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Learning Resources
Lauren Dykes
Whether singing about adding and subtracting integers with her ukulele or joking with students, Senior Instructional Support Specialist Lauren Dykes strives to make learning fun.
A performer by nature, Lauren has a degree in theater from the University of Tampa. She joined SPC in 2010 as a writing tutor because theater wasn’t paying the bills. She soon found herself tutoring math and now teaches two developmental math classes at the College as well.
While theater remains her first passion, Lauren discovered that teaching was a knack she didn’t expect, and the two didn’t need to be mutually exclusive.
“If you’re an adult in a developmental math class, math isn’t really your thing. I try to make it fun and less painful,” she said. “I’ve come up with my own little quirks, I have some fun techniques to help them remember.”
Lauren explains that you have to be creative when tutoring because everyone learns differently.
“In a classroom, you explain your lesson once to 15 to 20 students. When you’re tutoring, you’re explaining the concept over and over again in different ways with different people. It’s new to each student,” she said.
When working with new students, she asks questions and listens to gage where they are and help them feel comfortable. She keeps tissues on her desk as students often come to her overwhelmed.
“One girl came in and had just failed her test, she was emotional. I get a lot of tears,” Lauren said. “I try to help them understand that this is a safe space, this is where you can make mistakes.”
When students come back to her and proudly tell her, “We got an A!” she reminds them that they are the ones who put in the hard work.
Outside of SPC, Lauren still performs and owns her own book folding business turning old books into art. She started book folding because she was helping clean out some SPC offices years ago and found an oceanography textbook. She looked online and found a way to salvage it by turning it into art.
In 2025, she was awarded Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay for Best Tutor/Tutoring Services. As a proud member of the Learning Resources team, she feels SPC has allowed to her keep growing personally and professionally. “Being able to help students and seeing the result, it’s nice to make a difference in someone’s life.”
