On my first day of Accelerated Algebra II at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, I was absolutely terrified. I was surrounded by students I did not know and being taught by an eccentric teacher who had an almost giddy love for math, which is something I did not have. That teacher was Lauren Zarandona, or Mrs. Z as she is commonly known at MSMS. She would soon become my favorite teacher at MSMS, and subsequently my favorite teacher I have ever had.

Mrs. Z first became interested in education while she was attending her sophomore year of college at Rhodes College in Memphis, where she received a degree in physics. She became involved in the “Adopt-A-Friend” program, which was a mentoring program at a local elementary school. Each week, a college student would color, read, do homework and generally visit with an elementary student who was deemed by their counselor as special needs in the sense that they needed someone to talk to.

During one summer, Mrs. Z worked at a Christian activity center in East-Saint Louis, which is a very low-income area of Saint Louis.

“I realized that, as much as I liked working with physics, what I really enjoyed doing was working with kids,” said Mrs. Z.

Mrs. Z says that these experiences with low-income children in East-Saint Louis are what inspired her to pursue education.

“Neither of my parents went to college. My dad’s a mechanic and my mom babysat and cleaned houses when I grew up. But, somehow I always had these adults, my parents included, who, from the beginning, said that I was going to go to college and they made sure I was always in the appropriate classes so that would happen,” explained Mrs. Z. “But there are so many kids where no one is saying that to them. That’s not happening to a lot of kids, and particularly low income kids. It bothered me that there were so many kids who did not have that same push to be better and that college was a possibility.”

Mrs. Z is aware that not everyone is as big of a fan of math as she is, but she still loves teaching.

“I think why I love teaching is getting to pass on inspiration for learning more. Let’s face it, it doesn’t have to be math. Yes, I am a math teacher, but I also recognize that I can’t inspire every kid to want to learn more math,” she said. “For me, I think the constant interactions motivate me. I moved this year and one of my students gave me a house plant and I thought, ‘This is part of why I teach,’ because I recognize that I am working really hard, but at the same time my students recognize that as well and are constantly thanking me by coming in for extra help and turning in their work on time.”

Mrs. Z believes in a simple, but very important philosophy of teaching.

“Where this might not be different from other teachers, I will say my philosophy is ‘We’re all in it together.’ Yes, I understand that’s a High School Musical chorus line, but we are,” she said. “I think that we have to work together to understand the ideas and concepts and build from there. That’s why I’ll never have a class so quiet you can hear a pin drop. I don’t want that. I want us all to be actively working together to accomplish something. I go out of my way to make sure we’re all working together towards a common goal.”

After that terrifying first day, Mrs. Z soon took me under her wing after I told her I was nervous taking an advanced level math course due to previous math classes not adequately preparing me. Throughout the rest of the year, Mrs. Z worked with me so that I could do well in my math classes. If it were not for her work, I may have never passed Accelerated Algebra II.

I consider Mrs. Z to be one of my most important mentors in life. Anytime I need advice, whether it be about college or homework, Mrs. Z is among the first people I seek. She appreciates my sense of humor (I think) and respects that I am interested more in things other than math. I am so glad that I have had the pleasure of knowing Mrs. Z and I think she is very deserving of the Teacher of the Year award.