MELBOURNE, Fla. — Carly Lane was nominated as an A+ Teacher for always having her students’ well-being at heart, addressing each child personally to encourage her or him and even acknowledge birthdays. 

Lane is trying her best to steer her fourth-graders in the right direction at Croton Elementary School in Melbourne despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.  Lane chuckles as she says, "It has been a wild ride for my first two years of teaching. I kind of thrive in who knows what's happening next."

Lane was nominated for how well she prepares her students, whether it's through virtual learning or in-person learning. The person who nominated her says she spends a lot of her free time and money to make sure her virtual classroom is an inviting, warm, and friendly space. The nominator added that you can tell she put her heart and soul into it to make the transition from classroom to computer easy and enjoyable.

Lane said her students initially struggled with new technology but not anymore. "But now they are amazing how quick they are,” Lane said. “Sometimes I find that they're teaching me things about the technology."

Lane almost didn't become a teacher.

"I was discouraged because — I'll be honest — because of pay, and I thought that I should try to get a degree in something that I might be able to make a better living in,” Lane said. “But ultimately, I kept coming back to this. I knew it was something that I needed to do and wanted to do."

Born and raised in Brevard County, Lane said she was attending Ocean Breeze Elementary school and was in the same grade that she's teaching right now when several teachers really inspired her.

"I think that's why I wanted to teach because I want to be that for other students," Lane said.