brother. If he could learn another instrument, it would be the Soprano Saxophone because, “I would choose the soprano saxophone because of its unique in-between of the sweet side of the clarinet and saxophone combined, also it looks cool.” Says Michael.

      Michael has good leadership skills and is on top of his priorities; handling school work, marching band, and 4h Band. He is also a squad leader for the clarinet section in the marching band. He is there to help rookies and his section. They have two section mascots who are stuffed animal geese, Sir Sillister Silly the Goose and Mrs. Sicilia the Goose.

      His favorite music piece he’s played is “Arabesque”. It is a wonderful piece of work. His Favorite marching band show theme is “My Immortal”, this year's 2025 show theme. With the show this year, he has a beautiful solo playing the clarinet in movement 3. His favorite event that he’s played at is Licking Heights vs. Watkins, October 7, 2022, because he quotes, “One of my best performances, where I got everything right”.

     Overall, Michael is an amazing clarinet player. Something that he would say to someone interested in joining marching band, “I would say that if you plan on joining marching band, you should be ok with being told what you need to do to improve, that way when you look back on how well you did during the season, you can see growth.”

LHHS Teacher Spotlight: Mr Doerr

By Arresana Milhoun and Hayley Stout

12/15/2025

Mr. Doerr has been teaching for 25 years, but this is his first year at Licking Heights. He teaches cybersecurity and Google Applications and especially enjoys teaching computer networking and network addressing. His favorite part of teaching is seeing students have that “aha” moment—when everything finally clicks and begins to make sense.

When asked about his funniest memory from teaching, Mr. Doerr shared a moment from his previous school. “One day in the Animal Management lab, a small dog was running around. I squatted down to pet it, and it ran over to me, hiked its leg, and proceeded to urinate on my shoe,” he said. “Getting peed on was not on my bingo card as a teacher.”

One thing Mr. Doerr wants students to know about him is that he returns the energy he receives. If students are respectful and kind, he will be the same in return. He was inspired to become a teacher by his family and his love for information technology. Teaching runs in his family, and he saw it as an opportunity to share his passion.

The best advice he has received came from his dad, who told him to “stay on good terms with the maintenance staff, janitors, and secretaries.” Outside of the classroom, Mr. Doerr enjoys hip-hop and classic rock music, podcasts, Star Wars, Doritos, video games, drag races, and carpentry. 

Licking Heights Band Spotlight: Eva Nogueras

By Danny Deering

11/5/2025

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Eva Nogueras is a senior at Licking Heights High School and is a color guard member in the Licking Heights Marching Band. Eva is also a senior at C-TEC studying Cybersecurity and Information Technology. In her free time, she enjoys either doing schoolwork or playing video games!

Not only is Nogueras a color guard member, but she is also a squad leader in her section. Eva is very passionate about helping out her section and is always there for the rookies or any questions that come her way. This is her fourth year of color guard, and she performs with flag, rifle, and saber. So far, Eva’s favorite band show would be My Immortal, this year's 2025 marching band show theme. Eva says, “My favorite part about the band would be going to competitions and actually competing.”

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Her favorite event every year is going to Newark for our final competition of the season, and this year it's the color guards' third year with Overall Best Auxiliary in AA band! Eva’s words for if you're interested in joining the marching band are, “If anyone wants to join band or color guard, do it! You find so many friends in and out of the Licking Heights Marching Band-o.”

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Licking Heights Band Spotlight: Aubrey Courtright

By Danny Deering

11/5/2025

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Aubrey Courtright is a color guard member at Licking Heights Marching Band. She is a senior at Licking Heights High School. Aubrey does flag and rifle. Rifle is her favorite because she loves learning new techniques that she learns are glorious. She has been in color guard for two years. Aubrey is a soloist in this year's marching band show, My Immortal, in movement two. In her free time, she is a part of the swim team.

Aubrey may not be a squad leader, but it’s important to her that rookies are taken care of and do their best because once the seniors are gone, it’s their responsibility to help the new rookies.

Aubrey's favorite marching band show theme is En Route, because “En Route it was really fun and upbeat”. Her favorite event that we’ve played at is the 2024 Pumpkin Parade in Circleville, Ohio. Courtright's favorite part of color guard is “Making unforgettable memories at football games,” she states. Her words for anyone who would like to join the marching band or color guard are, “It won't be easy, but the memories and friends you'll make will be all worth it.”

Licking Heights Band Spotlight: Michael Britton

By Danny Deering

9/26/2025

Michael Britton is a Senior clarinet player for the Licking Heights Marching Band. Michael not only plays clarinet but also the bassoon and trombone. He has been in the band for six years and started marching band in his freshman year, 2022. Outside of school, he spends his time playing in the 4H Band and playing games with his online friends and his brother. If he could learn another instrument, it would be the Soprano Saxophone because, “I would choose the soprano saxophone because of its unique in-between of the sweet side of the clarinet and saxophone combined, also it looks cool.” Says Michael.

Britton has good leadership skills and is on top of his priorities: handling school work, marching band, and the 4H Band. He is also a squad leader for the clarinet section in the marching band. He is there to help rookies and his section. To aid in his leadership, he has enlisted two section mascots (stuffed animal geese), Sir Sillister Silly the Goose and Mrs. Sicilia the Goose.

