Now that the warm weather has returned, Language Department Chair, Latin and Classics teacher, and GSA faculty advisor Maureen Lamb can often be seen conducting her classes from the Adirondack chairs outside of Roberts. This location has been a favorite of Ms. Lamb’s throughout the year, although she only has a few more weeks to enjoy this spot as she’ll be leaving KO and taking on a new position down the road at the Ethel Walker School next year.
Ms. Lamb has been at KO for the past five years and has not only been an integral member of the language department, but also the wider KO community. For the past four years, she has been an Academic Technology Coordinator in addition to teaching Latin and Greek, and she is even co-teaching an English course this year.
Ms. Lamb had been familiar with KO, since she had worked at the Westminster School for eight years, and said she always felt a good vibe from the school. She described her experience interviewing five years ago. “I had this amazing lunch with the language department,” she said. “The people were awesome, and I was so excited to work with them. Everyone was super accommodating too since my baby was four weeks old when I interviewed.”
Ms. Lamb’s encouraging and kind personality allowed her to adjust seamlessly to the KO community and has made her classes favorites of students. Junior Quin Kearney, one of Ms. Lamb’s advisees, attested to these character traits. “She is always extremely supportive of us and makes it known that we are her first priority,” she said. “She always tells us that if we ever need anything, she would leave her class to help us out because our mental and physical health are her main priority.” Quin added that she always looked forward to advisee group throughout the week.
One of the aspects of teaching that Ms. Lamb is most passionate about is the integration of technology into education. As a Google Certified Trainer, she works with faculty to brainstorm ways to incorporate technology effectively into the classroom.
Spanish teacher Carolina Croes who has worked closely with Ms. Lamb, especially since both were fully online last year, emphasized how impactful Ms. Lamb’s technological knowledge and guidance have been since she came to KO. “She was my support system if I needed to know logistics,” she said, “especially when you’re new to a school. So can I give seniors final projects? When are these exams due? Or if I do a project now, how do I balance the grades? Those kinds of questions went to her.” Ms. Croes also said that Ms. Lamb’s love of projects and brainstorming abilities helped her further develop her curricula.
Ms. Lamb will be able to put her passion for technology and love of teaching to good use in her new position. At Ethel Walker, she will be the Dean of Academic Technology and Innovation and will also be teaching four sections of Latin. She said that teaching at an all-girls school will be a new adventure, but she is very excited to design her own curriculum and take on a new challenge.
Both Ms. Croes and Quin shared the most thoughtful well wishes for Ms. Lamb as she enters her new job. “I hope she knows how appreciated she was during her time here,” she said. “The people who worked really closely with her got to know her sense of humor and always happy, cheerful personality.” Quin echoed the same sentiment and said that she will greatly miss her advisee groups and hopes that Ms. Lamb will come back to visit.
As Ms. Lamb reflected back on her time at KO, she said that aside from colleagues and students, she’ll greatly miss her Adirondack chairs outside of Roberts. “It’s a really lovely spot,” she said, “and I know there are Adirondack chairs that look at Heublein Tower in the back of Ethel Walker that I’ll probably be using next year. I’ll think of KO every time I’m sitting out there because it really was my spot this year.”
Although we are sad to see her go, we wish Ms. Lamb all of the best as she moves on to her new position and know that she will do wonderful things.
