ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / November 4, 2000

Lynn Jamieson, a seventh-grade science teacher at Garyville/Mt.AiryMagnet School, is November’s focus of the St. John the Baptist ParishSchool Board Teacher Spotlight.

Jamieson, a transplant from North Carolina, has been teaching in the St.

John Parish school system for seven years. For the past four years she hasbeen at Garyville/Mt. Airy; before that she was teaching at Glade School. First she started out teaching fifth grade and then was moved to seventh- grade science.

“It’s a lot easier teaching science rather than seven different subjects,” admitted Jamieson, “but now I have more students to deal with, so it all balances out.”Education was not Jamieson’s first choice of careers. In North Carolinashe was a design student at a school of architecture. Then she met herhusband, who was in the Marine Corps at the time and stationed in North Carolina. They got married and moved back to his hometown of Metairie.There were no design schools in the area. They had a son, and while lookingfor a school for him Jamieson became alarmed at the state of public schools in Jefferson and Orleans parishes.

“I was really shocked by the quality of schools,” said Jamieson, who is a big believer in public education. She said in North Carolina everybody goesto public schools.

She decided that maybe she could do something to change things, so she enrolled at the University of New Orleans and earned her degree in education.

She and her family moved to LaPlace after graduation and she began teaching.

Jamieson feels she has found her niche in teaching science.

“Teaching science is so much fun,” she said. “Teaching science gives you alot of focus with lots of hands-on experience. And the kids just love it.”Michael Coburn, principal at Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet, thinks Jamiesonreally gets her students excited about science.

“It is truly exciting to walk past her class and see all of her students working hard on science projects,” said Coburn. “Her classes are so welldisciplined they almost run themselves.”Jamieson said teaching science at Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet is veryrewarding because the school has a lot of science equipment and there is just so much to do with all the equipment.

If Jamieson misses anything teaching science, it is doing craft projects. Ahobby of hers, Jamieson would get her fifth-grade classes to make all sorts of arts and crafts for the holidays. Now she does the arts and craftsat home in her spare time.

She also loves to read. And taking up a lot of her time is raising her sonwho is now a 10th-grader at East St. John High School.Jamieson is a great believer in the LEAP tests and the exit exams.

“I think every grade would have an exit exam,” she said, “especially in reading.”Another idea that Jamieson thinks would do students good is year-round schooling. She said that she teaches during summer school so it would notbe that much of a strain for her, and the students would benefit greatly from the extra time in the classroom.

“Her motivation to education really excites the students,” said Coburn.

“Her hard work and no-nonsense approach to higher standards in education works well at Garyville Magnet.”Jamieson is very excited about being in the Teacher Spotlight for November.

“This is the nicest thing to happen to me,” she said. “It’s nice to be toldyou’re doing a good job. It definitely makes me feel good about myself.”

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