Saddlewood paraprofessional chosen as finalist for statewide school employee of the year

Edward Lanza (center) [Courtesy of Marion County Public Schools]

Saddlewood Elementary’s Edward Lanza has been named as a finalist for the statewide School-Related Employee of the Year award.

Lanza, a paraprofessional who assists in the school’s media center, was selected as a finalist for the entire state of Florida after winning Marion County’s School-Related Employee of the Year honor in December 2023.

“I feel very proud and honored to be selected for this, really,” Lanza said.

In the Saddlewood media center, Lanza works to check in and out books for students, manages the Chromebook computers, troubleshoots and fixes technology issues, he said.

Lanza previously worked at Sunrise Elementary School, and when Saddlewood Principal Heather Lipira saw Lanza’s application for a vacancy at Saddlewood, she said she “scooped him up” as soon as she could.

Lanza’s son Christopher Lanza works as the media specialist at Ward-Highlands Elementary School. Christopher Lanza was a finalist for Marion County’s Teacher of the Year award in 2021.

“I just knew his son’s work ethic work ethic and knew that Mr. Lanza was very similar to his son, and so I got him over here to work in my inclusion classroom to work with my special needs students,” Lipira said.

Marion County Public Schools spokesperson Kevin Christian said the Florida Department of Education informed the district that the winner of the School-Related Employee of the Year competition will be chosen within the next few weeks.

Even with the statewide recognition Lanza is receiving, Lipira said that the paraprofessional is extremely humble and will continue his hard work.

“(I’ll) keep going every day,” Lanza said. “As our secretary Alice says, I’m like a dog with a bone—I just keep going on.”

Part of Lanza’s strong work ethic can be attributed to his military service. He served as an infantry soldier in Vietnam from 1970 until 1976, he said. Lanza also served as the deputy chief of a New York volunteer fire department.

“I think he’s a jack-of-all-trades and a master of all,” Lipira said.

For Saddlewood’s 1,034 students, the principal said the staff shares a common goal to “do what is good for the children.”

“We just want to have kids who are happy and safe and feel loved at school, and he does a really great job of making sure that he impacts them in that way as well,” Lipira said. “I’m very proud of what he does.”

After eight years of working at Saddlewood, Lanza said working with the students is what motivates him.

“Even if I get through to one child and have them succeed, it’s very satisfying,” Lanza said.