Golden Apple: Lauren Whitaker
This week’s golden apple award takes us to Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School in Montgomery. It’s where we met an English teacher who makes literature come alive in her classroom.
Lauren Whitaker is in her third year of teaching. The 2012 Faulkner graduate said she decided she wanted to be a teacher back when she was in high school. “I had excellent teachers, and they inspired me to pursue what I enjoy and what I love, and that is reading and writing,” she said.
In Whitaker’s ninth and tenth grade English classes, hands-on learning happens every day. She says she believes students grasp new concepts best when they’re a part of the process.
“My room is much more hopefully than just teaching English and how to read and enjoying that and understanding that,” she said.
In the future, Whitaker says she’s thinking about trying to earn a masters degree and becoming certified to teach across the country. Right now, though, she says she is very happy at Brewbaker Magnet, and she says she can’t imagine not wanting to make a difference in the lives of students.
“I have some that will stop me in the middle of my lessons and just thank me and say, ‘Miss Whitaker, you’re doing a good job. I understand this.’ That’s the moment you want as a teacher, to see the light bulb go off, and that’s been such a blessing.”
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