Barbara Bayless Close '71 is Finalist for Teaching Award

March 2, 2013

Barbara Bayless Close, a mathematics teacher at Florida's Palm Beach Day Academy and 1971 graduate of DePauw University, is a finalist for a William T. Dwyer Award for Excellence in Education.  Sponsored by the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, the Dwyer Awards recognize teachers "who rise above the ordinary in inspiring and teaching their students," notes the Palm Beach Daily News. The awards will be presented May 7.

Cynthia Thume writes that Close's "passion for teaching and learning are evident to her students at Palm Beach Day Academy daily. She has been an instructor at her alma mater for 33 of her 37 years in the profession. She teaches classes in algebra I and II, geometry, and functions, statistics and trigonometry, serves as an adviser for a variety of teams, clubs and school initiatives. She also was a Dwyer Award finalist in 2011 and 2012."

Close, who majored in mathematics at DePauw, tells the newspaper, "I like the students and the joy they give to us. They are new every year and continually changing. There is nothing better than sharing the 'aha' moment when they understand. It is the best job in the world."

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