Teacher Feature: Ms. Fowlkes Teaches FACS

Megan Howarth, Staff Writer

Ms. Lynne Fowlkes is a FACS teacher at Crofton High School. Before Crofton High School, she taught at Crofton Middle School and Old Mill Middle South. 

Ms. Fowlkes said “I  wanted to work at CHS because I knew a lot of the students as I had taught them at CMS, and this was a rare opportunity to follow my students to high school.  I wanted to teach at the high school level because the longer class periods work better for FACS activities like cooking and sewing, and high school level FACS also includes child development and running a preschool.  I like the career development choices that are available to students at the high school level such as obtaining a ServSafe Certification, ProStart Culinary Certification, and Child Development Associate Credential (CDA) because these enable our students to start a career upon graduation and be eligible for tuition assistance, scholarship opportunities, and college course credits.”

Before her teaching career, Ms. Fowlkes attended the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where she earned her Bachelor in Science in Finance undergraduate degree. When she changed her career, she completed a Master’s in Teaching Leadership from Notre Dame of Maryland University. Fowlkes changed her career to become a teacher. “In my previous career, I taught adults in operating room settings how to use medical devices. I was able to transfer those skills to teaching students, and I love cooking, so the transition was perfect for me. I enjoy the creativity that can be expressed through food or sewing projects and designing preschool activities,” Ms. Fowlkes said.

Ashley Ewing, a tenth-grade student, has Fowlkes for Child growth and development. She took the class because she loves to learn about how to teach children and learn about how a child’s brain develops. Ewing said, “Ms, Fowlkes always makes sure everyone is understanding the content and ensures that everyone is doing well and has a very uplifting attitude!” 

When looking back at all the experiences throughout her career, Fowlkes claims that this year, she has been amazed at how students persevere through the difficulty of online learning. She said she sees students be kind and caring to one another and help out other students who might be struggling. 

 She said she enjoys teaching FACS because she gets to teach life skills to high school students and gets to feel the high energy from the other students. Ms. Fowlkes said that she would like to invite everyone to visit the amazing FACS classroom when students get back into the buildings and that she can’t wait to meet everyone.