As Southern Lehigh High School returns to in-person instruction this year, many new staff members have come aboard to serve the school. Among them, you may notice an energetic new instructional assistant: the ever-cheerful Mrs. Lisa Fidler. 

Mrs. Fidler may be new to Southern Lehigh, but she is not unfamiliar with working in school settings. Before moving north, she lived in Pasco County, Florida, where she worked as the Disciplinary Assistant for Hudson Elementary School. For her, it was an easy decision to work with Southern Lehigh once she moved to Pennsylvania.

“The school has a great reputation. The interview was great, and I knew I wanted to be at a high school,” Mrs. Fidler said. “So far, it’s been even better than I thought it would be.”

Her career in education has taken her through many settings, from elementary school classrooms to college lecture halls. However, her positive experiences with older students have largely influenced her decision to join the SLHS staff.

“I’ve worked with students of all ages over the years, and I think I’ve found my niche working with high school students,” Mrs. Fidler said. “I get to do a variety of responsibilities.”

She enjoys the satisfying aspect of helping students work through obstacles, which was part of what drew her to the role of instructional assistant.

“[My favorite part of my job is] being able to help students with what they’re struggling with. There’s a lot of surprises in education, and I like that,” Mrs. Fidler said.

Students may see Mrs. Fidler helping students with their study skills alongside other teachers like Mrs. Erica Groendal or Mrs. Jennifer McLaughlin, or assisting Mr. Edward Sinkler’s Applied Biology classes.

Outside of school, Mrs. Fidler maintains a very active life. She enjoys practicing lacrosse with her daughter and walking her Pyrenees dog, Moki. She also has a poodle named Duck, and a tegu lizard named Tiki. Her favorite movie is the 1994 classic “The Shawshank Redemption,” which she finds to have a particularly compelling theme.

“It’s a love story between two friends, which you don’t see very often,” she said, “and it’s about karma.”

Being experienced in helping others through their issues, Mrs. Fidler shares a nugget of wisdom for students and staff alike:

“Step back and try to live in the moment,” she said. “We are all trying to either live in the past or go forward, but we need to learn to live in the moment.”