Belinda Pruitt: Shining a light into the lives of students

Truly believing in each student she teaches, Belinda Pruitt of AM Consolidated High School, works tirelessly to make sure each and every student is heard, reached, and knows their worth.

Belinda Pruitt, a math teacher and department lead at AM Consolidated High School, is an outstanding educator brimming with enthusiasm and passion. Now in her 22nd year of teaching and her fifth at AM Consolidated, Belinda first knew she would become a teacher in 10th grade. Her inspiration? Her math teacher Ronda Moloney, who Belinda says she greatly admired.

For Belinda, a central focus in her role as an educator is to create a learning environment where students feel comfortable and engaged. Her classroom is always full of conversation and discussion, and she prioritizes group work, believing that students learn best when they are teaching one another and consolidating their knowledge.

What is so unique about Belinda’s style of teaching is that while she creates excellent lesson plans and activities, she also believes in teaching her students more than just math. In Belinda’s own words, she teaches her students: “Integrity, responsibility, love and how to handle a challenge and break through it.” This, she says, encourages her students to engage more in their learning and helps them develop into well-rounded individuals.

Belinda’s positivity is contagious, and when she talks of her math department, of which she is the lead, she beams: “I’m so blessed. Here’s the beauty, the people I work with are phenomenal; I couldn’t ask for a better team. Every teacher has their gift; each is dedicated. We love each other and support each other. The team is brilliant; I can’t emphasize this enough.”

Always committed to ensuring her students’ math success, Belinda reflected on a student who had felt challenged by math and was struggling to achieve a C grade. Through dedication and perseverance, she encouraged this student not to give up. When his test results came back in July, she realized that all the hard work had paid off. “When I saw his grade, I almost cried,” she said.

This is just one example of the many ways in which Belinda reaches and supports her students, and despite her tenure as math lead occurring alongside the pandemic, she and her team have achieved great things during this challenging time.

Speaking about her love of teaching and her mission as an educator, Belinda said: “There’s so much more to teaching than just the subject you teach. My hope is that students walk away from my classroom knowing that I really cared, through the good and the bad.”