Judith E. Darling

Judith Darling has taught English, and at times Latin, at Garner Senior High School since January of 1990. A 1989 graduate and Valedictorian of NCSU, she chose the profession later in life, after a brief career with a utility company and then a longer career raising four children. In 1996, she served as the state's Outstanding English Teacher and as Wake County Teacher of the Year. More recently, she was recognized as Wake Co.'s Outstanding Teacher of the Gifted and won the Katherine & Robert Sawyer Teaching Award for her work with Duke's Talent Identification Program. She brings to the classroom a deep concern for disadvantaged and disillusioned young people, gained from her own difficult experiences growing up in Boston's inner city. With them, as well as with her Advanced Placement students, she thoroughly enjoys sharing the wisdom of literature and the power of language. She believes, with Christa McAuliffe, that to teach is to touch the future, and the future needs a very special touch.