Our Team

Scott Laman has recently been named as the principal of Lakota West High School. Mr. Laman served as an assistant principal from 2020-2021 and an associate principal from 2021 to August 2024. He has served the Lakota Local School District since 2015, previously as a teacher at Ridge Junior School.

Mr. Laman enjoys seeing students chase their dreams in the classroom, through extracurriculars and on the field of play. He graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Education. He obtained his Administrative License through Findlay University.

Jason Jackson is the associate principal at Lakota West Main Campus for students with last names A-L. He has been an administrator at Lakota West since 2005. 

Mr. Jackson likes working with teachers, students and staff to make their experiences at Lakota West better. Prior to coming to Lakota West, Mr. Jackson was an administrator and teacher at Kings, Lakota and Madison school districts.
 

Kate Joseph has been in education since 2005. She served as the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) coordinator for grades 9-12, an innovation specialist and a social studies teacher. Mrs. Joseph loves getting to know students and faculty. They push her to be a better educator all around.

Mrs. Joseph graduated from Miami University with a B.S. in adolescent education in 2005 and earned her Masters Degree in educational administration from the University of Cincinnati in 2010.  She is married to a Lakota educator and is the mother to three boys who keep her busy, but very connected to the the Lakota community. She loves things all things Cincinnati including the Bearcats, Bengals, and the Reds. 
 

Scott Kaufman is both an assistant principal and athletic director for Lakota West High School. He coordinates all interscholastic athletic programs, as well as monitoring student activity groups. 

He has over three decades of experience in education and has been at Lakota West since 2011. Lakota West is rich in athletic history and he is proud to be a part of the team. He and others have worked hard to give student-athletes the finest facilities and opportunities in their chosen sport, thanks to a committed booster group, exceptional coaches as well as district leadership and a Board of Education who celebrate the value of strong education-based athletics.

Questions and/or concerns should be initially directed to the sport's head coach or program leader. General questions about athletics can be sent to Mr. Kaufman, who will respond or forward to the appropriate department.

Kathy Williams has been the office manager at Lakota West High School since December 2018. She has been with Lakota School District since 2000. She worked at Lakota West for most of those years, except for four years when she worked at Lakota Central Office in the Special Services department. Mrs. Williams enjoys working with the staff and students of Lakota West.

Taryn Barker has been an assistant principal at Lakota West High School's Freshman Campus since 2021. She previously worked in other districts as a special education coordinator, intervention specialist,and English teacher.

Mrs. Barker enjoys working with students each day and helping them make successful transitions into high school as they begin to discover their interests and develop future plans. Mrs. Barker earned her Bachelor's degree at the University of Cincinnati and has a Master's degrees in Special Education and Administration from Xavier University and Miami University, respectively.