PASSION FOR LEARNING
4/26/2023 10:15:00 AM | General, Student-Athlete Center for Excellence
Lauren Kirby wants to ‘grow the field’ for learning specialists
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Looking around the country, Lauren Kirby doesn't see a lot of learning specialists in roles as sport program administrators or sitting on athletics department executive teams.
"At a lot of schools, if you're a learning specialist, you're a learning specialist for 30 years and that's your only title. And that's fine," said Kirby, who was promoted to Baylor's Assistant AD for Learning Support last August.
"But we need leaders in these roles. So, it's been good to see how Marcus (Sedberry) created the director position. And then now, I get to be an Assistant AD, so hopefully we can continue to build, so that people don't leave and go somewhere else."
Kirby was 26 years old when then-Baylor Senior Associate Athletics Director Sedberry brought her in as Director of Learning Support four years ago.
"I honestly think there were probably just no better options because I was only 26 and didn't have much experience," said Kirby, who spent two years as a graduate assistant learning specialist with Sedberry at the University of Arkansas.
The Arkansas-Baylor connection also included Chris Johnson, who came to Waco as an Assistant AD and now serves in that same role at Tennessee. Sedberry just finished his first year as Deputy AD at Wisconsin after five years at Baylor.
"(Chris) and I worked really closely together at Arkansas (with football)," Lauren said. "So, he knew me, Marcus knew me. And I think the world of them, they're such awesome men. I knew that if they had created something, I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to learn from them as leaders, and I'm still close to them as well."
While she appreciates the chance to grow as a leader, including serving as the secondary program administrator for acrobatics & tumbling, Lauren's heart is still working one-on-one with student-athletes.
"I have so much respect for character formation and our academic coaches," Lauren said, "but in their job they go wider. And not for good or bad, but maybe narrower with a lot more students. But we get to go deeper with just a few. That is my passion and my heart is to help students.
"It's really special when we get to work with students who haven't had super-positive experiences in school, and to see them be confident in the classroom. I'm not saying they love school when they leave, but they know they are a student just like everyone else. We might have to work harder in different areas, but you're not going to say that you can't do school."
Cori Bolts, Senior Associate AD for Student-Athlete Success, said Lauren "has been a tremendous asset to our SACE team since arriving at Baylor."
"Her leadership of our learning support unit has led to great academic success," Bolts said, "and the way she serves our students is second-to-none. Student-athletes and coaches rave about Lauren, and we're grateful she's part of our Baylor family."
This actually wasn't her plan.
A native of Sherman, Texas, Lauren won four state championships in basketball at Texoma Christian School, finished as the school's all-time rebounding leader and was named the TABC Player of the Year for Small Private Schools (1A-3A) as a senior in 2011.
While her older sister, Emily, played volleyball at TCU, Lauren chose the basketball path paved by her grandfather, 7-footer Ellis Olmstead (Texas), and father, Kevin Kirby (McMurry). And she ended up 1,000 miles from home at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.
"Legitimately, I am a very adventurous person," Lauren said. "My sister stayed close to home for college volleyball, but I kind of wanted to go somewhere else. I looked at other schools like one in California, South Carolina, a couple schools in Texas. And on my official visit to Wofford, I just fell in love with it. Beautiful campus, I really enjoyed the academic part, my overall experience was amazing."
A starter in each of her last two seasons with the Terriers, Lauren had her senior season end when she tore her ACL right before the start of conference play.
"When my time was done, I felt very good about closing the chapter on that," said Lauren, who hasn't even played a pick-up basketball game since her injury. "Sports, to me, is different, because it's not so much about the fandom or the environment. It's the context of where I found so much joy. The relationships are everything to me. And I feel like sports provide a platform that very few places can. It's the avenue that led to my job."
An English major with a concentration in secondary education, Lauren did a student teaching stint in her final semester at Wofford. Her passion for learning support was stoked in a resource class, "where we pulled out students who had learning disabilities and accommodations."
"I get to know you, your story, you individually, and I can build on that," she said. "I loved it. I was like, 'Whoah, this is really what gets me excited.'''
