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| Lance Baird harbors political ambitions. After graduation from Heritage in 1999, he attended Princeton where he majored in Politics (not Political Science) and minored in Political Economy. The Political Economy minor came about largely as a result of the influence of Mr. Mark Gruskin who teaches Economics at our school. Lance says, “Mr. Gruskin had a large influence on me in support of the Ivy Leagues in general (Gruskin is a Penn graduate) and developing a passion for Economics. His approach to teaching with his detailed knowledge and caring about his students made it very easy to learn.” For now, Lance is a Senior Account Executive at AccuWeather, in the newspaper division, and he works and resides in State College, Pennsylvania. He moved there largely because his high school sweetheart, Maryjo Oster (Heritage ‘99), now attends college at Penn State. She is working toward a PhD in Education Theory and Policy. After she receives her doctorate, the couple plans to explore the opportunities available in New York or D.C. Lance recently learned that he broke the annual, all-time company record in the Newspaper Sales division, and there are still a couple of months left in the year. Lance would like to eventually move into managerial/executive roles and plans to earn enough money to properly invest and perhaps pursue national politics or teaching. “I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to being a governor or President of the United States some day...” His current job allows quite a bit of opportunity for travel, which Lance enjoys. He represents AccuWeather in ten states, Mexico, the Caribbean and all of Canada. While at Heritage, Lance was an officer in both National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society. He also did work for the Special Olympics and was very involved in Patriot athletics. He played JV and Varsity Basketball, Track and Field, Roller Hockey and FOOTBALL. It’s the football that provides some of his fondest memories at Heritage. During his senior year in Varsity Football, he was co-captain of an “incredible team that despite all the odds and obstacles (nobody EVER thought we'd make it that far), made it to the state championship for the first time in school history.” |
 This very successful and ambitious young man has some words of wisdom for Heritage students based on his own experiences. “..if American Heritage School prepared me, and eventually you, for anything, I would say it's the following—always give it everything you’ve got. I can't tell you how many times I thought learning Calculus felt like learning Chinese, or missing a block felt like losing the Super Bowl, but in these circumstances, my teacher, Coach Walker and (then Coach) Dean Don Ullmann encouraged me through it; I learned to give it everything I had, both then and now. And while I can't guarantee you'll be the very best at whatever you do, I can promise that your life will be fulfilled no matter what challenge you'll face if you live by those six words. After all, this is the kind of success a final grade or a final score can never rob you of, wouldn't you agree?” |