Megan Lawrence is from the Region. Today, she works at one of her alma maters, Valparaiso High School as an education teacher with a specialization in teaching for the school’s applied-skills program. It was called the Life Skills Program when she first started, and over the years she has picked up skills of her own, including how to effectively assist students through the non-navigable and more transferable events, many of which she’s been able to take into her adult life.
When college came around, Lawrence chose to stay home and commute to Purdue University Northwest in Hammond. She’s taught in Valpo for the past six years, working with students in grades nine through 12, but whose ages range anywhere from 14 to almost 23. Sometimes she educates students for as many as nine years. She spends eight hours a day with them five days a week, cherishing every one of the moments she gets with them.
The students with whom Lawrence works have a variety of cognitive and emotional disabilities ranging and differing in severity, some being more significant and profound or mild and moderate when compared to others. No matter where they stand, her students are constantly inspiring and motivating her, touching her emotionally day in and day out.
“They’re the best human beings imaginable. Every single one blows my mind,” she said. “They amaze me every day with the expectations that they exceed. I just didn’t know how life-changing it would be working with these kids. I've learned more about life from them.”
Lawrence was struggling to discover what she wanted to do as her senior year in high school came to an end. She felt she was late in applying to colleges, and didn’t have much of an idea about what was to come next.
One thing she knew in the face of an unknown future was that she had always loved kids and taking care of people. Her siblings and parents all throughout her life would remark that she’d even taken care of baby dolls. She also had a memorable experience with her fourth-grade teacher, Megan Becker at Memorial Elementary School, who pushed her to consider something in teaching for herself.
At the time, a friend of Lawrence’s was doing vocational-focused work at SELF School in Valparaiso, a learning facility centered on educating individuals with disabilities. Her friend encouraged her one day to follow along for one of her shifts, and Lawrence wound up loving everything it had to offer students and educators alike. She quickly found out what she wanted to pursue.
Lawrence holds a dual license: her general-education one is applicable to grades kindergarten through sixth grade and her special-education one she can use for grades pre-K to 12th. While she was completing her undergraduate studies, she served as a paraprofessional at SELF, and during those times she was paired with older students. Those pairings helped her realize that high-school and middle-school-aged kids were who she wanted to work with. She believes that by the time students reach high school, they know themselves pretty well, and working beside them is regularly fun and exhilarating.
Lawrence has helped out for the past five years as an assistant coach for Unified Track and Field. She enjoyed the opportunity because it gave general-education and special-education students the chance to come together and compete in an Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) sport that offered them the possibility of lettering.
Halloween is a favorite time of year for Lawrence and her mother, and they enjoy watching scary movies together. Lawrence also loves to cook, bake, and go to live concerts. Reading has been a pastime of hers. She’ll never pass on hangouts with her friends or family, and the terror her little dog brings keeps her alert. Additionally, she has an extensive and eclectic collection of Crocs.
Having been located in Valpo all her life, Lawrence is plenty familiar with the city. She appreciates the value it places on family and it’s where she’s come to navigate the developing work-life balance in her life.
“I love being in Valpo because I’m family-oriented, and the people in Valpo are very prideful. I think that translates to everybody here. I like to live in a community where we’re all proud of ourselves. We’re welcoming, and I like being somewhere where a lot of people feel the same way,” she said.