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Drew Lane has been selected as Teacher of the Year for the Simpson County School District.
Drew is a teacher at the Simpson County Achievement Center. Mr. Lane earned a Masters in the Art of Teaching from William Carey University in 2010. As a student athlete on full football athletic scholarship, Lane completed his undergraduate degrees at Hinds Community College (A.A0) and the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. At the University of Alabama, Drew received a taste for teaching as a tutor to other athletes in Shelby Hall. Diverting from his original plan to attend medical school, Drew believes he was called into teaching in order to help young people develop their character and to solicit academic drive from them.
Mr. Lane began his career as a teacher in 2007 at Mendenhall Junior High School as a seventh grade science teacher and assistant football coach. In 2010 he transferred to Mendenhall High School where he taught Chemistry, Microbiology, and Genetics. He coached girls softball, junior high baseball and assisted the varsity football team kicking game. Lane was fortunate to assisted multiple students in achieving their goals of becoming Mississippi Scholars and preparing them for college level sciences. He felt led to transfer to Simpson County Achievement Center in 2013. Shortly after taking the position at the Tech Center, he was asked to prepare students at Magee high School for the state Biology exam. The students under his tutoring had a 90% pass rate on the exam. Currently, he oversees all sciences at the achievement center but believes his job involves much more. Drew has a unique, however challenging, opportunity to help at-risk youth develop behavioral and social skills.
Mr. Lane became a teacher to give back to his community and to encourage character development in children, much like the teachers (including his own mother) who taught, challenged and inspired him. As a devout Christian athlete, he is called upon as a motivational speaker at various organizations. He and his wife, Amber, have two sons; Jaydee, 9 and Jackson, 4. He proclaims that his family is his source of inspiration, love, and humor daily.
His philosophy includes believing that to earn academic success; one has to learn behavioral and social skills. To achieve this, he must be a role model both in the classroom and outside. He feels that in order for students to be successful, teachers must have a heart for the students and truly want them to be happy, productive members of society.
