2023 Elementary Math Specialist Scholarship
Kelly Lane
Biography
Kelly Lane is a fifth grade math teacher for Chicago Public Schools. For the past seven years she has taught fourth grade students math at Shoesmith School in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Prior to teaching math at Shoesmith, Kelly taught self-contained fourth and fifth grade classes in the Bronzeville neighborhood at Pershing Magnet School for seven years. Kelly is originally from Michigan and attended Michigan State University where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. Following her Bachelor’s, she earned a Master’s degree in Inner City Studies Education at the Carruther’s Center of Northeastern Illinois University. She’s currently working toward her second Master’s degree in Elementary Mathematics which will result in an Elementary Mathematics Specialist endorsement through Northwest Missouri State University.
Kelly hasn’t always been so enthusiastic about math. Growing up, she had major math anxiety and dreaded going to math class. It wasn’t until college, when Kelly learned that math didn’t have to be all about a set of mysterious steps to memorize, that she discovered she may actually enjoy math a lot more than she thought. Taking math courses for educators at Michigan State University opened her eyes to a whole new way of thinking about math. Throughout her career with Chicago Public Schools, she had the opportunity to serve in leadership positions to educate and train other teachers on best practices in mathematics while still teaching in a self-contained classroom. Eight years into her career, she had the opportunity to focus solely on teaching math and determined, while she enjoys teaching all subjects, elementary math is her passion.
Kelly is deeply honored to receive the AMTE Elementary Math Specialist Scholarship. She would like to express her gratitude to AMTE for their assistance in her journey toward becoming a Math Specialist!