Teaching for Muskogee High School for three years, Lauren Fort, currently teaches English II, Pre-AP English II, as well as AP Language and Comp. Before making the leap into teaching high school, Lauren spent six years teaching fourth and sixth graders.

“My favorite thing about teaching is developing lasting relationships with my students, which translates to higher student achievement,” said Lauren. “When students enjoy coming to class because they feel safe, heard, and seen in a classroom, they will usually try harder because they feel that it is okay to ask quotations, okay to make mistakes and know that someone is going to be there to help them when they stumble. Those ah-ha moments are everything to me!”

Drawing her inspiration from her daughter, Lauren is trying to make the world a better place daily. 

“I try to lead by example every day,” said Lauren. “Being the reason someone smiles on maybe what is their worst day and knowing that I might have made it a little more tolerable because of a kind word, a pat on the back, or even buying someone’s coffee that morning makes me feel like I am doing something to leave a positive influence in the work and that is worth getting up every day for.”

Becoming a teacher was as much for herself as it was for a childhood friend.

“My best friend of 14 short years, Constance, wanted to be a teacher,” Lauren said. “She sadly passed away as a child and was never able to see that dream come to fruition. We both have/had a love for inspiring others and creating change in the world and I wanted to make sure that her dreams were carried through, even postmortem. I’ll never be able to thank her for putting me on the career path that would change my life.”