Six takes: Making the Grade asked local high school graduates to weigh in about what experiences mattered most to them in high school, what helped them prepare for the future, and what didn’t work so well.
Champagne Eurquhart Age: 25 Current town: Pittsfield Current employer: Richmond Consolidated School High school and graduation year: Pittsfield High School, 2013 College and graduation year: Berkshire Community College, 2019; also serves with the U.S. Army National Guard What did you learn in high school that helped you feel prepared for the future? I loved being in my Health Tech academy. I thought for sure I was going to be an R.N. (registered nurse). The Health Tech teachers were great. We had a small class and had job shadowing days so we could learn about working in the medical field. Health Tech was like a little family. There were 10 of us and we would rely on each other and tell each other everything. I feel like I had the perfect support system between my Health Tech family, the [Gladys Allen] Brigham Center, my cheerleading team, my mom and my grandmother.
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Age: 22 Current town: Vernon, Vt. Current employer: Substitute teacher for Windham Southeast School District and coach for the seventh-grade girls’ basketball team at Brattleboro Area Middle School High school and graduation year: Brattleboro Union High School, 2015 College and graduation year: Castleton University, December 2019, after student teaching in the fall of 2019. I did my health and physical education student teaching at Flood Brook School in Londonderry, Vt.
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Champagne Eurquhart
What did you learn in high school that helped you feel prepared for the future?
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Abbie Lesure
They really showed me what women can do.
What’s one thing you wish you had learned, or learned more about, in high school that would have helped you today? When I went to BCC, I’m not going to lie, it was a struggle. I didn’t really like going to class. I don’t like change. I knew going to college was going to be more relaxed, not like a regular school day. But there was so much time in between going to class you only felt like going when you wanted to. I was so used to always having someone say you need to do this or that. Then, I got all that and more in basic training. Also, I had no clue how to fill out a checkbook or do other things budgeting-wise. Academics helped for academics, but I feel like I was lacking those basic skills. I learned those through the Brigham Center and by staying involved in the community.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give current students to prepare them for the future? I think all students should be taught how to study. I had to study and learn a lot in basic training, so I learned about how to stay focused in study
Making The Grade | Thursday, February 27, 2020
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groups. Even when we would sweep the hallways, someone would be calling out vocabulary words we had to learn. I was able to confidently make it through and now I have lots of certifications and credentials to back me up. — Interviewed by Jenn Smith, The Berkshire Eagle
Abbie Lesure