Claire Sutton, CFNN Reporter
Our favorite public safety teacher, Ms. Sara Bandurraga, is our next teacher of the week! With her positive attitude and fun personality, she has impacted many students’ school careers. She is dedicated to teaching her students about different concepts of life and the world we live in.
Ms. Bandurraga is originally from Fayetteville. She attended rival Terry Sanford High school. She was a student athlete and a standout member of the women’s soccer team. In another interesting note, former Cape Fear High School principal, Mr. Lee Spruill, was Ms. Bandurraga’s teacher and soccer coach in high school.
After high school, she attended Appalachian State University and studied criminal justice. After graduating college, she pursued a job opening for a criminal justice teacher at Cape Fear High School, and she got it!
Ms. Bandurraga has been teaching for nine years and enjoys every minute of it. She has a true passion for teaching and loves getting to connect with her students. “My favorite part of teaching is reaching students and helping them critically think about the world around them,” Ms. Bandurraga related.
Public safety is a course that outlines the importance of different things that are going on in our world. Ms. Bandurraga does an excellent job of making her lessons interesting to her students.
“I really enjoyed Ms. Bandurraga’s class because she was very easy to talk to about anything and she was open for extra help. Her class was also very enjoyable because she was fun as a teacher and the topics were interesting,” says former student Meaghan Himes.
As if it wasn’t obvious, Ms. Bandurraga is very popular among the students at Cape Fear. Her students and co-workers have great respect for her and her ability to reach her students. It’s not unusual to hear a student talking about how Ms. Bandurraga is their favorite teacher. You can tell it’s more than just teaching the curriculum for her. She teaches because she loves it.
“I enjoyed her class every day I went to it. She always puts her students before anything else and I had every opportunity to succeed in her class.” Seth Jackson stated.
Ms. Bandurraga also participates in activities outside of the classroom. Last year, Ms. Bandurraga was the junior class powderpuff coach. Even though the junior class did not come out with the win, many laughs were shared and memories were made.
“She really cares about every student,” said Mr. Lucas, one of Bandurraga’s colleagues. “She is tireless in her efforts to see young people succeed. She not only talks the talk, but she walks the walk. We are lucky to have her here at Cape Fear,” Lucas continued.
This school year is much different than ever before. With online learning, interacting with your students can be much more difficult, but Ms. Bandurraga is making the best out of the situation. “Virtual Learning has been new but I am trying to navigate it to best reach my students,” she says.
Nine years ago, Cape Fear High School gained a phenomenal teacher and mentor. Ms. Bandurraga is now working on her tenth year as a teacher and continues to share her passion and determination with her students. She is a great role model and Cape Fear is very lucky to have her!
Cape Fear News Network 