Words by Anna Lee Vaughn | Images by Ryan McGill
Education has always been a part of Monique Lawrence’s life. Even as a child, she loved educating those around her.
“One day, before my mom got home from work, I decided that my teddy bears and Barbie dolls needed a school lesson. I have no idea where I got chalk from or what a curriculum was, but I lined my toys up on the couch and began writing on the walls,” Monique recalls. “A few lessons later, I realized my mom was about to be home, so I wiped the wooden panels and put my toys up. About thirty minutes later, she arrived home, and the evidence of my teachings on the wall had dried. However, it was only a few moments before I noticed you could still see the chalk!”
This was the first of many steps on her educational journey. In college, Monique pursued a business degree at Savannah State University, then Savannah State College, and decided to follow her mother and become a human resources manager. However, her desire to teach lingered, and she married the two careers to become a business education teacher.
She began teaching in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia, and along the way, married her college sweetheart and had four children. In 2012, her husband’s job brought the family to Jasper, and they began connecting with the schools and community while Monique took a step back from education.
Her step back allowed her to introspect and reassess her tenure as an educator. With the newfound space and time, she harkened back to her childhood. Growing up, Monique’s mother involved her family in community service and civil rights projects. This previous experience inspired her to accept a position with the Walker County Coalition for the Homeless, where she would care for those experiencing homelessness and support them on their journey to finding sustainable housing.
In 2015, she returned to education, and in 2022, she became Jasper High School’s Career Coach, transitioning from the classroom to coaching the entire student body. She describes the transition as refreshing, as helping students apply for colleges, scholarships, and jobs or simply plan their futures allows her to teach her students the importance of dreaming big.
“One minute you think you’re going to be a plastic surgeon, then you change your mind to general surgery. Then you decide, ‘Oh, I want to be a nurse.’ But I teach my kids that is okay. They’re not stuck in a little box, or a hole, or a rut. They can reinvent themselves at any point. And most importantly, there’s a bigger world out there. They have hope, and as an educator, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell them that,” she says.
Monique has taught students from elementary to collegiate levels and impacted the community through organizations such as the Salvation Army, Leadership Walker County, Arc of Walker County, the Literacy Council, and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).
Most importantly, Monique has combined her two passions—business and education—to build a career serving the next generation of the workforce. Her message of hope and dreaming big is a proven one that she will never stop spreading to those around her. WL
