Students will miss award-winning teacher

Published 10:34 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

On Dec. 15 of last year, Mount Si High School teacher Lynn Fallows had a roller-coaster of a day.

She learned she had been selected by the Washington Association of Student Councils as the 2005 High School Adviser of the Year, and that she would be moving to Denver at the end of the first semester in January.

“I’m excited [about the award] because there isn’t another adviser in the entire state or the entire world that’s as great as Ms. Fallows,” said Mount Si junior and Associated Student Body (ASB) member Tephra Brune. “[But] the day I heard [she was leaving], I cried. She’s been such a big part of my life … She’s there to help us.”

Fallows and her husband of 30 years, Kevin, have been Snoqualmie residents for 12 years. Fallows has been teaching at Mount Si the entire time.

“Where do you start with Ms. Fallows?” asked Mount Si ice principal Beth Castle. “She’s just amazing. In regards to the award, it’s so fitting for her, she’s so deserving.”

The move is taking place because Kevin – a district sales manager for DuPont – learned he was being transferred to Colorado for work; her last day will be Jan. 27.

Fallows does not yet have another teaching job lined up in Denver, but she is looking.

“It’s bittersweet,” said Fallows, about moving. “I’ve invested 12 years; I will really miss these kids.”

Nine years ago, Fallows was asked by then-principal Dave Humphrey to head the ASB program. Fallows said that since then, participation has increased from 10 to about 24 students.

She turned the program around, said Lauren Clapp, a senior at Mount Si and the ASB president, who also wrote a letter of recommendation for Fallows’ entry to the nationals. Fallows is now eligible to compete at that national level. “[I hope she knows] how much of an impact she has made in my life.”

Mount Si American law teacher Kim Sales is scheduled to take over as the temporary ASB adviser for the remainder of the school year.

Fallows said that though taking over ASB was tough, she’s learned much along the way.

“I’ve learned to let the kids take control; they learn as much from their failures as from their successes,” she said.

Fallows also teaches special education and leadership and coaches cheerleading.

“My whole thing was creating memories for kids and I hope I’ve done that,” she said. “They really help me be who I am.”

Though Fallows said she has been nominated for the award at least once before, this award, for which the process began in 2004, is her first.

“I only have the award because of the kids,” said Fallows, who is also on the association’s state board as the region representative. “It’s quite an honor. I feel like I’m really in an elite group of advisers.”

Her award will not be officially presented until the Washington Association of Student Council’s state conference is held in March. The association was formed in the 1960s to serve as a voice for middle- and high-school students and the educational communities in Washington.

“As ASB adviser, Lynn has provided guidance and direction for the student council to become advocates for all students,” wrote executive director of the association Susan Fortin in her recommendation letter for Fallows. “She provides the strong framework and support to help students succeed in their leadership endeavors.”

Fallows will return to Washington in March for the event.

“She has given so much to the school; she deserves it [the award],” Clapp said. “She put sweat and blood into this program.”

Many students are already looking forward to her March visit, and hope Fallows will also return for June graduation.

“We’re going to be OK. We’re going to miss her terribly; we’re probably going to call her a lot, but we’re going to make it,” Castle said. “The programs that have developed under Lynn’s leadership are really self-sustaining.”

Clapp said she hopes the ASB continues with the momentum Fallows has established in the program.

“Just because she is leaving, [that] doesn’t mean the program is,” she noted.

Originally from New Jersey, Fallows, who said that her time in Snoqualmie is the longest she has lived anywhere, has moved throughout the country, coming to Snoqualmie from Texas in the early 1990s.

In college, she intended to study linguistics, but ended up switching her studies to education.

Fallows said she could give 24 really fast reasons why she loves teaching, pointing to the 24 pupils in her class.

“It’s the kids,” she said. “These kids, every year, take it to another level.”

She has been a teacher for a total of 18 years, taking time off after her first few years of teaching to explore other careers, including stints working in advertising, the music business and as an events coordinator.

She said she returned to teaching because she believes what she does as a teacher is too important.

“I don’t know if I made a difference in anybody’s life [when not a teacher],” Fallows said. “Teaching is like giving birth: it makes a huge difference.”

Attached to the outside of Fallows’ room is a pink poster with comments by students declaring their appreciation, admiration and sorrow over losing someone whom many consider to be their favorite teacher.

“It’s like a family member is leaving, but I know she’s empowered us with everything we know,” Brune said. “With Ms. Fallows, you can do anything … she’s behind everybody 100 percent.”