Garland High School teacher Aime Dugger was honored to be the first Garland ISD teacher adopted from the Adopt a Teacher Facebook group during Teacher Appreciation Week. She enjoyed participating and invited all her GISD teacher friends as soon as she joined.
“I really wanted to share this experience with my co-workers. It was a chance to ‘brag’ about being a teacher and my school,” she said. “I wanted to make sure my fellow Garland High School teachers felt appreciated too, so I secretly sent a little gift to each one who posted on the site.”
Dugger adopted several other teachers from Garland to Dallas to New Jersey to Arkansas and noted that giving to other teachers helped fill the void she feels from being sheltered at home and being away from her school and her students.
She has spent 23 years with GISD, all of them at Garland High School, and is as excited about her job as she was on the first day.
“I still love it. There always seems to be that moment, right when I need it, that shows me that I’m making a difference,” Dugger said.
She wears many hats at her school. Her day classes are made up of students that have failed too many courses to graduate on time, and her passion is getting them caught up and seeing them walk across the stage. Dugger also runs the online courses throughout the school year and for summer school, serves as the Class of 2022 sponsor (her daughter’s class) and is the school’s textbook coordinator.
“When it comes to helping out, I don’t say no,” she said. “I love my Garland Owls.”
Dugger describes becoming a teacher was an accident. Just out of college she had no job and wasn’t sure what career path she wanted to follow, so she started substitute teaching for GISD.
“One day I took a sub job where the class didn’t have a teacher and I had a blast,” she said “The students responded to me and I was hooked. That afternoon the principal called me to his office and offered me the full-time job.”
This year’s COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for teachers and students not being face-to-face in the classroom, but Dugger said that GISD teachers are versatile and have the ability to adapt and overcome. She added that she has learned new technology, earned Google Educator Certifications and learned Instagram so she’d have a creative way to let her students know she is still available.
The pandemic has been difficult for the students because they form bonds with their teachers. Dugger has been a mentor, support system and many times, like a parent to her students and knows that they miss her, their other teachers and their friends. She said that seeing their faces in Google Meet is proof of that because it shows how excited they are to see their friends and teachers.
Dugger’s love of GHS comes from her grandmother who always bragged about “her Garland High School.”
“My grandmother loved it so much, and from the moment I walked through the GHS halls, I understood why,” Dugger said.
She added that she has very supportive administration, co-workers and friends and that she loves the tradition and values that make the Garland Owls.
“I am excited every year to face a new group of students and overcome challenges because I know I can make a difference,” she said.