Humans of Lambert

Mrs.+Theresa+Adamczyk%2C+the+special+education+and+career+tech+teacher+at+Lambert+High+School%2C+speaks+about+her+experience+as+the+graduation+coach.

Maddie Parris

Mrs. Theresa Adamczyk, the special education and career tech teacher at Lambert High School, speaks about her experience as the graduation coach.

Shreya Desai, Staff Writer

“As graduation coach, it is our responsibility to provide support for students who really need the additional help. We start by writing 504s for students with disabilities and having meetings for them. There is also Hospital/Homebound, which is formed to aid the kids who are out sick for more than 10 days. We have the student support team, and they meet with counselors for students that they think are at risk of failing. This year, we’ve added on something during Lunch and Learn, in which there is a room where they can come in for help to manage grades, see what they’re missing, and email teachers. Last year we had a lot of emailing teachers to see what the students were missing, and we would notify the students of deadlines and what they had to do for the class. This makes them realize that this is very important, and it is not optional. They have to get this done. Towards the end of the year, we start calling seniors in and have discussions on where they’re at and what they have to do in order to be successful. Our graduation rates are something that Lambert is very proud of, and Dr. Davison truly believes that every student has to graduate. There was a time when the high school diploma wasn’t as necessary; today, it is necessary. This is why we believe that failure cannot be an option.  Obviously we don’t have a 100% rate. There are students who are not successful and we can only do so much from our end, but we have meetings, we have counselors come in, and we have as many people come in in order to make them understand how important it is to graduate. With the best of our ability, we have to make sure that everyone walks across that stage. It’s our job as teachers.”