Lanay Byers

Submitted by Candy Fontz, AACPS Parent & Volunteer

Ms. Byers is an AACPS: Retired Teacher

My son was fortunate to have Mrs. Lanay Byers as a teacher at Richard Henry Lee Elementary in the mid-1990’s. Each boy in my son’s class seemed to have a crush on this teacher and all of the girls looked to her as the loving “big sister.” Mrs. Byers always spoke about this class as a group of high achievers and the best class she had the opportunity to work with. She created an enthusiasm within the classroom for each of the students and their parents. She took pride in seeing her students succeed, both in the school setting as well as during personal time. I remember several occasions when Mrs. Byers and her husband arrived at a weekend Little League game to offer shouts of encouragement to my son and his teammates. Although my son grew up and moved through middle school and high school within AACPS, he never forgot Mrs. Byers and would always stop at Richard Henry Lee during the Christmas holiday with a small gift to let her know she was often in his thoughts.

Through the years, she would always ask about these former students whenever I ran in to her in the community and still carried fond memories of her time with them in her heart. Summertime found former students visiting her at the Big Glen Burnie Carnival, where she volunteered/chaired a stand in support of Richard Henry Lee. Moments like this showed her students how much she loved them, the school, and the community. As my son faced the reality of graduation from Glen Burnie High School in 2007, conversation turned to whom he would invite to the graduation ceremony. After tickets for the immediate family had been determined, an invitation was extended to Mrs. Byers and her husband. They arrived at the ceremony to see the GBHS Class of ’07 proudly accept their diplomas and she was emotional on seeing “her kids” on stage. As names were announced, she would share key moments of their time together that surfaced from her memory.

There wasn’t one defining moment that made Lanay Byers an incredible teacher for our county. It was through decades of connection with these children that they saw her as a teacher, a community member, a role model and a friend. Her impact on the lives of these students was not measured in grades, but by the compassion and encouragement she offered to these children.