Jim Lambert spent nearly four decades impacting students’ lives as an educator and coach. Jim’s dedication to his jobs influenced his daughter Kelly Lambert Moore to follow a similar path, and now her daughter Kendall Moore is in the early stages of her own teaching career.
Education has just become a family tradition.
It all started with Jim, whose love for coaching landed him a role in the classroom. He wanted to coach basketball, but he had to get his teaching degree in order to do so. He spent six years as the coach at Meade County before serving as the first coach at Apollo High School.
Over 39 years, Jim worked in various capacities at several area school systems.
“I had about every different kind of job you could have in public education,” he said. “I never had a bad job. At the time I was in any particular position, I enjoyed it.”
Kelly said while she wouldn’t admit it at the time, she knew she’d end up in the classroom as well.
“Dad would always tease me that I was going to be a teacher,” she said. “When you’re the teacher’s kid, the response was always ‘oh no I’m not.’ I think deep down, I knew I would. I loved to babysit and work at summer camp and teach Bible School. I always loved working with children.”
She said having positive role models every step of the way helped propel her into an education career. Kelly has spent most of her years as a teacher, but she’s also served as an instructional coach, behavior specialist and most recently, assistant principal Highland Elementary School. Kelly recently accepted a new position as the principal at North Hancock Elementary School.
In contrast to her mom, Kendall — who just finished her third year at Country Heights Elementary School — knew from an early age she wanted to teach.
“There was not really ever a doubt in my mind,” she said. “There was no question about it.”
As a child, Kendall spent many nights in Kelly’s classroom helping change the setup or make plans. Kendall also enjoyed watching her mom interact with students after they had finished school.
“Growing up, we would go places and we would run into people who had been mom’s students,” she said. “I always thought that was so cool that they still remembered her and how she must have made an impact.”
That’s been the common theme that has been passed down from each generation. What goes on in the classroom is only a small part of what they do.
Jim had a favorite story to tell, and it still made him a little emotional after all these years. It’s about one of the players he coached at Meade County — one whose family Jim never saw.
“He lived in a little house with dirt floors and that was it,” he said. “This young man made it through high school, got a good job, married, had a family, his daughter is a college graduate. That’s one of my favorite stories about how athletics can be helpful to young men. There were special cases, special relationships with the kids that you had.”
While Kelly and Kendall inherited their compassion from Jim, they also derived a strong work ethic from him.
Jim used to run the bookstore before school, teach six classes in a row, then coach basketball after school — leaving little time for planning. He made sure hid daughter also valued every minute of the day.
“I have seen their work ethic,” Kendall said. “They never once let me slack on my work ethic. As a teacher, there’s never a time that you’re off duty. Whether it’s planning or something outside of school, there’s always more you can do.”
Though it’s a demanding career, the three have had each other to lean on.
“When you’re in a family and maybe no one else understands the position or your profession, there’s really no conversations that other people can understand,” Kelly said. “We have that with each other.”
It’s also pushed them to always do better. And though Jim has long since retired from education, Kelly and Kendall are still going strong.
“We’ve all held each other to a high standard,” Kelly said. “I think we have to set the bar high for ourselves. We’re a role model for students and families.”
