Lakeland High School teacher Lauren Axtel woke up at 5 am on Feb. 2. She fed herself and fed her newborn baby. She arrives at school by 7 and sees her desk covered in papers from the sub for upcoming units that need to be organized.
Meanwhile, she had to also catch up on IEP and documents of her students. Axtel felt bombarded due to missing out on her close students who came to her about their daily lives and also being welcomed back by everyone.
She was focused on everything she had to do like splitting her time between prepping for classes, writing IEPs, checking on her students on her caseload, and while also pumping. She goes home feeling exhausted after just one day back and goes to bed at 7:15.
“I felt overwhelmed because I felt like I needed to get caught up with what they were learning and what they have missed and whose been absent,” Axtel said.
Axtel is a teacher here at LHS, she teaches strategic english and study support. Her main focus is keeping students on track to graduate with just little extra help.
On top of being a teacher, she also just became a mother of a baby boy. Axtel is beyond blessed with her new addition to her family. She will tell you all about her kid’s accomplishments as he is growing each day.
It may seem like sunshine and rainbows, but she had to go through a lot to have her baby boy. She had 2 surgeries on top of having a c-section. The 2 surgeries were caused by PCOS also known as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and she also had Endometriosis.
The hardest part for Axtel is coming back to school after being gone for 3 months. Leaving at the beginning of a school year and coming back a week after a new semester starts can be difficult for most teachers but Axtel has handled it very well.
Since she has been back she has noticed a bit of a change. She is more lenient due to being tired from staying up with the baby and can be less aware at times. Axtel has seen more to life than just being a teacher. She has realized there is something to look forward to now when she gets home.
Even though she loves being at home with her baby boy, she also missed a lot about her classroom. She missed students coming to her, talking about things they are passionate about.
Although it is difficult to transition back to teaching from having a baby, Axtel handles it the best can and continues to have a smile on her face everyday.
“She is one of the nicest teachers I’ve had and I love having funny conversations with her.” Senior Gracee Jamison said, “I feel like I can trust her with anything.”