That's when Lauren decided to apply for a GA position at Arkansas, where she also earned a master's degree in interpersonal communication.
"My boss there (Christine Scheets) shaped how I wanted to be in college athletics and the impact that you can have," she said. "Especially in our role, the skills that we're teaching, those are life skills that'll last forever. Not just a degree, but genuinely, I can think better, I can write better, I can speak better, because of the skills and strategies I've learned during my time here. And to me, that's even bigger than a degree."
Before coming to Baylor, Lauren worked at LSU for two years as a learning specialist, working primarily with football, women's basketball and track & field. She also oversaw the Strategy Tutor Program and the Summer Academic Success Program.
"I really loved LSU, to be honest," she said. "I loved Louisiana, the culture there was super-fun. But my faith has always been important to me. I can still live out my faith in my job, whether public or private.
"As (Baylor VP and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades) says, we are unapologetically Christian. It's really powerful that two of the biggest things in my life are faith and sports. To be able to merge that has been . . . it would be really hard for me to ever go anywhere else, because this has been such an awesome experience."
Particularly working with learning support, Lauren loves SACE's focus and celebration of "doing your personal best."
"That's why being a learning specialist here is so special," Lauren said. "One, getting to interact with coaches who believe in the learning and teaching part. But also, being at a place that believes in celebrating all students for their accomplishments, is really rewarding as a learning specialist. As learning specialists, we always talk about celebrating the small wins. Our goal is to foster independence, and the goal is that you wouldn't need me anymore."
One of her goals moving forward is to "grow the field of learning support," to the point where there are more learning specialists serving as sport program administrators and in Assistant AD roles.
"I am super passionate about growing the field in that way," she said, "so that people who are both leaders and great learning specialists can still stay in the field but have voices into other areas."
Although her basketball-playing days are over, Lauren likes to stay active with yoga, daily Peloton rides and walking her dog through Cameron Park.
"It's so beautiful down there. I love being outside," she said. "Brené Brown always says everyone is creative. I'm not artsy, though. That's just never been a strength. Not musical, not artsy. But really, I just enjoy doing anything with people and being outside."
Baylor Bear Insider
Looking around the country, Lauren Kirby doesn't see a lot of learning specialists in roles as sport program administrators or sitting on athletics department executive teams.
"At a lot of schools, if you're a learning specialist, you're a learning specialist for 30 years and that's your only title. And that's fine," said Kirby, who was promoted to Baylor's Assistant AD for Learning Support last August.
"But we need leaders in these roles. So, it's been good to see how Marcus (Sedberry) created the director position. And then now, I get to be an Assistant AD, so hopefully we can continue to build, so that people don't leave and go somewhere else."
Kirby was 26 years old when then-Baylor Senior Associate Athletics Director Sedberry brought her in as Director of Learning Support four years ago.
"I honestly think there were probably just no better options because I was only 26 and didn't have much experience," said Kirby, who spent two years as a graduate assistant learning specialist with Sedberry at the University of Arkansas.
The Arkansas-Baylor connection also included Chris Johnson, who came to Waco as an Assistant AD and now serves in that same role at Tennessee. Sedberry just finished his first year as Deputy AD at Wisconsin after five years at Baylor.
"(Chris) and I worked really closely together at Arkansas (with football)," Lauren said. "So, he knew me, Marcus knew me. And I think the world of them, they're such awesome men. I knew that if they had created something, I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to learn from them as leaders, and I'm still close to them as well."
While she appreciates the chance to grow as a leader, including serving as the secondary program administrator for acrobatics & tumbling, Lauren's heart is still working one-on-one with student-athletes.
"I have so much respect for character formation and our academic coaches," Lauren said, "but in their job they go wider. And not for good or bad, but maybe narrower with a lot more students. But we get to go deeper with just a few. That is my passion and my heart is to help students."It's really special when we get to work with students who haven't had super-positive experiences in school, and to see them be confident in the classroom. I'm not saying they love school when they leave, but they know they are a student just like everyone else. We might have to work harder in different areas, but you're not going to say that you can't do school."
