SAN ANTONIO — Teaching took a local educator around the world, then brought her right back to where it all started.
This week's KENS 5 EXCEL Award winner, Laura Lamoureux, is now using that worldly experience to make sure kids in San Antonio know that learning is a life-long journey.
Lamoureux teaches at Fort Sam Houston Elementary in the Fort Sam Houston ISD. She began teaching in Texas in 1986. She taught kindergarten and helped plan a pre-K program for Northeast ISD. Then, the Department of Defense schools hired her.
"They sent me to the Philippines, where I taught prekindergarten in the morning and fourth grade in the afternoon," Lamoureux said. "Mount Pinatubo erupted and I was evacuated to Korea. And while I was in Korea, I met an army boy and ended up falling in love and getting married."
There were a few more stops along the way for this world traveler, but ultimately life brought her back to the Alamo City.
Lamoureux has used her world class experience to play on field trips, adventure camps and classroom fun nights for students. The pandemic has limited some of that face to face contact, but the spirit of the job is the same. And to anyone considering teaching, she shares this advice.
"It is a passion. It's not just a job. And if you're going into the profession, you need to be vested into it 100%. It is a long, hard journey, but it is worth it because the kids and the families and the community support are just wonderful," Lamoureux said.