Distance Education : News : Faculty Spotlight : Linda Stacy

DE Faculty Spotlight:  Linda Stacy

Linda Stacy is perhaps one of the most accommodating and caring instructors on the BRTC campus.  Students continually say, “Ask Mrs. Stacy; she’ll help you.”  She teaches business and networking, and the amount of time she puts in and her students’ comments are testimonies to her dedication as an instructor.

Linda was born in Imboden, Arkansas, and has lived there for most of her life.   She started college and went for two years but had to quit because of numerous back surgeries.  However, she didn’t let this setback get her down.  Instead, she cherishes the twenty years she spent at home as a stay-at-home mother for her two sons Brian and Bobby.

Linda has always been fascinated with computers, though, so she after the boys were grown, she went to BRTC just to take one computer class.  There, she met Kay Ellis, Debbie Prichard, Carol Killion, and the other business instructors.  Not too surprisingly, Linda loved her computer class and loved BRTC, but though she had considered going back to school, she felt that she was too old.

Linda made the fortunate “mistake” of expressing these reservations to Kay Ellis.  Kay  encouraged Linda to keep going to school.  Finally, the encouragement paid off.  Linda went on to ASU and graduated only one semester behind her youngest son Bobby just a few years later.

Because she wanted to teach math in school, Linda began ASU as a math major.  She did extremely well; she had a 3.9 GPA.  However, she decided to change her major to business and graduated with her Bachelor.  After graduation, Linda returned to ASU and earned her math certification.

Linda did teach school; she taught calculus, trigonometry, and Algebra II to high school students.  She taught math and science at Lynn High School and later taught at Black Rock.  After teaching school, Linda came to BRTC and began teaching computer and business courses.

Her Joy
Although she loves computers, the joy of Linda’s life is her family.  In fact, she calls her family her hobby.  Most of her family lives in Imboden, including her three older brothers, her father, and her late mother.  Her husband of 36 years, Bill, lives with her in Imboden.  Her oldest son Brian, a math person like his mother, and his wife Shannon live in Imboden with 12-year-old Branigan, 10-year-old Michala, and 8-month-old Margie.  Bobby, an accountant, and his wife Michelle, a speech therapist, live in Springdale with their 22-month-old son Benjamin. 

Her closest confidant was her mother who passed away just two years ago.  Linda and her mother were inseparable.  It was her mother who had the greatest impact on Linda as a person, and Linda attributes her caring nature for her students to her mom.

Teaching
Teaching is an important part of Linda’s life and she feels like she learns as much as her students do.  She tries to modify her classes each semester to best teach information to her students.  Her focus, her goal, is to accommodate students and help them learn, “not just get through” the class, she says.  She loves to see her students learning, especially when the light bulb comes on.  Each time they yell out, “I get it!” after struggling with a difficult concept, she feels rewarded. 

Linda is a very accommodating instructor.   Her motherly and grandmotherly nature emphasizes her obliging spirit with her students.  She attributes this quality to her mother; her mother was always there for her and, like Linda is there for her children and family, Linda tries to be there for her students.  Because she had to drive so far when she was going to school at ASU, Linda likes the chance to accommodate her students with the flexibility of distance education.

Linda’s favorite class is Cisco.  She adores Cisco even though instructors are tested so frequently that many high schools and colleges are giving up the curriculum.  For workshops about Cisco, Linda has to travel to Beebe frequently and must be re-certified every 3 years.  However, she feels that all of this training really helps her classes.  She keeps up-to-date on the latest technology and is able to pass that knowledge along to her students.

In her Cisco classes, Linda takes all of the tests before the students.  She rereads the entire textbook every year and she spends the majority of her office hours and evenings working on Cisco.  She frequently looks for new study guides or ways for students to learn more about the Cisco.

BRTC is very fortunate to have an instructor as dedicated to her students and work as Linda Stacy.

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