Cafeteria lady of 6 years at Arlington High School, Laura Vasquez, recently took a new position at AHS. She decided she wanted a shift for this year and took on the position of a Functional Skills assistant. “I love the kids and I needed a change.” She worked at Germantown High School as a cafeteria lady and transferred to AHS 7 years ago to be closer to home. Mrs. Vasquez is from Matamoros, Mexico and went to University of Noreste where she got her Masters in Business Administration. She moved to Wisconsin for 2 years, then moved to Memphis, where she’s been living for the past 19 years. She worked at Germantown as a cafeteria lady and transferred to AHS 7 years ago to be closer to home.

In Functional Skills, the teachers help kids of different levels with speaking, writing, daily skills in life, and academic subjects, such as, Math, Social Studies, English, and Science. They rotate between 4 Functional Skills classes every morning. Mrs. Vasquez’s favorite part about her job is working with people. “I’m learning this is new to me, with the special kids, and I hope they’re happy with me.” In her time teaching the Functional Skills class, she has learned a lot of valuable skills. Having a lot of patience, staying calm, having positive energy, being a good listener, coming prepared, and always loving the kids are heavy requirements to teach in this class.

Mr. Davidson, the other Functional Skills teacher, said working with Mrs. Vasquez has been wonderful and he loves her willingness to learn and be involved in the classroom. He says she’s a team player and has been a great asset to the class. This is her first time teaching in a classroom and she loves it so far. “I’m happy with this job. It’s a big change, of course, coming from the cafeteria,” but she thinks this is the life for her.