Ms. Lane

Sender Brian McClendon

Posted On 2007-10-17

Year 1991-2

Memoir In 1991, I was a junior at Crenshaw High School in Ms. Lane's calculus class. At the beginning of the year, the class seemed filled with juniors, but a few weeks into the semester -- after a bunch of people failed test after test -- she decided to prune the class to a more reasonable size and only leave those that have faired relatively well. She pruned the class in typical Ms. Lane fashion: On a Monday morning, while returning the previous week's test, she told people that she was dropping them from her class. I was horrified because I wasn't doing so well having had a D average at the time, but when she returned my exam she told me to keep trying and that I'll do better. I have no idea what she saw in me, but because of her encouragement I ended up getting an A in the class for the year. I'm 31 now and work with youth in Oakland and I see what type of education they're getting and can honestly say that they just don't make teachers like Ms. Lane anymore. She was probably the best teacher I've ever had and loved Crenshaw High more than anyone I know. Her death is a great blow to all those that have passed through the halls of Crenshaw.