LYNN EVANS

04| EVANS

LYNN EVANS

anatomy teacher

Bringing light and positivity to each Evans’s work as an Anatomy and and every day, Anatomy and Physiology Physiology teacher mattered greatly to her, teacher Lynn Evans spent her 35-year as she saw the long-term importance of career at Miami Palmetto Senior High her job as an educator of the human body. School empowering students to work She sought to create a curriculum that towards their goals and remember that no provided students with the tools to take as dream is ever too big to accomplish. best care of themselves as possible.

Through educating students about “She showed [her students] how [what] their minds and bodies, Evans equipped they were learning applied to real life. them with the necessary knowledge to Even if she did not feel good, she came in keep themselves healthy and happy, a and did her job priceless gift that many of her students bewill cherish forever.

Starting in 1985, Evans came to Palmetto as an athletic trainer, later transitioning to the role of Anatomy and Physiology teacher. At Palmetto, Evans not only forged relationships with her students, but also met lifelong friends and the love of her life.

“We both started working here in 1985… I used to hang out in the science department, and she, of course, was in the science department,” Palmetto AP Probability & Statistics teacher Peter Migli said. “We started to date in 1991, and we got married in 1992.”

As Migli and Evans worked in separate cause she departments, the two did not begin to cared about her students,” continuously spend time with one another Palmetto AP Environmental Science and until a few years into their careers. Their Solar Science teacher Pamela Shlactman upcoming anniversary marks 29 years of said. marriage for the two, who have learned so During her time as a teacher, Evans much from one another. battled breast cancer and severe stomach

“She was very hands on and engaging. issues, which caused her tremendous pain. If we were in a room full of people, she Despite this, she focused on being there would know most of the people before for each of her students, as well as her we left,” Migli said. “I, on the other hand, colleagues. would sit quietly in the corner if given the “She has always been supportive and choice. One of the things I have learned a really good friend, and someone you from her is to be more outgoing.” could always talk to. She always believed that you needed to be kind to other people, and it was such a nice quality about her,” Shlactman said.

Evans has long been known for her dynamic teaching approach and emphasis on a classroom culture that catered to every kind of learner. Students know her as the teacher who made learning a fun and rewarding experience, but she herself was easy to talk to and made the Anatomy and Physiology classroom feel like a safe haven.

“She was just such a positive force and friendly face, and everyone loved her,” former Palmetto student and AP

Biology and Forensic teacher Dr. Sara

Edelman said. “She was able to use her classroom as an escape and put the outside world outside… I have tried to replicate that and just be grateful to be able to do what I love.” Since her departure from the school, many administrators, faculty members and students have noticed her absence. Evans’s kindness, overflowing love for all and willingness to create a home away from home within her classes will forever be remembered as an integral part of Palmetto.

“People are constantly stopping me in the hallway to ask me how she is doing… She really breathed life into the Palmetto body,” Migli said.

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