’s English teacher. Though Mrs. Baker teaches at a public high school with an awful reputation, sees that Mrs. Baker is, in many ways, giving her students a more interesting and nuanced education than any of the teachers at St. Francis. She’s also very sensitive to current events that might influence her students’ ability to perform well in school, such as the police’s beating of . Her assignment to write a poem about what happened to Natasha is the jumping-off point for Jade, Lee Lee, and to plan the benefit event for Natasha’s family.