For Terrie Parker, the position she holds at LCM is far more than just a day job – it is what she lives and breathes. She has been in education for the past 19 years – 15 of which have been spent as the Life Skills teacher – and is the proud coach of LCM Team Force.

“It’s a ‘God thing’ that made me want to be in special education,” Parker said. “That’s all I can say. I haven’t always known that I would do this, but the way circumstances worked out, here I am and I can just give credit and glory to God. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

Parker not only spends her weekdays with the students, but many weekends are also spent bonding with each other. According to Kalah Fulcher, who just started working with the students this year, the activities Team Force is involved in are endless.

“We have lunch theatre, track meets, and a basketball game next week against Nederland,” Fulcher said. “We had the Mardi Gras dance, we had a Special Olympics track meet this past Saturday, we had the YMBL track meet, and we’ve gone to the fair and the rodeo. We’ve done all kinds of things.”

Other than the special events that the students get to be involved in, the majority of their time is spent in the classroom. They have every class just like other students and then they participate in life skills classes.

“It’s never the same,” Parker said. “Some of the classes we have are Activities of Daily Living and Occupational Preparation. ‘Activities’ is where we work on learning how to do household chores, loading the dishwasher, doing laundry, cooking… That kind of thing. ‘Occupational Prep’ is where we’re learning how to be respectful to superiors, just skills you need to hold a job. We’re in PE; we’re very involved in Special Olympics. It’s pretty much like everyone else’s day, but it’s crazy… Every day is different. It’s got its challenges, but the blessings far outweigh the challenges.”

According to Parker, her biggest blessing is working repeatedly on a skill with one of her students and then seeing the student accomplish that skill independently without any prompting or cueing.

“They just do it and you’re just like, ‘Wow, they got it!’

Parker said she also constantly brags about how great her students perform at Special Olympics events.

“The thing that touches me the most is Special Olympics, when they won medals, and they were so proud,” Parker said. “They do so good…  Those are awesome times. So I’d have to say my favorite thing is tied between them winning a medal and whenever parents tell us that their child is happy to come to school because they haven’t seen that in a long time, and them doing things at home that they’ve never done before.”

Parker not only has a positive influence on her students, but also makes an impact on her student volunteers who are part of an organization called Meet in the Middle. These students often attend events with Team Force and help them feel welcomed in school. They usually end up forming great friendships with each other while making countless memories.

“The dances that we go to are my favorite,” freshman volunteer Katy Robin said.  “I thought it would be a really cool experience to learn how to work with [the kids].”

Senior volunteer Richard Warner has been a part of Meet in the Middle since he was a sophomore and said he has loved every minute of it.

“In the beginning, I didn’t have a bunch of reasons to get in, but once I was in I had a lot of reasons to stay,” Warner said. “This whole experience for me has been humbling; it’s really good to be able to help everybody. Being able to work with the students is a good experience.”