By Payton Ciocca
Here at East, our amazing Latin teacher, Ms. B – short for Ms. Brodnicki – has so much to offer as well as so many interesting things about her. She is the only Latin teacher here at East and she also goes to Williamsville South high school during the beginning of the day. She comes to East just before 4th period and then teaches here the rest of the day. If you need someone to go to, someone to vent to, or someone to help you, Ms. B never fails to do these things. Make sure if you can, to stop by her classroom in the language department to catch Ms. B during her free period which is 8th period, or whenever you can during passing time!
Ms. B grew up as an only child and said everything was always her fault. She felt she was always walking on egg shells because she had to be perfect. She was the only one her parents could blame, which made her stay very focused on academics. Ms. B did dance, was in honors society, did many clubs like Spanish club and latin club, all within her high school years. She attended Sweet Home high school and graduated in the top two percent of her class. She was number 6th in her class but took no AP’s. Ms. B also stated, “I was shy, I was very shy, it may be hard to believe that now, but I was.” Ms. B graduated very educated and had a very good high school career, as she accomplished so much.
Ms. B was originally a Spanish teacher back at Sweet Home and she and her coworker Mrs. Chilcott at Sweet Home quit around the same time. Ms. B began teaching at Springville high school when Mrs. Chilcott reached out and was now working at Williamsville South, and asked Ms. B if she was interested in being a part-time Latin teacher there, because they were having a very hard time finding Latin teachers. Ms. B said, “That would be my dream job. I just want to work part time, and be close to home, because I was driving an hour to work each way. So I went back to school, got my certification, and the rest is history.” So now Ms. B works part time at South and part time at East making it her full time job between schools.
During Ms. B’s college years she attended Buffalo State as well as did some cross-registering and took some classes at the University of Buffalo. “You know why, because Kimberly does not believe in going into debt for school” she said. Ms. B didn’t initially want to be a teacher, but she has her Masters in Education, and is certified to teach Spanish and Latin. She said her mom told her it was a good idea to go back and get her certification to teach so she did. “I’m a mom and I have 23 years of experience doing this.” Ms. B knows how to teach and how to teach well with balance between making connections with students and making the class fun, while also getting material down and allowing her students to learn. “My own children didn’t influence my teaching as much as my experience dealing with kids all day influenced my parenting and how I parent my own kids.” When Ms. B was back in high school, her Latin teacher Mrs. Wagner was someone she really connected with and inspired her, and she still visits her to this day. “She just loved all her students, we were like the most important thing in the world to her and she would do anything for us.” Ms. B explained that she and her classmates used to go have pool parties at Mrs. Wagner’s house to study. When asking if Mrs. Wagner influenced the way Ms. B teaches she said, “Not so much because it’s such a different society now, and you can’t do those things that we used to be able to do.” Ms. B wants all her students to be successful and wants them to have a similar mindset she did when she was growing up. She was very focused on her work and knows how to be a good student while also knowing how to be a kid.
“Family is the people you decide to be your family, the people you are very close to and would do anything for. Friends are God’s apology for the family you got,” Ms. B said. Ms. B has three kids, one of which is married and has a son, making Ms. B a grandmother. Ms. B always talks about her grandbaby and how precious and cute he is. Anytime you ask about him she will definitely be showing pictures of him. She even brought her grandbaby into school to meet her students. Ms. B recently got a tattoo with flowers and the tattoo represents her grandson. You can tell how much Ms. B loves her family and loved ones by the way she talks so highly of them. She would do anything for them and would never fail to be there for them. I also think Ms. B brought this mindset into her parenting by knowing how to deal with kids and be there for them when they need it most. Ms. B believes to not make the same mistakes as your parents, she said to make different ones and to learn lessons from them.
Ms. B is a big pet lover and loves her cats as she said “they’re my babies.” She has three cats and two dogs. Some of Ms. B’s favorite things to do are going to the beach, traveling, reading, hiking, country line dancing, and snuggling with Hattie and Edgar (her cats). Ms. B plans on working a couple more years after she retires here at East and then she wants to travel and continue taking care of her babies. Ms. B said she would probably go into college admissions or something along those lines after she is fully done teaching. Fun fact, Ms. B is the only staff at Williamsville East that runs the World Strides trip every year. This year for spring break I went on the World strides tour in Italy with some of my best friends. It was such an amazing experience and Ms. B was our mentor/guardian for the trip. She is such a funny and uplifting person. I didn’t know Ms. B before the trip but I’m so lucky she was the one that took us because I got to know her and I love talking to her all the time now.
So again, whenever you need, if there is someone you need to talk to or are in need of help, ask Ms. B and trust me, you will be set!