The New Hampshire School Administrators Association and the Monadnock Regional School District are proud to share that Superintendent Lisa A. Witte served as distinguished lecturer at the 81st Annual NHSAA Conference.
Superintendent Witte was selected as the 2022 Superintendent of the Year for her focus on the growth of all children, her vocal support for public policy change, and for navigating her District through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Superintendent Witte spoke to education leaders from across the state at the Mountain View Grand Resort in Whitefield on Tuesday, June 28. She spoke about Three Little Words — her core values of integrity, empathy, and passion — and about her family and the educators who molded her as a child in Maine.
She quoted T.S. Eliot: “Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.”
Superintendent Witte told a story about her competitiveness in school, which became so strong that she committed an ethical lapse to best a rival. She confessed the next day. Her teacher used the incident as a life lesson, rather than punishing her. So did her father.
“How many of you know a teacher, maybe in one of your schools, whose immediate response to this scenario would be ‘you get a zero and a week’s worth of detention’ instead of seizing this teachable moment? The fact that this happened over 40 years ago and I’m still talking about it only reinforces the power that teachers have that extends far beyond their grasp of content,” Superintendent Witte said.
“Do the right thing. We all make mistakes. What we do after matters,” she said.
Superintendent Witte also recalled her third-grade teacher, who showed her students kindness and compassion in any circumstance.
“She taught us that kindness matters. She helped us see the world through someone else’s eyes, walk in their shoes,” she said, adding that through those lessons children grew into kind and compassionate adults.
She praised fellow administrators for enduring the stresses of maintaining a high level of professionalism during COVID-19, noting the social and emotional toll it has taken on many leaders. She urged her colleagues to reconnect with a passion, or to find a new one. Superintendent Witte has started running again, and has become a call firefighter and emergency medical technician in her hometown.
“Find your passion. Find it again if you lost it. It’s probably right where you left it,” she said.
Superintendent Witte began her education career as an elementary school teacher in Pennsylvania. She ascended to roles of increasing responsibility, including Athletic Director and Assistant Principal. She served as Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment for SAU 34 before being selected as Superintendent for the Monadnock District beginning July 2015. She is one of just five New Hampshire superintendents to have completed the National Superintendent Certification Program, administered by the American Association of School Administrators.
“Thank you to the NHSAA for this honor, to the NHSAA Nominating Committee, and to members for their leadership, mentorship, and friendship. It is a great honor to be selected as 2022 Superintendent of the Year from such a talented group of educators,” Superintendent Witte said. “I also want to thank our Monadnock leadership team for their tireless efforts on behalf of our students, and my family and friends for their being a constant source of support and inspiration.”
Superintendent Witte offers special thanks to those who nominated her for Superintendent of the Year for their support: Members of the Monadnock Regional School Board, Monadnock school administrators, SAU 58 Superintendent Ronna HasBrouck, and SAU 65 Superintendent Winfried Feneberg, 2021’s Superintendent of the Year.
