Story by Kaden Bessent
You could say Lauren Mays was destined to become a teacher. After all, it runs in the family. Mays is a third generation teacher in her family, following in the footsteps of her mother, Alysbelle Shero, and grandmother, Ernestine Hudson.
“My mother was a huge influence to me. We still can’t go places without people stopping her and asking if she remembers when they were in her class,” Mays said.
The Brownwood graduate attended Angelo State and was involved in the band at both schools, leading to her becoming a music teacher. Over her 16 years teaching, Mays taught at San Saba for nine years and Brownwood for seven where she’s now the music teacher at Northwest Elementary.
Regarding her teaching journey, Mays said, “I started teaching elementary music in San Saba but I also taught GT, small group interventions and Dyslexia therapy. When coming to Brownwood, I did Response to Intervention and Dyslexia Therapy, but three years ago I got the call asking me to be the elementary music teacher again. I love each thing I have taught for many different reasons but I love building connections with my students. Doing programs is my favorite part of elementary music because the kids get to show what they have learned and we get to build our parent and community involvement for the school.”
As for what has been most rewarding about teaching, Mays said, “Building the relationships with students and watching them grow. I love seeing students out in the community and watching them learn and grow in school and with their outside of school accomplishments.”
Mays said technology excites her most about the future of teaching. “I am excited to see the advances we make using technology. Our current music curriculum is internet based and so great. I think back to when I first started teaching about having internet problems and not many computers or iPads in the classroom to now where we can use technology to support our kids. The kids we are raising are using it at home so I’m excited to help them learn while using technology.”
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BrownwoodNews.com will highlight one Brown County educator per day in the month of July, based on nominations received on our Facebook page, for our Teacher Feature series