[00:00:02] **Announcer:**
It’s time to get in the loop with LPS, the official podcast of Liberty Public Schools. From the latest school and district news updates on various district hot topics and opportunities to meet all of those that help make LPS great, *In the Loop with LPS* is here to provide yet another opportunity for us to stay connected with you.

[00:00:24] **Announcer:**
So let’s get started and send you to the longtime Director of Communications with Liberty Public Schools and your host of *In the Loop with LPS*, Dallas Ackerman.

[00:00:36] **Dallas Ackerman:**
We welcome everyone back. This is *In the Loop with LPS*, the official podcast of Liberty Public Schools, coming to you from the District Administration Center. My name is Dallas Ackerman, and I want to welcome a special guest with us. At this time of year, we want to celebrate and honor our veterans, and when you think about LPS and veterans, somebody that comes instantly to my mind is **Jason Maeder**.

[00:01:11] **Dallas Ackerman:**
Jason, they call me the longtime LPS communications director, and you just told me you officially completed twenty-five years in Liberty Public Schools. Does that make you a longtime LPS staff member?

[00:01:29] **Jason Maeder:**
I guess one could say that. Dallas, I think I remember your predecessor, Jim Dunn. It goes back a ways. The ride here for a quarter of a century has gone fast, and I’m glad to be here with this great school system, great people, and all the patrons. I appreciate everybody’s support.

[00:02:01] **Dallas Ackerman:**
So twenty-five years. What I like to do on these podcasts is kind of start prior to LPS — the get-to-know-Jason-Maeder portion. Where were you born, where did you grow up, and how did you find Liberty Public Schools?

[00:02:26] **Jason Maeder:**
I was born in Iowa, a small rural area, and graduated from Pekin High School in 1989. I went to William Penn College, now William Penn University, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. I played college football and stuck it out for four years. If you start something, you’ve got to finish it — that’s kind of been my motto.

[00:03:24] **Jason Maeder:**
College was expensive. My father was in the Army National Guard, my middle brother had joined, and I knew I wanted to be a teacher and a coach. So I decided to enlist. It was four days after Iraq invaded Kuwait. A lot of friends wondered what I was thinking, but I had made a commitment.

[00:04:22] **Jason Maeder:**
I became a combat medic, completed my training in San Antonio, Texas, and came back in early June. I continued serving part-time while finishing college and teaching.

[00:05:59] **Jason Maeder:**
I started teaching in 1994 at a small rural school, then moved into elementary P.E. and coaching. Eventually, I came to Missouri, taught and coached there, and in 1999 Liberty Public Schools opened up. I had no connections here, but went through the interview process and was hired.

[00:08:28] **Jason Maeder:**
I started teaching elementary health at Manor Hill in the fall of 1999. I’ve taught summer school, driver’s education, coached football and basketball, and stayed active in the district ever since.

[00:09:47] **Jason Maeder:**
After 9/11, I was deployed three times. One deployment to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, another to Iraq where we were stationed at a detention facility, and later a peacekeeping mission in Egypt with the multinational force and observers.

[00:15:40] **Jason Maeder:**
I came back to Liberty Public Schools each time and continued teaching and coaching. Recently, I stepped back from football but still help with ninth-grade boys basketball. I retired from the Army about eighteen months ago after more than thirty years of service.

[00:16:37] **Jason Maeder:**
Liberty Public Schools is a special place. I always come back, and I appreciate the administrative support, coworkers, students, and community.

[00:17:11] **Jason Maeder:**
Deployments are inconvenient and difficult. You have to shift priorities and prepare mentally, physically, and spiritually. It’s a matter of life and death, and you develop what’s called a “battle mind.”

[00:21:28] **Jason Maeder:**
One way I showed appreciation was having flags flown overseas and bringing them back. Some of those flags are now displayed in LPS buildings. That’s always meant a lot to me.

[00:22:46] **Jason Maeder:**
I’ve been at EPiC Elementary since it opened in 2014-15. I teach elementary P.E. and help with adaptive P.E. across the district.

[00:23:46] **Dallas Ackerman:**
Again, **Jason Maeder** is our guest this week. EPiC has always gone out of its way to recognize you and your service, especially around Veterans Day.

[00:24:21] **Jason Maeder:**
It really means a lot. Liberty has grown tremendously, and it’s been an honor to be part of that growth.

[00:26:29] **Jason Maeder:**
The Veterans Day breakfast is a powerful event. It’s great to see students honoring veterans and understanding the commitment they made.

[00:27:49] **Dallas Ackerman:**
What’s your message to young people considering military service?

[00:28:00] **Jason Maeder:**
Do your homework. It’s a unique commitment and not the only path, but it can be incredibly meaningful. You don’t have to decide right out of high school.

[00:30:59] **Jason Maeder:**
When former students reach out years later, it’s humbling. You realize the impact you’ve had, even when you didn’t know it at the time.

[00:32:59] **Dallas Ackerman:**
We finish every episode with three random questions. Jason, as a kid, what was your favorite P.E. game?

[00:33:54] **Jason Maeder:**
Dodgeball and scooter hockey.

[00:37:56] **Jason Maeder:**
If I could break bread with past presidents, I’d choose Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and George W. Bush.

[00:40:26] **Jason Maeder:**
At Thanksgiving, it’s the stuffing — homemade stuffing. You can’t beat it.

[00:41:25] **Dallas Ackerman:**
Jason, thank you so much for joining us, for your service, and for twenty-five years in Liberty Public Schools. Happy Veterans Day.

[00:41:40] **Dallas Ackerman:**
Thanks to everyone for listening. We look forward to reconnecting with you next week on *In the Loop with LPS*.

[00:41:56] **Announcer:**
Thanks for choosing to spend a few minutes with us and getting in the loop with LPS. This has been a production of the Liberty Public Schools Communications Office.

[00:42:23] **Announcer:**
For more about this podcast and all you need to know about LPS, visit lps53.org.