The teacher spotlight for this Paw Print edition features Mrs. Brandon, English II and Pre-Ap English II teacher. She was chosen for this spotlight based on her tireless efforts and dedication to the staff and students at Wylie High School. In her 28 years of teaching, she has impacted many students and has made the classroom setting a better environment overall.

Mrs. Brandon was born and raised in Odessa, Texas and attended school there from kindergarten to high school, where she graduated from Permian High. While in high school, Mrs. Brandon was a member of the Permian High Pipettes and the tennis team. She then went to Tarleton University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Administrative Systems and a minor in English.

Before teaching at Wylie, Mrs. Brandon taught at Clyde High School for four years and at Plainview High School for two. This is her 22nd year at Wylie teaching sophomore English.

“I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in elementary,” Mrs. Brandon said, “because I always played school with the neighborhood kids.” This love for teaching grew throughout the years, and she became certain that teaching was what she wanted her sophomore year of high school because of the impact her Honors English II teacher Mrs. Moore had on her.

Mrs. Brandon enjoys working in the classroom especially because it grants the opportunity to “experience a multitude of personalities and meet a great deal of new faces each year.” She also really takes joy when seeing the success of her students after a year’s worth of classroom instruction. “It makes me proud when I get to see the relief kids receive when they pass the STAAR Test, especially considering the doubt from their end,” Mrs. Brandon said.

Mrs. Brandon loves the atmosphere that surrounds Wylie High School, and this same environment makes teaching here different than the past schools she has taught at. “I really like the fact that our faculty and staff are like a family,” Mrs. Brandon said, “it makes school that much more enjoyable.”

When not teaching, Mrs. Brandon loves to read; it is her favorite pastime. She also is an avid walker, and she loves to shop. If Mrs. Brandon could tell people one thing it would be that “education begins at home, and parents should start reading to their children when they are young.”