Following a poll on the Spread the News Instagram, the student body has requested that Mr. Lawlor, one of our Spanish teachers, be interviewed. It’s Mr. Lawlor’s 18th year at CNHS, but before that, he worked at Jackson Memorial High School. In high school, Mr. Lawlor’s favorite subject was economics, but if he could teach another subject, it would be English. Surprisingly, his initial plan wasn’t teaching. At one point, while working as a sub, he subbed for a Spanish class, where one thing led to another, and eventually, he was convinced to try teaching. Now, one of his favorite parts of teaching is the opportunity he gets through the For the Children club to travel and help students experience how wonderful traveling is. His favorite part of CNHS specifically is that every student here is goal-oriented. In his eyes, there is an expectation of success from the culture at CNHS, and he believes that you can push kids who want to succeed and are goal-oriented. When students give up and don’t care, it’s harder to push them to success, but to him, the students at CNHS aren’t like that.
Mr. Lawlor’s favorite food is his mother’s manicotti, and his favorite Spanish word is descarrilado, which means wreck. Interestingly, he loves skydiving and would happily go again. His advice to students who want to become fluent in Spanish is to find a way to study abroad. Spend time in a Spanish-speaking country because when you are immersed in the culture and begin to truly appreciate it, it makes it easier to learn and want to learn it.
