Down the hall from the band room is room 106, filled with students. However, there is neither a class occupying it, nor a club; instead, the room is occupied by FHC’s new testing center—led by the new test facilitator Paul Lambach whose past teaching experience has allowed him to see the value in this new position.

“I know as a teacher [that] when I had to do all the work myself like make tests, it’s just a lot of work,” Lambach said. “I thought [working at the testing center] was an excellent way to try to support to the degree that I can.”

Day in and day out, teachers work continuously to help students as best they can—especially when some students almost inevitably miss an assessment. It can be difficult to balance proctoring an assessment while teaching all the other students.

In an attempt to help both the staff and the students, FHC principal Steve Passinault and a team of facility members worked together to set up the new testing center: a place where students can go during the day to make up their assessment, or get the accommodations they need to be successful.

“It’s hard when a teacher is teaching all day to make accommodations for students that have to stay back [after] school or [come] before school to take a test,” Passinault said. “If it’s a full unit test, some kids are taking an hour plus to do that. [So, this new testing center is] an opportunity to do [the test somewhere other than] in the hallway; it’s a more secure environment in terms of confidentiality of the tests.”

To make a safe, secure environment for the students, the team of facility members searched for someone who would be able to work well with the students.

One person particularly stood out amongst all those who applied: Lambach. A plethora of factors drew the team to him, but above all else was his interactions with those around him.

“[He is] sincere [and he] tries to get a read on interactions with students,” Passinault said. “We have had some good responses as far as how he would handle particular situations with students or with parents [and] his years of experience bring a level of maturity to that position that I think is needed.”

In the past, Lambach has taught at three separate Bible colleges in Brazil. Since returning to America, he has wanted to get back into education any way he can, which has inspired him to take on the role of supporting all those at FHC. 

“I enjoy that I can come to this from an educational perspective,” Lambach said. “I try to support the teachers to the degree that I can when it’s possible. Again, I don’t write the test, but at least I can, in some cases, have some ideas that I hope are constructive for the students.”

Luckily for Lambach, his valiant efforts to support both staff and students have begun to pay off.

As teachers become more familiar with the testing center, they begin to make the most of the resource available to them. Economics teacher Cal Anderson has especially taken advantage of the center’s help and proximity to his classroom.

“It works really well for me because when students need to make up tests, he’s really close to my room. So I’m able to just escort the students over there and have them make it up that way,” Anderson said. “They don’t have to make it up in the hallway, and they’re supervised, which is how it should be. [It ensures] that students have accountability and things like that.”

Although teachers are beginning to see the benefits of utilizing the new testing center, they are not the only ones seeing the advantages. Alongside the teachers benefitting are the people testing at the center: the students.

The testing center gives teachers a space where they can rest assured that the students will be properly proctored and held accountable, but for students, such as senior Lorenzo Valdiserri, it gives them a quiet environment to take their tests.

“The testing center allows there to be a room for anyone who needs to make up a test or just needs to go somewhere to take a test,” Lorenzo said. “You can have all these people who need to take a makeup test or quiz go to one room, and they won’t be distracting any other classroom. It’s run by a friendly guy, and it’s a great overall place to take a test.”

At all levels, teacher or student, there has been a positive response. So much so that the testing center is quickly becoming a resource for people across the district to take advantage of.

“This is a position that’s being developed across the district; there are other people doing what I’m doing,” Lambach said. “[The school district emailed me asking] what kind of help or training [would be helpful for the future], and I told them, ‘You know, I know we’re kind of learning as we go because it’s a new position, but I couldn’t ask for better support—the principal [and] the two vice principals—whatever question I have, [they help deal] with it.’ So I’ve received excellent support from all around.”