LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Biz Brehm was nominated anonymously.

Ms. Brehm, known as "Biz" to her friends, lives truthfully in the one aspect that makes a great teacher. Ms. Brehm LOVES her kids. Over and over again, you'll hear her say, "I love my kids." She cares about her academic subject, social studies, of course. But she loves her kids and would do whatever was necessary to make sure they were as successful as they could be.

You may have heard the adage, "They won't care until they know how much you care." Biz lives this daily during the school year. She voluntarily gives up her planning time daily to cover for absent teachers so students have a friendly, familiar face teaching them every day. Biz will drink a Diet Coke at lunch, forget about her 30 minutes of uninterrupted time during her lunch break, and volunteer to help tutor, run recess, or walk a kid to class. She single-handedly organized her 6th-grade lunch duty (with 300 students, mind you). She helped create a lunchroom plan that was orderly, reduced misbehavior, gave "the tough-to-handle students" a daily task that offered them pride and autonomy, and encouraged new teachers to trust the process and interact in positive, authoritative ways. 

Yes, her kids learn in her classes. Yes, she inspires them to care about the history of the ancient Chinese spice routes, but mostly, she helps them become better humans.