Peggy Brookins goal as a child was to become an astronaut, but after she was told that was not possible, she dedicated her life to inspiring others -- that is why Brookins is getting top honors and is News 13's Central Floridian of the Week.
 
Brookins teaches at Forest High School and has a passion for math and engineering. Her love for the field began when she was a little girl. She often accompanied her dad to his job at NASA, where he helped develop the shuttle program.

"You know, here you're a kid in the late 60s, early 70s and you're in high school, and I go to my counselor and I say, 'I want to be an astronaut,' and she's looking at me like, 'You've got to be crazy.' We all know there are two reasons I couldn't be an astronaut and you're looking at both of them," Brookins said, referring to the fact that she is a woman and she is African-American.

So Brookins turned to teaching, where she thought she could still have a big impact on the world, and her impact has been huge.

As the director of the Engineering Academy at Forest High School, Brookins created a new math course that is changing students' lives.

 "We fall behind in middle school and then we fall behind again when our students are exiting school, so the course was designed to put a different spin on algebra to make it seem like it's not hard, because it isn't," Brookins said.

Brookins also travels the country to help fellow educators in their professional development, and her work has paid off. She was recently named Teacher of the Year by the Florida Education Association.

She will now represent the state in a national competition, but she said her satisfaction comes from the students.

"We want them to leave with the ability to say 'There's not a problem I can't solve.'  And when I see that in them, then I know I've done my job," Brookins said.