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The rumors were flying about Thursday's "mystery assembly" at Hopewell High: Oprah is coming! No, it's one of the Obamas!
Instead, the star was a biology teacher, mostly unknown outside Hopewell but famous within the school for such performances as the mitosis square dance and the photosynthesis chant.
Cindy Rudolph thought her biggest challenge of the morning was picking the right shoes, since the faculty had been told to dress up for a gathering that would include dignitaries. She quickly found herself the center of attention as North Carolina's only winner of a 2009 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award.
She'll travel to Los Angeles in May, along with 53 other winners nationwide, to collect a $25,000 prize and bask in attention too often lacking for classroom teachers. That was the point of Thursday's hoopla, which included cheerleaders, the marching band and a visit by state Superintendent June Atkinson and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Superintendent Peter Gorman.
"We don't clap and cheer for our teachers very often," said Milken official Jane Foley.
Rudolph, who went to CMS and graduated from Harding High in 1982, says her teachers formed her identity. She regaled Atkinson with the tale of an elementary teacher who had insisted she complete an art project she was ready to give up on, with details so vivid you'd think it happened last week.
After earning a bachelor's and master's in education from UNC Chapel Hill, Rudolph flirted with other careers, including nursing and private industry. But she came back to teaching in 2003, starting at Coulwood Middle and switching to Hopewell shortly afterward. Rudolph said she believes God wants her in the classroom: "This is what I was called to do. He wouldn't let it go."
Rudolph teaches one honors biology class. But it's her work with lower-level students, including many who have learning disabilities, that has grabbed attention. She and special-education teacher Carol Puckett, who team taught until Puckett's recent retirement, helped make a nationally syndicated video on helping such students master complex and abstract microbiology concepts.
"They routinely teach the most struggling kids and have results similar to most teachers' honors results," says Cindy Moss, CMS's math and science director.
As the officials cleared the gym, Rudolph's students surged in to congratulate her.
"She cares even when you don't really care," said sophomore Jasmine Monroe.
Leah Stillwell, a senior, says she vividly remembers taking biology from Rudolph her freshman year. Now she wants to major in biology at college.
CMS has two previous Milken winners: Maria Petrea, principal of Collinswood Elementary, in 2000; and Moss, the science director, when she taught at Independence High in 2001.
Both beamed as Rudolph joined their ranks.
"It's career-changing," Petrea said.
"It's life-changing," Moss added.
The Milken Foundation works with state education officials to identify teachers who meet their criteria, which include using innovative techniques, being a role model to students and acting as a professional leader.
Rudolph, a CMS "master teacher" who helps peers hone their classroom skills, said she doesn't feel like she's alone in the spotlight.
"I just feel like I represent all the teachers in CMS that really go the extra mile for their children and are here because they love it."
