Teen's efforts replace classroom furniture

By WENDI WINTERS, For The Capital
Gabrielle “Gabby” Pomerleau spends a good chunk of her day playing with Playskool toys, being “it” in tag, and climbing up and down a plastic slide in a playhouse.
It’s the playhouse that Gabby built. More to the point, if not for Gabby, there wouldn’t be a new playhouse in the cheerful preschool program classroom at Southern High School.


Youngsters age 3 to 5 come to the school three times a week for about 2½ hours. Students at Southern and other county high schools who are enrolled in child development courses work directly with the preschoolers, observe and take notes, and create lesson plans.
Gabby works with instructor Lois Zell and her preschoolers on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
“Since I was in fourth grade, I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “I like being around children. I want to make a difference. I felt this way even before my kid brothers were born.”
She couldn’t help but notice that the furniture and toys in the classroom were old and worn. Gabby thought she could raise money to supply the room with items that were more colorful and up to date. She had her eye on a sturdy $800 playhouse.
With friends Lisa Hart, Angela Butland and Ashleigh Horn, she set up donut sales during exams during the last school year, sold cookie dough – “a lot of work for what we did!” – and organized school nights at Cold Stone and Cheeburger Cheeburger.
“She worked on some small projects last year,” recalled Ms. Zell. “This year she made it her goal to spearhead a fundraising effort unprecedented in the history of child development at Southern High. Because some of our furniture is 40 years old, she made replacing it the goal.
“I have never seen a student work as hard as she and her team. The fashion show followed several other fundraisers and turned out to be much more work than anticipated, but she persevered despite numerous setbacks.”
“We had 10 girls and 10 boys in the fashion show, plus 11 little kids from the elementary school and our preschool,” said Gabby. “Four teachers modeled outfits, too, from Dress Barn. Carrington Formal in Prince Frederick loaned us tuxedos and Cache and Annapolis Formal … loaned ball dresses. We had to struggle for practice times for the show, since students were also using the auditorium to rehearse for the March musical ‘Good News!’ ”
“I’ve never seen a project with so many setbacks, problems and obstacles,” said Ms. Zell. “But she and the other girls were relentless. It’s not like some projects where the teacher does all the work and the kids get all the glory. They did the work.
“Gabby planned it, called a bazillion vendors. Most won’t lend clothes anymore. She spent hundreds of hours on this. This consumed her life.”
Ms. Zell pointed out that Gabby helped the program in other ways, too.
“At the beginning of the school year, we were short on preschool kids for the program,” she said. “Usually it’s no problem. We put fliers in churches and grocery stores and we always have enough kids. It didn’t happen this year. So she got an article in the newspaper and that was the publicity we needed. We got the kids we needed – she brought in 10 of the 13 kids in the program.”
The teacher added: “She has the perseverance, stamina, stick-to-itiveness, eye for details and ability to do teaching.”
The 16-year-old, who has been on the honor roll every semester, carries a 3.6 weighted grade-point average. She’s one of the few seniors who’s compressed the four-year experience into three.
Gabby was originally a member of the Class of 2018, scheduled to graduate next year. In her sophomore year, she decided to speed things up.
“I went to my guidance counselor and showed how I could graduate in 2017 and still have more credits than I needed,” she said. “I didn’t think I needed to stay four years if I could go to college a year early.”
Still, because of her youth, her parents insisted that she attend Anne Arundel Community College for a year. She’ll eventually transfer to Salisbury or Towson to complete work for a bachelor’s degree in early education.
She zoomed through driver’s ed, too, and got her license as soon as she could. She needed it to get to her internship assignment, which began in January at Shady Side Elementary School. The internship is part of her final grade. She assists in a first-grade classroom Monday through Friday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. One of the students is her kid brother, 8-year-old Nicolas.
Her supervisor, first grade teacher Carmen Smith, has been an instructor for 30 years. “Gabby’s an angel!” Ms. Smith exclaimed. “She’s mature for her age and works well with the staff. She’s not timid and not a smart aleck. Gabby’s better than some student teachers I’ve had. She’s probably in the upper quarter of student teachers. She has a positive attitude and I’m impressed with her.”
In Ms. Smith’s opinion, “She’s going to be a good teacher.”
Once the school day is over, Gabby pulls out her clipboard and whistle – she’s a soccer coach for a girls’ 14-and-under team in the Shady Side recreational league. This is the third year she’s coached, and she juggles the schedule to practice with her own 18-and-under team.
The Pomerleau family was originally from Rockville.
“We moved here in December of 2001, because my parents loved the water. We have a home on the waterfront, with views of South Creek, which feeds into the West River,” said Gabby. “We have two boats – my dad’s 27-foot Formula, a 19-foot SeaRay for mom – and a jet ski.”
Her father, Johnny, is a CanAm construction supervisor. Kim, her mother, runs Creative Promotions, which produces promotional products, like embroidered jackets or totes. Gabby and Nicolas have a younger sibling, 3-year-old Joshua.
Even though she’s raced through her high school years, she slowed down for Southern’s prom night at Herrington on the Bay. She intended to enjoy every moment with her boyfriend, junior Adam Trader.
To nominate a Teen of the Week, e-mail Wendi Winters at Teen@quantumstep.com; write to her c/o The Capital, PO Box 911, Annapolis, MD 21404; or fax to 410-280-5953.