The Student-Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) is transforming the landscape of athletics through its connection to the community and Lakewood schools. Creator and athletic director Rob Slone joined Lakewood High School in 2022 and immediately started working to support the administration. SALT has now been operational for 4 years. One of the most important events hosted by this program is Teacher Appreciation Night.
Teacher Appreciation Night happens once a year for each sport. Each senior picks a teacher who made a significant impact on them throughout their career and honors them in front of friends and family. On Wednesday, Sept. 10, the girls’ varsity soccer team had their 2025 Teacher Appreciation Night.
One of the seniors, Alexandra Adamov, felt honored to recognize Andre Bruwer, her engineering teacher. “Teacher Appreciation Night is a good chance for me to have a spotlight teacher,” Adamov said. “I know we have a Teacher Appreciation Week, but this is a chance where I get to say, ‘This is a teacher I really like and here’s why.’” Adamov walked out to Bruwer and gave him a gift bag to show the impact he made on her life.
SALT is not only impacting the students, but also their teachers. Teachers Joe Lobozzo and Autumn Sabin, two selections for this year’s Appreciation Night, have enjoyed watching the SALT program grow. “I remember when things started with a meeting,” Lobozzo said. “And now to watch them host events bringing teachers to games and working with the Sunshine Committee and other teachers’ groups has been surprisingly great.”
Not only is this event an honor, but it also adds some fun to the school environment. The teachers do not know who has selected them for the event. Sabin has her own point of view on this. “When I got the email about it, and then the students not telling me who, when I know I have some girls in my classes that are on the team,” she said, “it adds a lot of fun in the classroom.”
The SALT team creates a sense of mystery for the teachers’ night.
Teachers are leaders in the classroom. This leadership is one of the main reasons Slone wants to honor teachers on each of these nights. “I think it’s so important to be able to recognize the people that shape our young kids in the school districts,” Slone said.
SALT is made up of leaders at the student level—leaders in their classes, on their teams, and in their lives. “We talk about being leaders and creating leadership opportunities, and I think the teachers do that on a daily basis,” Slone said. “This is our way to give something back to them, letting them know how important they are in what they do every day.”
The Student-Athlete Leadership Team is a way to show respect to all parts of the Lakewood community. It is essential to recognize and honor the teachers who are the main source of impact for students from ages 5 to 18.
Lobozzo and Sabin both agree that being chosen by the students is a significant honor. Sabin said, “Teaching art is one thing, but I think being a mentor and showing kids how to grow up and how to become themselves is the biggest part of what I do.” Lobozzo added, “Mentoring is its own reward, and it really is, but it’s a tireless job, and so anytime somebody says ‘I see you,’ it feels good.”
This is the whole point of Slone starting these nights. He wanted to reach out to the teaching community and show them that they are appreciated and have a positive impact. And by Lobozzo’s ending line, it was a success.
As stated before, SALT works to include and honor all aspects of the Lakewood community. Along with teachers, there are also military appreciation nights, the well-known youth nights, Senior nights, and many more events in the works. The Student-Athlete Leadership Team is working extra hard to connect the Lakewood community with its students, and so far, they are off to an excellent start.
