Lessons Learned Supporting Dodgers

Marengo Elementary School Second Graders in Full on Support Mode as they pull for their favorite Major League Baseball team

PHOTO: Holly Lang | South Pasadenan News | Marengo Elementary School second graders in Holly Lang’s class are in full on support mode for Dodgers. KTLA television visited their classroom this week.

Wearing the team’s colors, young Dodger fans twirled blue towels in support of their favorite Major League Baseball team earlier this week.

A KTLA Channel 5 television news cameraman caught the action as reporter Jennifer McGraw talked with longtime fan of the club Holly Lang, who teaches second grade at Marengo Elementary School in South Pasadena.

“Little Dodger fans have the best spirit!” said an enthusiastic Lang from room 8 on campus ahead of Thursday night’s winner-take-all National League Divisional Series match-up between the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. The team coming out on top faces the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS.

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Lang, instructing a roomful of tiny Dodger supporters, creates lesson plans around the team as the kids write letters to players, and learn statistics when it comes to math as part of their daily assignments.

“Whenever I bond with my students it makes them a little more excited to do more work for me,” she told KTLA, when the station arrived at her class for a similar story two years ago.

“In these crazy times (of the pandemic), it’s so fun to get my students pumped up and excited about something outside of school,” she added during the visit this time around. “In turn, it’s gotten some of the parents pumped up as well! Baseball is a fantastic distraction right now.”

Decorated in Dodger Blue, among the pieces of memorabilia that dot her classroom are a lot of the team’s bobbleheads. As a teacher, word got around that she collects them, so a student will often show up at her classroom with a one in hand.

“I’ve lost count,” Lang said when asked the number she has in her possession, “but I think it’s over 250!”

Asked her favorite player, Lang quickly replied Dodger third baseman Justin Turner. “He’s the epitome of everything I try to teach my students,” she said. “Being a good sport as well as showing his altruistic side off the baseball field.”