Rachel Willingham, a mathematics teacher at North Henderson High School in Hendersonville, NC, has been teaching for 10 years. She has worked in the Henderson County Public Schools for eight years as a mathematics teacher, and she serves as the school’s Mathematics Contest faculty sponsor. She currently teaches algebra, geometry, algebra II, and advanced functions and modeling.
Ms. Willingham aims for high-interest engagement in her teaching, sometimes taking her students outside to conduct experiments and collect data. This appeals to even the most disinterested students, who begin to experience success in learning mathematics. She never gives up on students and, characteristically, volunteered to teach a course for students who had failed algebra at least once. Currently 86 percent of these students are passing the course. She also offers after-school tutorials to any students needing help in mathematics.
Personalized instruction is one of the hallmarks of Ms. Willingham’s success. Colleagues attribute most of her accomplishments in the classroom to her passion and ability to motivate students. Each year, she puts together a team of students for the mathematics competition at Western Carolina University.
Ms. Willingham won the Senior Mathematics Award at Western Carolina University and was designated as an Outstanding Prospective Teacher. She also received a North Carolina Teaching Fellows Scholarship.
Ms. Willingham is certified to teach secondary mathematics. She has a B.S. (magna cum laude) in education, secondary mathematics education and an M.S. in applied mathematics from Western Carolina University.