After 16 years teaching at LHS, fashion and home economics teacher Karen Goulet looks back on her time in the district fondly, her journey prompting a sea of self-discovery. Goulet was swept into the world of fashion even before she became a teacher. In fact, she did not even think she was going to become a teacher at all. “My mom always told me [that I] might want to become a teacher one day because she worked in schools,” Goulet explained. However, her mother also encouraged her to pursue her love for fashion, and Goulet enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in Manhattan for her undergraduate studies.
After FIT, Goulet worked in the textile design and fashion industry for 20 years “I did a lot of textile design, and it was the days before computers, so I mixed everything by hand, cut and pasted, used a lot of Exacto knives, very old-fashioned,” she reminisced. Working in the fashion industry allowed Goulet to travel abroad, corresponding between New York City and countries like Taiwan, and this also taught her time-management skills and how to work under pressure.
However, after a career in fashion, Goulet realized that she wanted to try teaching, much like how her mother had initially suggested. She went back to Adelphi University and got her master’s degree in education, and she started to teach at the age of 40. She became certified in Art K-12, Childhood Education for grades 1-6, and as a Family Consumer Science (FACS) teacher. After gaining her degree, Goulet taught in Queens in the Department of Education (DOE) for four years in a middle school, where she taught art and then social studies and English. She then moved to MacArthur High School in Levittown for one year and taught art and foods. Principal Matthew Sarosy remarked on the value of Goulet’s previous experience beyond teaching: “She’s a career changer, which always offers a different perspective to this profession…I think she’s really taken her program and made it her own unique style, and kids respond brilliantly to it and to her caring nature and who she is as a person.”
Goulet’s multiple certifications allow for her to approach her teaching in an interdisciplinary manner. “I was hired primarily as the fashion teacher, but since I’m a FACS teacher, I’m also capable of teaching foods, so I’ve been doing foods and fashion.” Furthermore, her foray into the world of teaching middle and high schoolers made her think about the rigidity of the school system, and whether the approach to teaching students always needed to be done in the same way. In Queens, Goulet explained that, while teaching social studies, the administration often wanted all the lesson plans of all teachers in a department to always be the same. However, when she came to LHS, she discovered a newfound freedom, able to develop her lesson plans and the courses she taught however she wanted. “My favorite part about LHS is that they let me do my thing here,” Goulet explained. “Nobody told me I couldn’t do something or that I should do something. They really let me guide the journey, and that’s something that has been so rewarding.”
In being able to design her own classes, Goulet is able to cater to the different types of students she has each year. She acutely monitors the moods of her students, but also the materials she has, ensuring that there is a diverse range of projects available each year. “In fashion, I touch upon a lot of different things just so students can find out what they’re good at. Maybe they’re good at color, or maybe they’re good at sewing or more technical or more creative…so students can all feel successful at something,” she emphasized.
Senior Allison Moore has deeply appreciated Goulet’s willingness to think out of the box. Moore took several courses with Goulet, and she even audited a fashion course with Goulet during her junior year. “I loved her as a teacher. I would always go in there on off periods and use a bunch of the supplies, and she always liked my work,” Moore shared. “[If] I finished early, she would let my creativity go wild and let me do anything I wanted,” Moore added.
Goulet has also learned much about both her fellow colleagues in the building and her students during her time teaching: “Most teachers are multifaceted, especially the teachers here at LHS. They have a lot of other interests. They’re smart people who aren’t just involved in what they teach, but they have very full lives and interests.” Furthermore, she observed the drastic changes she has witnessed in the learning styles of her students over the years. “[Students are] way different now than they were when I first started…They’re more quick to learn because I think they have access to videos and things that I think they can pull up. So the job has become easier in that way,” she mused. Goulet also remarked that things move a lot quicker in the classroom than they used to: “I think it has to do with the technology; kids are just quicker, and they want to get things done quicker.”
The field of Family Consumer Science has experienced drastic changes, with there being a decrease in the number of young people going into the field. “There are not enough people to fill positions, so what schools are doing is they’re able to replace classes with something else,” Goulet explained. She encouraged young people who enjoy the field to pursue it in college. “Schools like SUNY Oneonta, Hofstra, and Queens College have it, and you can get a degree there. Anyone who goes into it will be getting a job because there’s high demand,” she added. However, she also acknowledged the validity of the courses that often replace Family Consumer Science courses, such as computer skills and accounting courses.
In her retirement, Goulet plans to travel. “I plan on taking a lot of trips in the car. I’m not so interested in flying lately. I met a woman the other day who was retired, and she said she has trips planned every month,” she said. Goulet also plans to spend more time at her homes in Pennsylvania and in Long Beach, both of which she deeply enjoys. Nonetheless, Goulet will be deeply missed by students and faculty alike for her creativity, her kindness, and her passionate desire to always think outside of the box.
