Learning is about more than getting a correct answer or knowing the right information.
That’s the philosophy Lauren Zarandona, a math teacher for Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, brings to her classroom each day, where she aims to teach students not just how to solve math problems but how to think through any problem they may encounter.
“I think what kids need more than anything is to think about the problems that face them in this world and have tools that help them understand how to break those problems down,” Zarandona told The Dispatch on Friday. “So I could teach them a way to do math that looks just like how I do it, but I’m not going to help them if they don’t understand what they’re doing and how to think about that problem. … My job is to arm them with tools for thinking and reasoning so that they can better understand whatever comes their way.”
Zarandona on Friday was honored as the Mississippi Department of Education’s Teacher of the Year for 2026, a statewide title recognizing a teacher who inspires students, demonstrates leadership in and out of the classroom and serves as an active member of the community, an MDE press release said.
The honor, Zarandona said, came as quite a surprise.
“(Lance Evans, state superintendent of education) told me afterwards that he was so excited to see how surprised I was,” she said. “I think that I’m still in disbelief because I was a finalist with other very deserving teachers.”
It may have been less of a surprise to her colleagues. Describing Zarandona as “a blessing to all who know her,” MSMS Executive Director Ginger Tedder said the value she sees in each student sets Zarandona apart as an educator.
“She leads with both excellence and heart, holding high expectations while creating a space where students feel supported, challenged and inspired,” Tedder wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “Lauren doesn’t just teach – she transforms lives and does so with humility, grace and an unwavering belief in the potential of every student.”
Zarandona’s original plan for her career – to pursue medicine – shifted when she was studying physics at Rhodes College in Memphis. After an internship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, she realized she wanted to teach.
She joined the Mississippi Teacher Corps and spent eight weeks learning to teach before she took charge of her own classroom in the Hollandale School District. Five years later, a chance encounter with an MSMS math teacher, Debbie Fancher, at a teacher workshop, would lead her to a classroom at the residential high school.
“Debbie kept telling me that I reminded her of her students, and I really didn’t know what to think about that because I was an adult, and she taught high schoolers,” she said. “A few years later, she was retiring, and she looked me up. Up and she actually contacted me multiple times until I applied.”
Zarandona did just that, got the job in 2008 and has taught at MSMS since.
“I think that I’ve been given a lot of opportunities in my life to pursue what I’m interested in, and the fact that I now get to give that to students is just amazing to me,” she said.
It is a passion that translates not only into her teaching, but also to efforts outside of the classroom.
“Learning math is like learning a foreign language, and most of us don’t speak it every day. Fortunately, Lauren Zarandona is fluent in it,” Thomas Easterling, MSMS director of academic affairs, wrote in an email to The Dispatch. “… She is committed to making sure that they understand not only the pure concepts of math, but also their practical real-world applications. It’s also especially impressive to watch her with students in the math outreach programs as they infect students from all over our area with a love of math and all things math related.”
As Mississippi’s Teacher of the Year, Zaranadona will spend the next year sharing her expertise with teachers across the state.
“I have been a district teacher of the year before and was not selected as a finalist for teacher of the year,” she said. “I do just want to encourage teachers and kids, when you apply for things and you don’t get it the first time, just keep doing what you’re doing because it pays off in the end.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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