Cori Bolts, Senior Associate AD for Student-Athlete Success, said Lauren "has been a tremendous asset to our SACE team since arriving at Baylor."
"Her leadership of our learning support unit has led to great academic success," Bolts said, "and the way she serves our students is second-to-none. Student-athletes and coaches rave about Lauren, and we're grateful she's part of our Baylor family."
This actually wasn't her plan.
A native of Sherman, Texas, Lauren won four state championships in basketball at Texoma Christian School, finished as the school's all-time rebounding leader and was named the TABC Player of the Year for Small Private Schools (1A-3A) as a senior in 2011.
While her older sister, Emily, played volleyball at TCU, Lauren chose the basketball path paved by her grandfather, 7-footer Ellis Olmstead (Texas), and father, Kevin Kirby (McMurry). And she ended up 1,000 miles from home at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.
"Legitimately, I am a very adventurous person," Lauren said. "My sister stayed close to home for college volleyball, but I kind of wanted to go somewhere else. I looked at other schools like one in California, South Carolina, a couple schools in Texas. And on my official visit to Wofford, I just fell in love with it. Beautiful campus, I really enjoyed the academic part, my overall experience was amazing."
A starter in each of her last two seasons with the Terriers, Lauren had her senior season end when she tore her ACL right before the start of conference play.
"When my time was done, I felt very good about closing the chapter on that," said Lauren, who hasn't even played a pick-up basketball game since her injury. "Sports, to me, is different, because it's not so much about the fandom or the environment. It's the context of where I found so much joy. The relationships are everything to me. And I feel like sports provide a platform that very few places can. It's the avenue that led to my job."
An English major with a concentration in secondary education, Lauren did a student teaching stint in her final semester at Wofford. Her passion for learning support was stoked in a resource class, "where we pulled out students who had learning disabilities and accommodations."
"I get to know you, your story, you individually, and I can build on that," she said. "I loved it. I was like, 'Whoah, this is really what gets me excited.'''
That's when Lauren decided to apply for a GA position at Arkansas, where she also earned a master's degree in interpersonal communication.
"My boss there (Christine Scheets) shaped how I wanted to be in college athletics and the impact that you can have," she said. "Especially in our role, the skills that we're teaching, those are life skills that'll last forever. Not just a degree, but genuinely, I can think better, I can write better, I can speak better, because of the skills and strategies I've learned during my time here. And to me, that's even bigger than a degree."
Before coming to Baylor, Lauren worked at LSU for two years as a learning specialist, working primarily with football, women's basketball and track & field. She also oversaw the Strategy Tutor Program and the Summer Academic Success Program.
"I really loved LSU, to be honest," she said. "I loved Louisiana, the culture there was super-fun. But my faith has always been important to me. I can still live out my faith in my job, whether public or private.
"As (Baylor VP and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades) says, we are unapologetically Christian. It's really powerful that two of the biggest things in my life are faith and sports. To be able to merge that has been . . . it would be really hard for me to ever go anywhere else, because this has been such an awesome experience."
Particularly working with learning support, Lauren loves SACE's focus and celebration of "doing your personal best.""That's why being a learning specialist here is so special," Lauren said. "One, getting to interact with coaches who believe in the learning and teaching part. But also, being at a place that believes in celebrating all students for their accomplishments, is really rewarding as a learning specialist. As learning specialists, we always talk about celebrating the small wins. Our goal is to foster independence, and the goal is that you wouldn't need me anymore."
One of her goals moving forward is to "grow the field of learning support," to the point where there are more learning specialists serving as sport program administrators and in Assistant AD roles.
"I am super passionate about growing the field in that way," she said, "so that people who are both leaders and great learning specialists can still stay in the field but have voices into other areas."
Although her basketball-playing days are over, Lauren likes to stay active with yoga, daily Peloton rides and walking her dog through Cameron Park.
"It's so beautiful down there. I love being outside," she said. "Brené Brown always says everyone is creative. I'm not artsy, though. That's just never been a strength. Not musical, not artsy. But really, I just enjoy doing anything with people and being outside."
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