Going the Extra Mile - Mrs. Arnaud
By Ava F.
Mrs. Arnaud - Teacher at NorthStar Academy
The impact that teachers can have on their students' lives is sometimes overlooked. Our teachers are the people who support us in our growth and learning, and a teacher that cares is memorable. Of course, here at NSA, we are lucky to have remarkable teachers like Mrs. Arnaud. In addition to working at NSA, Mrs. Arnaud works for the Florida Department of Corrections as a special education teacher at a prison.
Mrs. Arnaud wasn’t always a teacher, and it wasn’t always her goal to become one. She stayed home to raise her two kids and to care for her mother who later passed away. After substitute teaching at a public school, she realized she enjoyed teaching, and in 2018, she started working for the Florida Department of Corrections as a special education teacher after her son recommended it to her. At the time, she was unaware that they even had teachers. She was offered another position, but God made her path to the prison clear. She is at the prison from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., and since she also works at NSA, Mrs. Arnaud has the evenings to grade NSA papers, take attendance, and write emails as the teacher for International Business.
The environment that she works in is nothing like other schools. She said, “I work in an environment that is 100% male (female inmates are at another facility.)They are all convicted felons. Specifically, I work as a Special Education Teacher with youthful felons ages 21 and younger.” She said that their crimes range from, “Just about everything you can think of.” In three years, she learned how to work in a prison and became a certified professional teacher. Mrs. Arnaud doesn’t teach a specific grade level or age. Her students, “Are 18 and younger- but they have academic grade levels of 8th grade or lower. They usually drop out at about the 8th grade. Being special education means they were already struggling with their learning.” Every morning, Mrs. Arnaud goes through a security checkpoint and is often selected for a pat down. She has a personal body alarm to use in any situation she feels unsafe and is constantly locking and unlocking doors all day.
Mrs. Arnaud stated that, “The most rewarding thing about working at the prison are my students.” It is extremely rewarding to see her students willing to work with her in different situations. She shared that she had one student who became extremely angry with the classroom teacher. She was unaware of this but offered for him to come back to the office after noticing him. She said, “His level of rage was off the charts- his eyes were almost glittering.” As tension increased, Mrs. Arnaud offered for him to talk with her. “He did, and on that morning he learned how to effectively communicate to get results.” She said, “Killing was not foreign to him.” However, “He saw and heard me tell him that he did not scare me, that I was there to help him learn. When he left, he actually volunteered to participate in a class project- which was the first in 2 years, he also asked me to come watch him as he did the rhythmic beat for Dr. Seuss Rap. He told me when he left that he was going to miss me. That was a HUGE success for me.”
As a teacher, Mrs. Arnaud wants her students to be successful and to know that she doesn’t only see them as a number. “I find that I really do not treat my students at the prison differently, they are still 17 year old young men, that make poor decisions.” She makes it a point to never talk down to her students at the prison and to always treat them normally. “Many of them seem to relate to me because I am older (almost like a mom figure). They like the interaction and it goes a long way when you remember something about them.” Mrs. Arnaud’s goal is for these students to stay in class. “These kids are the ones that you read about- the ones with a horrific home life, but in the end, they just want to be loved and accepted. I want to be the ‘real’ teacher to them. Honest, passionate, caring, willing to go the extra mile for them.”
Mrs. Arnaud said her work is, “Definitely a ministry. They are the throw away kids that society has rejected,” and, “I know that I am there because God has placed me there, I know that I am doing His will.” Mrs. Arnaud’s students have asked her about her faith, allowing her to lead their conversations into discussions about God.“I want them to have the confidence of knowing that I believe in them.” She often tells her students, “I want to be that teacher that they will remember when they are little old cotton tops.”
Mrs. Arnaud is definitely a teacher her students at the prison and NSA will remember. Our teachers are the people who are in the position to support us in our learning and growth during this pivotal time in our lives. Mrs. Arnaud’s work serves as a reminder of how this continues to be true in different situations. She shows her support as someone willing to go the extra mile for her students.
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Ava F. is a senior who has attended NSA for three years and this is her first year on the Navigator. She lives in the Middle East with her parents and younger brother. She loves learning about other cultures and hopes to pursue a career that will allow her to travel or live abroad. In her free time she enjoys horseback riding, boxing, learning Arabic, reading, and painting.