New Teacher Feature: Lora Cherry of LHS

Lora Cherry joins La Grange I.S.D. this year as a high school chemistry teacher. Cherry knows the subject well – she used to work as a laboratory scientist before becoming a teacher.

Cherry, who taught in Flatonia before coming to La Grange, lives in the Muldoon area with her husband and two children.

“When we moved out here, we wondered whether we could make our big city jobs work out here in the country,” she said. “I was a medical laboratory scientist. I worked at University Hospital in immunology, virology and microbiology. So that’s basically figuring out what you’re sick with. When we moved out to the country, those jobs were really far away.”

But Cherry and her husband adjusted. He now serves as an associate pastor at Flatonia Baptist Church, and she is now in her 14th year of teaching.

Cherry started out her teaching career at Bastrop High School, where she taught career and technology classes in health sciences for five years. When her children started school, Cherry got a job at Flatonia I.S.D. where she taught for eight years.

“I taught lots of different things – chemistry, physics, research and design, medical microbiology, health science, meidcal terminology, principles of health science, 7th grade science, STEM – yeah, it was a lot,” she said.

Cherry also sponsored the Interact Club and served as a U.I.L. coach.

“In a small school, you wear a lot of hats,” she said.

Cherry said her kids are old enough now to participate in youth sports and other activities, and she needed to free-up some time..

“They’ve got their own practices and games, and those things take a lot of work,” she said. “I needed to do less because my kids are about to be more. So I made the switch to La Grange this year in the hopes that I can teach just two things instead of four or five. So now I’m just teaching chemistry and chemistry honors.”

Cherry spoke about some of her favorite topics to teach in chemistry..

“I love teaching acid-based reactions because we connect tie-dye to them,” she said. “We do a fun end-of-year tie-dye project. Also, any time we can incorporate food into class. The chemistry of food is way up on my list.”

Cherry said she is excited to join the staff at La Grange I.S.D..

“The principal here is topnotch, the vice principal, too,” Cherry said. “There’s a lot of professional respect here. I’m saying that coming from a campus that had an excellent principal (in Flatonia), so I’ve been kind of spoiled.”

She credited veteran La Grange educator Charles Griste with convincing her to take the job. “He’s probably the reason I’m here,” she said. Mr. Griste and I go to church together. He and I taught vacation Bible school together the last couple of years. He came up to me in April and was like, ‘We need a chemistry teacher, and you need to come work with me.’” La Grange High School Principal John Pineda praised Cherry for helping out the school even before her contract started. Pineda said Cherry tutored a fellow science teacher for a certification exam this summer, which he passed.

“Mrs. Cherry took time out of her summer vacation to help a colleague pass an entrance exam for an alternative teacher program,” Pineda said. “Most importantly, it worked. Her willingness to help someone she just met is the definition of a servant leader in action. I cannot wait to see her work and interact with our students and staff on a daily basis.”