Liz LaClair: AVID Advisor

Elizabeth “Liz” LaClair is the AVID 3 and AVID 4 teacher who helps junior and senior students get into college. AVID’s purpose is to prepare students for their life after high school and make sure they are prepared for college. AVID teaches students different ways of note-taking, helping students with something they are confused about in class, and deciding what college is best for them. LaClair assists students follow this mission. 

LaClair has been teaching for the last 11 years but she did not always see herself as an AVID teacher. She originally wanted to work in international diplomacy and law. However, when working in a law firm and being in that setting, she realized that she wanted to do something different.

“I absolutely hated [working in a law firm],” LaClair said. “I could not picture myself there anymore.”

During her time outside of the law firm, she coached soccer and had even refereed games. Being around 8-12 year old children playing soccer, she knew that being around children could be a possibility of what she wanted to do next. This thought made her enroll in classes at the University of Kentucky to get certified in teaching in middle school grade-level social studies. While she was obtaining her certification, she was still working in the law firm and coaching soccer. 

Eight months after receiving her certification in teaching, her husband was offered a job in Texas and the two of them moved here from Kentucky. She worked as a sixth grade social studies teacher at Bussey Middle School and then went to O’Banion Middle School as a seventh grade social studies teacher. 

It was not until she began teaching at Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas that she began teaching all grade levels of AVID. After learning what AVID stood for, she was the first teacher to teach AVID at Thomas Jefferson. She enjoyed her time there because she was able to keep the same students from their freshman to senior year. She was able to develop relationships with their students and make sure they enrolled in the college that is best suited for them.

“I saw students not having a guide in what to do with their lives after high school while at Dallas,” LaClair said. “I wanted to help them with getting into a university or community college. I was intrigued that it was similar to a college advising job.”

After five years of teaching at Thomas Jefferson High School, she switched jobs to Lakeview in 2018. Here, she began teaching AVID 2, AVID 3, and AVID 4 and a world geography class. LaClair continues to help seniors walk through the process of getting admitted into college, picking out their college classes, applying to scholarships, and teaching them what to expect for the next few years. Additionally, she helps the juniors prepare for their senior year, the SAT, and how to write the best college admission essays.