Laura Vervain joined the Lewiston High School staff as a speech and English teacher at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, instructing students in grades 9-12.
Vervain grew up in Idaho, surrounded by her family of five. During her early adulthood, she attended the University of Idaho, where she first earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology. She later re-attended the university and received her education degree.
“I didn’t plan on teaching at first. I went into psychology, but the office I was working in wasn’t quite the right fit for me,” said Vervain, “I started substitute teaching and realized that my desire to help people translated really well to a classroom setting, so I went back to school two years after graduating the first time.”
After graduating from U of I in the winter of 2021, Vervain received her first teaching job at LHS. Vervain noted that teaching the speech course was incidental. She had applied to teach a split science and English position but did not have the physics credential. Due to the growing student body at LHS, she was offered a teaching position. Vervain feels that teaching speech is a good fit because of her past involvement in theater.
As she has made the transition here, Vervain has enjoyed being a part of the 9-12 grade setting. She’s also enjoying returning to the community that she once had been a part of, graduating from LHS in 2013. Starting her teaching career, she has created goals for her students. Vervain focuses on developing students’ abilities in real-world situations.
“It is not common in many industries to stand up in front of an audience of strangers and give an organized presentation,” said Vervain, “It is common, however, to have to give that kind of presentation to peers, which is exactly what we practice in the current speech curriculum.”
Outside of developing her students´ abilities, she aims to help students find coping mechanisms nervousness that they may experience. The 26-year-old Vervain describes herself as an introvert who enjoys drawing, listening to music, reading, and playing video games. After ending her day at the school, the first thing she does is let her two dogs, Kitten and Pancetta, out to play.