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Schools

Five Things: Alison Lemieux

Former Kent State basketball player enjoys keeping herself, and her class, active.

Beachwood City Schools saw dozens of new hires this school year — more than two dozen. Beachwood Patch asked some of the new teachers to tell us a few things about themselves. Look for a new teacher every Friday.

Bryden Elementary School’s new second grade teacher Alison Lemieux has been teaching for 11 years, her fist six in Euclid and most recently in Perry. She has two kids, ages four and 15 months. We talked with her about her teaching style and love for sports.

1. Why did you decide to become a teacher?

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“I knew I wanted to be a teacher after I had a phenomenal third-grade teacher. I grew up with her as my hero and wanting to be just like her. She quickly made connections with the kids in the class. I spent many a days as a child playing school in the basement.”

2. How do you make your classroom fun?

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“I like to do a lot of hands on activities instead of worksheets. I don’t want the kids to be setting in their desks all day so we move around a lot. I like to integrate the different subject areas, like something about social studies concepts using literature.”

3. What’s your favorite subject to teach?

“That’s tough because I like math and language arts equally. Math has always been my favorite subject as a kid because it always came easy to me. With literacy, however, I have a chance to see so much growth so quickly. It’s an empowering skill to teach kids how to read.”

4. What do you like to do outside the classroom?

“I enjoy working out, I’ve recently started doing something called CrossFit. It’s considered a sport these days because there is a national competition every year. It’s a lot of functional movement, doing things that you would do in everyday life. It’s a combination of lifting weights and a lot of cardiovascular work through rowing or running. I’ve been an athlete my whole life; it’s the kind of workout that makes me feel like an athlete again.”

5. What sports did you play?

“I played volleyball, basketball and softball in high school then played basketball at Kent State in college. We are huge Golden Flashes fans. My husband also went to Kent and he now works there. We’re also big Browns fans as well.”

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