Julie-Lynn Bourquin watches a student work on an assignment. She won teacher of the year after 14
years of teaching at Riverside. Photo by Kalissa Everett
Bourquin has been teaching for 17 years, 14 of which have been at Riverside.
She learned she liked teaching when one of her teachers asked her to tutor another student that was struggling in the class.
“I really enjoyed watching math click,” Bourquin said. “That was the first indication to me that I wanted to be a teacher.”
She got her undergraduate degree in math at UNC and got her master’s in teaching at Salem College in 2010. While obtaining her master’s, she simultaneously taught at R.J. Reynolds High School as a lateral entry teacher for two and a half years.
For a moment, she felt like teaching wasn’t the right call for her.
“There was a lot of negativity going on in education in general,” said Bourquin. “I didn’t like that, so I got my real estate license.”
But after doing summer tutoring for SAT prep, she rediscovered her love for helping out students and being in the classroom.
“She respects your time and effort as a student.”
Sophomore Mira Riffer
Bourquin, who teaches math I and AP pre-calculus, values being in-person with students when teaching them. Her favorite part is making connections with students.
“The greatest challenge for me is when class sizes are too big and I’m not able to reach every student like I would like to,” she said.
Fellow math teacher Christy Simpson respects her teaching style and believes she is a great choice for the award.
“She’s a great teacher who makes great connections with her students,” said Simpson, a past Teacher of the Year herself. “She’s always finding creative ways to teach students and keep them engaged in learning.”
Students agree.
“She’s always willing to go over your tests with you,” said sophomore Anna Taylor.
“I really feel like she respects your time and effort as a student,” added sophomore Mira Riffer.
A lot of students dislike math and tend to find the subject difficult, but Bourquin aims to help students feel more confident in their mathematical abilities.
“I hope to at least have a positive experience with them in math,” she said.
Bourquin moved on to be in the running for District Teacher of the Year and placed in the top ten semi-finalists.
