New Teacher Spotlight: Flatonia’s Lauren Hoffman

With school about to start, the Record is profiling one new teacher at each of the county’s five public schools over the next few editions of the newspaper. Here’s our first installment:

Lauren Hoffman joins Flatonia ISD this year as the new head volleyball coach. She will also teach English in the high school.

Hoffman graduated from Shiner High School in 2013 and went on to study at UTSA. She coached club volleyball for the Alamo Volleyball Association in San Antonio. Her first coaching and teaching job was at Comfort ISD. She went on to coach at New Braunfels High School, where she served as head freshman volleyball coach and varsity assistant coach. She was at Katy ISD for one year before coming to Flatonia.

“We finished fourth last year, and we have seven returners,” Hoffman said. “We have a lot of kids coming up in the program who will be huge assets to what we’re trying to accomplish. I’m really excited.”

Flatonia’s district includes Schulenburg, Shiner, Weimar, Louise and Ganado. Schulenburg’s volleyball team, which made it to the State tournament last year, will likely be Flatonia’s toughest competition.

“With Shiner, there’s always been that rivalry, too,” Hoffman said. “The gym gets pretty packed. It’ll be different, coaching against my alma mater, but it’ll be good. I actually played in the (Shiner) alumni game last Saturday. It was weird, but it was fun.”

Hoffman said Flatonia’s success academically and athletically drew her to the district.

“Flatonia performs really well academically, and that’s a good reputation to go into a school that does that,” she said. “And the kids want to excel as well, academically and athletically.”

Hoffman will teach English at the 11th grade level along with one advanced placement (AP) English class.

“I love how creative you can get with English,” she said. “There are so many classical books that you can relate to today’s time. With juniors, you also have some more freedom with writing and getting them prepared for college. I enjoy writing.”

Hoffman said she enjoys reading historical fiction. But recently, she said, a co-worker introduced her to the fantasy writings of Sarah J. Mass.

“Fantasy’s not really my thing, but I read the first book and then devoured the rest of them,” she said. “‘Crescent City’ is a really good book. She’s my top author right now.”

Hoffman is the daughter of veteran coach and school administrator Brad Oden, who now serves as an assistant principal in Flatonia.

“Growing up a coach’s kid, I’ve always wanted to work with him,” she said. “He really inspires the youth. So I’m kind of keeping it in the family business.”

Hoffman and her husband have a two year old daughter, and she said they look forward to raising her in a small town.

“We’re back in a small town and we’re excited to bring these values and morals to our two-year-old,” Hoffman said. “She is a little spitfire. She loves being outside. She’s a water baby, so we find ourselves at the pool and go to the beach a lot. Spending time with family is a huge priority of mine.”