Staff Members of the Month: Lacorie Steppe and Chad White

In an unusual move, the school has nominated two Flucos to be the Staff Member of the month for November, specifically Safety Resource Officer Lacorie Steppe, and teacher Chad White.

Officer Steppe is a fairly new member of the Fluco team, having worked at FCHS for just 10 months, “ I made the decision to come to this school because of my passion for helping the youth,” said Steppe. After graduating from Charlottesville High School in 2008, he attended Virginia State University and is currently enrolled at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

“On a day-to-day, I am in the hallways guiding our wandering students back to class. The majority of my time consist of doing a lot of preventative work. This includes mediating students who have confrontations, notifying administration of possible disruptions, meeting with parents, checking the parking lots and exterior doors and staying visible in the hallways,” said Steppe.

“The worst and most challenging part of my job is responding to accidents in our county with students involved. All 1,400 students are classified as my kids. From the time students leave this school until the time they step foot on their parents doorstep they are mine. I have an obligation to ensure that all my students make it home and school safely.”

A Fluvanna native, Chad White has been teaching since he graduated from college in 2001. After attending Virginia Commonwealth University for his undergrad and the University of Phoenix for his graduate degree, White is now a Geometry and Special-Ed teacher, as well as basketball coach. “My favorite part of the job is teaching and interacting with my students,” said White. He is a husband and a father to two children, Meyah and Chazz. “I would like to thank my colleagues for this tremendous show of respect and appreciation. Although this a great honor, this is definitely not why I do what I do. It’s about educating kids and changing lives,” White said.