The former bassist of “The Hard Lessons” and frontman of “The Foolish Heads” isn’t rocking out on the stage anymore. He is, however, still a frontman of sorts, serving as Utica’s new principal.
Principal Thomas Lietz has a long history in Utica Community Schools. He grew up nearby at 21 Mile and Hayes roads with his two brothers. He was a graduate of Eisenhower High School, where he was the president of the German Club and a college scholar for debate.
“My debate teacher, Mr. Pfannes, was a huge influence in my life,” Lietz said. “He was the one who pushed me and helped me see my full potential. He’s definitely the reason I decided to go into education.”
Lietz is still a student himself, working toward his PhD at Michigan State. After high school, however, he attended Wayne State, where he completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees.
After college, Lietz returned to Eisenhower, where he taught several classes, ranging from social studies to theatre. He also returned to the debate team, this time as a coach.
“It was bizarre to return to Ike as a teacher and coach,” Lietz said, “but bizarrely natural because it was what I wanted to do.”
From there, Lietz moved into administration as an assistant principal at Heritage Junior High, and served as the director of the Utica Academy for International Studies before coming to Utica High.
“I was very excited to come here actually,” Lietz said. “I’ve heard great things about this school throughout the years, whether it was from my friends in high school or colleagues over the last few years. One thing that will never change about Utica is its sense of family and community.”
Because he’s new to the school, Lietz doesn’t have any specific plans for changes at the moment.
“I don’t know a whole lot about Utica, but I’m slowly learning,” Lietz said. “There are a lot of great things happening at this school, and I’d like to start by building on those things.”
Lietz’s personal life revolves around his family. His wife, Liz, currently works as an instructional coach in Novi Schools. The couple has two children, two-year-old Charlotte and eight-month-old William. Charlotte already shares her dad’s love of music, and already says she’s going to be a musician, just like Lietz.
“Music is definitely one of my passions,” Lietz said. “I even wrote and performed a song to propose to my wife.”
Lietz’s all-time favorite band is Mumford and Sons because he particularly enjoys their lyrics.
“Anything written by the group is amazing because they’re beautiful writers,” Lietz said. “The song ‘Without Haste’ is currently my favorite. Mumford and Sons is definitely the band I’m stuck on.”