Today we’d like to introduce you to LaCresha Douresseaux.
LaCresha, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I believe it initially started from asking my teachers for extra worksheets before summer and playing school with my stuffed animals, dolls, and younger siblings. I always had a deep love for reading. I think it was something about inserting myself in all the stories I read. As I got older, I began to realize I did not see many teachers that look like me. Simply put, I did not see many, if any, African American women teachers in classrooms. Here nor there, I came across some amazing teachers who taught me many life lessons and skills; however, I was not sure of my true self so, I could not learn at my best ability. Now, I find myself instructing those skills strategically inside and outside the classroom. It is bizarre how we can remember things from our youth and understand the value to this day. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher; the idea of embodying everything I needed and wanted from my teacher ignited a new fire in me. Building relationships with students, getting to know and understand their cultures, and most importantly, their vulnerability to share their fears and dreams. It helped me as an educator and woman while assisting them as students transitioning into adulthood.
More so, I took pride in memorializing the gems they indoctrinated in me so that I can bolster them. I always try to be as candid as possible, sharing my very own experiences, the good, the bad and the in-between. The trajectory of our teaching style and culture of my classroom seems to have students wanting Ms. Douresseaux the following year. My conclusion from various students’ experience includes many adult-like crisis and responsibility that I could not fathom at their age. I knew then that some of these students required something more than just an education. They needed education with a purpose. Some were straying away from school due to other obligations, the rules and expectations, or the lack of motivation. I then became the foster mother of hundreds, then thousands of students inside and outside the classroom. I found myself rebuilding students, mostly female students with confidence, grit, and tenacity to be life long learners and leaders. The rest became history, I gave my heart soul to education trying to bridge literacy gaps, reconstruct the plight of teaching in classrooms, and deciphering depression and anxiety from failure.
I started my journey slightly backward, teaching High school and college first. I began witnessing a lack of encouragement and learning deficiencies in my students. Many students were not inspired to go to college and more college students were just so behind the learning of collegiate reading and writing. They lacked college readiness. I then conducted research, issuing all of my students, middle, high and college the same assessment. The assessment dealt with GRAMMAR, basic grammar, the #1 skill that can pursue your education and career or deflate it. The outcome was very disheartening but yet alarming. As an instructor, this was my biggest red flag. Not a flag to go on and write a dissertation, but a flag for me as an instructor that “I am not fully serving my purpose.” Not just my students, but people are in general, struggling with writing and speaking academically correct. I thought of solutions and decided to backpedal and teach middle school. That way, I could assist in the planting and watering of their basic educational needs and success.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Of course not. Nothing great comes easy. There were many times I wanted to quit and in some cases, I did. The outcome always remained the same and that was my purpose. If I did not push forth, then who would be there for the children. Who would advocate for them when they could not find the right words? One of my biggest challenges was evolving into a growth mindset. Sometimes, I would take feedback personally, instead of as tools to better help me perform. Like students, the delivery made an impact on how well I would accept it. The long nights of grading or uncertainty of what some students are enduring based off their writings or dialogues. Is an ongoing challenge, but I would rather face these struggles with my students because we all know in room 602, we are all we got. With this family orientated learning environment, it portrays for them that here is where “Everybody is a Somebody.”
Lately, the biggest struggle is being able to accommodate not only students in the Houston area but lend our services to Louisiana in this pandemic and disastrous time. This is a time that students will always remember; however, their brain still needs feeding of knowledge. Through all these trials and tribulations, Knowledge is Power and they also need a reinforcement that we are in this TOGETHER, no excuses!
Please tell us about L&C Hybrid Tutoring Services and Black Girl Association.
L&C Hybrid Tutoring services is a convenient online or face to face tutoring service that provides additional education resources, proven engagement approaches to further the success of learning and deepen the understanding of each student’s needs. We offer services personalized to the appropriate school curriculum for each student. We strive to provide the needs to succeed academically and in life. We provide the missing building blocks in their knowledge base and teach skills that help people become life-long learners. We are known for tutoring students of all grade levels from elementary through college, specializing in core content subject areas. Creating innovating and rigorous lessons, differentiating basic skills to accommodate students learning styles.
We are most proud of students being able to give feedback in regards to their success. Once a session is completed and a student can thoroughly apply skills to their daily lives, this is a major WIN. What sets us apart from other tutoring services is that we always have our students as the first priority. We listen to their needs, fears and provide support and the tools to be successful while building character. Once you encounter L &C, you become part of a new family. We stress the importance of mistakes and productive struggle because those are the lessons that make us LIFE LONG LEARNERS. We believe in reconstructing the mindset of learning incapability to master a challenging task.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
The future for L&C is rapidly approaching. We are currently in the works of providing services for Louisiana and surrounding cities that were affected by Hurricane Laura and Delta. The goal is to have an express bus that will travel to Lake Charles, Louisiana with tutors, teachers, and mentors to provide engaging content and educational resources. We have been successfully providing services for students in my hometown Rayne, Louisiana virtually and face to face. We also been demonstrating with students how to meditate and exercise their mind before tackling what they believe is a hard task. Louisiana holds an exceptional place my heart being that I was born and raised there.
Lake Charles also holds a keepsake within me as well because Calcasieu Parish was one of the first school districts I ever worked for. Seeing families struggle for shelter, food, and electricity leaves little room to access student success and growth within the classroom, let along the home. Although it may seem like the world has already forgotten about these natural disasters and its effect on Louisiana while undergoing the precautions of Covid-19; L&C is focused on spacing the learning gaps from March to this present day. It is a time for educators to collaborate and share not only resources but experiences and provide support for our neighboring states. Our #1 goal and priority is student success for the underprivileged, overlooked, and of students of color.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 337-384-3793
- Email: lchybridtutoring@gmail.com
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