Michael has had his favorites over the years.  Michael’s favorite music piece he’s played is “Arabesque”, while his favorite marching band show theme he’s been a part of is “My Immortal”, this year's 2025 show theme. With the show this year, he has a solo playing the clarinet in movement 3. His favorite event that he’s played at is Licking Heights vs. Watkins, October 7, 2022, because he quotes, “One of my best performances, where I got everything right”.

Overall, Michael is an amazing clarinet player. Eh has one more piece of advice for anyone interested in joining marching band, “I would say that if you plan on joining marching band, you should be ok with being told what you need to do to improve, that way when you look back on how well you did during the season, you can see growth.”

LHHS Teacher Spotlight: Katerina Diaz 

By Blind Penn

2/7/2025

Katerina Diaz is one of our high school mathematics teachers here at Licking Heights High School, where she teaches Algebra 1 and Geometry. She is a hard-working,respected and well-liked teacher. Diaz grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, where she graduated from Alan B. Shepard High School.She also met her husband Alberto, in her high school art class. After high school, Diaz  went to Illinois State University. While enrolled at Illinois State University, Diaz spent a summer semester at Hokkaido University in Japan. Diaz always knew she loved to travel and had dreamed of studying abroad and this was her chance. Diaz later graduated Illinois State University with a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics.  

After Graduating Diaz and Alberto knew they didn't want to live in Illinois for the rest of their lives, but they had no clue where they wanted to go or how to even start the moving process. So they printed out a map of the entire United States and started by crossing out all the states they did not want to live in. The biggest thing was they wanted to experience all four seasons. They instantly crossed off the southern states because they don't get snow and the Diaz's love snow. The search for a state soon narrowed down to Minnesota and Ohio. Minnesota didn't get nearly hot enough in the summer for the Diazs. The search was over and Ohio was picked but where in Ohio? They had to live near a major city for Alberto's work. They started by narrowing it down to three major cities in Ohio and road tripped to Columbus and decided that was the place they wanted to live. 

Diaz enjoys hiking,backpacking,Brazilian Jiu Jistsu,reading and art. Diaz and her family enjoy long backpacking trips. They load all their equipment and drive to a park and often hike 2-3 miles into the woods. They then will set up camp and spend the night and hike back the next day.  Diaz and her husband often have 35-40 pounds of equipment in their backpacks while her kids often carry 10-15 pounds. 

When asked what motivated Diaz to be a teacher she said this, “I have always loved math. My Mom would give me math problems at night when I was a kid and we would work on them together. She had me doing double digit addition at four years old. Math always came easy to me… until I got to Geometry. It was the first time I had to think in math class and I LOVED it-- it quickly became my favorite. I especially loved proofs. I remember redoing proofs multiple times to see if they could be done in different ways. When we walked into class, we were expected to write the homework problems we needed help with on the board. Another student who understood the problem was expected to write their name next to the problem, work it out and then explain it to the class. I was told that I had to stop taking problems because I took too many, and then my Geometry teacher, Ms. Chang, told me that one day I would be a math teacher. I took a minute to think about it and decided then and there that she was right. Everything I did after that point was to become a math teacher.”

This is Diaz's fourth year at Licking Heights where she has no plans of leaving. When asked what Diaz likes about Licking Heights she said “I love the students and my coworkers. Greeting students every day, whether they are my current students, past students, or students I have not had, makes me happy. The students here are good people and I love being part of their lives, even if it is only for a little while. I hope they all move on to find success in whatever way that looks like for them. I have also built some really great relationships with my coworkers. There are some really great people here at Licking Heights.”

Staff Spotlight: Ginny Schrader 

By Blind Penn

11/25/2024

Ginny Schrader is a high school mathematics teacher at Licking Heights. She is a hard working, well respected teacher. Schrader grew up in a small town named Lima, New York, where she graduated from Honeoye Falls High School. After high school, Schrader went to SUNY Geneseo, where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in  Elementary Education and  Special Education with a concentration in Mathematics. Following undergrad, Schrader attended Elmira College where she earned her Masters Degree in Reading. While  she originally studied to be an elementary/special education teacher, her principal convinced her to obtain a secondary math certification. 

She met her husband, Adam, during her junior year of college (SUNY Geneseo). After she graduated they lived and worked in NY for a few years before moving southwest to Texas for Adam's work. She lived in The Woodlands, Texas for 4 years before moving to Ohio for Adam’s job in 2011. She stayed home with her kids for a couple of years and in 2014 Mrs. Schrader began teaching at Heights. This is her 10th year at Heights and she has no plans on leaving. 

When asked why Schrader likes Licking Heights she responded “Licking Heights has so many different types of students with such fun and unique personalities. I am constantly having to change and improve my teaching techniques to meet my student population and that challenges me everyday. I enjoy teaching at Licking Heights because there is never a dull moment. I also enjoy the staff at the Licking Heights as they have become some of my best friends.” Schrader enjoys traveling to new places with her husband and enjoys taking long bike rides and hikes.