Dorian Lamb

Dorian Lamb, an alumnus of the high school, is a new biology teacher in School Within a School. During her recent break from teaching, Lamb’s interest in marine life brought her to Australia to study sharks. Now that she has returned to the classroom, Lamb strives to improve the learning experience of her students while also spending time with her toddler at home.

What would you be doing if you were not a teacher?

I would probably be a nurse. I am a biology teacher, so I love biology. I love working with people and helping people. That, or a social worker, working closely with people.

When did you realize you wanted to be a teacher?

I worked in the elementary schools in Brookline as a special education teacher for kindergarten and preschool, and then I left that and went to Australia to study sharks. I really missed the students that I’d been working with, so then I decided to be a high school biology teacher, which I never thought I’d be.

What are your hobbies outside of school?

There’s no time for hobbies. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old, so I love playing with her. That’s what I do in my spare time. I used to be a ballet dancer, but then I got a lot of injuries and couldn’t dance anymore. At the age of 16, I had ankle and knee surgery, so I had to stop.

What is your favorite high school memory?

I did not like high school. I hated it. That’s one of the reasons I became a high school teacher. Because I didn’t like high school, I thought I could help other students and make it a little easier for them. It took me until junior year to actually make friends. Most of my favorite memories are with my best friend. She was a gymnast, and I was a ballet dancer. We both got really injured senior year. She was in a wheelchair, sprained both her ankles, bruised her tailbone. I had ankle and knee surgery. We would both just hobble around the school together.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

Things that my students have done. Not an accomplishment for me, but working with my students and seeing how much they’ve changed and grown. People that you thought were not going to make it, make it, and go on to college, and kill it in college. That’s an awesome feeling because I used to work in Boston, and there’s a lot of students who don’t make it. That’s really sad and really heartbreaking. When they do make it, it’s really exciting. I taught some of the seniors here when they were in kindergarten, and they have changed so much, and it is so amazing to see them grow up and change.