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’s aware that math can be a scary subject for many people.
"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.
"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.
An experience as a student led the Cape Coral resident to her chosen career.
"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."
Blackburn was surprised with a visit by school officials and a plaque earlier this week.
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