Our Team

Mr. Burnside has served as the principal of Lakota East High School since August 2021. An original Thunderhawk, he was an English teacher when Lakota East opened in 1997 before leaving the district to enter administration. He returned to Lakota East as the associate principal of East Freshman Campus prior to moving into his current role after a stint as the principal of New Richmond High School. His passion as an educator is to create a school culture where students feel excited about learning and attending and staff feel there is no other place where they would rather be, and he loves seeing #theEASTway evolve each and every day. Outside of school, he and his wife, Angelique, are the parents of 6 children. He enjoys reading, writing, hiking and traveling when he is away from school.

Mr. MacFarlane has worked in the Lakota School District since 2014 and has been an assistant principal in charge of students with the last name L-Z at Lakota East since 2019. Before he started teaching in the suburbs of Chicago in 2007, he completed his undergrad from DePaul University and earned his master's from Concordia University Chicago. He is a fan of all things Lakota East and enjoys positively impacting the lives of others. 

Mrs. Fugate has been in education for 22 years as an English teacher and an assistant principal. She graduated from Miami University and Wright State. This is her first year at  Lakota East. In her role, she oversees students with last names beginning with A-K.

Deputy Hale began working in Lakota in 1995. He has been the school resource officer (SRO) at Lakota East since the school opened 1997.

Deputy Hale enjoys being around the students, building positive relationships with them and being able to assist them if help is needed. He enjoys seeing the students laughing and having fun, as school resources officers enjoy this as well.

Since 1985, Deputy Hale has worked with the Butler County Sheriff's Office on the road, in detectives, crime prevention and then as an SRO position for Lakota. He is a founding board member of the Ohio School Resource Office and now serves as president.

Deputy Hale takes his role as school resource officer very seriously and is committed to the safety and security of Lakota East. He encourages parents to reach out to him if they have a need, question or anything to report about their child or another student.

Mrs. Hetterich worked at Ridge Junior High and Liberty Junior High for 3 years in the cafeteria and as an instructional aide before joining the Lakota East Team in 2019. She is responsible for attendance for sophomores, juniors and seniors. Mrs. Hetterich has 4 children who have all attended Lakota East.

Mrs. Linder spent two years at Shawnee Early Childhood School before joining the Lakota East team in 2014. As office manager, she is responsible for school communication and purchasing for the building. She also works with the school substitutes, assisting with any concerns.

Mrs. Linder earned a BA in Communication Arts from University of Cincinnati and has an MBA from Xavier University. She has 3 children who all attended Lakota East High School.
 

Ms. Meiring is beginning her first year as the Athletic Director at Lakota East, and her sixth year overall in the district. She was previously the Assistant Athletic Director and Facilities Manager at East and has extensive experience in athletic administration and coaching. As a former basketball coach, Ms. Meiring coached collegiately at Transylvania University and Marietta College, as well as Hamilton High School and Saint Ursula Academy. During her time at SUA, Meiring was also the head field hockey coach for one year and assistant Athletic Director.  Ms. Meiring is looking forward to a great sports season for all of our Thunderhawk student-athletes!

Mrs. Myers joined the Lakota East team in 2018. She is the Main Office Secretary and is  responsible for issuing work permits and parking passes.  She has two children who both attended Lakota East High School.