Madison, 11, just finished at Bear Lake Elementary this spring and will start Teague Middle School in the fall. Emily, 8, will continue at Bear Lake, where she won the 2nd grade Academic Excellence Award, and Madison won the Presidential Award. “The  standard for the Presidential Award is straight A’s in 4th and 5th grade, no tardies, no nuthin’,” says proud papa Mike. He and Lisa credit the teachers for that and the music teacher, Dr. Artie Almeida, in particular. “What impressed me was [her] love of music, and how she made those kids love music and how it made them feel important. The music program was one of the added bonuses that Lisa and I didn’t know about in the Seminole County School district before choosing it.”

Lisa volunteers at Bear Lake Elementary through the Dividends program. That gives her the chance to see first-hand how effective the schools are. She enjoys working with the children and faculty so much that she recently accepted a position there as an instructional classroom assistant.

As if volunteering at school, running the household and taking her busy daughters to their activities (like tumbling/gymnastics and cheerleading) weren’t enough, Lisa has embarked on a new business venture: custom jewelry. She started her company, Friend n’ Me Custom Jewelry, with her sisters, Milissa and Jennifer, and a friend, both in Michigan. Most of their sales are through home parties that Milissa holds in Michigan, but the three partners have plans for expansion, including a Web site. (For more about Lisa’s jewelry, e-mail Mike at mholfeld@wkmg.com, and Lisa will get in touch with you.)  

And around town

When the Holfelds arrived, they had high hopes for their new hometown, and in some respects their new hometown has exceeded their expectations.

“There’s a pride of ownership in the community we chose,” says Mike. Lisa finds it easy to meet new people because there are people here from all around the country, many of them in similar situations. “They aren’t from here and they haven’t been here long,” she says. “Everyone wants to find [new] friends, and having something in common makes it easier to bond.”

At home, the Holfelds like to garden, and even involve the kids. Gardening here was a big transition from Michigan. “Because of the different climate, we’re still   struggling with which flowers work here and which ones don’t,” says Lisa. “We also love upgrading the home and choosing designs and colors.”

The high caliber of local stores and restaurants were a pleasant surprise, which means there’s no need to travel far to find what they want. The Holfelds do everything as a family. “We like to go to parks, the beach, and theme parks,” Lisa says. They also like the diversity of Seminole County, and they enjoy the arts. “One thing we’ve always loved are art fairs,” she says. “The big one in Michigan is Ann Arbor. The are art fairs here aren’t as large,  but they have very talented artists.” In keeping with his musical heritage, Mike is trying to get the girls interested in musicals. “He’s taken the girls to a few operas because of his mother’s background. They don’t like opera, but they do like musicals,” she says.

As for Mike, he also enjoys staying informed. “He likes to read magazines and watch cable business news. If he wasn’t a reporter,” says Lisa, “he would have been a stockbroker, or owned a nursery.”