“You are nice to me and care for everyone. I will never forget you.”
– 3rd Grade student note to Lauren this September
Lauren Brown is a first-year 3rd grade teacher in a Title 1 school in Lubbock, TX. She is FIERCE. She personifies the four foundations of FIERCE: hustle, courage, resilience, and empathy. For those reasons and many more, Lauren is our FIRST EVER Everyday Superhero.
Lauren chose to be a teacher early in life. She points to her third and eighth grade teachers as major inspirations. Ms. Tweedie, her third-grade teacher, especially made an impact. Ms. Tweedie entered Lauren’s life at the exact time Lauren began to realize that school didn’t come as easy to her as others. I know we can all relate to that drop in the stomach feeling when we realize we are “different” or “not the best” at something. When Lauren speaks about her third-grade teacher, she smiles wide and remembers the empathy shown her during STARR test season and the unwavering motivation and support throughout a critical year of Lauren’s life.
When I ask Lauren ‘how do you want to be remembered by your students’ she responds, “I want them to know I love them and that I believe in them. I also hope they say we had fun in Math and Science!” How lucky are these kiddos? The look on Lauren’s face when she speaks about her students reminds me of why we created Everyday Superheroes. We celebrate Lauren for what she is doing everyday to make this world a better place, lesson by lesson and student by student.
As someone who spends all day in a corporate environment, I asked Lauren for her advice from school for folks like me and her advice is pure FIRE: “Find your people – these are folks who let you vent and remind you what/why you joined your profession in the first place.” This should be a tattoo. What would we do without “our people?” I for one would not be as productive, effective or FIERCE without my people.
As a mother and someone who cares deeply about our future generations, I also want to understand how to help schools, teachers and students. Lauren was prepared for the question and suggests:
- Donate money or supplies directly to schools, teachers, PTA (this is great for those who may not have time to donate their time)
- Join the PTA – Parent Teacher Association, they fundraise for schools, teachers and other mission critical things throughout a school year.
- Pay attention at home, even in third grade Lauren notes that social media is far too common and having a disastrous impact on her eight and nine-year olds
Finally, thinking about being a teacher or know someone who is? Lauren’s top traits for teaching are:
- Empathy – if you speak with Lauren for thirty seconds or more her empathy simply jumps out at you. It’s clear she is so effective by her deep understanding of her students lives, dreams, fears and hopes.
- Passion – teaching is not easy nor is it characterized by certain compensating differentials like huge pay or benefits. It’s critical to be fulfilled by your student’s achievements and the collective role teachers play in our society to be a successful and happy teacher.
- Adaptable – school is not based on easy to manage thirty minute zoom meetings (if you know, you know) and therefore a rockstar teacher has to be able to flex their schedule, pivot their curriculum and lead a group of less mature people through the same process all while making it fun and engaging!
Thank you Lauren for being a FIERCE role model for your students and for all of us reading about you today. You inspire us and we are forever in awe of the amazing impact you are making on our world.