Miss Lambrou, the newest member of the Pace community, is an art teacher and a photography teacher.
This interview has been edited and condensed by Dorothy Tinker, Reporter
What do you do, and is it your first job?
I’m an art teacher. I was an art teacher in my old school, but it was not the first subject I taught. I taught photography and art there.The role of an art teacher was my first choice as teacher even if it wasn’t my first position in teaching because I have always loved art and photography. It’s like a little passion of mine.
What was your first day here like?
Well, it was not simple. My first day of school I went to the wrong side of the school and couldn’t get in there so I was knocking on the door for a while when one of the security guards told me to go to the other side (The front). So that was a little embarrassing for my first day. But other than the little mix up at the front, I really like the place. All the students are really fun to work with. The first day was so much fun, the students were so funny and cool.
What would you say is a pro about Pace? What do you like about Pace?
For starters I love the fact that Pace is in the middle of Chinatown, new food, new experiments and new places to try. My background is in photography. I was photographing a teacher for three months and the principal asked if I wanted to teach and offered me to teach an after school program. I went back to school, got a college degree and started there. So yeah, I started in photography.
How do you teach your students in an art classroom?
I feel like I have a lot of good ideas but I really want students to express themselves all in their own ways. But in a classroom it’s hard finding something to do without everyone’s work turning out the same. I want to find a way where the students can express their feelings and emotions into their work. That’s the difference between art and crafting. If the students have a project on crafting they may all turn out the same but if we are doing art there’s a deeper meaning to it. And my job as an art teacher is to get my students to express themselves creatively. It helps them thrive and grow through that experience. No matter what, not all art pieces can be the same, that’s where you can really tell a lot from a person so I think that’s really cool.
What would you say is a challenge in your teaching?
I just think one big challenge is you have 30 children. Handling so many students and not all of them know how to stay still. And sometimes they can be very loud, but I find a way to work around with different crowds and it does get very interesting at times.
Is this the only job you have at the moment
This is my only job. I did some bartending but I just let go of it last year too much. It’s hard bartending in the nighttime then waking up early in the morning to teach. Mr. Zaboi is the best. He is the nicest. And I am really grateful to Mr. Zaboi for being a real support making me feel welcome and like it is a shared pace and I think I am going to have a lot of fun here at Pace.
