Out of almost 160 teachers and administrators here at Lawrence Central High School, three of them are women who have fiercely earned the title of Doctor, with 1 in the process of earning the title. During this month of March, well known as Women’s History Month, the Cub Reporter wants to provide students insight into the success of the women they learn lessons from daily.
Dr. Teresa James is no stranger to success, academically, professionally, or personally. She rightfully earned her title as the 11th Grade Assistant Principal here at LCHS. A fun and powerful fact is that she is the only administrative principal who has her Doctorate, not to mention how fierce of a woman she is. Our interview focused on motivation, obstacles, mentors, and discrimination:
¨ I got my undergraduate degree when I was 21, and I didn’t have anything or anyone else to worry about.” Dr. James was married at the time of her undergrad, but she didn’t have any dependents such as her children at this time, so she was able to do a lot. ¨I got my masters when I was about 29 or 30.”
Dr. James tackles problems at Lawrence Central the same way she has tackled every challenge previously: she seeks out what she wants accomplished. ¨When I decided to get my doctorate, I was at a point in my career where I felt like I wanted to learn and grow and be ready for other challenges.” Dr. James is familiar with challenges and losses, such as losing her spouse at a young age, becoming a single mother during her studies, and losing her mother who also happened to be her backbone and biggest support system when trying to achieve her goals.
Students tend to think that success has a timeline as if there’s a starting point and a limit to how far you can go with your success. Students move through high school and learn on a linear scale, however, life is more iterative. Ms. Kayla Smith is the purest example; she creates her timeline. Ms. Smith, along with her role as Director of Choirs, Performing Arts Department Chairperson, Secondary Regional PA Specialist, and an actual choir director here at LC, is soon to become Dr. Smith. As a woman who undoubtedly has achieved so much, and is still striving to accomplish much more, such as her Doctorate Degree; Ms.Smith has a lot to say about the bias toward women in any career field, as well as how she balances her fierceness vs. her kindheartedness.
¨ Women in leadership face a whole lot of challenges because societally leadership is often seen as a man’s role. The expectations people hold for leadership tend to be a little biased. It’s difficult to balance being kind and warm but also being firm, assertive, and strong. This is an example of what is called a double bind.¨ It is important to note that just because 9/10 of leadership positions anywhere, not just in education, are seen solely as a ¨man’s role¨ as Ms.Smith said, women are systemically put in a place where there is seemingly no way for them to rise above the patriarchy. Ms.Smith, the other 3 powerful women featured in this article, and countless other women have more than exceeded the expectations of such biased limitations. “Leaning into who I am as a person and showing that empathy, love, and kindness can be a superpower, it helps me stay true to who I am and really rounds out my leadership skills overall. It’s a challenging balance, but I keep pushing forward because my female students deserve to see a strong woman leader.¨ It is vital that students know that it is not necessary to shade any part of themselves to be successful. Ms.Smith exemplifies the exact opposite—finding and embracing her true self is what she used as an advantage to get to where she needed and deserved to be. Ms. Kayla Smith is very near to the finish line of receiving her PhD from Harvard Graduate School of Education to study School Leadership. She is the epitome of succeeding until you are satisfied.
Unbeknownst to the majority of the student body, the administrators and/or teachers they have day-to-day contact with and learn from, choose to pursue more not only for themselves but for the benefit of their students. They choose to put so much effort into their own knowledge, to benefit their students. A new math teacher at LC is currently pursuing her administrative license. Dr. Bobbi Sargent was a pleasure to meet, and we got a first-hand look at how she dedicates herself and all her accomplishments to the greatness of her students.
¨So I taught mostly students who were in co-taught classrooms, so maybe they had special needs and scored lower on their proficiency scores. And I saw how much effort they were putting in every single day and how hard they were working and how they were being really successful in my class. But then they would take a test at the end of the year, a standardized test, and it would tell them, you’re not proficient.—-I had a real dissonance with that and that was very unsettling for me, and I didn’t understand why.¨ Dr. Sargent is very emotionally involved in making sure that her students know that they deserve to be proud of themselves despite what a standardized test tells them. It’s not fair to give you all only to hear and see on an exam that it’s just not enough. So, Dr. Sargent went to school for her PhD to gain answers for the students she was wholeheartedly proud of, just so they could always be proud of themselves. ¨In this classroom, I want every student to know you are smart, you are brilliant, you have something to offer, regardless of what the world is gonna tell you.—-When you stop trying, that’s when you’ve lost.¨
Success doesn’t have a blueprint– it is self-created and directed. English teacher, Dr. McCormick has her students lean into the idea that having distractions or setbacks is where learning and growth happen. She provides students with advice and guidance on how to go about these career options, and it’s safe to say, that with her role as a 10th and 11th grade English teacher, her words tend to stick.
¨My advice to any student considering the path toward a Ph.D. or a terminal degree of study is to earn the degree in an area of study that inspires you, fosters innovative thought, encourages you to consider the plight of another, and permits you to be yourself—without regard or concern for what others think of you, your idea(s), and your contribution(s) to the field and society.¨ Most tend to think that taking a while to figure out what your actual desires are, is a waste of time; however, it is so much more beneficial to truly take time and figure out what fits you as a person more and then give your all to it.
¨Lastly, students will know the point at which they personally decide if pursuing a terminal degree is necessary to meet an end, whether for personal, professional, or personal and professional gain.¨ These words truly stuck with me because the underlying message is that students will know when what they accomplish is enough, and to trust themselves and knowing your endpoint will get them far.
We hope this article not only brought recognition to the amazing, and high-achieving, women staff we have here at LCHS, but as well helped students here realize and open their eyes to what they can do when there are no limits to their ideas of success.
