A Higher Calling: Lisa Wojciechowski Schulz is Passionate About Teaching at Austin Catholic High School
Written by Doug Goodnough
Lisa Wojciechowski Schulz, ’87, watched the 1976 Olympics from her living room television and decided she wanted to compete in track and field.
She spurned an offer from the Air Force out of high school and signed with Hillsdale College and its powerhouse women’s track and field program. After a career that saw her earn NAIA All-American honors and a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in the 600-meter run, Schulz said she still has that competitive spirit—just in other areas of her life.
Schulz is currently a teacher and leader at Austin Catholic High School in northern Macomb County, Michigan. She helped begin the small Augustinian school along with a motivated group of parents in 2011, and served as its first administrator and athletic director. Now teaching psychology, theology, health and physical education, Schulz said she enjoys Austin’s holistic style of teaching.
“When you teach at a Catholic high school, you try to offer whatever is needed,” said Schulz, who taught at her alma mater, Warren Cousino High School, earlier in her career before leaving to raise her son and daughter with her husband, Eric. “I just love teaching.”
Schulz completed her master’s degree in theology from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, and briefly served in the Navy Reserve. Besides her teaching duties, she also runs the school’s archery and Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) clubs.
At Hillsdale, she was a versatile runner, competing in the 200-, 400-, 600-, and 800-meter runs as well as running a leg on the mile relay for three years. She said becoming an All-American in the 600 at the NAIA Indoor Championships was a highlight of her career.
“I would get nervous before every race,” said Schulz, who was also an NAIA Academic All-American. “It didn’t matter whether it was freshman to senior year, I was always nervous. But I wouldn’t change my experience for the world.”
She said Dr. John Willson and Dr. Charles Ransford were two of her favorite professors while at Hillsdale.
“He was so animated, and I would just sit in the front and watch him walk back and forth,” the psychology major said of Ransford’s teaching style. “And I teach just like he does.”
She said she remains close with her former coach and mentor, Diane Philipp, as well as many of her Charger teammates.
“I grew as a person here,” said Schulz, who was a member of the Campus Crusade for Christ while at Hillsdale. “The friends are what I remember the most.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in August 2023