Teacher of the Year Holly Budzinski's a 'Natural'

May 10, 2000 - In the middle of teaching her third-period Advanced Geometry class, Green Hope High's Holly Budzinski answers a knock at her classroom door. It's a delivery of flowers from the Wake Education Partnership. She accepts them graciously while her students smile and watch. They know what the rest of Wake County has just found out: They're being taught by one of the best.


Superintendent Dr. Jim Surratt presents Budzinski her Teacher of the Year Award.

Holly Budzinski was named Wake County's Teacher of the Year May 4, at a ceremony that left the teacher and her parents in tears.

"Are you kidding, I'm the baby. Of course they were happy. They were overwhelmed with joy," she said of receiving the honor.

The best part, she said, besides going to pick up the Saturn she gets to drive free for a year, was the reception she got from her fellow faculty members the next day at school. They all hid near the front entrance, cheered her arrival, and hugged her.

"I've never been in a place where they reward you so highly," says the teacher whose students call her Miss Bud. "I feel like I'm working with dedicated people across the board. I do feel appreciated in my community. When I was nominated Teacher of the Year from Green Hope, it was very much an honor. There are a lot of great teachers here. I think their reaction means the most. The other stuff is really fun, though."

But today, just four days after the news of her selection, it's business as usual for Ms. Budzinski and her Advanced Geometry class. She writes some point values on the board.

"Write out what you know in terms of distance formula, here to here," she instructs, referring to the equation on the board. "Some of you programmed it in your calculators, but in this case, you really need to write it out, so you can see the equation."

The students work on the problem, and they share or seek help from a neighbor. That's because this teacher encourages collaboration. More than understanding Advanced Geometry, she wants them to take life skills from her class: problem solving, thought processes, when to look up an answer, when to seek help.

She puts another equation on the board. "See if you can come up with a sketch," she instructs. "Try to see how it relates to what we just did. Try distance formula. Try to figure it out."

Again the students respond immediately. This isn't math drudgery. This is a challenge. It's actually kind of fun. Watching her teach, you easily understand that Ms. Budzinski is achieving her goals.

"I have lots of goals, actually," she explains. "First, that the students are never intimidated by anything, that they understand they can always learn it. Then, that they really enjoy school. If they can enjoy their day, they're going to have good memories of it and pass that on to their children."

There's nothing worse, she says, than meeting an adult who still recalls how horrible school was for him or her.

"I absolutely loved high school," the teacher recalls, "and decided I'd like to spend the rest of my life in high school. That's pretty much what I've done. You're in class all day, you play your sport after school, go home and have dinner, get up..."

Her sport for now is JV girls volleyball, which she coaches, but she's also coached basketball, softball, tennis, track, and field hockey. Coaching, she says, gives her one-on-one time with the students that the crunch of covering the curriculum in too little class time doesn't. Before transferring to the brand-new Green Hope High School, where she serves as head of the math department, Holly taught three years at East Cary Middle.

"It's really made me a better high school teacher, no doubt," she says. Before that, she taught in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Luther Cherry, an area assistant superintendent, was Holly's principal at East Cary Middle; she learned under his tutelage.

"Luther Cherry is a great guy and a wise man. He always made his decisions as a principal based on what was best for the kids so nobody minded putting in the work. He helped me to understand our community's expectations, how they preferred to interact with you. The relationships I have in the community and with parents have kept me in good standing. I thrive here because parents do want to be involved."

Holly says she also thrives by being treated as a professional by her current principal, Donna Hargens.

Ms. Hargens says, "Holly is a natural teacher. It is instinct with her. Everything she tallks about she puts students first. She teaches students math rather than teaching math to students. She is a wonderful leader and a great role model for other teachers."

Holly is quick to give credit for her teaching ability where it belongs: "It's God's doing," she says. "That's just how I'm made. That's just how I'm gifted. It's easy for me to love it, it comes from inside.... what is cool is what happens in my class is out of my control. It blows my mind every day."

Why did she choose teaching? "Because I love kids. I want to make a difference in their lives."