Mrs. Burzynski, commonly known as Miss B, is a 5’3” woman tucked away in the math wing of the school. She has no pets because, as she claimed in her interview, “They take a lot of extra time and energy!” She spends her free time taking her two kids to their various practices and attending their many events. Miss B’s parents were both teachers so, as she stated, “it was a familiar profession.” In fact, her dad was a math teacher and her friends and classmates often asked her for help on their own math assignments.

Therefore, Mrs. Burzynski’s love for math started at a young age. When asked why she chose to teach math as opposed to any other subject, she quickly replied with a chuckle, “Because math is the only important subject!” She went on to say, “No, it’s really because in math there’s only a right or wrong answer. None of those open-ended questions.”

During her college years, she was a student teacher at Herrin High School before coming to teach at Carterville. In fact, she taught Mrs. Webb, the current health and PE teacher, during that time! Miss B has now been teaching for 19 years and says the most rewarding part is “when you get to tell students the big idea and all the little puzzle pieces click together.”

Throughout her 19 years at Carterville she has had plenty of odd student experiences; her favorite, of the many, dates back to the old high school, on the second floor with those big four foot windows. “There was a baseball on the roof that you could see from my window,” she recalled, “and this one student seemed to ask me everyday for weeks if he could go and get it. Well one day, when I was out for a meeting I came back and he presented me with the baseball off the roof and had everyone in the class sign it.” Although she has had many endearing experiences, this story is the most memorable.

Although Miss B strongly values academics, she believes the most important aspect of high school is being able to get along with others without ruining relationships or friendships. She truly believes high school is an important part of a student’s character development. When asked what advice she had for students she suggested, “To be successful in academics, you need to spend the addictions time studying and doing homework. To be successful in social aspects, you need to be understanding and accepting. It can be hard to understand that you don’t know everything about any situation.” Mrs. Burzynski is full of advice and is always helping her students grow. She loves her job, and good news for students, she won’t stop teaching anytime soon.