Some might not think of the words teacher and friend as two terms that go together often.

But Darla Emerson, the AP statistics teacher, makes a point to be both a teacher and a friend to her students. Going beyond the role of a typical teacher, Emerson tries her best to help her students with more than just their math homework.

“I think empathy is just part of human nature,” Emerson said. “I am not sure that I exhibit that more than the next person but I do try to be in tune with my student’s emotions.”

Even when she isn’t doing her best to help out her students, she makes a notable effort to be a positive force in the room, with the hope that it will make a student’s day brighter.

“I believe there is a natural joy that comes from serving where you feel called to serve,” Emerson said.

Emerson leaves a visible impact on students, changing the way they perceive their class and making statistics a period worth going to.

“It allows me to engage in class,” senior Austin Tedman said. “I want to learn more when I see how she cares about her class and her students.”

Becoming the teacher she is today required years to make the transition. As a child, she considered going into social work, highlighting her interest in helping people with their feelings.

“I think I would have had a very difficult time not getting too emotionally involved. I struggle with that even in my teaching career,” Emerson said. “It was really just a consideration. After talking with my aunt, I knew seeing children daily who were in terrible situations would just be too much.”

Soon after she realized her problem with social work, it became obvious where her career path would lie.

“I believe I was called to be a teacher,” Emerson said. “It was God’s plan for my life.”

Emerson said her father was “completely against the idea,” and pushed her to become an engineer.

“I compromised and got my degree in mathematics with a minor in psychology and then a certification as a math teacher,” Emerson said. “That made him happy because I could find a different job if I didn’t like teaching. Here I am, 23 years later.”

Those 23 years were interspersed with changes in location that added context and understanding to the way different people worked in different situations. Beginning her career in Eunice, NM, she then moved to Haltom High in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, followed by McKinney High and then on to Lovejoy.

The biggest change in her life from the start of her career until now turned out to be more personal than it was professional, and helped explain her knack for sincerity in the classroom.

“The biggest change occurred when I had my own child,” Emerson said. “It allowed me to see everything from a parent’s perspective. My son had childhood epilepsy and sending him to school was one of the most difficult things I had to do as a parent. That experience has helped me be more empathetic to students with health and learning challenges and to their parents.”

Outside of her enthusiasm for her students, she happens to be a master at the study she teaches. Her classes have a 70+ percent AP exam passing rate, and she spends her time helping teachers across the Metroplex teach statistics, a testament to the respect that others have for her.

All of her attributes in her subject and her student/teacher relationships do not go unnoticed. Recently, Emerson took a trip down to Austin to receive her state finalist certification in the PAEMST award, an achievement that could end up in a national finalist award within the next few months.

“The criteria is very specific, and is about their professional career,” assistant principal Teresa Dodson said. “Their first criteria is to be an expert in their content. Her expertise is amazing. She has a Master’s in statistics specifically. Second is expert instructional practices, which is proven by her incredibly high AP passing rate.

“Third is expert assessment practices, and four is reflective practice, which she is doing all the time, trying to improve herself. She will bring ideas directly to the administration, looking for ways to make her instruction better without us even asking, making it clear how much she cares about her job.”

Being rewarded for her work is the cherry on top of a life already full of positives. If her national finalist nomination comes through, Emerson will receive money and a trip to Washington DC to meet with the President. For her, though, awards are little more than names on a page.

“It is incredibly nice to be recognized, but at the end of the day, the awards are not really what matters,” Emerson said. “I enjoy my job because I can leave an impact, and what I care most about at the end of the day is knowing that my students are better off leaving the room than they were when entering it.”