Laurel Blackburn was recently named Lee County Teacher of the Year. As the west region math coach for the system, she works with grades K through 12 in 22 schools in Cape Coral. She\u2019s aware that math can be a scary subject for many people. <\/p>\n
“When I do like a little survey at the beginning of the year, or I’m meeting parents, the typical response is, ‘I’m not a math student. I’m never going to be a math student. My mom’s not a math student.’ Or, you know, ‘my dad can’t do math. I’m just not good at it.’ So my goal throughout the year is to change their minds.<\/p>\n
“I’ve had success doing that, and it’s awesome, and that’s one of the motivating and inspiring parts of the job,” she said.<\/p>\n
An experience as a student led the Cape Coral resident to her chosen career.<\/p>\n
“It was a subject that in middle school, that I actually started off weak in, and then I had an amazing teacher who inspired me, and I learned a great deal that year. And ever since then, I had increased success with math, and it clicked. And so I wanted to just kind of pay that forward.”<\/p>\n
Blackburn was surprised with a visit by school officials and a plaque earlier this week.<\/p>\n