Teacher Spotlight: Catherine Bizieff

By Evie Fordham

 

Catherine, husband Robert, and son Samuel

Catherine, husband Robert, and son Samuel

High school social studies teacher Catherine Bizieff has teaching in her blood.

“My family is full of teachers,” she explained, listing off relatives who share her occupation, from her great grandfather to her adult son, and adding, “It’s just what we do.”

Mrs. Bizieff teaches tenth grade Government/Economics as well as AP United States History, a class typically populated by seniors. She has a bachelor’s in United States History and Political Science as well as a Master’s of Education from Wright State University in Ohio.

When she’s not teaching, she loves reading and traveling the country with her family. Recently, her eldest son and his wife had a baby, and Mrs. Bizieff said she and her husband “have enjoyed learning the ropes of becoming grandparents!”

Before she chose to teach high school, Mrs. Bizieff revealed, “I wanted to teach at a law school, which means first becoming a lawyer. However, when it came time to start law school, I had two small children and decided that teaching the Constitution to teenagers was better for my own children. It is a decision I am so very glad I made because I love it.

Mrs. Bizieff, whose students affectionately call her Mrs. B or Mrs. Biz, finds her job most rewarding when she is “getting to know the students as they grow and mature” as well as “working with the ones who are struggling and watching their eyes light up as they ‘get it.’”

Her AP class is the one where she gets to really dig into the subject of history and see her students embrace history the most.

“My AP U.S. History students learn the ‘whys’ of history,” she shared, “Many times things become more real when you understand why someone made the choices they did. I love explaining that things we take for granted all had a cause and effect.”

Mrs. Bizieff likes to incorporate Biblical principles into her classroom, too. Not only does she want her students to view history, government, and economics through a Christian lens, she wants them to understand while learning about socials studies that “God is not surprised by anything. There is no rogue molecule. We worship a perfect God, not live a perfect life.”

 

Back to top