Special Education teacher at Broughton Magnet High School named WCPSS Teacher of the Year

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Wake County Public School System has given the title Teacher of the Year for 2022-23 to a special education teacher at Broughton Magnet High School.

Caroline Olson has been in the Special Programs Department at Broughton High School since 2015. She also served as a training assistant for the TEACCH Autism Program during the summers of 2014 through 2017.

Olson is a graduate of Clemson University, with a bachelor's degree in Special Education. She is licensed in Exceptional Children- Adapted and General Curriculum (K-12) and holds National Board Certification as an Exceptional Needs Specialist.

"I use a variety of strategies to ensure that all learners are afforded opportunities for success," Olson wrote about her instructional style. "My students take benchmarks, interest inventories, and transition assessments to provide me information about what they currently know, what they want to know, and what their interests outside of school are. I use these interests to increase engagement and motivation to meet academic goals."

Olson also serves on the North Carolina Superintendent's Teacher Leadership Council and has served as a curriculum writer for the NC Department of Instruction. She was a Kenan Fellow for Teacher Leadership in 2019-2020 and was named a WCPSS Diane Kent Parker First-Year Teacher of the Year Award winner in Special Education in 2016.

As Teacher of the Year, Olson will participate in the Go Global NC international study program in Chile in the summer of 2023. The trip is sponsored by the Dan Royster Memorial Teacher Award, in honor of a former WCPSS science teacher.

Olson received an engraved award, a gift card to the Angus Barn, a weekend stay at the Umstead Hotel and Spa with complimentary breakfast at Heron's Restaurant, along with many other goodies, including an autographed hockey stick and T-shirt donated by the Carolina Hurricanes.