The Forum staff asked Jean Sheehy to reflect on her years as a teacher in LINK, a special education program for students with nonverbal learning disabilities.

What inspired you to start teaching?

I can’t say that I was “inspired” to start teaching. A friend of mine worked in the Central program when it was off campus and mentioned that they needed another teaching assistant. I went for an interview and was hired that day.

Did you always know you would be a teacher/student aid? Do you have any advice for students who are considering it as a possible career?

by Rick Wise

In January 1973 I had just finished student teaching and accepted a teaching position at L-S. Little did I know what I was walking into!
There were 2,000 kids, an open campus, no study halls, dress codes, or hall passes. There were student smoking areas in the building and some staff offices. Plus, lunch blocks were non-existent. The cafe was open from 10:30am to 12:30pm for lunch. Classes were scheduled in 20 minute blocks called mods. Some classes were two or three mods, others were four or five mods.

by Barbara Salzman

It was 1984 and my disillusionment with teaching foreign language and special education told me that I might need to leave public education in order to grow and feel personally fulfilled.
I had already begun networking and thinking about a career change when, in July, I interviewed at Lincoln-Sudbury. The housemaster, Cathy Livingston, was so phenomenal that I decided to give public education one more chance...just one more year.

by Sally Scannell

High School. Those two little words can combine such a punch, you’ll be lucky if you’re still standing. After hearing the rumors, reading the stories and seeing both the movies “Mean Girls” and “The Breakfast Club,” I was sure I was ready for anything L-S could throw at me. From what I’d been told high School could make you or undoubtedly break you.

by Isaac Hoenig

I walked into L-S for the first time a year and a half ago not at all sure what high school entailed. Every day held new experiences despite the repetitive monotony of the regular school week. Freshman year was characterized by its newness and unfamiliarity. Luckily my sophomore year was different.

by Patrick Hebble

When asked to write this piece, my initial reaction was, “Oh man...there’s no way I’m going to have time to do this.” This seems to be the theme of junior year: So little time and so much to do. Despite knowing that time was sparse and that I probably could not say anything that had not already been stated myriad times, I decided to take up the challenge.

by Shalei Holway

As a junior, I was very nervous going into this year.  I feared that the workload would be unbearable, SATs would take all of my time, and that I would never be able to see my friends.  Fortunately, it seems that I am not alone in saying that junior year is not as bad as I had anticipated.

By Dyan Hunt

This past April vacation, a group of eighteen Lincoln-Sudbury juniors and seniors went down to New Orleans, Louisiana to help rebuild with Habitat for Humanity. They worked Tuesday through Friday, 9 AM to 3 PM, on a worksite in the Musician’s Village (a Habitat for Humanity project, building a village exclusively for displaced musicians) in the Upper Ninth Ward, one of the hardest hit sections of the city. Alongside volunteers from Habitat, as well as Americorps, the group finished almost the entire foundation of the house.

By Eli Kahn-Woods and Marlie Wilson

Over April break, the Katrina Project sponsored a Martin Luther King Action Project in New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA). Although the eighteen students and three chaperones’ first priority was to assist in the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, we were also privileged to experience some of the country’s finest music.

By Jamie Bennett and Hannah Fitzsimons

Tibetan culture was shared with the school during “Compassion Week,” organized by history teacher, Sandy Crawford and the Asian Cultures Club for May 5-11.
The centerpiece of the week involved the construction of a magnificent sand mandala by four Tibetan monks. Everyday, students could walk by the construction sight and see the piece evolving before their very eyes, as the monks worked on it with both calm and exacting care.