TEACHER: Cyndie Wilkins

SCHOOL: Fairhope Middle School

SUBJECTS TAUGHT: Family and Consumer Sciences

SOMETHING UNUSUAL ABOUT YOURSELF: I can “call” alligators.

Cyndie Wilkins started teaching at Fairhope Middle School 10 years ago.

When her son was in the 11^th grade, she decided to start teaching what she was living.

“I was worried I would have the ‘empty nest’ feeling when my youngest was getting ready to leave home,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins loves her students and being involved. She is teaching her students life skills—living on their own, contributing to society.

“It’s a calling,” she says. “It’s diverse. Every few week’s I’ll do something different and change it up.”

Wilkins loves interacting with her students.

“I love the enthusiasm of the middle school students,” she says. “I like teaching because there is a lot of planning. I like making the lesson plans and being in the ‘digital renaissance’ age. I don’t use it all the time, but I use different applications for each unit and make the class more interesting.”

This year she plans to partner with the Fairhope High School FACS teacher, Dianne Bernasconi and take their eighth graders to New York City on a fashion and food tour.

When Wilkins isn’t teaching, she is sponsors the Fairhope Middle School Unicycle Club.

“I learned when I was 10, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” she says. “My dad brought a unicycle home and challenged us to all learn. I thought it was cool, and even rode in parades.”

Wilkins also enjoys spending time with her family and friends at their river house in the Mobile Delta and in Choctaw County at their hunter property and cabin.