Mrs. Julie Lariviere is far from the average math teacher. On top of being a member of a bagpipe band, Lariviere quilts for fun and business, and rides a motorcycle.

In college, Lariviere was originally an engineering major. After suffering through a physics class with a horrible professor, Lariviere knew she didn’t need to put up with the stress. “I didn’t know it at the time, but it was the right choice for me,” she said.

When first starting out as a teacher, Lariviere did an exchange in England where she taught for six months. Then, after a year of teaching in California, she moved back to Cape Cod and has taught all different grade levels in not only math, but English as well, for a total of 27 years.

Quilting is one of Lariviere’s major passions. While she has been making quilts for herself since 1994, she branched out and now has many customers that she has been making quilts for for the past 10 years. “They make the quilt top themselves, and I stitch the layers together,” commented Lariviere. She has entered competitions and has even won ribbons for some of her quilts. One of her series of quilts features a variety of birds. Fellow math teacher Sharon Nelson named one of Lariviere’s quilts “Hedwig Lives” after the Harry Potter series, as they are both huge Potter fans. This passion has introduced Lariviere to “so many incredible people” and some of her closest friends. “It’s a creative outlet,” said Lariviere. “It’s satisfying when you finish something.”

Recently Lariviere has taken on other projects besides quilting. She combined two of her favorite things–reading and pocketbooks–to create a bag made out of a book. She took the binding of a book and vibrant Day of the Dead fabric to create a highly functionable pocketbook, complete with grommets and a button and string to close the purse.

And if equations, quilts, and book bags weren’t enough, Lariviere is also a drummer. She has two sons in their early twenties, and one took drum lessons when he was younger. His teacher was part of a bagpipe band which sparked not only Lariviere’s interest, but her children as well who all joined the band as drummers. Although neither of her sons are still in the band, Lariviere still beats her tenor drums with passion. “We are the flare,” commented Lariviere on the tenor drums role in the bagpipe band.

Lariviere swings her mallets around and typically leaves them in her desk at school, just for fun. She has traveled to Scotland to compete in the Newport Harpoon Brewery in the world bagpipe band at the grade four level. While in Scotland, Lariviere got to ride the Hogwarts Express. “I love Harry Potter–love it,” Lariviere admits. Her bagpipe band currently practices at Riverview in Sandwich.

While not focusing on teaching or on one of her many passions, Lariviere loves to spend time with her sons and her 1-year-old nephew, Isaac. “We like to play games,” she said. “We are competitive.”

Although most of her students don’t know about all of her hobbies, hiding the fact she sometimes rides a motorcycle to school from her students is hard. “When I ride, I bring in my motorcycle helmet,” she said.

Just like any math teacher, Lariviere’s desk is covered with calculators and worksheets. Unlike other teacher’s, Lariviere’s passions are subtly displayed for all to see. Between her drum mallets, homemade pocketbook, and the occasional motorcycle helmet, Lariviere is clearly above average.