Teacher busts barriers Est. 1879
By Lily Abromeit
Every day, hundreds of students walk the halls at LHS and say hi to the same people — a best friend, that kid from third hour or that girl who plays volleyball. But what about the students who walk the hallways without a single hello? To special education teacher Jake Thibodeau, these students mean the world. These are the students he helps through every day, goes to movies with on the weekends and loves with all his heart. “I always say I can’t believe I get paid to do what I do because I get to hang out and have fun with some of the most extraordinary kids in the world,” Thibodeau said.
Thibodeau teaches in the autism program at Lawrence High. Students enter the program when they first start school and stay with it throughout their education. Thibodeau’s job helps students get through obstacles in life. As a great metaphor for his job, Thibodeau breaks barriers every day - but not in a common form. When Thibodeau was 11, he started taking Tae Kwon Do lessons to release anxiety he had as a young child. He now teaches martial arts students how to overcome challenges, such as breaking boards or cement blocks. At school, he teaches students to take down their challenges, whether they are academic,
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vocational, social or emotional. “I’m working with them to help them be successful in all areas of life, and I’m trying to get them to be as independent as possible,” Thibodeau said. Every student is different, so Thibodeau works to make a program that is perfect for each one. His goal everyday is to help students be successful. When he sees his students in five years - out of high school and experiencing life in the real world — he hopes they will be fulfilling their potential. “Sometimes it’s so overwhelming because I would be devastated if I see them in a few years and they’ve regressed a lot or they’re not in a
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job that stimulates them and they’re not in an environment that pushes them mentally and physically,” Thibodeau said. Part of Thibodeau’s desire for success comes from his past. He wishes he’d embraced a different outlook as an LHS student. For Thibodeau, school wasn’t a big deal. Without the expectation of college laid out for him, he didn’t see the need to go. Continued on page four. Teacher and Link Coordinator Jake Thibodeau encourages students to tackle challenges by breaking concrete blocks on the first day of classes for freshmen and sophomores. Photo by Barbara Tholen Vol. 122, Issue 1, Sept. 14, 2011