TEAM High School teacher Elizabeth “Liz” Vallaire, pictured here with family and colleagues, was selected as Teacher of the Year for the State of Washington by the Association for Learning Alternatives.
Woodland’s Alternative High School TEAM teachers Jill Domingo, left, and Elizabeth “Liz” Vallaire, right, stand with Chelsea Larson.
An early high school graduation can challenge the most academically gifted student. But for Chelsea Larson, a student at Woodland Public Schools’ alternative high school TEAM, an on-time graduation didn’t seem to be in her future, let alone an early one.
When Larson started at TEAM two years ago she had no high school credits. Now, after finishing all of her coursework and volunteer hours, she is set to graduate a year-and-a-half early. Starting at TEAM her sophomore year, Larson was behind on credits due to a lot of family moves and attending five different high schools in a year.
“When I first started high school, I skipped a lot of classes and just didn’t think it was important to go to school,” she said in a news release. “Many members in my family just got their GEDs instead of finishing high school, so I thought that was where I was headed.”
While attending Woodland High School, Larson was identified as “needing support” by Stacy Mouat, the truancy specialist for Woodland Public Schools, and was enrolled in the Positive Academic Support System (PASS) team where she learned about the alternative TEAM high school.
“I’ve always had bad social anxiety, so trying to succeed in a traditional high school environment was incredibly challenging,” she said in the release. “When Dana and Stacy told me about TEAM and helped me get started there, I decided to give it a try.”
TEAM high school is an alternative to Woodland High School that offers Woodland students a path to earning a high school diploma while also accommodating for individual life circumstances such as full-time work, challenges with traditional schedules and family responsibilities. The staff of TEAM tries to help people think of alternative high schools differently as maximum enrollment for the school is 100 kids.
“Many people hear ‘alternative school’ and think it’s a place for troubled kids,” Elizabeth “Liz” Vallaire, TEAM’s math and science teacher, said in the release. “We want to change that perception: we don’t have ‘typical’ students — we have high-achieving students; students with life responsibilities; and students whose life circumstances make TEAM’s approach to learning a better fit.”
While her first year at TEAM wasn’t much of a change for Larson, she found success in TEAM’s approach to learning this year, her second year.
“I discovered that I could learn independently and succeed when I worked through my studies at my own pace,” Larson said in the release. “Suddenly, I realized my success was all on me and it was entirely my responsibility to finish my studies. Having that kind of independence makes you mature quickly.”
Larson’s mother played a role in helping Chelsea succeed by being a support system at home.
“When I started this year, I wanted to make my mom proud, and I finally had the time and focus to do it,” Larson said in the release.
According to the release, Chelsea dedicated herself to her studies, spending many hours every day both at TEAM but also when she was home during the evenings.
“My mom says it was the first time she ever worried I was working too hard,” she said. “In fact, my mom was genuinely concerned at times that I was going to burn myself out, but I just really wanted to succeed.”
Mouat has seen the change take place for Larson this year.
“When I first started meeting with Chelsea, she didn’t even see graduation as a reality for her,” Mouat said in the release. “However, Chelsea kept plugging away with her studies, going above and beyond in earning credits, and now she’s talking about going on to college.”
Mouat said having support at home can really help a student succeed.
“Chelsea has a very supportive mom who helped drive her success, but even then, the odds were stacked against her,” Mouat said. “Now, Chelsea is starting to see her future and is learning that there are possibilities she never even dreamed of before.”
As for the future, Larson has a plan for after graduation.
“I definitely want to go to college, hopefully Washington State University, and I think I’d like to major in math or psychology,” she said in the release. “I didn’t think I was going to graduate ever; the complete change is surprising to even me. “
