COLLINSVILLE, Okla. — For 27 years, Cindy Johnson's been educating students.
Right now, she's teaching math at Collinsville High School, but says her job involves much more than just teaching equations.
"It's the relationships that I build with my students," Johnson said. "We could be here for hours to share stories."
Johnson said it's her job to make sure the students in her classroom are prepared for life.
"I strive to do the best that I can do to make sure that they are prepared to move on after my classroom," she said.
And she said there's no greater reward than to watch them become an educator.
"I have had students graduate high school, go on to college, and come back to the same school where I was teaching at the time to teach mathematics in the same department with me," she said.
Her work is being recognized inside and outside the classroom. Last year, the teachers at Collinsville voted her High School Teacher Of The Year.
This year?
"For this year, I am the district Teacher of the Year for Collinsville Public Schools," she said.
It's an honor this humble and appreciative educator takes very seriously. She spent the summer completing a portfolio highlighting her teaching experience and philosophy, and just became one of the 12 finalists for the State Teacher Of The Year Award.
"It is just an honor to be listed with the teachers who are the other finalists this year," Johnson said.
Johnson will find out if she wins in February or March, and says being recognized is nice, but her focus will always be on her students.
"It's never my goal just to make a grade, it is my goal to change their lives."
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